# Vacation to Montreal or Toronto?



## Icc5

Happy Holidays To All.
We are from California and have been to Canada several times (British Colombia) but never towards the East.  Those of you that have been there, what would you reccomend and what would you go see if you were going.
We thought we would either do New York and one of the above or Boston and one or would we have a better time with one week in Toronto and one in Montreal.
We love sightseeing, eating, gardens, water.
Bart


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## Passepartout

Montreal. It's much like a trip to France without the long flight. IMHO. 

Jim Ricks


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## Nickfromct

Passepartout said:


> Montreal. It's much like a trip to France without the long flight. IMHO.
> 
> Jim Ricks



I'll second that choice. Montral is a vey nice place to visit.


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## Luanne

And if you visit Montreal, go to Quebec City for at least a couple of days.


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## frenchieinme

*My selection is...*



Icc5 said:


> Happy Holidays To All.
> We are from California and have been to Canada several times (British Colombia) but never towards the East.  Those of you that have been there, what would you reccomend and what would you go see if you were going.
> We thought we would either do New York and one of the above or Boston and one or would we have a better time with one week in Toronto and one in Montreal.
> We love sightseeing, eating, gardens, water.
> Bart



Having been to both, it really is a matter of choice as both have much to offer.  Of the 2 mentioned, Montreal or Toronto, I believe Montreal wins out for its cultural ambiance and for its being the 2nd largest francophone city in the world behind Paris.

However, if you are loking for truly francophone ambiance then Quebec CXity wins out.  Regardless of your choice, you will not regret any of these 3 choices at hand.

frenchieinme


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## pwrshift

I have lived in both Toronto and Montreal, and they are very different cities in many ways.  Don't know if you'd find enough to do in Montreal for a week if you don't see Quebec city.  Toronto is rich in theatre, museums, and even dining...and is the business centre of the country.  Both cities have a nice waterfront but Toronto's is better IMO (great location at Westin waterfront btw).  

If you are driving ... I suggest you start in Quebec city for 3 nights, Montreal for 4 nights, Ottawa/Hull for 3 nights, and Toronto for 5 nights.  Gas is expensive here .. about $1 a litre.  Summer is best ... but June and early Sept can be great too.

Brian


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## Icc5

*Montreal*

Thanks for the replies.  We have just begun our search but it sounds as if Montreal will be the first choice.  Any idea where to get the most and best travel info?  Went to AAA but they really didn't have much.
Bart


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## pgnewarkboy

*Frommers Guides*

I am a big fan of Frommer's Tour Books.  Although TUG and many other travel sites on the net provide great information, I find that Frommers books pull it all together for me.  I used Fromers for Montreal and Quebec and found it to very useful.  My wife and I particularly like their suggested walking tours.  Very informative and a way to see a location and get the most out of it.

We like to explore a place in depth.  Usually one week for a major city like Montreal is barely enough for us.  We could spend an entire day at one museum.  We like walking on a street and reading the Frommer's history and interesting facts about buildings and places along the way.  A tour bus MIGHT point out a place as you ride by and say "That is where Ben Franklin met a french businessman to get money for the revolution" but probably not.  We don't like to ride by it, we like to go in the place and look at the furnishings etc.  That is why I like Frommers.  If you don't want to spend the time at a place and your style is more of a keep on moving style perhaps it wouldn't be helpful to you.


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## Chrisky

Icc5 said:


> Thanks for the replies.  We have just begun our search but it sounds as if Montreal will be the first choice.  Any idea where to get the most and best travel info?  Went to AAA but they really didn't have much.
> Bart



There is a lot to see in Montreal, depending on your interests.  There's Mtl. Museum of fine Arts, La Ronde (amusement park), Biosphere (in former US Pavilion at Expo 67), Biodome, Botanical Gardens, Insectarium, The Casino, The Old Montreal area.  You can reach all of these places with their Metro (subway).  Here is a link to the Province of Quebec tourism site.
http://www.bonjourquebec.com/qc-en/montreal0.html


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## Smooth Air

I really like Brian's/pwrshift's suggested itinerary. Seeing Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa (Canada's political capital  and Toronto (Canada's financial capital) will give you  a great overview of the major cities in 2 of Canada's provinces: Quebec and Ontario. If you want to see Eastern Canada, you will have to travel East of Ontario & Quebec to the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland/Labrador. That would be another trip. 

As suggested above by pgnewarkboy, Frommers is good for travel info. Fodors is also good: www.fodors.com

Smooth Air


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## John Cummings

Bart,

I replied to your PM regarding this. To expand a little, I have visited and worked in both Toronto and Montreal. I would choose Montreal hands down over Toronto as far as a city goes. Montreal is unique whereas Toronto is no different than many other cities in North America.

I would do just what we did in August 2008 which was to visit and stay in New York City as there is no other city that compares. I would then take a tour like the 5 day loop we did from NYC to Niagara Falls, Toronto, 1000, Islands, and Washington DC, You can also take tours from NYC to Montreal and Quebec City. I would make NYC your base.


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## hvsteve1

Maybe I missed it, but are you timesharing? If so,you're probably going to be outside any of the major cities. If you're vacation with hotels, I would say the most unforgettable vacation for a Californian would be the Maritimes. I've been to Canada at least once a year and find the Maritimes to be more different than even Montreal. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have a very strong Celtic Culture. The north coast of NS is even more French than Quebec with the Acadians who don't even seem to consider themselves Franch Canadians, just French. Halifax is a wonderful old city with a lot of history and is very walkable. PEI is all farms and beaches and is the way Cape Cod must have been a century earlier. We have not yet made it to Cape Breton Island, which has a huge park,but understand it is breathtaking. NS, PEI in New Brunswick all have beautiful scenery and cities with a very old European flavor.  The Bay of Fundy between NS and NB is one of the wonders of the world with tides of 40 feet from low to high. You can go to Hopewell Rocks and climb down at low tide and look up at the cliffs and walk through arches. Seven hours later you can get in a boat and sail over them. 100 billion tons of water flow into the bay and there are places where you can ride waves of water like riding rapids. All the provinces have web sites you can google up and all will send you free tourist guides.


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## cd5

*Bonjour Bart!*

I also agree with most Brian's/pwrshift's itinerary (Quebec city for 3 nights, Montreal for 4 nights, Ottawa/Hull for 3 nights) but don't see why you would stay in Toronto itself for 5 nights! (Live here now, nice place but much like any other large North American city, not that distinctive IMO). I would invert the number of days he gave for Toronto and Quebec, staying in Quebec for 5 days and Toronto for 3...
If you are timesharing, you will not find much in the way of timeshare close to the downtown areas. The one with the closest timeshares would be Quebec City with Club Vacances Toutes Saisons about 25 minutes away from Old Quebec and in close proximity (about 1.5 hours) to the Charlevoix region with spectacular scenery and whale watching on the Saguenay river (belugas). For Montreal, you'd be at least an hour away either north (in the Laurentian mountains) or south fairly close to the US border to NH or VT.
Same goes for Toronto, most of the timeshares are north of the city and about 2 hours away from downtown.
If you love eating, Quebec City and Montreal have an abundance of good restaurants with regional cooking that is very distinctive and different. Hard to find a bad one...
New York is way too far to use as a base. It's 8 hours away from Quebec/Montreal/Toronto and if it is eastern Canada you want to see, why stay there and waste time "commuting"? Toronto is about 5 hours away from Montreal. Montreal would be the most central location, Ottawa is only 2 hours away and Quebec City just a little more than that in the other direction. 
Much of the population in Montreal is bilingual (French/English) while Quebec City is mostly French and would give you a little taste of Europe!
You might try the Quebec Government Tourism site for information, it's very good... http://www.bonjourquebec.com/


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## strandlover

Montreal... hands down!

Better restuarants and Montreal is one of the best walking cities.

Try to make it here in June (Grand Prix F1 racing), if you can afford the sky high room rates at that time.  Better yet in July for the Jazz Festival, world class and plenty of free outdoors performances.

Hope to see you in our great city!


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## nighthitcher

sounds good to me


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## Miss Marty

*Extreme Super Structures*

*
Montreal's Underground City*

(officially RÉSO or La Ville Souterraine in French) is the set of interconnected complexes (both above and below ground) in and around Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is also known as the indoor city (ville intérieure), and is the largest underground complex in the world.


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## BlindBat

It is not by coincidence that the only person who really suggested Toronto is the person from Toronto. 
I have visited both Montreal and Toronto on several occasions, Quebec city twice, and several spots in the Maritimes.

Montreal is a very vibrant, beautiful, and interesting city. Quebec city is smaller but it seems as if the same charms of MTL are condensed in a smaller package. If you can only visit one part of the Maritimes, choose PEI.

PS - all of that is based on it being Summer. If it is Winter go back to BC...LOL

Quite frankly, Toronto doesn't have a whole lot to offer that you could not find in any number of large cities. It is quite clean and safe but downright bland. Most Canadians (except the ones from Toronto) will tell you there is nothing wrong with Toronto - just nothing really right either.


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## Carol C

If a US resident flies to Buffalo, how does one get to Toronto airport from there? Also...if I want to take a train to/from, say, Montreal or Quebec City to the USA (say, New York City or Boston)...what is best option...Canadian railway system or Amtrak or ??? Thanks in advance for all tips. I'm planning now for a June 2011 trip that already includes a reserved week in Newport RI (and I'd also like to visit parts of Canada & prefer to fly AirTran within the States.)


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## Luanne

Carol C said:


> Also...if I want to take a train to/from, say, Montreal or Quebec City to the USA (say, New York City or Boston)...what is best option...Canadian railway system or Amtrak or ???



I could be wrong, but I think there is just one train that runs from Candad to the U.S. (and vice versa) and that would be Amtrak.  At least when we took the train from NYC to Montreal it was Amtrak....only choice.


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## CSB

Carol, there is a shuttle service that goes from Toronto's Pearson Airport to Buffalo Airport (it may stop at Hamilton Airport as well).

Here is a link. I cannot tell you much about it but I think we used it a few years ago when my husband was leaving on a flight from Buffalo and I was unable to drive him. We had to find an alternative and someone from TUG told us about the shuttle.

http://niagaraairbus.net/niagara-airbus-airport-shuttle-services


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## Carol C

Thank to everyone for the advice!


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## davidbee

*Montreal Sightseeing*

I'm answering a bit late to your post so I hope you'll get this info before your travel. I'm a montrealer so I'm a little biased when I say that Montreal is definitively the most interesting city in your list.  

Anyway, in Montreal you'll find an European feel that you won't get in any other north-american cities, beside maybe Québec city. Also, whatever you like to do, you'll find plenty activities or attractions that'll suit your needs. You should check the Montréal Buzz, it's a blog that provide tips for travelers from local bloggers.

Hope this helps a bit!


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