SA Homeschooler Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 We live in South Texas and we are planning on taking a 3 week trip to Canada next August. We will be visiting Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and Niagra Falls. We are a tennis playing family so we will be watching the Rogers Cup in Montreal but will be there about 2 weeks so we will have plenty of time to explore. I would love to hear your travel tips--both educational and not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I went to see the Rogers Cup last year, and it was fantastic! It's wonderful how close you can get to the players on the practice courts. My favourite sites in Montreal are: - Old Montreal, including Notre-Dame Cathedral - St. Joseph's Oratory - Mont-Royal Park overlooking the city - shopping/walking along St - Denis and St - Catherine streets - eating at the interesting restaurants - sampling Montreal Smoked Meat sandwiches In Quebec City: - Vieux Quebec (Old Quebec), and all the sites associated - Citadelle (old fort, still a functioning military base) - restaurants along Rue Grand-Allee - Provicial Legislative buildings Niagara Falls: - Maid of the Mist boat at the base of the falls - Falls at night, lit up with coloured flood-lighting - If you have a vehicle, the nearby town of Niagara-in-the-Lake is picturesque, and there are many wineries in the area as well as fruit orchards Toronto: - CN Tower - take a ferry across to Island Park - Science Museum 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Between Montreal and Toronto take the time to travel on Rt 2 (perhaps another number there too) rather than Highway 401 (superhighway). You'll get awesome views of the St Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and many cute small towns like Brockville. It does take extra time, but you're going there to SEE the country, correct? The St Lawrence River is a gorgeous blue on a sunny day - the prettiest river in the world IMO. Many people go to that area just to vacation on/around the river. There are places (Brockville, Gananoque) where you can take a boat cruise on the river seeing some of the famous 1000 Islands (of which there are more than 1800, not just 1000). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 With Niagara Falls are you staying just on the Canadian side? I'll second the Maid of the Mist (called Hornblower on the Canadian side - Maid of the Mist just on the US side now - boats go from either side). We also like to go under/behind the falls (from Table Rock). However, the US side has a couple of our favorite things to do. You can walk across Rainbow Bridge for 50 cents. Bring your passports as you are changing countries. Then head to Goat Island (after the Rainbow Bridge, turn right and follow the paths to Goat Island). We love to walk around the island (now a paved walk the whole way) as it allows you to see the Upper Niagara River in all of its building fury. Go clockwise from the bridge and it will get more and more powerful and impressive. It's also a nice stretch break. This is literally the closest you can get to both falls. From Table Rock you can get close to Horseshoe Falls, but not the American Falls. From Goat Island you get very close to both. We also like to go down next to Niagara Falls on the walkway. Entrance to this is over close to the American Falls themselves. This one allows you to get wet and actually touch parts of the falls - and sense their power in a way that merely looking at them can't do. My family and I can stand there for long periods of time soaking it all in (we did - twice - last summer/fall). But to add a note to all of my suggestions... we're nature lovers and really love natural things. If this doesn't apply to you or your family, you might want to mainly stick with the boat ride. ;) We do all three of my favorites from the US side - then will add the behind the falls bit and (sometimes) the tower on the Canadian side. And Poutine. We get poutine from Smoke's each time we go there (now - it hasn't always been there). http://smokespoutinerie.com/About.aspx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solascriptura Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I LOVED the Musee de la Civilisation in Quebec City. LOVED IT! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Homeschooler Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 I went to see the Rogers Cup last year, and it was fantastic! It's wonderful how close you can get to the players on the practice courts. My favourite sites in Montreal are: - Old Montreal, including Notre-Dame Cathedral - St. Joseph's Oratory - Mont-Royal Park overlooking the city - shopping/walking along St - Denis and St - Catherine streets - eating at the interesting restaurants - sampling Montreal Smoked Meat sandwiches In Quebec City: - Vieux Quebec (Old Quebec), and all the sites associated - Citadelle (old fort, still a functioning military base) - restaurants along Rue Grand-Allee - Provicial Legislative buildings Niagara Falls: - Maid of the Mist boat at the base of the falls - Falls at night, lit up with coloured flood-lighting - If you have a vehicle, the nearby town of Niagara-in-the-Lake is picturesque, and there are many wineries in the area as well as fruit orchards Toronto: - CN Tower - take a ferry across to Island Park - Science Museum Thank you so much for such a detailed account of things to do and see!! We are really looking forward to seeing great tennis and beautiful sites!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Homeschooler Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 Between Montreal and Toronto take the time to travel on Rt 2 (perhaps another number there too) rather than Highway 401 (superhighway). You'll get awesome views of the St Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and many cute small towns like Brockville. It does take extra time, but you're going there to SEE the country, correct? The St Lawrence River is a gorgeous blue on a sunny day - the prettiest river in the world IMO. Many people go to that area just to vacation on/around the river. There are places (Brockville, Gananoque) where you can take a boat cruise on the river seeing some of the famous 1000 Islands (of which there are more than 1800, not just 1000). Oh darn, we'll be flying from Toronto to Montreal but we are planning on taking a train from Montreal to Quebec City. Thank you very much for your input anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Homeschooler Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 With Niagara Falls are you staying just on the Canadian side? I'll second the Maid of the Mist (called Hornblower on the Canadian side - Maid of the Mist just on the US side now - boats go from either side). We also like to go under/behind the falls (from Table Rock). However, the US side has a couple of our favorite things to do. You can walk across Rainbow Bridge for 50 cents. Bring your passports as you are changing countries. Then head to Goat Island (after the Rainbow Bridge, turn right and follow the paths to Goat Island). We love to walk around the island (now a paved walk the whole way) as it allows you to see the Upper Niagara River in all of its building fury. Go clockwise from the bridge and it will get more and more powerful and impressive. It's also a nice stretch break. This is literally the closest you can get to both falls. From Table Rock you can get close to Horseshoe Falls, but not the American Falls. From Goat Island you get very close to both. We also like to go down next to Niagara Falls on the walkway. Entrance to this is over close to the American Falls themselves. This one allows you to get wet and actually touch parts of the falls - and sense their power in a way that merely looking at them can't do. My family and I can stand there for long periods of time soaking it all in (we did - twice - last summer/fall). But to add a note to all of my suggestions... we're nature lovers and really love natural things. If this doesn't apply to you or your family, you might want to mainly stick with the boat ride. ;) We do all three of my favorites from the US side - then will add the behind the falls bit and (sometimes) the tower on the Canadian side. And Poutine. We get poutine from Smoke's each time we go there (now - it hasn't always been there). http://smokespoutinerie.com/About.aspx We will make sure to bring our passports so that we can move about freely!! We really appreciate the suggestions on how to explore Niagra!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upincanada Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I second the Oratory of St. Joseph. The signage in the church itself is pretty bad...you may walk some circles, but it's an amazing place. The Pointe-a-Calliere is a really neat museum in Old Montreal. Part of it is an archeological dig. Again, good luck finding your way around! With luck and persistence, you will see the whole museum. (Part of the problem is that it consists of a number of floors/stories, some of which are deep underground.) The Stash Cafe is a Polish restaurant in Old Montreal that has great food, if you like that sort of cuisine. I don't remember it being terribly expensive, but not cheap. There was a guy playing the piano. It was neat. We didn't have the kids though...that makes for a different experience. But it's been over a year and I remember that restaurant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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