Traveling ideas for Montreal / Ottawa / Quebec City?

[Jason Harris 31]

We just booked a trip for a reunion in July among high school buddies in New England, but since we took the lady-o's throughout much of New England three summers ago, we decided we'd spend about three to five days visiting Burlington VT, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City.

I've driven through Burlington and Montreal, but don't remember much, while I loved Quebec City when I visited as a boy.

As I've done before with these trips, I'd really love suggestions from people who have visited these areas about what they consider to be the highlights, must-sees and hidden gems. Our daughters are 13-15 and fairly inquisitive, but even if they wanted to just lie on the beach, Daddy doesn't give them that option! So what are the places they'll remember later in life?

Thanks!

[SnoJH 0]

If you're looking for a place to eat, try Marathon Souvlaki. Great food, nice ambiance, with great prices.

I'd also suggest eating poutine at either PoutineVille or La Banquise. It might not be that healthy but, damn, it's delicious.

[greech 4]

Old city in Quebec City is awesome. Just to bum around and spend a day, its very historic and supposed to be beautiful in summer.

edit: Didn't even see Burlington, Church Street is touristy and a good family walk, Lake Champlain is beautiful and the campus on the University of Vermont is kind of cool, but definitely sneak over to Gutterson Fieldhouse at UVM. It's a real cool old barn, it is also hosting the women's WC in April.

[wrangler 157]

Canada Aviation and Space Museum

http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/visit_us/how_to_get_here/

[team50 20]

Old city in Quebec City is awesome. Just to bum around and spend a day, its very historic and supposed to be beautiful in summer.

This. Chateau Frontenac and La Citadelle are great, but the downtown district shopping and cafe's are awesome. Love Quebec City. Also, just north of the city there is whale watching, which I hear is good.

http://www.quebecmaritime.ca/en/nature-getaways/whale-watching

[Jason Harris 31]

It would be interesting to see whether the idea of an Aviation and Space Museum has grown on them, Wrangler. We were in D.C. in 2008, and I don't know whether it was age or gender, but they weren't too excited by the Air and Space Museum at that time, which was almost disappointing considering how much I loved it as a kid.

[Law Goalie 147]

The Parliament in Ottawa is worth visiting, and a stroll on the river is quite nice. Byward Market and the Rideau Centre are pushed hard at tourists, but they're not that fabulous. The National ART Gallery is very well curated. Scotiabank Place is not worth your time: it's in the middle of nowhere and not very historic. Air & Space Museum is definitely worth a stop, if only for the chopped up Avro Aeros.

In Montreal, there are a lot more options: definitely hit the old city down by the water, Notre Dame Cathedral, and anything else of that ilk. The art galleries (there are many) are by and large superb, and unlike most Canadian cities, Montreal really does have distinctive neighbourhoods that are worth visiting. Honestly, the best way to do Montreal is to go with a few places in mind, and just wander between them. It, Quebec City, Halifax, and Kingston are by far the most historically interesting cities in Canada. A day on foot is worth ten spent zipping between 'attractions.'

[Jason Harris 31]

I just looked at images of Kingston, LG. I never considered that city, and think that it might be off the path too much for the time we have, but it looks much prettier than I realized.

[hampshirepuck 2]

Parliament in ottawa is a ton of fun... if you need some man time check out the imperial barber shop, they have a few locations around ottawa, great place for a cut and a shave also for burgers try HIntonburger, its one of the best burgers in town, very hinden so just google it and you will find it, its right near china town.

[Law Goalie 147]

I just looked at images of Kingston, LG. I never considered that city, and think that it might be off the path too much for the time we have, but it looks much prettier than I realized.

Yeah, Kingston's probably not too handy for you on your current trip, but worth a stop another time. I'm a little ambivalent about the place, having grown up there, but it's really nice to visit. For a few years my intramural hockey team played tournaments there against faculties from other schools, and everybody loved it. The one knock against Kingston in decades prior used to be the food (Don Cherry's was considered by many a perfectly good place to eat ) but Chez Piggy, Pan Chancho, and The Kingston Brewing Company's pub turned the tide, and now there are a bunch of great spots. As long as you stay south of Queen Street in the downtown and more or less follow the lake, it's quite lovely, especially if you head out West on King Street past Queen's U towards Portsmouth Village. Hell, even the prisons are relatively scenic.

[wrangler 157]

It would be interesting to see whether the idea of an Aviation and Space Museum has grown on them, Wrangler. We were in D.C. in 2008, and I don't know whether it was age or gender, but they weren't too excited by the Air and Space Museum at that time, which was almost disappointing considering how much I loved it as a kid.

I'm supposed to get there one of these days. One of the staff there used to fly seaplanes with us in the summer, and we talked about it, but I haven't seen him or his brother for several years.

[Jason Harris 31]

Are you referring to Canada or DC? DC is such a national treasure, it's a shame that so few people are able to visit it during their lives.

I remember a cute story about my younger daughter (9 at the time) when we visited DC. We had them take out books from the library to give us input on what they wanted to see, so we thought they had a decent grasp on the sites. As we pulled up to a stoplight, I said, "Look, ladies, there's the Mall!"

".....Where are all the stores?"

[wrangler 157]

Ottawa -- the link I posted.

If you get to D.C., the Air & Space Museum has another location now, at Dulles airport.

[Vinny_R 1]

I can talk for Montreal and Quebec a lot, I love those two citys and I live like 5 hours of car northern of Montreal so going there is alway special. St-Jean street is cool in Québec, it's a street that is close to cars in the summer with a lot of little gift stores and restaurants. Some clothing and jewelry too. Civilisation museum is fun to see, the Domaine Mezeret if you like walking in nature and big gardens. In Montreal, there's the Old Port, a good place to walk and be amazed to see big boats. There's the Biodome, a place in the old Olympic Park that you can see a indoor boreal forest or a tropical jungle with monkeys and birds jumping and flying over you. If you are amazes by religious art, the Oratoire St-Joseph is a piece of art, on top of a mountain. I know that the War Museum in Ottawa is a must, but never went (it's a project).