Canada Travel Hints & Tips (and HELP for changed Toronto plans)

socks_uk

We have flights booked from Manchester to Toronto on 14th August and return flights booked from Moncton, New Brunswick to Manchester on 28th August.

My husband's mum & dad were due to meet us at Toronto Airport and we were all going to visit Niagara Falls, Montreal & Quebec City before traveling back to their home in Moncton.
Sadly, due to illness, his parents can no longer join us in the first half of our Canadian holiday and we no longer have the transport part of our plans.

My in-laws have cancelled their hotel rooms but we still have our bookings in place.  Our hotels are 2 nights in Niagara Falls, 2 nights in downtown Montreal and at least one night in Quebec City.  We can cancel our hotels should we need to.

Can anyone give us any hints, tips & help in making travel arrangements  (bus train or plane) between Toronto Airport - Niagara Falls - Montreal - Quebec City - Moncton.

It looks like we have just over 2 weeks to organise our travel.  Thanks in advance!

Alan_Bowen

I see you are not planning to stay in Toronto itself. That seems a great pity and adds to your first day travelling. I am not sure I would spend 2 nights at Niagara Falls, I found the whole place depressing it was so over commercialised, I was happy to see it all in one day on the daily Amtrak service that leaves Toronto at 0820 and returns at 1745 taking 2 hours for the journey. Alternatively, if you want to travel on your day of arrival there is a train every 30 minutes from Pearson Airport to central Toronto Union Station and from there you can take a Go Transit commuter train to Burlington every half hour from where there is a connecting bus to Niagara Falls Bus Terminal.

Alternatively, Megabus operate bus services every hour, on the half hour up to 8.30 pm to Niagara Falls taking two hours .

For onward travel to Montreal and Quebec City, you have a choice of flying on taking VIA rail. Flights in Canada tend to be expensive, especially last minute but it might be worth looking at Porter Airlines, they fly from Toronto City Airport which is very close to downtown and for them their main passenger group is business people and they are likely to be on vacation in August so they may have more seats than usual. The trains are fine but very slow and infrequent, only 5 a day between Toronto and Montreal and take 5 and a half hours! Quebec City has an equally infrequent service but at least it's only 3 hours. 

To get to Moncton I would again suggest flying, it has one train a day from Montreal, an overnight sleeper leaving three times a week and taking 18 hours!

socks_uk

Thank you so much for your reply!  You have some good suggestions.

 It was my husband's mum & dad that had planned and booked I am currently looking at different hotels to the one my in-laws made reservations with considering we were originally going to be travelling with them in their car and the location of the Raddison Hotel Fallsview is better and only a couple of dollars more expensive than Kings Inn Hotel.

Gosh...  we've got lots to organise!

Jdm1982

When we fly to Toronto Pearson airport we book the Niagara airbus online. It will drop you outside your hotel in Niagara Falls. Takes about 2 hours.  

michele-p

I can't help with public transport, but we spent 1 day and night in Niagra a few years back. We timed it as a night when fireworks would go off (does thar still happen?) And had a fallsview room at the Oakes Hotel. If was cheaper than many others, but had amazing views. We really enjoyed out time there, did the Maid of the mist and all the touristy things, but 1 night was enough for us on our train/plane road trip. We flew into Buffalo, then drove to Niagara.

enthusiasticsaver

We used the Niagara airbus from Toronto but we did stay in Niagara Falls for a couple of nights as there is a lot to see and do.  Niagara on the Lake was nice.  Yes Niagara Falls itself is a bit commercialised but it has built up effectively to support the main event which was the Falls itself.  I would suggest flights to Montreal or Quebec but train is a good second option. 

socks_uk

Thank you everyone! 
It's been very interesting doing all the research and checking out all the hotels and modes of transport, I only wish I had a bit longer than 2 weeks to plan.  The hardest part was figuring out all the timings of the transport, including the difference in using the bus or train compared to a shorter time of flying with the added extra time of being at the airport 2 hours prior to the flight to check-in.

Our itinerary is now...

Niagara Airbus return journey to Niagara Falls and 2 nights at the Madisson Hotel with a falls view.

Toronto to Montreal on the train and 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Centreville, nextdoor to Notre-Dame

Montreal to Quebec City on Orleans Express bus (no hotel needed)

Quebec City to Moncton on the overnight train, leaving late in the evening, which is why we won't need a hotel in Quebec City.

I've even had a go at packing my small cabin suitcase so I can travel light and do laundry at the in-laws' house...  not so sure my husband can pack all his stuff (and jeans!) in a canin bag, but he'll be pulling it!

2 weeks today and I'm starting to get excited now it's all booked!