We are 3 senior couples planning a trip to Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls this Sept. from Los Angeles. We could use help on transportation to each place. Where would be the best place to fly into from the states? We also don't mind using trains once we get there.
Posted by
Upstate NY, USA
818 posts
how long are you going for? QC to Niagara Falls is a 10 hour drive, it would make more sense to fly into Montreal, sightsee there, drive to QC, fly out of there to Toronto, then drive to Niagara Falls.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
4828 posts
Flying into Toronto and out of Montreal (or vice versa) will likely be easiest/ require the fewest connections.
There is train service (Via Rail is Canada's rail company) between these cities, although they won't be as frequent as what one might expect from similar cities in Europe. Car rentals and driving is no different than in the US, except we use km and litres instead of miles and gallons. As for distances, Quebec City and Niagara Falls are about 930+ km apart. The longest drive would be between Ottawa and Toronto (450 km)
If you want to see each city, I'd fly into Montreal and drive or train to QC ( if your flight connections into QC are complicated). Then work your way west. QC>Montreal>Ottawa>TO> Niagara Falls. From Niagara Falls you'd likely need to return to Toronto to fly home. Alternatively you could fly home from Buffalo.
Posted by
OP
newhall, ca, usa
70 posts
we plan on 14 days. thank you for your suggestions. Would it be easier to fly into Quebec City via the US east coast (ie, Boston)? Also I heard the Canada trains have a max. on luggage.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
Definitely Toronto from LAX, as they are both large airline markets (Quebec is quite expensive to fly into even from the East Coast because it's small - and no easy public transport options to the city center). Look on the VIA Rail website (https://www.viarail.ca/) luggage info. Obviously, if you're going to move entirely by train from city to city (which is totally easy and possible), then consider your own ability to deal with your luggage when determining the maximum weight you can handle.
Posted by
245 posts
Don't fly in to Quebec City from LAX......it's not a major city, or a major airport. Definitely fly in to Toronto (YYZ) or Montreal (YUL). Toronto has 2 airports -- the major international one is YYZ, and there are about 3 or 4 non-stop flights daily from LAX. There is a great short-haul airline that can fly between Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City if you'd like (FlyPorter.com), but you might be happier taking the train......It flies from Toronto's downtown airport (YTZ), which is great, but in Montreal and Quebec, it is in the major airport which isn't downtown and you need to get into the city by bus or cab.
Niagara Falls can be reached by bus or by car from Toronto.