windshieldgypsy

We will be driving from the Madison WI area to Quebec and Montreal, any road trip ideas, leaving anytime in October this year

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

This is an area that I am no expert with, however I can tell you that to get the right information it would be advised to give more detail. What type of ideas are you after ? How long have you got for the trip ? Is it a one way trip or return ? Is it a family trip/holiday or are you looking to get there as quickly as possible ?

Any detail you give will improve the response you get. Until then you could seach the forums and planning pages above for information. The Map centre is great for creating routes and finding attractions along them. Niagara Falls is the stand out one to me.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

It seems as though a lot of recent trips include a jaunt through Chicago. Having done that on several occasions, I can't think of too many places that I would rather avoid. And in your case that's quite possible. A route up through Sault Ste. Marie and then across on the Trans Canada Highway would only be 25 miles longer than going down through Chicago, across Michigan to Sarnia and up through Toronto. You could, of course, use one route to Quebéc and the other coming back, thus maximizing the amount of new country that you get to see.

As for what to see, I just got back from a RoadTrip that included a couple of days in Montréal and a couple of sites there really stood out. By all means take a walking tour of the old city and port. What we did was take the subway to Square Victoria and make our way slowly to the Champs du Mars station, a distance of only about a mile and a half. But that short walk took us to the Basilica of Notre Dame, City Hall, Château Ramezay, along the St. Lawrence River and down several shopping streets. Our favorite, even though it made us feel incredibly old, was an exhibit on the Beatles in the Museum of Archaeology(!?). The other place to be sure to put on your list is the Montréal Botanical Gardens where there is currently a display of floral sculptures contributed by countries from around the world, absolutely incredible.

It's been a while since I've visited Quebéc City, but I remember thoroughly enjoying a carriage ride through the old walled city. Quebéc is a place where at least some familiarity with the French language would come in handy. Unlike the more cosmopolitan Montréal, you will find some shops and restaurants in Quebéc with signs (in French of course) in their windows declaring that they only speak French!

In between Montréal and Quebéc is a charming region often overlooked by travelers, the Eastern Townships, home to several nature centers, provincial parks, monasteries, and a chocolate museum among other attractions. Despite its name, the names of many of its towns, and the fact that it was initially settled largely by Loyalists fleeing north after the American Revolution, this is also now a predominantly Francophile area.

AZBuck