New Jersey to Canada

[MSchwarz]

Hi everyone! My husband and I are beginning to plan a week long roadtrip from Medford, NJ to Canada. We are planning to go the last week of August/first week of September. He has never been to Canada before so we would definitely like to see as much as possible in this short amount of time. Niagra Falls and Toronto are his "must see" locations and if possible, we would also like to go to Ottawa and/or Montreal. As far as driving, we have absolutely no problem driving the 7-8 hours it will take to get to the border in one shot. We actually enjoy the drive lol (we leave very early in the morning and take turns driving). We would like to have at least one full day at each of our stops. I have heard that there is quite a bit of construction taking place right now from Niagra Falls to Toronto. Google Maps estimates 1hr 30mins with delays accounted for.. I'm not sure how accurate that is. Then, we would drive approx 4hrs 45 mins to Ottawa from Toronto and then 2 hrs 30 mins to Montreal. Finally, Montreal back to home. Is it worth it to drive to Ottawa and Montreal? Is there a lot to do/see there or is it something we wouldn't mind passing up until a later trip when we have more time? Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance! Melissa

[glc]

Welcome to RTA!

First things first - do you both have passports?

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Being able to get on the road well before other traffic is always a plus on a RoadTri. This will be particularly true on your first day as you have to go through Philadelphia, navigating both the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Schuylkill Expressway. If you can clear those and get headed up the Northeast Extension before too many people join you on the road, so much the better. At Binghamton NY, I'd suggest you consider leaving I-81 and take NY/I-86 across the southern tier of New York and then take I-380 up towards Rochester. This is actually a shade shorter than going all the way up to I-90 and saves a bit on tolls. It also sets you up to possibly visit Letchworth State Park and pull up for the night a bit short of (and in an area with cheaper accommodations than) Niagara Falls.

With another early start the next morning, you should be able to get around Buffalo (if you've stopped southeast of there) and arrive in Niagara Falls well before the crowds. See the Falls from as many vantage points as possible, particularly from the Canadian side where you can actually go through some of the tunnels drilled into the rock escarpment during the building of the hydroelectric station and view the falls from behind. Also worth a visit while you are in the area are Niagara-on-the-Lake, Fort George National Historic Site and Navy Hall National Historic Site.

I don't have much to say about Toronto other that my wife and I did enjoy the zoo there, but heading over the top of Lake Ontario will bring you to the Thousand Islands area which is well worth taking some time to explore. We did enjoy Ottawa and were particularly struck by how accessible the Parliament Building was, although this has probably changed since the incident a while back in which a gunman got inside. And in Montréal the highlight of our recent visit was the Botanical Gardens.

Montréal to Medford could conceivably be driven in a day, but plan on two. That will leave you time for the inevitable border crossing delay and to see a few things. Places to look into spending some of that 'extra' time include getting over to Burlington VT by bridge/US-2 and then taking one of the three ferries back across the lake to the New York side. We found the Charlotte-Essex Ferry the best for our sight-seeing-on-a-budget trip. Then as you work your way down the west side of Lake Champlain/Lake George/Hudson River, visit some of the many early frontier forts such as Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga.

If you want to miss as much as you can of New York City metro traffic, you can leave I-87 west of Newburg and take I-84 west to Port Jervis and then take US-206 down through New Jersey all the way to Trenton where I-295 will carry you most of the rest of the way home.

AZBuck