Eastern Canadian Capitals

October 2012: Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Niagara Falls & Toronto


Montreal
Our trip began in this island city of 3.6 million. During our overview tour, we saw Jacques Cartier Sq, St Joseph’s Oratory, McGill University, the panoramic view from atop Mount Royal, various neighborhoods and many other sights. We learned all the universities in Canada are public and tuition is a mere $1700/year! We visited just a tiny portion of the incredible underground that connects 85% of the city via stores, university, apartments, etc. Those of us who arrived early also enjoyed lunch at the iconic Schwartz Deli, visited Notre Dame Cathedral and shopped at the Marché Bonsecour in the Vieux Port area.

Québec City
We then headed north to the only large French-speaking city in North America. A walled-city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Québec City welcomes 8 million tourists per year. Here we saw the stately Chateau Frontenac (where some of us relaxed over a drink in its lovely bar) with its shiny, new copper roof. We also saw St Louis arch, Place Royale, the Parliament and several other historic buildings. We enjoyed a breakfast, accompanied by live music and spoon playing, at a traditional sugar shack. Bring on the maple syrup! Despite overcast weather here, we all spent an entire day exploring the old city.

Ottawa
The national capital was a lovely surprise—not just the beautiful Parliament building we visited, but the fall color. We were so fortunate to catch the blazing red, orange and yellow leaves at their absolute peak. We enjoyed a delightful breakfast cruise here on the Ottawa River, saw the Rideau Canal and shopped at the Byward Market. In our free time, some of us visited the amazing Museum of Civilization. There were a number of other museums, churches and buildings to visit, too. En route to Toronto we traveled in leisurely fashion by VIA rail and took in the lovely scenery along the way.

Toronto
This city of 6 million (approximately 1/6 the population of Canada) was our final destination. Our city tour highlighted the diverse architecture, the harbor front and Queens Park. We delighted in our day trip to Niagara Falls where we saw the awesome falls up close and personal on our Maid of the Mist cruise. (We did look like smurfs in our blue ponchos!) And we spent the afternoon at nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake with its unique shops and great scenery.

We left with wonderful impressions of Canada. We found it extremely clean, safe welcoming and full of civic pride. Alas our trip was over all too quickly! (Some of us are now looking to visit the Maritime Provinces soon: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island.)
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