Instead of a Canadian trip, I’m going to call this trip what it was… a Québécois trip. For those of you not into this lingo, Québécois, pronunced [kebekwa], is someone who lives in the province of Quebec. The only province I’ve visited in Canada thus far and a beautiful place.

In this post, I’m going to cover two cities, Montreal and Toronto. I lived in Montreal for 3 months one summer so I love the city, but in this particular trip I spent a few days in each city with a friend and drove down from Montreal to Toronto.

To give you a visual idea… here is what the drive looks like.

It is not a short drive, but definitely not a difficult one and borders the incredible Lake Ontario, home of the Thousand Islands. I’ll put a short disclaimer here, which is that we did this trip in one day AND during the summer months. Leaving Montreal at noon and stopping at Thousand Islands on the way, reaching Toronto late at night. If possible, I suggest breaking this trip up into two days and staying one of those nights at the Thousand Islands to enjoy the paradisal views. I would also only do this trip during the summer due to the area by the water.

Montreal

The beautiful city of Montreal (the largest city in the Quebec province) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River. Known for its great and colorful architecture, Montreal’s main language is French, closely followed by English.

In terms of things to do, Montreal has no shortage of items.
The main areas I’d suggest you visit are the Old Montreal, Mount Royale and City Center.

Old Montreal, located southeast of downtown, includes the Old Port, City Hall and the Notredame Basilica. Although you can do this area just by walking around and admiring the different buildings and shoppes, there are some walking tours here.
The Notredame Basilica is a must do. Its beauty is unmatched and the level of detail you see inside is amazing. The entrance was only 6 Canadian Dollars when I visited and you can easily buy the ticket at the door.

Mount Royale Park is great for bikers or runners, although you can also drive up the hill (or take public transportation). Here, you can see a view of the whole city. This park is one of Montreal’s biggest greenspaces and it was designed by the same architect that designed Central Park (in NYC).

The City Center includes many things to see, including the incredible underground city. RESO (or the Underground city) is a series of tunnels that connect different shopping centers, office buildings, residential buildings, universities and metro stops in the heart of Downtown Montreal. This Underground City was built thinking of Montreal’s hard winter months in which going outside is definitely no picnic.

This is only a very short overview of all there is to do in Montreal, I will write more about this amazing city in my next post 🙂

1000 Islands

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

1000 islands (or Thousand Islands) is a little hidden gem located in between the cities of Montreal and Toronto in Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River. The islands are actually located on the border between the U.S. and Canada. There are 1,864 islands to be exact and most of them are privately owned; however, there are a few you can personally visit, a group of them is even considered a national park: Thousand Islands National Park. There you can kayak, canoe, camp and more.

As I mentioned before, I didn’t have time to visit as we only passed by on our drive to Toronto. I would definitely recommend spending at least a day here enjoying the breathtaking scenery.

Toronto

• 

• 

• 

Toronto City Overview: Hop On, Hop Off

As usual, my recommendation to see a city in a few days is to jump onto the Hop On, Hop Off bus. In this case, I purchased the ticket in an Old Toronto stop and just jumped on (ticket cost about $35). The bus only had one route and in the second loop, I had already figured out which places I wanted to walk through. The bus ticket also includes a Cruise Ticket that takes you to Toronto’s 14 islands and the Inner Harbour (if you go during the summer).

Some of the main stops include:

1. The Yonge-Dundas Square / Eaton Centre (or stop 1, the main stop) is essentially a mini Times Square (for those of you who have visited NYC). It is charming, the screens are very interesting but the main thing to do is shopping.

2. The CN Tower. For a full view of this outstanding city, you should take a trip up the CN tower. Considering that the main picture we know of the city of Toronto includes the CN Tower as the main identifying item, try not to be disappointed when you notice you’re actually on the tower (ha!).

3. Hockey Hall of Fame. For you sports fans! I didn’t visit the Museum because I have no idea about Hockey or any other sport. But if you love Hockey, it is a must do!

4. St. Lawrence Market. For the foodie in you, this is the place where your heart belongs. I had THE BEST octopus sandwich in a stand towards the back, went back the next day for another fish. I recommend visiting at least once.

5. Distillery District. Beautiful district full of bars, cafes and stores. I spent an afternoon here walking around the different stores and then drank a coffee at one of the cafes. Great area for taking pictures.

Must Eat: Toronto Edition

• 

• 

Welcome to one of the weirdest items (or at least item names) I have ordered to eat so far. “Hello! I want a Beaver Tail please?”.

BeaverTails are one of Toronto’s most popular pastries. Its a mix of dough between a donut and waffle, it is fried and it is super sweet. It has a variety of toppings you can choose from and I definitely could not even finish half of that by myself. I don’t think I could ever eat another one but I say, go for it! It’s a Toronto Must Eat 🙂

Toronto Must Do: Hockey Game

I am definitely not one for sports, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do! I was there the exact weekend that the Toronto Maples were playing against the Montreal Canadiens (apparently as classic as Barça vs Real Madrid for you soccer fans). The game was a once in a lifetime experience. I had never been to a hockey game before so I was surprised by the random (allowed) fighting and the excitement of the fans.

The tickets were not that expensive, around $50 Canadian Dollars and totally worth the fun!

My Vote: I’d do it (over and over) again

Overall, I recommend this trip to anyone looking for a long weekend getaway or a one week trip. I would have loved to spend more time on the road, but 2 days in Montreal and 3 in Toronto were enough in those cities for me. The province of Quebec is beautiful, and the citizens are great people. Next on my list in the province is Quebec City, which I hear is also as beautiful (if not more so) than the rest.