Where to go for a short trip in the US East: Canada’s Winter Fairy Tale
If you have a four or five-day short break and you like the Nordic fairy tale style, I highly recommend 🇨🇦 Montreal and Quebec.
Here is the itinerary my partner and I followed this time:
Day 1: Philadelphia 🚄 Newark Airport, ✈️ Montreal Trudeau Airport
🚌: Three-day bus pass
🏨: A homestay near Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal
🗺️: Stroll along Old Montreal, watch the light show at Notre-Dame Basilica. P10 suggests arriving half an hour early; it’s beautiful and somewhat hypnotic.
🍴: L'Usine de Spaghetti has a creamy crab pasta that’s a must-try, and the duck confit pasta is also good.
Day 2: Montreal
🗺️: McGill University Museum, lots of animal-related exhibits. P9 The shops around the university have beautiful Montreal fridge magnets.
Mount Royal, on a snowy day it takes about half an hour to walk to the lookout to overlook Montreal city.
🍴: Crêperie Maison Bagatelle – crepes are decent.
St-Viateur Bagel: authentic and delicious bagels, a must-try! P7 The Apple Maple flavor is unique and tasty.
Schwartz’s Deli: smoked meat shop, both the poutine and smoked meat sandwich are insanely good, a must-visit.
French cuisine: Monarque, highly recommended! Foie gras, beef marrow, escargot, and duck confit are all delicious! The Black Forest cake is probably the best I’ve ever had, and there’s a platter that’s also good for sampling a bit of everything.
Day 3: Montreal 🚄 Quebec City
🚌: Three-hour train to Quebec City, bought a 24-hour Quebec bus pass
🏨: Hilton in Old Quebec
🗺️: It got dark around 4:30 PM in Quebec. Visited the German Market, a huge Christmas market with not much food and huge lines. Walked along Saint-Jean commercial street.
🍴: Olive et Gourmando in Montreal was quite average, the egg sandwich combined with American pizza flavors. But the Cuban sandwich was pretty good. If the line is too long, skip it.
Paillard pastry shop, the apricot Danish and the cream-filled pastry were both quite average, maybe because we went too late.
Day 4: Old Quebec City
🗺️: Pierre-Dugua-De-Mons Terrace lookout, also a filming location for the drama “Goblin,” it’s the hill overlooking the hotel, but the snow was too heavy P7. However, the snowy scenery on the way was beautiful and we even saw horse-drawn carriages.
Quartier Petit Champlain, a commercial street with a strong Christmas atmosphere, very beautiful for photos P2, P3. Another “Goblin” filming location, the red door is also here.
🍴: La Buche, a Quebec-style restaurant that’s really popular. But the food tastes like British cuisine, such as shepherd’s pie, so it’s just okay.
Pâtisserie Chouquette desserts are incredibly delicious, a must-try, unforgettable! The Napoleon and almond croissant are both super tasty.
🚌 Return to Montreal
Day 5: ✈️ Back to Philadelphia, heartbroken
Isabella Simmons Claire-9