Montreal

By plane

Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport (http://www.admtl.ca/) IATA: YUL formerly Dorval Airport is west of the city centre on Expressway Autoroute 20. Note that travel time to the airport from the city centre can be as much as an hour, depending on traffic. The airport is served by all major Canadian and U.S. airlines and is a major hub for Air Canada (http://www.aircanada.ca/), Air Transat (http://www.airtransat.ca/), and WestJet (http://www.westjet.ca/).

There are multiple daily trans-Atlantic flights to and from amongst others London, Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Athens, Doha, Frankfurt, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, Munich, and Casablanca.

The taxi fare to and from downtown is a fixed price of $40 a sticker on the window behind the driver gives the boundaries of the zone where the flat fare applies; if you are going from or to places outside this zone, you will have to pay a metered fare with a minmum of $17 when leaving from the airport.

STM Airport Express bus 747 (http://stm.info/English/b...) offers service between the airport and downtown Montreal 24 hours a day. A single fare will cost $8 exact change in coins only when paid in the bus and includes unlimited use of the STM bus and metro network for the following 24 hours. There is also a ticket machine in the airport where you can purchase fares including a three day pass for $16. The bus will stop at Lionel-Groulx metro station and a number of downtown stops.

It is possible to go downtown by the cheaper regular public transit system. Late at night, it is all right, but during peak hours, you will need to complete several transfers with potentially crowded vehicles so it is really only best to do so only if you are on a very low budget and/or have very light baggage.

Between 5:00 AM and 1:00 AM, take bus 204 east est STM (http://www.stm.info/English/a-somm.htm) which leaves from outside arrivals every 30 min to Gare Dorval Dorval Train Station. Check that the driver is not going west ouest as both ways are served from almost the same place, and the sign does not say. You can also use the 209 on weekdays to get to Gare Dorval. Also, be sure to keep the ticket that the driver will give you as it is a transfer which you will need later. From Gare Dorval, use your transfer ticket to catch any one of buses 211, 411, 405, 425, or 485 to Lionel-Groulx metro station. Also make sure it is going east as the same routes go west too. Your transfer will then let you into the metro. This costs only $3, but exact change in coins only must be provided to the first driver. Take the Montmorency-bound orange line or the Honoré-Beaugrand-bound green line into downtown on the metro.

Between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM, for the same price $3, exact change in coins only, take bus 356 again, check that the driver is going east, not west directly into downtown via Sherbrooke. This bus runs relatively close to most downtown hotels. However, if needed, a transfer can be completed to access the rest of the city. See the STM's trip planner or Google Maps for more details.

Plattsburgh International Airport and Burlington International Airport, both located in the US, are each about two hours' ride from Montreal. Adirondack Trailways offers a bus service between Plattsburgh International Airport and Montreal. Greyhound offers a bus service from Burlington International Airport and Montreal. For travellers from the US, these airports may offer a significant cost savings compared to Trudeau but at the added inconvenience of arranging ground transportation between the US and Canada.

By bus

There are extensive services to Montreal from cities in Ontario, Quebec, New York, Vermont, and Maine. Buses arrive and depart from the Station Centrale d'autobus not to be confused with the Gare Centrale or central train station at 505 boulevard de Maisonneuve est, (directly above the Berri-UQAM metro station]. Call 514-842-2281 for schedules and prices.

Intercity bus services to Montreal are offered by Megabus (http://ca.megabus.com), Coach Canada (http://www.coachcanada.co...), Adirondack Trailways (http://www.trailwaysny.com/), Greyhound Canada (http://www.greyhound.ca/), Greyhound Lines (http://www.greyhound.com/), Voyageur (http://www.greyhound.ca/), and Orléans Express (http://www.orleansexpress.com/). Orléans Express is the principal bus carrier in the St. Lawrence Valley, including the Montreal—Quebec City route. Its sister company Acadian Lines (http://www.smtbus.com/) provides connections from eastern Quebec to destinations in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Voyageur, a subsidiary of Greyhound Canada, provides service to Ottawa, connecting with other bus routes to points in western Canada. Coach Canada provides service to Toronto, connecting with other bus routes to western New York, southern Ontario, Michigan and Illinois. Other regions of Quebec are served by various companies.

Greyhound Lines offers three daily direct services and Adirondack Trailways offers two daily direct services, from New York, with additional trips operated on weekends and in summer 8 h, from $76.50 US. Vermont Transit, a subsidiary of Greyhound Lines, offers four daily direct services from Boston, though Vermont Transit is now operating under the name of Greyhound Lines seven hours, from $72 US. Note that there is no student discount on the Montreal-New York service.

The train is slower but significantly cheaper; around $62 CA compared to about $75 CA for the bus. However, for about $15 CA extra, the bus makes for a much quicker journey with a much quicker passage through customs; so for speed, the bus is far superior; but for comfort and scenery, the longer train journey is more pleasantly spent.

By car

From Toronto, take Highway 401 east about 5 h until it becomes Autoroute Expressway 20 on the Quebec side of the border. It will then take about an hour to get to downtown. Be alert for frequent speed-limit changes along this road. To reach downtown follow the Centre-Ville signs and take Autoroute 720 Autoroute 20 continues over the Pont Champlain bridge to the South Shore.

From Ottawa, it's about 2 hours east along Highway 417 which becomes Autoroute 40 in Quebec to Montreal.

From Quebec City, it's about 3 hours west on either Autoroute 40 or Autoroute 20.

From New York City, take Interstate Highway 87 north through Albany and the eastern half of New York State for about six hours. After the border crossing near Plattsburgh, the freeway becomes Autoroute 15, which leads directly into downtown Montreal over the Pont Champlain, the most beautiful approach to the city. The drive time from Plattsburgh to downtown Montreal is approximately one hour.

From Boston, take Interstate Highway 93 to Highway 89 after you cross into New Hampshire. Follow Interstated 89 north to and through Vermont to the border crossing, where it turns into Highway 133. This secondary road continues to Autoroute 10, which leads directly into downtown Montreal. The whole trip takes about 5 hours. Once you cross the border it is about 1 1/2 hours to Montreal.

By train

Montreal Central Station Gare Centrale is at 895 rue de la Gauchetière Ouest, one block west of rue University, and is served by the Bonaventure metro subway station. Note that prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified.

VIA Rail Canada (http://www.viarail.ca/) operates fast and comfortable passenger trains from Montreal along the busy Quebec-Ontario corridor and to destinations in northern Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. All fares below are five-day advance booking prices for one-way travel in "Comfort" coach / economy class, expect to pay almost 50% more if you book on the day of travel. Check the VIA website for "express deals" (http://www.viarail.ca/en/deals), which are posted every Thursday. Highly discounted tickets are available, typically for long distance train routes or short distance trips at non-peak hours. Express deals on short distance trips e.g. Montreal-Toronto are typically offered only for the upcoming weeks, whereas long distance deals e.g. Montreal to Winnipeg may be available several weeks in advance. "VIA-1" first / business class is available for a premium and includes a meal, alcoholic refreshments, snacks, and pay-per-use wireless internet in both station lounges and on board the train. An ISIC student card can obtain a discount on all services both VIA and Amtrak. Bicycles can also be brought aboard as is on certain Corridor trains during the summer months. See Rail travel in Canada for more information.

Five trains a day operate to and from Ottawa two hours, from $35.

Six trains a day operate to and from Toronto four and a half hours, from $85.

Five trains a day operate to and from Quebec City three hours, from $47.

Six evenings a week, VIA's "Ocean" service departs for the overnight journey to New Brunswick fifteen and a half hours, from $110 coach, $162 upper berth, $219 bedroom and Nova Scotia twenty hours, from $133 coach, $187 upper berth, $245 bedroom. The choice of sleeping accommodation varies according to the season. Along with trains between Montreal and Quebec, the Ocean is now almost exclusively operated by modern Renaissance trains that were originally built for the aborted Channel Tunnel sleeper services between Great Britain and France.

Three evenings a week, the Ocean also pulls the "Chaleur" train as far as Matapedia. The train divides in the early morning and the Chaleur follows the southern shore of the Gaspé peninsular as far as Gaspe 17.5 h, from $106 coach, $165 upper berth, $215 bedroom.

VIA also offers three weekly round trips to Senneterre, in Abitibi eleven and a half hours, from $81, and Jonquière in the Saguenay nine hours, from $55. Both trains operate as wilderness services: a request stop may be made at any point along the route for those who want to hike and kayak in the remoter regions of Quebec that the train passes through.

Amtrak's (http://www.amtrak.com/) 'Adirondack' service to New York 11 hours, from $61 US departs daily, with connections in Schenectady to but not from Chicago 24 h, $114 US and in New York to Philadelphia 14 h, $97 US and Washington, DC 16 h, $120 US. The train also passes through much of upstate New York and hugs Lake Champlain for a large part of the trip. South of Albany, the route follows the Hudson River and passes a number of historic sites. Reliability of the service has improved greatly since an extra hour was added to the previous 10 h schedule, but one should still factor in the frequent possibility of arriving an hour later than scheduled.

The journey to New York is cheaper but slower than by bus see below, which takes 7-9 h, but the superior comfort, extra legroom and ability to walk around the train and visit the cafe car for food and drink at your leisure, as well as the good view from the train of the Lake Champlain and Hudson River scenery, make up for this. While the bus is superior in terms of speed for a direct journey to New York, where getting for A to B is most important, the extra time on the train is more pleasantly spent in terms of comfort and scenery.

Train passengers leaving from Boston may take the Regional Service to Penn Station, New York, and transfer to the Adirondack line to Montreal, but this method requires significant layover times in New York.