Trip to Quebec City from Nebraska

[Vallgrlx2]

We are considering an early summer trip to Quebec City from Omaha, Nebraska in 2015. We will be traveling with a 28 foot ( we will purchase in April 2015) travel trailer through Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal then Quebec City. I have never been to this area, (hubbie has) and it has been on my bucket list for many years. I and am a bit uncertain taking a large TT through major metro areas. Also looking for camping areas throughout this region. Any suggestions, tourist sites to see, resources, etc would be much appreciated!

The Conways
Omaha, NEBRASKA

[B and B]

Hello,
I can speak to parts of your travel.

Ontario Provinvincial parks are nice to stop at, often on the great lakes. If you are into Birding April/May at Rondeau PP is nice, on Lake Erie. Grand River Conservation park at Elora , gorge and quaint small village with Fergus a scottish community close by Up the road further after Toronto the Kingston area is quite nice as well the 1000's island National Park has camping with 2 services mostly. Ocean going ships and miles of bike trails.
Some place in my area of Canada I have spent time at.


Montreal staying on the south shore is nice south of the city, been a long time since I have been there though.

[Vallgrlx2]

Thank you

[MarcusN]

Shouldn't have a major problem as long as you plan to hit Toronto & Montreal at off peak hours. Toronto has a 407 bypass that is toll but is very expensive. Make sure you stop at Kingston and see the Fort and displays. Also must stop and take cruise through the 1000 Islands and see Bolt Castle, also camp along side the river if possible. If you are not planning to stop in Toronto for anything I would suggest staying in US & crossing over at the 1000 Islands as gas is at least $1.00 more per gallon in Canada and staying in US can stop in Cleveland at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & also in Buffalo & see Niagara Falls. Drive up along edge of Adirondac NP is beautiful.

[Canadiancrew]

We have had our previous 31 foot trailer through Montreal as well as Toronto Chicago an Detroit many times.

We like to set up a base camp so to speak and then take day trips. In this case we have stayed half way between Quebec City an Montreal. We found a nice campground on the south side of the river near trios rivière. From there we took day trips to each of the two cities.

We just went through Chicago this summer with our 24 foot trailer but have done it with no problems with a 31 foot. It busy and I don't like it but hey we always got through without incident.

If you wish to avoid Detroit you can take i69 to Port Huron Mi. And cross over to Sarnia ontario. Decent border crossing with good highways and no city driving.

[itat]

How much time will you have, if any, to stop at a few places between Detroit and Quebec City?

I agree with MarcusN except that there is still lots to see east of Toronto if you want to avoid going through the big city. The 407ETR highway is a great option if you hit Toronto mid-week at rush hour (6am to 9am and 3pm to 7pm). But Toronto has a lot to see if you are interested.

Kingston, at the east end of Lake Ontario, is a very historical city (formerly the capital of Upper Canada) with a great downtown and Fort Henry which is an early 1800s English fort right next to Royal Military College. About a half hour east is the 1000 Islands Parkway where you'll have a choice of several nice campgrounds. Use that campground as a base to visit Kingston because there won't be any place to park a truck and trailer combo. It'll also be a short drive to take a tour of the 1000 islands - I recommend the smaller boats out of Rockport Boat Lines.

If you take the U.S. route and cross the border from I81 north of Watertown, NY you'll be a half hour east of Kingston and 10 minutes east of Gananoque.

If you have time to visit the Canadian capital of Ottawa it's well worth the trip. Lots of history and many fantastic museums. And the drive down the Quebec side of the Ottawa River towards Montreal and through ski hill country is beautiful.

In Montreal, do yourself a favour and take Autoroute 30 south and around the city while pulling the trailer. Montreal is a nice place to visit but not to pull the trailer through. Drivers can be crazy and the city is famous for its road construction.

Quebec City is beautiful. We stayed at the Quebec KOA and they have a tour bus service there to take you into the heart of the city. Make sure you try the poutine!

Don't worry if you can't speak French, most places will be bilingual, but all signs in Quebec are written in French so you might want to brush up on some basics so you can navigate. A GPS will be helpful.

[derek6669]

No one mentioned Presquille Prov Park at Brighton On. Great park for birding nice trails. If you are planning to stop at provincial parks you can reserve 5 months in advance. Hwy 30 is a must to avoid Montreal we use it every year now on our way to the maritimes

[caper]

X2 on Hwy 30. Small toll to use bridge but will avoid Montreal. If you are going to take a boat trip around the 1000 Island I recommend the Rockport Boat lines. I work on the boats during the summer and would recommend the 2 hour lunch cruise. You will see the islands that are in the heart of the 1000 Island plus enjoy a buffet lunch while on the boat.

[Vallgrlx2]

Thank you for all the helpful travel advice. I especially like the idea of parking our rig then taking day trips around the area. And the idea about taking a loop around major cities is quite smart. I grew up in LA, and marveled how TT, and large trucks navigated six lanes of traffic

Merry Christmas All

[tenttotrailer]

I agree with others going through Toronto on the 401 try to get there early or later typical big city traffic. Presquille PP, just off of Brighten, about 5-10 km off the 401, is gorgeous. It is a quiet Provincial Park well laid out and lots of walking and biking and great swimming. Agree with checking out Kingston, it is my hometown, Redieu Acres CG off Hwy 15, close to the city and Fort Henry. If you are in Kingston you need to stop at the waterfront, lots to see. KOA Ivy Lea by Gananoqua is a good stop, bike and walking paths, great area. Next is your run to Montreal, there is a KOA just before the city if you are going to lay up for the night before taking on getting through, it is right off the transcanada. Montreal, traffic is crazy and fast, take the south shore, maybe be a little slower but without a doubt there will be tons of spring/summer road construction. I am not a big city guy so going downtown Montreal is not my thing, but there is alot of history, fine dining and shopping. After Montreal, is a 200-250 km drive along the St lawrence River to Queber City. There is a KOA just before the city and can be seen from the highway. You must go to Old Quebec City with the shops and cafes and historic attractions. Sorry to ramble but you are driving through my neck of the woods.

[derek6669]

Good advise from tentotrailer, with one exception. Hwy 30 is now open and bypasses Montreal all together. The exit is just before the exit to Dorion HWY 30 joins back up to HWY 20 just south of the Louis Hippolitte Tunnel. HWY 30 is a toll road, but well worth the couple of $$$$, there is only 1 toll just to the east of Valleyfield.

[Vallgrlx2]

Appreciate your thoughts on this area, lots of good ideas! We are taking possession of a 28 ft Coachmen Catalina 243 RBS in March. Taking a short trip close to home to work out kinks.

Is Omaha, Nebraska to Quebec City to far to navigate with this large a TT? Any suggestions on route? Is mid June to soon to travel north? We moved up from a 2012 18ft RPOd to a 28 ft unit. Pretty scary!


Thank you everyone

Bets and Jim
Ford 150 Ecoboost 2014
243 RBS Coachmen Catalina 2016

[Vallgrlx2]

The NO a COFFEE !
This is what happens when I write in the morning without my coffee! I repeat myself! Apologies all!

Vallgrlx2
Omaha, NE

[micalo]

When arriving near Montreal from Toronto, you wont have to go accross town.
You will exit towards highway30 that will take you around Montreal without having to go true it.
You can go as far as Jacques Cartier bridge, next to the bridge on the south shore of Montreal there is a marina that also have facilities for campers for 1-2 night stay with electricity and water, and also a dump site near exit. Not expensive at all.From ther you can use your vehicule and go anywear you want in town, arund 10 minues ride.Or if you wish there is a river shuttle, that will take you accross the St-Laurence river to the old Montreal, thats where visitors like to go. If you like to walk a little there is a lot to see right from there.
You should enjoy this part of Montreal.
From your camping spots, if you happen to be there at the right time you will be able to see the fireworks.

Here is the web site to the marina
Sogerive
Hope this help a little, and if i can be of any help, let me know.
When are you planning on being in Montreal?

Have a good trip
Michel

[micalo]

Samething for Quebec city. Acrross the St-Laurent river in the town of Levis, i think there a camping and from there you can either drive to Quebec city or take the ferry accross witch will take you to lower part of Quebec city. From there everything is walking distance. But from lower Quebec to upper Quebec you can either walk up stairway and hilly street or take the funiculaire witch is a tram systems up and down.
If you need i should be able to get infos on all camping site around Montreal and Quebec.
You will enjoy both cities very much. people here are mostly bilingual (french english) so no worry for communication.
Have fun

[Johnphotod]

A great stop on the way is the Henry Ford Museum, especially the tour of the F150 assembly plant. It is amazing to see a modern day assembly plant in action!

[derek6669]

If you stay near the Jacque Cartier Bridge, there is also Terre Des Homme, the site of the Worlds Fair (Expo 67 ) and also La Ronde also on the Expo site which is a Six Flag Amusement Park. On Ile St Helene you will also find the old Fort St Helene built in 1820 to protect Montreal from American Invasion, Fort St Helene was the central arsenal to supply other forts is the defensive chain with artillery ammo from Fort Henry in Kingston to Fort Lennox in the eastern townships. Fort Henry would also be a nice stop along the way especially if you are going through late July to Sept as they have an impressive Sunset Retreat presented 2-3 times a week.

[caper]

Appreciate your thoughts on this area, lots of good ideas! We are taking possession of a 28 ft Coachmen Catalina 243 RBS in March. Taking a short trip close to home to work out kinks.

Is Omaha, Nebraska to Quebec City to far to navigate with this large a TT? Any suggestions on route? Is mid June to soon to travel north? We moved up from a 2012 18ft RPOd to a 28 ft unit. Pretty scary!

We travel from east end of Ontario to Vancouver Island pulling a 34' TT. So you should not have a problem pulling your trailer. The weather in June should be fine. If you are near the Mallorytown KOA stop in. We are full timers at this CG. The owners are great people and is a great CG to use as a base camp to see the attractions in the 1000 Islands area including our Nation Capital. The CG is about 1hr away from Ottawa, 1hr to Kingston and 15min. to 1000 Island boat tours. You can check out the CG at 1000 Islands KOA Mallorytown.

[Canadiancrew]

Originally Posted by Vallgrlx2

Is Omaha, Nebraska to Quebec City to far to navigate with this large a TT? Any suggestions on route? Is mid June to soon to travel north? We moved up from a 2012 18ft RPOd to a 28 ft unit. Pretty scary!


Thank you everyone

Bets and Jim
Ford 150 Ecoboost 2014
243 RBS Coachmen Catalina 2016

J
Everyone has their own comfort level but as far as I am concerned you should have no problem doing that trip in June. We have had a 31 foot trailer from ontario through Nebraska and down to Colorado. Also had it from ontario taking the route you will take to Quebec but then continued on to New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. June can be cool sometimes but you got heat and electricity and you beat the rush for July and August vacationers so we love to travel in June.

[D-mo]

a place to stay when visiting Quebec City would be mont st.anne campsite .. its a provincial.. or what Quebec calls a National park, 40 minutes to the west of Quebec City. There are 5 beautiful waterfalls in the immediate area of the campground .. and some awesome trout fishing spots, if you like to flyfish. A beautiful park, with a very nice spa just outside the front entrance for the little lady, when of course your fishing. Large sites, bookable online, clean and very safe .. tucked in the large hills of Quebec.

d-mo