Montreal + Beyond: 5 Day Quebec Trip
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Five days keeps our 4-day itinerary (city core, Quebec City, Ottawa) and adds the Eastern Townships as day five, a true day trip rather than a mostly-travel one, one to two hours southeast into wine country.
Day-by-day at a glance
| Day | Focus | Est. spend (excl. hotel/travel) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Montreal, Notre-Dame Basilica, downtown | ~$55-85 |
| 2 | Mount Royal, food crawl, RÉSO | ~$45-75 |
| 3 | Quebec City day trip | ~$60-100 |
| 4 | Ottawa day trip | ~$55-90 |
| 5 | Eastern Townships wine route | ~$65-100 |
Book these before you go
- VIA Rail to Quebec City and Ottawa , both from Gare Centrale.
- A rental car for day 5, the Eastern Townships aren’t on the rail network.
Day 1: The Montreal core, fast
Morning: Old Montreal, then Notre-Dame Basilica (about $16 daytime).
Afternoon: Downtown, the RÉSO underground city.
Evening: Dinner, budget the 14.975% sales tax and 18-20% tip; Schwartz’s Deli.
Day 2: Mount Royal and a food crawl
Morning: Mount Royal, Kondiaronk Belvedere.
Afternoon: The Museum of Fine Arts (about $31, free for 25 and under).
Evening: Fairmount Bagel, St-Viateur Bagel, La Banquise.
Day 3: Quebec City
Morning: VIA Rail or a drive, about three hours, to Old Québec, the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Afternoon: The Château Frontenac and the walled city.
Evening: The return trip, about three hours.
Day 4: Ottawa
Morning: VIA Rail, about two hours, to Parliament Hill.
Afternoon: Canada’s capital museums.
Evening: Return to Montreal by rail.
Day 5: The Eastern Townships
Morning: Drive southeast, one to two hours, into the Cantons-de-l’Est wine route.
Afternoon: Magog on Lake Memphremagog, or the villages of Bromont and Sutton, this is the true day trip on the list, not a rushed transit day. Fall foliage season is the best window if your dates line up.
Evening: The Balnea spa if you want a slower finish to the day, or the drive back for a last Montreal dinner.
Is 5 days enough for Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, and the Eastern Townships?
Five days genuinely covers all four, but three of those days involve meaningful travel time, Quebec City and Ottawa especially. The Eastern Townships day is the one that feels like an actual day trip rather than a commute with sightseeing at the end. Our 6-day itinerary adds Mont-Tremblant on top of this same plan.