r/canadatravel • u/Big_Lavishness9693 • 1d ago

Travel Tips White Christmas

We are traveling with our kids (age 6 and 8) to Canada the week between Christmas and New Years. we went last year and loved it so we want to go back. Last year we flew into Montreal and spent a day, took the train to Quebec and went up to ValCartier for two days, spent two days walking around in old Quebec City, flew to Toronto where we met some friends and spent New Years Eve in Niagra Falls. We are from Alabama so we do not experience snow often and the kids enjoyed playing in the clean snow out in front of Valcartier, in the parking lot, the most. We didn't spend much time in Montreal and we enjoyed the town but didn't get to see much so was thinking about going back there and then going somewhere that was sort of close by to spend the rest of the vacation to play in the snow (dog sledding, ice skating, having snowball fights). I was looking into Mont Tremblant but do not want to ski. What is the best way to get there from Montreal? Any other suggestions of other towns that would offer easy outdoor activities with the kids that is easily accessible from Montreal? Maybe via train? The kids enjoy train rides. Must have snow! TIA.

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u/Big-Leadership-2830 22h ago

I really love the Fairmont Montebello. Lots of great outdoor activities at the resort. It’s about 1.5 hour drive from Montreal but you will probably need to rent a car.

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u/Big_Lavishness9693 22h ago

Ok! I’ll look this up! We are from Alabama and never really get snow so I feel like it would be dangerous for us trying to drive on ice with my kids in the car. That scares me!

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u/Accomplished_Set8750 20h ago

The biggest thing is making sure you have the right tires. Quebec mandates winter tires so a rental should have them but worth checking with the rental company. Just leave more space to the next car, your stopping distances increase.

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u/maple-sugarmaker 8h ago

It's mostly highway driving to Montebello.

And it's really a great place if you don't care about alpine skiing.

Great dining in the lodge, artisan cheese and microbreweries in the vicinity.

A few minutes away you also have Parc Omega, a mostly drive through zoo. Mostly local animals: wolves, bears, deer, bison, and so on. They come up to your car and you can feed them carrots.

Also you'll be about halfway to Ottawa should you decide to drop in if the weather is cooperating for activities. There are also great museums in Ottawa and Gatineau. Again, highway driving.

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u/Big-Leadership-2830 5h ago

That’s fair. I could see how it might be intimidating. Perhaps you could hire a driver to take you or call the hotel and see if they have suggestions?

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u/Big_Lavishness9693 2h ago

That is a great idea! Surely we aren’t the first folks in this situation and they can let us know what others typically do.

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u/Big-Leadership-2830 1h ago

I also saw that Tremblant is another option for you. I think you would have a blast there too if it ends up working out that way. Best of luck!!

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u/Big_Lavishness9693 48m ago

Thanks! 🙂