Montreal in 4 Days: Budget + Day Trips
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4 days: 2 in the city, then Quebec City and Ottawa by VIA Rail
Two condensed days in Montreal, then two real day trips, Quebec City (about 3 hours each way by VIA Rail) and Ottawa (about 2 hours each way), both reachable straight from Gare Centrale with no rental car. Budget $80-115 a person per day shoestring in the city or $155-260 mid-range, plus Quebec’s 14.975% sales tax. Only 3 days? See the 3-day itinerary , which drops Ottawa. Want the Eastern Townships and Mont-Tremblant added too? See the 6-day itinerary (there’s no 5-day version).
Book these before you go
- VIA Rail tickets for both Day 3 (Quebec City) and Day 4 (Ottawa), earlier booking means cheaper fares
- A timed slot for Notre-Dame’s evening AURA show if Day 1 runs late, about $33.50
- A Quebec City hotel instead of the day trip, if your schedule can flex; it’s genuinely better as an overnight
Day 1: Old Montreal and Notre-Dame
Old Montreal’s cobblestones and Place Jacques-Cartier are free to walk. Notre-Dame Basilica’s blue-and-gold interior runs about $16 by day. Keep bags zipped in Place Jacques-Cartier’s crowds, the city’s most pickpocket-reported spot, not a violent one.
Day 1 real costs: Notre-Dame ~$16, transit ~$7.50.
Day 2: Mont-Royal and Mile End
The Kondiaronk Belvedere on Mont-Royal is a free skyline panorama. Wander the Plateau and Mile End free, pick a bagel side between Fairmount (1919) and St-Viateur (1957), and have dinner at Schwartz’s Deli (1928), about $9.75 a sandwich.
Day 2 real costs: Schwartz’s ~$9.75.
Day 3: Quebec City, mostly a travel day
Quebec City’s Old Québec holds the region’s actual UNESCO World Heritage listing (1985), not Montreal, about 3 hours each way from Gare Centrale by VIA Rail. See the Château Frontenac and Old Québec’s streets, but plan around spending more time on the train than in the city; an overnight is the better trip if your dates allow it.
Day 3 real costs: VIA Rail fare varies by booking window, plus sight admissions in Old Québec.
Day 4: Ottawa, a long day trip that actually works
Ottawa, Canada’s capital, is about 2 hours each way by VIA Rail, close enough that a full day trip covers Parliament Hill and the surrounding capital sights without feeling rushed the way Quebec City does.
Day 4 real costs: VIA Rail fare varies by booking window.
Book both VIA Rail legs together as soon as your dates are set, fares rise the closer you get to departure on both the Quebec City and Ottawa lines.