Which is better, Montreal or Quebec?

Question

I'm going with my family to Canada on vacations, they gave me the choice to go to either Montreal or Quebec (I think we're going to both, but in one of them we'll only spend one night while in the other one we would spend 3 days or so) and I would like to know, which one do you recommend?
I'm 18 years old and I have two younger sisters (13), so which place has more things to offer?

And by "Quebec" I mean Quebec city, I didn't really think I had to point this out...

Answer 1

You should spend 1 day in Quebec and 3 in Montreal.
I live in Montreal and been to Quebec City many many time (have family over there). Montreal is much much bigger, you can easily see all the major attractions in Quebec City in 1 day, especially this time of the year (there is no festivals, carnivals...etc.)
If you wait at the end of January/beginning of Feb. there is the Carnaval de Quebec that you shouldn't miss...here is the link http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/en/index.asp , in this case you should stay longer in Quebec...if not, come longer in Montreal, the downtown area is nice and big, many many shops, many places http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=66,48047&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
go to the city's web site and look at all it has to offer...
Have a Nice Trip!

Answer 2

There have been good answers to this question already but I'd like to give my opinion too :) I am native from Quebec city but live in Montreal since 5 months now. So I know what the two places have to offer. Let's start with Quebec city. Then I'll continue with Montreal...

Quebec... Quebec is a very nice touristic city. If you go downtown, you'll have a wonderful time discovering the architecture, the welcoming stores in rue St-Jean, the Château Frontenac (Castle, which is a hotel... very nice rooms by the way ! I went there for my prom :)) and the restaurants, which are as charming as the rest of the city. You have the Plaines d'Abraham (the fields where the French and English fought almost 300 years ago for Quebec - the English won, by the way, eheh) where you could take a nice walk and watch the St-Lawrence river... All of this will take a day. Quebec city is in fact very small. If you want to visit more stuff, you have nice and big shopping centers (bigger than the ones I've seen in Montreal) like Place Laurier and Galeries de la Capitale. But after that... you'll sit on your sofa and just watch the clock, because believe me, there's nothing else to do in Quebec city ! I've lived there for 17 years so I know what I'm talking about... "Where do I go ? Downtown or to the shopping center ? Hmmm...." Not so many choices.

Montreal : This city is much more active. In fact, you almost have 2 millions habitants living on the Island. For all that people, there are more attractions. The nightlife is better and you have more choices than in Quebec city. You have the streets St-Denis or Ste-Catherine for shopping and thousands of restaurants... on both of them. In Montreal, everything is accessible. So you can do something different everyday... Which is very nice :)

Conclusion : If you want a very relax trip, go to Quebec. If you want a city that moves, choose Montreal. What I would advice you, from my personnal point of view, would be 3 days in Montreal and 1 day in Quebec. A day is enough to see Quebec, but not enough for the metropolis ;)

Anyway.... I wish you to have fun on this trip and I hope you will like our dear province :)

Answer 3

Are you American?

If so, let's see: forgetting the factor of degrees of seeing old world charm in each city, comparative measurement of breadth of things to see and do would be like comparing Boston and Providence, New York and Philly, San Francisco and Reno, Los Angeles and San Diego, Chicago and Minneapolis, etc., etc. Get the picture?

Other answerers that claim it will be harder to speak English in Quebec City (which is NOT 300 miles from Montreal, by the way, it is closer to 300 kilometres) are incorrect, though. Quebec City tourists are more American by percentage than tourists in Montreal, which is a true cosmopolitan world city and with visitors and immigrants from all over the world. So Quebeckers need to know English, at least those serving tourists. (But the courtesy in both cities is to always first say "je regret je suis americaine et ma français est trés mauvais." or the equivalent.) Montreal is a polyglot mix of cultures with immigrants from all over the world;** Quebec City is just quebecoise French, with a little Acadian and Irish heritage (now assimilated) thrown in.

Montreal has a much vaster public transportation system but Québec is so compact you can walk much of it.

Your parents should be advised that in both cities there is a cafe and dining culture, it is expected that wine will be enjoyed with evening restaurant meals and the drinking age is 18, and your table might get the waitperson's stares if you are not permitted a glass.

** If you go to Montreal make sure you try some true Montreal bagels for breakfast and also it's version of pastrami - called "viande fumeé" ("smoked meat" - even many French speakers will use the English term) - sandwiches for a lunch at a smoked meat restaurant (but if you prefer spicier mustard bring your own - for some crazy reason Montrealers are horribly provincial and at smoked meat places you cannot find anything other than the sweet yellow - although at other finer restaurants dijon is also available. When we go to VT we stock up on good spicy browns). Believe it or not, you probably will never prefer New York bagels or pastrami again.

Answer 4

Being a bigger city, there is more to do in Montreal, but Quebec (specifically the old city) is a city like no other in North America, so there is more to see. So it depends on what you want to do on your vacation. Sightseeing, then Quebec. Doing stuff, then Montreal.

If you're spending 3 days in one and 1 day in the other, I would suggest 3 days in Montreal and 1 day in Quebec.

Answer 5

I have been in Montreal for 5 years now and I think that its one great city. Quebec is very small so you will probably see more in Montreal. However, I brought my parents a while ago to visit Montreal and I didnt really know what to show them. Its great to live in but to visit I'm not too sure, it is a city llike many others. I would still stay more time in Montreal (unless you come during the winter festival).
Enjoy your stay.

Answer 6

It depends on what you're willing to do. I would recommend you to choose Quebec because it's a verrryyy beautiful city and Vieux-Québec (Old Quebec) is just charming.

However, Montreal has a vibrant nightlife and its downtown is always full of life (like in Quebec, but at a smaller level). Also, if you don't speak French, getting services will be easier in Montreal, as almost everybody here speaks English.

However, Quebec is unique in North America because of its architecture (it's still, to this day, a fortified city), of its European style and all of its natural and historical touristic attractions.

If you like big cities, go for Montreal. If you would like to see something different, go to Quebec.

And oh yeah, there is still no snow in Montreal... if you want to be sure to have a white christmas, don't come here.

Answer 7

Definitely Montreal.

Answer 8

I am not sure..but from what I hear Quebec is the nicer place to visit. As a Canadian I know that Montreal and Quebec City are two different places..about 300 miles apart. Enjoy your visit.

Answer 9

I recommend Montreal. The nightlife is amazing as well as the underground city. There are many tourists attractions such as the Old Port. Montreal has more of a Europe feel to it rather than Quebec City.
As Lisa said, try our famous bagels! They are great.

I hope you enjoy your stay in either city.

Answer 10

Montreal is more modern and more English is spoken there due to the fact that they are a major global player in the business world.

Quebec City is more old world, very rich in culture, but they tend to look down on Anglophones and don't want to make much effort to communicate with English tourists. From my personal experience anyway. It's beautiful, but not quite as tourist-friendly as Montreal.