Planning Adirondack Trip

[quadrock]

Hey everyone. I'm planning on a 3-4 day stay in Montreal and will be taking the Adirondack from New York. Can anyone recommend a relatively cheap hotel within walking distance of the Montreal Central Rail Station? Thanks in advance.

 

[VT Hokie]

Hey everyone. I'm planning on a 3-4 day stay in Montreal and will be taking the Adirondack from New York. Can anyone recommend a relatively cheap hotel within walking distance of the Montreal Central Rail Station? Thanks in advance.

I took the Adirondack and spent a long weekend in Montreal back in October. I used hotwire to book my hotel, and got the Days Inn - Montreal Midtown. It was relatively cheap, but the hotel was merely adequate - maybe even a little run down. Also, it was a little bit of a walk from the station, but certainly doable. We walked practically everywhere (although we did ride the odd subway trains a few times, which for some reason have both regular steel train wheels and rubber tires). Normally I'd recommend climbing Mount Royal, but if you're going in winter, might want to skip that! There are a lot of really nice looking hotels within easy walking distance of the train station.

Unfortunately, based on my experience on the Adirondack, I'd say don't count on arriving on time. We were two hours late on the way up and about an hour late on the return.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the recommendations. How bad is customs on the way back? Are they as rude and obnoxious as some stories I've heard?

 

[VT Hokie]

Thanks for the recommendations. How bad is customs on the way back? Are they as rude and obnoxious as some stories I've heard?

Customs took at least an hour both entering Canada and then entering the U.S. on the return. That was certainly a big part of why we were so late. Yes, the customs agents are somewhat rude, and they will interrogate you if they don't like your answers to their initial questions. (They apparently liked my answers well enough to make it quick, but other passengers had to practically tell their life story!) A couple of people were detained on my return trip!

 

[Guest]

Were the detainees foreign citizens? I really need to be back on that day and can't afford to be delayed until the next train comes 24 hours later. I have a valid U.S. Passport so should I expect any problems?

 

[TransAtlantic]

Hey everyone. I'm planning on a 3-4 day stay in Montreal and will be taking the Adirondack from New York. Can anyone recommend a relatively cheap hotel within walking distance of the Montreal Central Rail Station? Thanks in advance.

I took the Adirondack and spent a long weekend in Montreal back in October. I used hotwire to book my hotel, and got the Days Inn - Montreal Midtown. It was relatively cheap, but the hotel was merely adequate - maybe even a little run down. Also, it was a little bit of a walk from the station, but certainly doable. We walked practically everywhere (although we did ride the odd subway trains a few times, which for some reason have both regular steel train wheels and rubber tires). Normally I'd recommend climbing Mount Royal, but if you're going in winter, might want to skip that! There are a lot of really nice looking hotels within easy walking distance of the train station.

Unfortunately, based on my experience on the Adirondack, I'd say don't count on arriving on time. We were two hours late on the way up and about an hour late on the return.

Remember, you were in Canada: the subway had steel wheels and rubber TYRES

;-)

 

[George Harris]

Were the detainees foreign citizens? I really need to be back on that day and can't afford to be delayed until the next train comes 24 hours later. I have a valid U.S. Passport so should I expect any problems?

there is really no way to tell. Given the irrationality of the regulations, even looking very innocuous and normal can work against you.

 

[AlanB]

Were the detainees foreign citizens? I really need to be back on that day and can't afford to be delayed until the next train comes 24 hours later. I have a valid U.S. Passport so should I expect any problems?

there is really no way to tell. Given the irrationality of the regulations, even looking very innocuous and normal can work against you.

Ain't that the truth. I got banned from entering Canada for an entire year, just because I had agreed to do a tiny bit of volunteer work for the Not For Profit Shania Twain Centre.

 

[Anthony]

If you have a valid US passport, you shouldn't have any problems coming back into the US. I remember a fellow who almost got detained -- he was a non-Caucasian Canadian citizen, coming into the US, was evasive and had a bunch of Middle Eastern stamps in his passport. But if you're coming back to the US and are a US citizen, you should be fine.

 

[NS VIA FAN]

Remember, you were in Canada: the subway had steel wheels and rubber TYRES;-)

No, it's not TYRES in Canada! It's TIRES. Same as in the US!

And here's some info on the Montreal METRO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Metro

Hotels: A bit pricy (but you might get a weekend rate) The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth is directly above Central Station and the elevators drop right to the concourse level. This is a former CN Hotel. (Click on Central Station at the bottom of this link)

http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/plaque/hor...eng/gare_1a.htm

http://www.stcum.qc.ca/English/metro/images/c15.pdf

 

[jamesontheroad]

There are plenty of half decent hotels in downtown Montreal, and you can get a good deal bidding blind through Hotwire or Priceline. This forum will help you get a feel for what bids are successful for different star ratings, and which hotels you're likely to be pitching for:

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=162&

The Montreal metro bonces happily along concrete block tracks on tyres, but amusingly it also needs those steel rails to guide the train. In my humble opinion the ride isn't much smoother, but at the time of construction (sixties - eighties) it allowed the trains to do what steel wheeled subways couldn't do at that time: descend and climb very sharp gradients between stations. Most Montreal metro stations are near the surface but the tunnels in between stations usually drop to a much deeper level.

The reason? Energy effeciency. By going downhill out of a station the train picks up a lot of speed thanks to gravity, saving motive power. By going uphill into a station, the train slows down naturally, saving braking energy. This is most evident at Vendome station: watch from the platform as a train disappears out of either end of the station.

It's just a shame that this approach to energy effeciency isn't complete, because they have to dispose of so many non-recyclable and non-biodegradable rubber tyres every year

*j*

 

[Superliner Diner]

Hey everyone. I'm planning on a 3-4 day stay in Montreal and will be taking the Adirondack from New York. Can anyone recommend a relatively cheap hotel within walking distance of the Montreal Central Rail Station? Thanks in advance.

If you are looking for hotels in the Montreal area, like any city they vary from season to season and from neighborhood to neighborhood. Most of what is within walking distance of Gare Centrale is not "relatively cheap", but if you're willing to ride the Metro around town you might do a little better with the price.

Do consult this listing of hotels near transit in Montreal.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I guess with a U.S. Passport I should have no major problems. I'll let everyone know how the trip goes.

 

[DaveKCMO]

i just finished a one-way trip on the adirondack from MTR to NYP. that track up north is incredibly rough, possible the worst i've experienced on my cross-country trip. our customs experience was about 30 mins., and two people were taken off the train. the cafe car takes canadian and US dollars, a great way to ditch your last loonies before hitting the states.

i stayed at the HI-montreal, which is a block away from the lucien-l'allier stop on the metro. i think it was $28 CAN for one night without a membership. it was a great way to meet people since i was traveling alone, assuming you don't mind sharing a room and a bathroom with strangers.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Wow, 30 minutes entering the US? Was the train empty? :lol:

That track is indeed in bad shape. the train takes about two hours to cover a distance that a car can do in under thirty minutes, but despite the reasonable volumes of freight and daily Amtrak service, there's zero possibility of it being tidied up any time soon. I believe the worst bits are through the old freight yards just north-west of Rouses Point: you might remember about ten or fifteen minutes of very very slow running (< 5 mph) over it as you approached the customs check.

Glad you enjoyed your trip, I know the HI hostel as well, good location and value for money, although a bit close to the trashy anglo pub+club streets of Crescent and Peel.

*j* :blink: