Bus companies in Canada?

Are there any buses (or anything cheaper than the train) that go from Boston
to Quebec, Quebec to Montreal, Montreal to Toronto, and Toronto to Niagara
Falls?

I definitely need a bus to go from Boston to Quebec, as I checked the Amtrak
and VIA web sites, and neither one seems to cross the border.

Thanks.

wrote:
Are there any buses (or anything cheaper than the train) that go from
Boston to Quebec, Quebec to Montreal, Montreal to Toronto, and Toronto to
Niagara Falls?

I definitely need a bus to go from Boston to Quebec, as I checked the
Amtrak and VIA web sites, and neither one seems to cross the border.

Thanks.

greyhound
SMT

Attached site has all info you need.

http://montreal.rezrez.com/gettinghe...uses/index.htm

There remain very few places in New England where one can use
regularly-scheduled ground transport to cross the border. There is no
longer any international ground transport which directly serves Quebec.
You'll have to go through either Montreal or New Brunswick. Personally, if
were to do this itinerary, I would go from Boston to Quebec through New
Brunswick rather than through Montreal since I don't like backtracking.
However, it would be more expensive.

If you're looking for the cheapest way, then the best bet is to use Vermont
Transit from Boston to Montréal, then Orléans Express from Montréal to
Québec. Buses depart from Boston South Station at 0045, 0900, 1000, 1400,
and 1700, and arrive in Montréal (Station Centrale d'autobus) at 0830,
1515, 1810, 2130, and 2359 respectively. Connecting buses depart from
Montréal at 0015, 0600, then hourly until 2000, 2130, 2230, and arrive in
Québec (Gare du Palais) 3 hours 15 minutes later.

You could take the train part-way by getting an Amtrak train out of Boston
South Station at 1145, arriving in Springfield at 1405, change trains,
depart Springfield at 1430, arrive Essex Jct. (Burlington) at 1959. Then
use either the local bus or taxi to go downtown to the Vermont Transit
station, and board a Vermont Transit bus at 2145, arriving in Montréal at
2359. Not very convenient (there had been an Amtrak Thruway bus which
connected with the train, but that appears to have been discontinued).

The trip from Boston to Québec can made entirely by bus. The route would
require you to depart Boston on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday at 0600
aboard a Vermont Transit bus. Arrive in Bangor at 1130, change buses, and
depart at 1145 on an Acadian Lines bus. Arrive in St. John at 1730, change
buses, and depart at 1740 (also on Acadian Lines). Arrive in Fredericton at
1910, change buses, and depart at 1945 (again on Acadian Lines). Arrive in
Rivière-du-Loup at 0015, change buses, and depart at 0100 on an Orléans
Express bus. Arrive in Québec at 0325. To avoid overnight travel (and
arrive in Québec at other than the middle of the night) you can spend the
night in a hotel in St. John, Fredericton, or Rivière-du-Loup, and continue
on another bus the next day. The alternate bus schedules between these
cities are as follows. Leave St. John at 1030, arrive Sussex 1130, Leave
Sussex 1135, arrive Rivière-du-Loup 1930. Leave Rivière-du-Loup 0835, 1115,
1510, or 2030, arrive Québec 1100, 1415, 1735, or 2315, respectively.

If you can't leave Boston a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, then you can leave
Boston Monday through Wednesday at 0915 on a Concord Trailways bus,
arriving in Bangor at 1415. Change to West's Transportation, departing
Bangor at 1510, arriving in Calais at 1900. Spend the night in a hotel in
either Calais, Me. or St. Stephen, N.B., and depart the next day at 0845 on
an Acadian Lines bus, arriving in Sussex at 1130, Then follow directions in
prior paragraph from Sussex.

Hope this is helpful.

wrote:

Are there any buses (or anything cheaper than the train) that go from
Boston to Quebec, Quebec to Montreal, Montreal to Toronto, and Toronto to
Niagara Falls?

I definitely need a bus to go from Boston to Quebec, as I checked the
Amtrak and VIA web sites, and neither one seems to cross the border.

Thanks.

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 23:12:19 -0400, Lawrence Hughes
wrote:
There remain very few places in New England where one can use
regularly-scheduled ground transport to cross the border. There is no
longer any international ground transport which directly serves Quebec.
You'll have to go through either Montreal or New Brunswick. Personally, if
were to do this itinerary, I would go from Boston to Quebec through New
Brunswick rather than through Montreal since I don't like backtracking.
However, it would be more expensive.

Hmm, New Brunswick looks really out of the way, so I guess I'll have to go to
Montreal and transfer.


If you're looking for the cheapest way, then the best bet is to use Vermont
Transit from Boston to Montréal, then Orléans Express from Montréal to
Québec. Buses depart from Boston South Station at 0045, 0900, 1000, 1400,
and 1700, and arrive in Montréal (Station Centrale d'autobus) at 0830,
1515, 1810, 2130, and 2359 respectively. Connecting buses depart from
Montréal at 0015, 0600, then hourly until 2000, 2130, 2230, and arrive in
Québec (Gare du Palais) 3 hours 15 minutes later.

Just curious, is Orleans Express a bus or a train? Unfortunately their web
site is only in French. Also, do you recommend booking tickets for Vermont
Transit and Orleans Express a few weeks in advance? Or would it be possible
to buy a ticket the day before I want to travel? (I looked on the VIA web
site, and it appears that some of their tickets for dates that are 3 weeks
away are already sold out.)


You could take the train part-way by getting an Amtrak train out of Boston
South Station at 1145, arriving in Springfield at 1405, change trains,
depart Springfield at 1430, arrive Essex Jct. (Burlington) at 1959. Then
use either the local bus or taxi to go downtown to the Vermont Transit
station, and board a Vermont Transit bus at 2145, arriving in Montréal at
2359. Not very convenient (there had been an Amtrak Thruway bus which
connected with the train, but that appears to have been discontinued).

Hmm, that's a lot of transferring. I'll just take a Vermont Transit bus from
Boston to Montreal.

I think I may just go from Boston to Montreal, spend a few days there, and
then take the Orleans Express to Quebec. Then I would have to go from Quebec
to Toronto. Is there any direct bus from Quebec to Toronto? Or do I have to
take the Orleans Express from Quebec to Montreal, and then take Greyhound to
Toronto?


Hope this is helpful.

I appreciate the detailed response.

) writes:
Lawrence Hughes wrote:

There remain very few places in New England where one can use
regularly-scheduled ground transport to cross the border. There
is no longer any international ground transport which directly
serves Quebec. You'll have to go through either Montreal or New
Brunswick. Personally, if were to do this itinerary, I would go
from Boston to Quebec through New Brunswick rather than through
Montreal since I don't like backtracking. However, it would be
more expensive.

Hmm, New Brunswick looks really out of the way, so I guess I'll
have to go to Montreal and transfer.

Yes, unless you enjoy bus travel for its own sake, Boston-Quebec
via Montreal makes much more sense than via New Brunswick.

Just curious, is Orleans Express a bus or a train?

It's a bus.

Also, do you recommend booking tickets for Vermont Transit and
Orleans Express a few weeks in advance? Or would it be possible
to buy a ticket the day before I want to travel?

I don't think there's any need to book in advance.

(I looked on the VIA web site, and it appears that some of their
tickets for dates that are 3 weeks away are already sold out.)

It's unusual for trains to sell out that far in advance.
There is a discount for purchasing at least 5 days in advance,
and the number of seats at this discount fare is limited, so
these sometimes sell out farther in advance.

The discounted Montreal-Quebec round-trip train fare is
$87.42. The bus is $65.56. I like the train better, but
the bus is cheaper, is almost as fast, and gives you a
much wider choice of departure times.

I think I may just go from Boston to Montreal, spend a few days
there, and then take the Orleans Express to Quebec. Then I would
have to go from Quebec to Toronto. Is there any direct bus from
Quebec to Toronto?

No.

Or do I have to take the Orleans Express from Quebec to
Montreal, and then take Greyhound to Toronto?

Coach Canada, not Greyhound. See
URL:http://www.coachcanada.com/canada/schedules/schedules.cfm

The Greyound Canada web site does show Montreal-Toronto schedules,
but they go via Ottawa, which is slower and less convenient
than the direct Coach Canada bus.

For Montreal-Toronto, I think the train has a bigger advantage
over the bus than for Quebec-Montreal. It's a longer trip, so
the greater comfort of the train is a bigger factor. The
train is significantly faster on the route, too.

Tom Box or
Toronto, ON, Canada

wrote:

If you're looking for the cheapest way, then the best bet is to use
Vermont Transit from Boston to Montréal, then Orléans Express from
Montréal to Québec. Buses depart from Boston South Station at 0045, 0900,
1000, 1400, and 1700, and arrive in Montréal (Station Centrale d'autobus)
at 0830, 1515, 1810, 2130, and 2359 respectively. Connecting buses depart
from Montréal at 0015, 0600, then hourly until 2000, 2130, 2230, and
arrive in Québec (Gare du Palais) 3 hours 15 minutes later.

Just curious, is Orleans Express a bus or a train? Unfortunately their
web site is only in French. Also, do you recommend booking tickets for
Vermont Transit and Orleans Express a few weeks in advance? Or would it
be possible to buy a ticket the day before I want to travel? (I looked on
the VIA web site, and it appears that some of their tickets for dates that
are 3 weeks away are already sold out.)

Orléans Express is a bus service, offering perhaps the highest quality
ordinary line service in North America. There is a link on their homepage
for an English translation. There are some other variants should you desire
to stop off on the way in places like Sherbrooke, Drummondville, and the
like.

Bus seats are not reserved, so it does not matter from a capacity
perspective whether you buy tickets in advance or not. There is sometimes
an advance purchase discount, and you can price out Vermont Transit tickets
and discounts at the Greyhound Lines web site (see www.greyhound.com). On
the downside of advance ticket purchase, Vermont Transit will hit you for a
minimum 15 percent (maximum 100 percent) cancellation penalty should you
buy and then change or not use.

I neglected to mention that there is also another interesting way to do this
segment. Les Dauphins du Saint-Laurent offers hydrofoil daily service daily
between Montréal and Québec. Starting 15 May 2004, the vessel departs
Montréal at 0730, and returns from Québec at 1500 (travel time is 4.5
hours). Additional departures begin 26 June 2004 from Montréal at 1500 on
Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat, returning from Québec at 0730 on Tue, Thu, and Sat,
and at 1130 on Sun. See www.dauphins.ca.

I think I may just go from Boston to Montreal, spend a few days there, and
then take the Orleans Express to Quebec. Then I would have to go from
Quebec to Toronto. Is there any direct bus from Quebec to Toronto? Or do
I have to take the Orleans Express from Quebec to Montreal, and then take
Greyhound to Toronto?

No, there is no direct bus service by bus from Québec to Toronto; you'll
have to change in Montréal. From Montréal to Toronto you'll have to use
Coach Canada (also known as Trentway-Wagar; see www.coachcanada.com).
Buses leave at 0015, 0730, then every 2 hours until 1730, 2100. Travel time
is about 7 hours.

You could also travel on Via Rail Canada. Trains leave Québec at 0610
(Mon-Fri only), 0820, 1250, and 1735, arriving in Montréal at 0859, 1115,
1540, and 2043. Connecting trains leave Montréal at 0655 (Mon-Sat only),
0940, 1150 (Sun-Fri only), 1540, 1700 (Sun-Fri only), 1815, and 2330
(Sun-Fri only), arriving in Toronto at 1117, 1509, 1611, 2002, 2059, 2323,
and 0820 (next day).

On Sun, 02 May 2004 14:46:11 -0400, Lawrence Hughes
wrote:
Orléans Express is a bus service, offering perhaps the highest quality
ordinary line service in North America. There is a link on their homepage
for an English translation. There are some other variants should you desire
to stop off on the way in places like Sherbrooke, Drummondville, and the
like.

Hmm, I am unable to find that English link. Not that big of a deal. Their
fares seem to be much cheaper if you buy a round-trip ticket though. However,
it appears that their website only allows you to purchase a round-trip ticket
if the return trip is on the same day as the departure. Is it possible to
purchase a round-trip ticket with different departure and return dates?

Until very recently there was a link for all their pages in English.
Removing the English is surprising given that the company has made a deal
to buy the routes of Acadian Lines, a company which serves English Canada.

I did not see an opportunity to buy online; such is not very common.


wrote:

On Sun, 02 May 2004 14:46:11 -0400, Lawrence Hughes
Hmm, I am unable to find that English link. Not that big of a deal.
Their fares seem to be much cheaper if you buy a round-trip ticket though.
However, it appears that their website only allows you to purchase a
round-trip ticket if the return trip is on the same day as the departure.
Is it possible to purchase a round-trip ticket with different departure
and return dates?

On Mon, 03 May 2004 03:13:37 -0400, Lawrence Hughes
wrote:
Until very recently there was a link for all their pages in English.
Removing the English is surprising given that the company has made a deal
to buy the routes of Acadian Lines, a company which serves English Canada.

I did not see an opportunity to buy online; such is not very common.

Oh ok, they don't let you buy online. But if I went to a ticketing center in
person, do you know if I could get a round-trip ticket with different
departure and return dates?

Thanks.