What’s The Best Way To Travel From Montreal To Quebec City

Montreal is only about 255 km (160 miles) away from Quebec City, making it one of the easier trips to make from Montreal. But because they’re so close, there are also a lot of options for travelling between both cities.

You can drive, take the bus, the train, or even fly from Montreal to Quebec City. At one point it was even possible to take a boat down the St. Lawrence from Montreal to Quebec City!

But with so many options, how do you know which one is the best for your trip? I’ll go in depth about each mode of transportation between Montreal and Quebec City. At the end of the day, it tends to come down to a question of flexibility vs. budget.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

How To Get From Montreal To Quebec City: A Comparison

Here’s a table comparing each mode of transportation. For more detail, continue reading below.

	Time	Cost	Pro	Con
Car	2h45 + (there’s always traffic)	Cost of gas for 255 km (can also be split per person)	Complete flexibility & budget friendly	Tiring for driver. Can be more stressful.
Ride Share	2h45 +	$30+	Budget-Friendly	Not as Flexible. Can be awkward and risky
Bus	3h15 +	$40 – $70	12 daily departures, can sleep on the way	Less flexible
Train	3h15 +	$40 – $200	No traffic delays, Relaxing	Least flexible – not a lot of departure times
Plane	1h +	$150-$200	“Fastest” route	Most expensive & least flexible

How To Drive From Montreal To Quebec City

Driving from Montreal to Quebec City is the cheapest and most flexible option. This is especially true if you already have a car.

Total drive time between both cities is about 2 hours and 45 minutes … however… it never ends up under 3 hours. So although it seems like the fastest option at first glance, it isn’t actually the case.

There’s always traffic somewhere between Montreal and Quebec City… So always expect the drive to take longer than the GPS says.

I’ve started the drive midweek, on the weekends, at all hours of the day and there’s always traffic somewhere. I guess I haven’t tried leaving in the middle of the night yet!

But if you drive to Quebec City, you will have full flexibility on when you want to leave. And you’ll have your car when you’re in Quebec City. So depending on what you’re planning on doing in Quebec City, having a car once you’re there may be more or less important to you.

On the negative side of driving to Quebec City, it is the most tiring (and potentially most stressful) model of transportation (for the driver anyway!). They obviously cannot just fall asleep for the next three hours.

Don’t Have A Car? Rent A Car In Montreal

If you don’t have a car, you can always rent a car to drive from Montreal to Quebec City. This will make driving a bit less budget friendly, but you will maintain some of that flexibility.

You will have to add in some extra time to get to the car rental to pick up the car.

I always like renting with Enterprise (plus, if you make an account with them you’ll get a discount – I tend to get about 5% off my booking now). 

Dealing With Parking In Quebec City

If you’re driving to Quebec City from Montreal, you’ll need to find parking in Quebec City.

There are quite a few parking lots in Quebec City where you can park a few hours at a time up to an entire month!

For shorter stays, park just outside the Old Town in Stationnement SPAQ – Honore-Mercier / Dauphine. It’s an underground parking lot in Place D’Youville. You’ll be very centrally located here!

If you’re planning on a longer stay in Quebec City, a more affordable option is to park a bit further from Old Town. We found long term parking at the Dorchester Parking Lot in the St. Roch.

Dorchester Parking is a large outdoor lot (which I prefer over the indoor parking garages, although indoor is always nice in the winter!), but it’s about a 20 minute walk from Old Town. We were easily able to come and go and there were always spots. Plus they offer discounts for longer stays.

Routes To Drive From Montreal To Quebec City

There are two routes that you can take from Montreal to Quebec City, one on either side of the St. Lawrence River. It’s whether you take highway 40 or highway 20. 

The route you take will ultimately depend on how much traffic there is on either highway. We always prefer taking highway 40 because it’s just a bit more of an interesting drive.

Although, more often than not, it’s faster to take the 20. We don’t love driving on the 20 – it’s a 2 lane highway that’s quite straight, flat, and boring. You’ll also have to cross the bridge back over the St. Lawerence to reach Quebec City.

But Do You Actually Need A Car In Quebec City?

Depending on what your plans are in Quebec City, you don’t really need a car once you’re there. If you want to stay within Old Town, then everything you want to see is within walking distance of one another.

Even if you want to explore some of the surrounding neighbourhoods (like St. Roch) they’re easily walkable from Old Town. In fact, we lived in St. Roch and walked everywhere! We would only take our car out on the weekends.

If you want to explore the outskirts of Quebec City (like Montmorency Falls) you still don’t need a car. There are shuttles, and even organized tours (like this one on Viator that takes you to Montmorency Falls, or this one that brings you to Île D’Orleans!).

Although it’s always nice to have a car when you’re exploring a new city, sometimes it’s just not worth the hassle.

Driving Alternative: RideShare To Quebec City From Montreal

Ride sharing is when you get a ride with someone who is already going to Quebec City. There are typically a lot of drivers to choose from as it’s a common route.

It’s a more affordable option, and perhaps offers a bit more flexibility than the next few travel options (like the bus or train).

You won’t be able to rely on a specific schedule, and there’s always a safety (and awkwardness) risk.

There are a few ride sharing websites that you can check, a popular site is Poparide. The cost depends on the driver, but it can start at $30 for one way. I like Poparide because it works like Uber, where the drivers have ratings. 

There is also a new Quebec company for ride sharing within Quebec called Eva. Perhaps it’s a bit more reliable, however it is also more expensive.

Taking The Bus From Montreal To Quebec City 

The bus is a stress free way to get to Quebec City from Montreal. It takes the same amount of time as driving (no surprises there), but now you don’t have the stress of driving. You can sleep the entire way there!

The bus from Montreal to Quebec City is through Orlean Express. There are 12 scheduled departures from Montreal to Quebec City every day of the week. They leave as early as 7:00 A.M. and as late as 9:30 PM.

There are 13 departures from Quebec City to Montreal and leave between 6:30 A.M. and 7:30 P.M.

So it’s not too bad for flexibility! You have a lot of departures to choose from.

For cost, it can range between $40 to $65. The price will vary based on time of day, and how far in advance you book. You might be able to score a cheaper ticket – these will be the promo seats.

Don’t forget you do have to add extra travel time to get to the bus station in Montreal and from the bus station in Quebec City…

Getting To & From The Bus Stations?

Thankfully both bus stations are very centrally located in Montreal and Quebec City

In Montreal, it’s at the Gare d’autocars de Montréal on Berri street. This is across the street from Berri-UQAM metro which connects to three metro lines. This makes it very accessible. There are also several bus routes that stop here.

In Quebec City, the bus drops you off at the Bus terminal at the Gare du Palais (the train station). This is only a 15-20 minute walk the centre of Old Town.

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Montreal To Quebec City Train Tips

The train is very similar to the bus in several ways. They have the same flexibility in terms of following scheduled departure time. It’s still a very relaxing ride (if not more so on the train!).

The bus and train for the most part take about the same amount of time. Although, the train can vary between 3 hours and 15 minutes and 3 hours and 45 minutes.

The cost can be almost the same as well. In fact, sometimes it might even be cheaper to take the Montreal to Quebec City train. The cheapest seats start at only $42… but it can go all the way up to $220. So there’s quite a big range.

They do however only offer a limited number of seats at their cheapest fare. More likely than not, it will cost you closer to $90 to take the train.

The Montreal to Quebec City train line also has fewer departure times. From Montreal, the train leaves 5 times between 6:30 A.M. and 6:30 P.M.

On the weekend, there’s one less departure, so the earliest you can leave is at 9:00 A.M.

The biggest benefit of the train is that you don’t have to worry about longer travel times by getting stuck in traffic. Plus, it will most likely be more comfortable than taking the bus.

The train from Montreal to Quebec City is operated through Via Rail.

Getting To & From The Train Station 

When you take the train from Montreal to Quebec City, you also have to take into account your travel time to get to and from the train stations.

In Montreal, the train station is at Place Bonaventure. This is in the heart of downtown on the orange metro line. But it’s also not too far of a walk from the green line (either Peel or McGill metro stations).

P.S. If you’re flying in to Montreal first though, there is also a train station in Dorval (which is at the airport).

In Quebec City, the trains arrive at the Gare du Palais – which is the same place as where the bus arrives.

From the train station in Quebec City, it’s about a 15 minute walk to the heart of Old Town Quebec.

Flying From Montreal To Quebec City

If you’re really in a time crunch, you might want to consider flying – and yes, there are flights from Montreal to Quebec City.

It’s a bit shocking considering it’s less than three hours to drive. A nonstop flight is under one hour… but of course you have to add a bit more to that itinerary.

First, you have to arrive early to the airport. Because it’s a flight within Canada, it’ recommended to arrive 2 hours before departure. In the past, you only needed to arrive an hour before departure but not anymore. Which brings us right back to the 3 hour travel time. Check updated recommended arrival times.

And that doesn’t even include travel time to and from the airport… which is even longer because neither airport is in the city centre.

Plus, with flying, there are a few more things to consider – like now you have limits on what you can bring. This is probably the most stressful way to get from Montreal to Quebec City.

And let’s not forget about the cost of this flight which will put you out anywhere between $150 to $200 for one way. Or the possibility of cancellations and overbooked flights! Plus, this is the least flexible option with only 4 departure times during the day (through Air Canada).

There were up to 10 departures (all nonstop flights) but they were with smaller airlines (some of which I’ve never heard of!).

Related

40 Things To Do In Quebec City: Top Attractions To Hidden Gems

How To Get To & From The Airport

Airport Transfers In Montreal

The airport in Montreal is in Dorval… in the West Island. That’s about a 30 minute drive from downtown.

You can take a taxi or Uber to the airport. Or there’s a bus (the 747 express) which takes about 45 to 70 minutes from Berri-UQAM metro. It runs 24/7 though.

You can also opt to go to Lionel-Groulx metro station which shortens the ride time to 25 to 35 minutes, but it only runs during peak hours.

See all your options to travel to and from the Montreal airport here.

Airport Transfers In Quebec City

In Quebec City, you’ll be in a similar boat once you arrive at the airport. It’s about a 30 minute drive to Old Town Quebec.

There are two bus routes that stop at the airport and go to downtown Quebec City – the 76 and 80.

Alternatively, they’ve set up a ride sharing program called Eva that will take you downtown with a trusted service. See an estimate for cost.

You can see all your airport transfer options.

Alternative: Book An Organized Tour From Montreal

A very simple alternative to taking going by yourself to Quebec City from Montreal is to book an organized tour.

There are several organized tours from Viator that go from Montreal to Quebec City for the day.

By booking an organized tour, you don’t have to deal with the hassle of travel. Everything is figured out for you, from transportation to the schedule for the day.

The most popular tour from Viator takes you from Montreal to Quebec City, and even has a stop at Montmorency Falls.

My Amazon Quebec Day Trips Must Haves

Resources To Travel From Montreal To Quebec City

Read More Related Posts

• The Realities Of A Day Trip To Quebec City From Montreal
• 40 Things To Do In Quebec City: Top Attractions To Hidden Gems
• Easy Quebec City Day Trip: The Levis Quebec Ferry & More
• How To Go On A Perfect Day Trip From Montreal To Ottawa

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Last update on 2024-12-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API