Eastern Canada

[FeltCarrot]

We have a family event in Toronto in September and are planning to visit Quebec City and Montreal before flying home from Boston. Has anyone done a trip like this before and is Ottawa worth a visit too? We will be travelling by train and will only have 2 nights in each city.
Hotel recommendations would be welcome too, thinking more French boutique/ quirky than Travelodge!

Personally I would skip Montreal, unless you are driving down and might be a good point to stopover and spend more time in Quebec or Boston.
I liked Ottawa might be an alternative stopover . One night would probably be enough.

Have a look at germainhotels.com we stayed in the one in Quebec and Toronto. It's a few years ago now but always thought I would go back some time.

I’ve done Toronto, Montreal. Quebec & Ottawa. Montreal was probably my least favourite of the four - Ottawa was great. I really enjoyed my time there, plenty to see and do. I do think it would be worth trying to fit Ottawa into your plans.

We flew from Toronto to Quebec City & then trains from there working our way back to Toronto. The trains are fab, comfy seats, really convenient & the tracks go directly through people’s gardens in some places. Crazy!

Thanks for the replies. I’m surprised about Montreal as we thought that would be the highlight of our trip!
Do you think 2 days/nights will be enough in Ottawa and Quebec City?

For Quebec City, I'd recommend trying to stay at The Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. It's quite a historic hotel in a great location.

Yes, I think 2 days/nights in both Ottawa & Quebec City would be enough.

I was originally supposed to be in Quebec City for 3 nights but due to thunderstorms the flight from Toronto was cancelled leaving us with just 2 nights. But it was a decent amount of time to visit the attractions & see the city.

I'm currently in in Montreal. It is my second time in Montreal and I still love it as much as the first time! It is possibly my favourite North American city.

If you do go to Montreal, see if you can find accommodation in Le Plateau, the neighbourhood(s) to the Northeast of Mont Royal. Downtown Montreal is pretty boring, Le Plateau is full of independent cafes, restaurants, bars, etc. There are some major avenues that are completely closed to cars in the summer (such as Avenue Mont Royal), which makes it really nice for wandering around and absorbing the atmosphere. There's a pretty decent music scene to, especially live jazz music, but there are also some places that host traditional quebecois folk music nights.

There are of course museums and other sights, but for me the main pleasure in Montreal is just stroll around, eat bagels, go to cafes, and so on.