Toronto-Montreal-Quebec City-Boston-NYC
Replies: 10 - Last Post: Dec 14, 2012 2:36 PM Last Post By: ref_traveller
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Toronto-Montreal-Quebec City-Boston-NYC
Hey, I'll be taking this trip for 3 weeks from the 24th of Oct. Solo and travelling by bus / sleeping in hostels or couchsurfing. Does anyone have any advice for me? I'd love to explore these cities, but also get out to see some nature too. Is there any easy way of doing that? I heard you need your own drive really to see things like national parks.1
Public transportation to parks is very hard to come by. Even if you could get to a park, how do you move around once there? The real use of a car is to be able to get to camp sites and trail heads. Besides trying to connect with people in hostels, I'd recommend looking for outdoors clubs in the cities you are visiting. The Sierra Club is one that runs weekend trips. In Montreal and Toronto you could visit Mountain Equipment Co-op, which sometimes has trip boards. (Note that in Montreal, MEC is a bit of a pain to get to. In Toronto, it's right downtown). Keep in mind, though, that November is a pretty crappy month to be outside as it can be cold, rainy, and muddy; you'll need good hiking gear. Good luck!2
Note that MEC has recently opened a (smaller, urban-oriented) store in downtown Montréal (actually, in Le Plateau). The board might not be as full or as interesting as the one in Marché Central, but it's well worth a try.With that said, three weeks for all those cities + some nature, all by public transportation, is quite a program. The best bet for a national park would probably be Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier, as it is just 30 minutes away from Quebec city. But ref_traveller was right about the weather: you won't see the park at its finest moment.
4
Okay, should I just stick to exploring the individual cities?
That depends on what you want to get out of a national park. You could start with http://www.nps.gov/gate/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm or http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm (and related pages for both) and see if they ring your bells. Don't rule out state parks near New York or Boston, or New York City parks (some of which even have nature programs run by park rangers). Many of these are accessible without a car.
7
Not sure of any hostels in Toronto that are good. I am from here, so I've never had to find one.However in NY, the best hostel is NY Loft Hostel located in Brooklyn. Nice industrial neighborhood, close to Bedford Ave (great for vintage shopping, boutiques, cafes), and right on the L train line by Morgan Station. Cheap rates ($30 to $65 per night), and beautiful facilities.
