‘Corridor’, 2 weeks low budget: which stops-daytrips by public transport, Book on the spot?

Hi there!
I’m arriving to Toronto next month, my 1st visit ever to Canada, for a solo, 2 weeks trip, and plan to travel around the so called ‘corridor’, Toronto – Montreal – Ottawa - up to Quebec, to see the city life, but also stopping a little bit on the way, or doing some side-trips ex these cities.
The costs have to be basically at the ‘low budget’ side (public transport, hostels etc).
I understand that even public transport can be expensive, and distances are bigger than they look on the map on first sight :)
I am thinking to skip taxis, tours etc forms of comfortable but expensive travel, also, cannot rent a car.
Do you think I could book everything on the spot (middle - end of May), in case the prices might be lower, and availability bigger, or should I prebook bus-train rides and hostels, to save costs and guarantee a place, if this is the case for that period?
I already got a guidebook, just started reading it, though your expertise would be valuable, to point me to the right direction, also about choosing a few good stops, between or around these 4 big cities, easily accessible with public transport, as day trips, or overnight stays, to break the rides in half. Could be natural sights, maybe for a bit of hiking, or traditional places, beautifu villages etc, or any other point of interest you could recommend (ok this is subjective :) ). Also, suburban sights, out of the usual tourist trail, might be of interest, if you want to suggest sth special, important for the local community, or a special project etc.
Of course the Niagara Falls are an obvious trip, but other than that, I’m just starting to scratch the surface!!

Thanks in advance guys!!
Happy travels to all
Nikolaos

Without renting a car your options are limited. The only place the train stops that is worth a visit would be Kingston. Some corridor trains stop in Cobourg, which is a nice, small town but, well, not that interesting, really. The main problem is that you can take a bus to a small town but then what? You will need a car to see anything in the countryside. From Montreal, you can find a bus up into the Laurentian Mountains (hills, really) or into the pretty Eastern Townships region. But both those areas are best experienced by renting a car and visiting the areas within which the towns are situated. Maybe Magog in the Eastern Townships would be big enough to hold your interest. But two weeks for Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, and Niagara would be a very good trip. I do not think you need to add too many other places.

Once you are in the cities, you can find meetup groups or the Sierra Club or you can ask at hostels and outdoors stores if there are any trips (e.g. hiking) you can join.

You get much better prices on trains and buses the farther in advance you book. Also note that the weekend of May 20-22 is a holiday weekend and a very busy period for travel.

Bus: Megabus, Greyhound, several lines specific to Quebec province (use Google.)
Train: All four big cities have rail service through VIArail. Niagara Falls is accessible from Toronto by train/bus combo, depending on the time of year. If you want to see more than just the falls themselves, a bus tour from Toronto may suit you; plenty of info on-line or from your hotel or hostel.
Plane: Air Canada, WestJet and Porter are competitive. Porter has frequent sales and its prop aircraft are conveniently based on an island in Toronto harbour.
In all four cities, hotel prices go up in the summer and when special events such at the Montreal jazz festival (early July) and Toronto film festival (earl September) increase demand.
Getting away from urban life is more difficult without a car. Greyhound does serve some smaller centres which would give you a taste of the countryside. It used to go near Algonquin Park, for instance, well north of Toronto and quite rugged.
This is Canada's 150th birthday so plenty of special events are being planned. July 1 is the actual anniversary.

thank you very much guys for the insight info!!!
I didn't know about the 20-22 of May celebration, good to know, to arrange sth in advance
I hope I bump on to interesting early events for Canada's 150 birthday, didn't know about that either :)
I understand that not having my own wheels limits my moves outside the main cities, though as you say, these 4 cities plus kingston - Niagara, will make a good trip anyway, probably I'll stick to those, looks fine!

I checked the VIA website, and the buses websites, it seems that train is more expensive, though it is a much better way of traveling. Corridor rail pass starts at 300 $, for 7 rides, which is expensive to me :) , but seems close to taking 7 bus rides, in these regions, if I got right, please do tell me if you have an opinion on these, or any tips.
Some bus rides are very good value while other departures or destinations seem expensive, so the comparison train pass -or- individual bus tickets, is a bit complicated...
Also, although the VIA site mentions that cheapest tickets start at 20$ ('escape'), I don't find them, usually prices start from 40$ and go way up.
And railpass page says that you get the escape/economy class IF it is available, else you pay the difference. Have you got any idea if middle of May (10-25) has usually availability of economy tickets (well, except the 20-22 holiday), if booked just few days in advance? If you had such experiences...
thanks again for your help!!!

Personally, I wouldn't take my chances with waiting much longer for the train. They can sell out, especially for a busy holiday weekend. And the prices will rise significantly. As you found out, the very cheapest fares sell out very far in advance. With buses, if there are a lot of passengers, they add on more buses - at least they do for the Ottawa-Toronto and Montreal-Toronto bus routes. However, prices rise, as well, the closer to the travel date. Just to be clear, Megabus travels between Montreal, Kingston, and Toronto. Greyhound does Montreal-Ottawa, Ottawa-Kingston, and Ottawa-Toronto. Orleans Express travels Montreal-Quebec City. Both Megabus and Greyhound connect Toronto and Niagara Falls. Via Rail goes once per day. Go Transit is another option; it is a train and bus combination (seamless transfer at Burlington Station).

many thanks ref_traveller for the very to the point info!
I check these individual companies to see what they offer
Generally they give good prices if booked well in advance, what probably I'll do, as you say, although it is not flexible for last minute impulses, it will keep the cost lower
Strange that Quebec is a bit less serviced than the other cities, and for the connection to Ottawa I only found direct service by train...

So anyway I'll try to finalize my plans as soon as possible!
thanks again! In case anybody wants to contribute with more ideas please do, I' ll keep watching this thread!!
happy travels to all!

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