Best Way to Road Trip Through Toronto & Montreal

[@lcoscarella]

I recently found your channel while browsing KZbin and I'm going through all your posted videos...They are simple and direct and much more interesting than other flamboyant youtubers. And the cherry on top of the pie is your quirky sense of humor, it's hilarious. Keep it up

[@GeographyKing]

Thank you! I'm glad you found the channel and like the videos!

[@jacobbauer7105]

Went to Toronto every summer for 15 years. Love it. One recommendation is the subway. The train makes it feel like a walk around town. Takes you everywhere you want to visit.

[@susansheehy6309]

I lived in Toronto for several years and frequently visit family there. Kyle does a great job of introducing the city. Also he does a good intro to Montreal.

[@marc3716]

Yet another masterpiece from Kyle! Please don't stop making these. BTW if you want to sound more local you can pronounce Toronto as "Turono" and Montreal as "Muntreal". Now you know!

[@alanmodimages]

Toronto is my favorite city in the world. Just a quick drive from Detroit. You can also check out Toronto island which is a quick ferry ride. This is where you can really experience the skyline

[@ryanhubble2518]

Nothin beats watching downtown light up at night from the island!

[@K1ddkanuck]

@@ryanhubble2518 The view from the Leslie Spit can be pretty cool too. It's such a weird place. Literally sitting in the water beside the downtown core. It was originally just a dumping site for all of the material that was excavated to build downtown and the subway system. As a means of building a breakwater for the port, they just dumped it into the lake, over and over again, at the edge of the harbour. Eventually, it became an artificially produced peninsula. No one paid attention to it, it was just that place where lots of rock and soil were poured into the lake. Now, it's a protected nature preserve. There are marshes and woodlands there, that just sprung up because no one was messing with it. There are beavers, foxes, cormorants, snowy owls, ducks, gulls. Sometimes even the occasional white tailed deer that's wandered down through the Don Valley. It's literally a not-so-tiny bit of wilderness, where no one lives, in the middle of North America's 4th largest city. Surrounded by skyscrapers, industry and tourism, at the mouth of the port, just short of the islands. It's a gem of a place that half the city doesn't even know exists, where you could, in theory, capture a naturally occurring beaver dam and the CN Tower in the same shot. Nature's reclamation at its finest.

[@ryanhubble2518]

@@K1ddkanuck keep it down over there! you want the spit to end up like the island?

[@K1ddkanuck]

@@ryanhubble2518 Touché sir, touché!

[@ubomninomen7765]

The greatest moment of my first trip to Montreal was when some folks asked me for directions in French. I knew I had arrived, although I only made hand gestures, pointed to a sign, and grunted.

[@K1ddkanuck]

If you had learned to say "Sorry, I don't understand. Do you speak english?" you might have made friends...!

[@derbagger22]

Also, shopping there is crazy cheap. You've got the positive exchange rate AND the entire city of Montreal is half off after Christmas. We often go up that first week of January and spend the loons!

[@simonrancourt7834]

The interior of the Notre-Dame cathedral is breathtaking.

[@corinnelaking569]

Some interesting different perspectives on two cities where I have spent time. I actually live in Oshawa, just outside Toronto to the east. You just shared some different interesting areas of T.O. (Toronto) that I'd like to check out in the future! Montreal is a lovely city which I've only visited once. I would like to go again soon. Thanks for the video, I'm subscribing now.

[@gordieparenteau6555]

The Montrèal Forum, the former home arena of the Montrèal Canadiens is still there. It's now a Cineplex. They still have a small section of original seats and have the logo painted on the floor where centre ice used to be. As a lifelong Canadiens fan, it's on my bucket list to go there. Also, as long as you're eating Poutine, have a Steamie (hot dog) and a spruce beer for a full Quèbec feast.

[@robertgerlich8352]

As a Geography buff, I really dig your videos...but calling it Mawn-treal is like me saying O-re-gawn or Merry-land! :-) Glad you pointed out hip Mile End, it is mostly English around there.

[@kayakfisher1974]

Love your videos, thank you.

[@GeographyKing]

Thanks for your comment. I'm glad you enjoy the channel!

[@derbagger22]

Montreal is great to walk. Also, the subways and buses will take you most places you need to go...

[@timtwoface]

If you really wanted to use your French, you could have driven 3 hours east to Quebec City. Great video, also great final collage at 8:43.

[@drexldog]

As a native Montrealer, I approve.

[@yodorob]

Very nice video, and in the last half, a very nice ode to my hometown (and current city) of Montreal. One thing to point out: Crescent Street, with its bars and pubs, is actually even closer to Concordia University - where my parents taught for many years and which is the other anglophone university in town - than to Mcgill. Though it's well within walking distance to both! Another thing to point out: Quite a few Hasidic Jews live in parts of Outremont and the Mile End, particularly north of the Laurier Ave. mentioned in the video. I myself live in a predominantly Jewish inner ring suburb called Cote St. Luc, some five miles west of the Hasidic area. And, in between are quite a few Jewish areas of varying levels of wealth. In the city, there are many Ashkenazic (mainly Eastern European) Jews like in other North American cities but also quite a few Sephardic Jews (mainly Moroccan).

[@Sydmk2007]

Thank you for sharing! 🙌

[@kedrickd7]

Nice vids I found out about white sands because of you. Thanks

[@GeographyKing]

Sorry about the late reply. I didn't get a notification like I normally do. But thank you for your comment. I know not many folks watch my videos but I just hope those that do find the information useful.

[@vashman01]

I've got two for you. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and South of the Border Attraction off of I-95 also in South Carolina. My family used to take road trips from New York to visit my Uncle in SC.

[@derbagger22]

Quebec City is more French focused. You may find quite a few people who speak almost exclusively French. Although I did hit a Tim Horton's about 45 minutes north of Montreal where the lady at the counter couldn't speak English well. So I just pointed at the maple dips behind the glass and said "trois". This was on a trip back from St Cloud, MN, where I went thru Thunder Bay and took the northern route thru Val d'Or and thru Montreal back to MA. Those Great Lakes, man. Once you get north of Duluth, taking a big, swinging arch back to New England is the shortest way.

[@vicleg8377]

As a Québec city citizen, I can assure you that most of the people can speak in English correctly. It is more the older ones who do not master the language. I myself am a student and I can speak very good English.

[@CarolAnn11]

Great info thank you. Heading to montreal for 2 days so I appreciate the suggestions....where was the best poutine?

[@tonyporco9524]

Montreal has a really foreign, even European flavor, yet it can be visited by land, even by public transportation if you live on the East Coast. At a time when people are trying to fly less in order to decrease greenhouse gases, this is a great asset.

[@eriklakeland3857]

Montreal’s public transit is going through massive growth. Their REM system that will complement their Subway is freaking insane how much they’re building for the money.

[@K1ddkanuck]

That's partly because of its age! One of the oldest cities in North America, it was founded (almost 400 years ago!) in 1642 but settled as a fur trading post since about 1611. Montreal has also done an exceedingly good job of keeping that historical character in the old town. The reason it feels so ancient is because it is! Unfortunately, a lot of that historical character and architecture was cleared away in Toronto between the 60s and 80s. Entire blocks of beautiful, 100+ year old architecture were demolished to build highways and parking lots. We're a lot better at preserving what heritage buildings are left these days, and those parking lots are now being developed into useful space again as cars become de-prioritized in favour of public transit, walking paths and bike lanes. But the damage is unfortunately done in Toronto. There's a whole lot of history that we'll just never get back that way. Thankfully, some previously industrial areas of the city have kept some of that character regardless of gentrification. Liberty Village and Kensington Market are good examples, each for different reasons.

[@tonyporco9524]

@@K1ddkanuck Thanks--all good points! I didn't know a lot of that history regarding Toronto. (When I visited, it seemed like more of a slick modern city in comparison to Montreal.)

[@K1ddkanuck]

@@tonyporco9524 My pleasure! Yeah, Toronto definitely has that aesthetic. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a damn shame that Cold War era Toronto couldn't have preserved its history a bit better. The city itself was officially founded (at least beyond being considered as merely a fortified settlement) in 1793, but the area has been inhabited by First Nations peoples since time immemorial. The first European trade post was established by the French in 1632 and eventually turned into Fort York, then the city of York (locals used to call it Muddy Little York and/or Nasty Little York due to the dirt roads and bad weather). The Americans burned it down during the War of 1812 which prompted British Canada to invade, sack Washington DC and burn down the White House. It became the city of Toronto in 1834, and was the pork processing capital of Canada at one point- hence the nickname Hogtown. On the bright side, it's looking like Toronto will be up there with New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Dubai in the next decade or so. And at that point, hopefully we can escape to Montreal in 40 minutes via hyperloop!

[@TMBpk]

@@K1ddkanuckUmm many of the historic buildings in Toronto were lost due to the Great Fire, they were not intentionally destroyed. If anything, Toronto has done well in ensuring highways don’t get built in the city, which is why Spadina Expressway ends where it does. It also worth mentioning that Toronto wasn’t a major city or town until at least the late 1800s….and overtook Montreal as the largest city in Canada by the mid 1970s and hasn’t looked back since.

[@webstercoleman9250]

Love it. I understand you didn't mention the Montreal traffic. Glad you were able to walk to many of the wonderful places to see. But I just want U.S.A.ers to know AND Canadians from elsewhere, be PATIENT with Montreal drivers, they don't use turn signals, they don't read road signs and they don't respect license plates from outside La Grand Quebec! You WILL get cut off, You WILL get stuck behind an old lady doing 30 under the limit and you will forget the entire Island has no right turns on the red light. Unless you have a Quebec license plate.

[@jcdion7063]

Go to QC City next time around, you’ll get to use your french and a very cool city.

[@petermenzies161]

If crossing the border from NE, cross at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls for great view.

[@derbagger22]

When I go to Montreal or Quebec City, it is all CREPES BY DAY, POUTINE BY NIGHT!

[@elbakan9214]

IN Montreal: Bagels for breakfast: St. Viateur Bagel's (or their Rival Fairmont)

[@mooseboi7835]

I live halfway in between these cities!

[@charlesrb3898]

Old Kingston is an interesting place.

[@mooseboi7835]

@@charlesrb3898 it's very historic here

[@bruceh92]

Nice video thanks! From T.O.

[@juliejensen7370]

Toronto is like a clean NYC. Montreal and Quebec are like Europe.

[@derbagger22]

Have you ever eaten a MR 2 BIG?

[@marklittle8805]

Toronto is also 2 hours from Niagara Falls.. so there you go

[@derbagger22]

Toronto is awesome! And the women are very attractive. The CN Tower is very, very cool. They have a big observatory in the big blob and a smaller observatory at the very top. The big blob one has glass floors. My brother is afraid of heights and we convinced him to tough it up and lay down on his stomach, looking down. While he did, I went over and beat his butt like a drum. He freaked out and we all laughed and he stayed there, to his credit. Then, a little 5 year old boy, who had seen me beat on my brother's butt, came over and went full Ringo on his butt, too! He thought it was the greatest thing ever. It wasn't....until he did it! My brother looked up, stunned, at this little boy beating his butt like a drum! His mom was SO MORTIFIED! She had been deathly afraid of the glass floor. But, she threw all caution aside and swooped that little boy as fast as a hawk. She was so apologetic. But the rest of us were laughing too hysterically to tell her it was ok. I mean, no mother is ever going to condone that behavior. But, dear goodness, I wish this was during the era of the smartphone. Woulda been Tik Tok GOLD!

[@derbagger22]

Schwartz's!

[@derbagger22]

Schwartz!

[@Everythingisany]

top of the CN tower is not great

[@ryanhubble2518]

You should learn how to pronounce the names of these cities