Montmorency Falls by Bus or Taxi?

[CaribbeanBound]

I've read all the threads going back 5 years and still can't get a good handle on this.

 

We would like to get to Montmorency Falls in the most practical and cost effective way between a taxi and the bus.

 

What I understand about taking the bus:

We can take the "800 Metrobus but you need to take the one with 800 number + the 50 (or 53) sign in the window. You can ask the driver to make sure he does go to the falls (the regular 800 don't go that far, only the 50 and 53 do)" or catch a transfer. The cost is $3.00 per person each way. Transportation time is 45 minutes.

 

What I understand about taking a taxi:

Nothing, other than it's about 25 minutes each way. Can't find any info about costs.

 

What I still need to know about the bus:

1. I can't read the French bus schedules. I would like to know what times the buses run from some location close to the pier to the Falls, and what times the bus returns.

2. as I understand there is some distance from the bus stop to the Falls, what all exactly is involved in getting from the bus station near the Falls to the Falls?

 

What I still need to know about the taxi:

1. How much is taxi fare to the Falls from the pier?

2. How do I catch a return taxi?

3. How much time is involved each way?

 

Also, is the information I think I know accurate?

 

Thank you.

[debsjc]

We took a taxi from our hotel in Quebec City, pre-cruise. The cost was $25 (canadian dollars) from the hotel to the falls and the same price from the falls back to the old town centre. It took about 15-20 mins each way in the cab. Our hotel was about 1 mile from the pier, so the fares should be similar.

At the falls there is a visitor information desk where they can call a cab for you, for the return journey.

 

For us it was well worth the cab fare to get to the falls so quickly and easily. If you do decide to take the bus also consider that hardly anyone in Quebec speaks English, including the bus drivers we came across.

[LindaKE]

We were planning to take a taxi. All we want to do is see the falls. Is there enough to do there that we should plan to stay longer than a brief view, then return to Old Town? I have limited mobility, so we won't be doing any hiking or climbing.

[debsjc]

There is a cable car that takes you to the top, so you might want to allow time for that.

[MalibuCA]

If we take a cab to the falls, and then, take the cable car up to the top of the falls, are there cabs available at the top for our return trip to the old town centre, or will we need to call a cab company and hope a taxi shows up?

 

Thanks,

Shelley

[debsjc]

I don't know if there are cabs at the top or not. We took the cable car round trip, and came back down to the bottom, that seems to be the usual thing to do. From there the information office will telelphone a cab for you.

[MalibuCA]

That certainly sounds easily doable. Where exactly do we go to catch the cable car for the ride up?

 

Shelley

[MalibuCA]

One more question: How long does it take by taxi to get from Old Quebec City to the Falls?

 

Thanks,

Shelley

[debsjc]

Where the taxi drops you at the bottom of the falls, there is a buliding with a shop, information bureau, restrooms, vending machines (I think) and the kiosk where you purchase the cable car tickets, and then the cable car itself departs from there.

 

The drive takes 15-20 mins each way.

[Saligo]

We are quite keen and adventurous users of public transportation, but even we decided in the end to take a ship tour that visited Montmorency Falls (among other places) rather than the bus. So if you don't want to take a ship tour then a taxi is probably your best bet.

 

If you still want to take a bus, the instructions you mentioned are quite accurate, but line 800 does not go near the piers, so you may need to take line 1 into the city centre to pick it up. Alternatively, line 300 (the Desjardins shuttle) will take you from the piers to Beauport Centre where you can pick up line 53. Line 53 does not run all that often so you really need to find a way to use the bus timetables, even if they are in French.

 

I have thrown away the paper copies I made of the timetables so I can't remember all the details, but I did think that one line (maybe line 50) went all the way from the city centre to the falls, but not very frequently. Both the 50 and 53 stop fairly close to the top of the falls. Entering bus stop information from the timetables into Google Maps should give you a good feel for the lie of the land in that area. Line 53 meanders round a bit in the area to the west of the falls, and will probably get you within long-ish walking distance of the bottom of the falls, but it looks like hard work.

[Saligo]

It is worth visiting both the top and bottom of the falls. If you don't like cable cars, there are steps (a lot of steps) to get you up or down on the east side of the falls. We didn't use them, but they looked well-made with proper handrails.

[CaribbeanBound]

We ended up taking a ship excursion. Having not noticed any local taxis at the pier on day one, we opted for a ship excursion to Sainte-Anne-De-Beaupre (St. Anne Basilica) and Montmorency Falls. It was a 3-hour morning tour for $56 pp, plus tip, including all entrance and parking fees. The bus ride out of the city gave us picturesque views of a snow-dusted country side as we made our way out to St. Anne Basilica. It's a huge complex. The church itself is stunningly beautiful, with its stained glass windows, archways, ornate columns, and mosaic ceilings. It houses two relics: an arm bone and another bone fragment from Saint Anne (Mary's mother, Jesus' "grandmother"). The main floor includes numerous alcoves dedicated to specific Saints for individual prayer. Doors and pews are carved. The entrance doors are adorned with embossed scenes --- two on each side of every door.

 

The second stop on the tour was Montmorency Falls (a AAA Gem). The Falls are 270-feet high --- about 50% taller than Niagra Falls (though not nearly as wide). There is a visitors center at the bottom of the falls. A gondola ($8 pp) provides rides to the top and there is also a footpath with grueling stairs that will take you the long way around to the top as well. We opted for the bus ride to the top instead. There is a footbridge which spans the top of the Falls. And once again you have a choice as there are two routes to the bridge. The easiest route is to take the path above Montmorency Manor. The more scenic path, with a couple of stairways starts in front of the Manor. It's about the same distance either way. We opted for the easy route up and the scenic route back. Lots of good picture taking opportunities. Our tour guide was very good and provided us with great information. Upon our return to the ship I found several taxi van tours offering a similar tour for $41 pp for parties of 6. I would recommend this tour.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/useful-info-travel.html

[vickila]

We ended up taking a ship excursion. Having not noticed any local taxis at the pier on day one, we opted for a ship excursion to Sainte-Anne-De-Beaupre (St. Anne Basilica) and Montmorency Falls. It was a 3-hour morning tour for $56 pp, plus tip, including all entrance and parking fees. The bus ride out of the city gave us picturesque views of a snow-dusted country side as we made our way out to St. Anne Basilica. It's a huge complex. The church itself is stunningly beautiful, with its stained glass windows, archways, ornate columns, and mosaic ceilings. It houses two relics: an arm bone and another bone fragment from Saint Anne (Mary's mother, Jesus' "grandmother"). The main floor includes numerous alcoves dedicated to specific Saints for individual prayer. Doors and pews are carved. The entrance doors are adorned with embossed scenes --- two on each side of every door.

 

The second stop on the tour was Montmorency Falls (a AAA Gem). The Falls are 270-feet high --- about 50% taller than Niagra Falls (though not nearly as wide). There is a visitors center at the bottom of the falls. A gondola ($8 pp) provides rides to the top and there is also a footpath with grueling stairs that will take you the long way around to the top as well. We opted for the bus ride to the top instead. There is a footbridge which spans the top of the Falls. And once again you have a choice as there are two routes to the bridge. The easiest route is to take the path above Montmorency Manor. The more scenic path, with a couple of stairways starts in front of the Manor. It's about the same distance either way. We opted for the easy route up and the scenic route back. Lots of good picture taking opportunities. Our tour guide was very good and provided us with great information. Upon our return to the ship I found several taxi van tours offering a similar tour for $41 pp for parties of 6. I would recommend this tour.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/useful-info-travel.html

 

Just a little note -- the cable car up to the Falls is accessible for either a wheelchair or mobility scooter. However, after reaching top, one has to go behind the restaurant - to the left, up a hill (hard push) and then make a right onto a foot path for less than 1/4 mile to the suspension bridge - easy for a scooter - difficult for a wheelchair. Then there is a further footpath into the wooded area. An exciting visit if able to do it. Would be a tough wheelchair push, but doable. The cable car again takes you down. The restaurant up there is not accessible. Vicki

[CaribbeanBound]

Vicki,

Thanks for adding the helpful handicap-access notes.

[vickila]

Vicki,

Thanks for adding the helpful handicap-access notes.

 

You are so welcome. Can you tell I loved it?!!!! V.:)

[financialgrl]

SIL and I visited Quebec for 4 days last month (October) and one of those we rented a car and visited the falls, St Anne De Beaupre, Isle of Orleans and then drove around the countryside for awhile. If you are in port longer than one day, much cheaper to rent a car because entry into the church was free, it only cost $9 p/p for entrance into the falls and the rest of the time we just drove around (also went out into the countryside). Very easy to do on your own. Decided to rent a car on the spur of the moment at about noon and the only 2 cars left were SUVs and I think we paid about $70 for the day. The SUV held 5 easily and as you can see above, entrance fees were either nonexistent or very cheap so if there are 4 or 5 of you, this is the way to go. We probably paid that and we were gone most of the day and the cost of our lunch was included in that but there were only 2 of us to split the cost.

 

My two cents - the church was beautiful, the falls I didn't consider to be all that spectacular, I will admit that I am terrified of heights so we didn't take the cable car or walk alongside the falls. We stopped at the building below and walked around down there and then drove to the top of the falls and ate lunch up there. The ambience was very nice and the food was pretty good but saw no taxis waiting up top.

 

We absolutely loved Quebec though.