Heading to Montreal - any tips?

[karice 29]

Hi!

I finally have booked my interview appointment at the consulate in Montreal on February 22nd! Does anyone have any tips on where to stay, or how to make the trip a little less hard on our wallets?

Thanks!

[HoosierEh 21]

Welcome to Montreal.

Quite affordable really. It's a competitive tourism town and season.

I got myself situated with a map. Locate embassy on the map. Note that the frontage is a one way.

If you are arriving by train or bus locate the station. It's not that far from the embassy actually.

Hotels are plentiful in the area.

I made sure to get a room with a fridge and microwave (some of the remodeled hotels do not ) and some have breakfast bars included.

Then decide how you are going to get there : cabbies in February might be a great idea to get there on time quickly.

Food is a plenty and affordable: underground city will let you move freely in the winter.

Read some embassy reviews for montreal and they sometimes include hints as well. Especially if you are flying in

Most importantly ... find time to have fun it's a beautiful city.

[NikLR 13,220]

If you're flying in and staying downtown I suggest taking the bus to downtown vs a cab. The bus is like $9 (ish) and a cab is $45 but they both take about 45 mins to reach downtown from the airport.

~~moved to Canada regional forum from K1 process and procedures. Topic is regionally specific~~

[lilacmarie213 4]

You will want to stay somewhere along the metro/subway line. Airbnb or similar sites are the best way to save some $$, we stayed part of the time at an apartment that was 45$/night along the metro line that was serviceable. Montreal has a very large bed bug problem as well, and while we personally did not encounter bed bugs, we did end up with flea bites (we stayed at a B&B, a rented apartment from VRBO, and a hotel...not sure which was the problem, all appeared clean).

Maxi/Provigo/Loblaws for groceries. eating out in Montreal is more expensive than many areas of the US and other parts of Canada due to Quebec's higher tax %. I do recommend Bistro Tot ou Tard, Juliette & Chocolate, and Main Deli Steak House for places that have decent prices and portion sizes.

The 747 bus from the airport will take you into downtown, you must buy at minimum a $10 one-day-pass (there will be "OPUS" machines in the airport to do so) to use the bus, but if you are staying for more than one day, it's better to buy a 3-day pass so you can use the metro. Do not count on the 747 bus driver speaking English, making stop announcements, or being able to help you find your destination. For metro/subway stops on the 747, get off at the very first bus stop, or the very last one. You can download an offline version of the Metro map as a PDF. Be aware that the Metro is full of stairs, and no elevators along most of the routes. Some stations in the Metro connect to the underground city (a giant shopping mall, basically), it's easy to get lost in the underground city, so I recommend downloading a PDF map for that beforehand as well. US Consulate is only a few blocks from Victoria station on the Orange line.

[Melissa Sinasac 0]

Hi!

I finally have booked my interview appointment at the consulate in Montreal on February 22nd! Does anyone have any tips on where to stay, or how to make the trip a little less hard on our wallets?

Thanks!

How did you book your interview?? I called the NVC and got my case number today, however, the Embassy in Montreal hasn't sent out my packet yet. Do I have to wait to get it in the mail, or can I go ahead and make my interview date? I'm curious to know how long of a wait it will be from the time I schedule it to the actual interview date. When I check my case number online it says it's ready for met to schedule my interview date. It's impossible to actually talk to a human being when calling the Embassy in Montreal!

[HoosierEh 21]

How did you book your interview?? I called the NVC and got my case number today, however, the Embassy in Montreal hasn't sent out my packet yet. Do I have to wait to get it in the mail, or can I go ahead and make my interview date? I'm curious to know how long of a wait it will be from the time I schedule it to the actual interview date. When I check my case number online it says it's ready for met to schedule my interview date. It's impossible to actually talk to a human being when calling the Embassy in Montreal!

You should get an email or letter soon informing you when your appointment is. You do not get to pick the date. They do.

Then the email it will walk you through the process of going online to another website to affirm the booking time they chose for you. On that site you you also pick your canada post delivery location for passport pick up.

Best of luck!

[karice 29]

Actually, with the K1, I got to choose my own appointment time from a selection.

[Ontarkie 13,898]

You should get an email or letter soon informing you when your appointment is. You do not get to pick the date. They do.

Then the email it will walk you through the process of going online to another website to affirm the booking time they chose for you. On that site you you also pick your canada post delivery location for passport pick up.

Best of luck!

k1's get to pick their dates when spots open up.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Ontarkie

[JoTeller 1]

my fiance and me stayed in le square phillips hotel which is basically 5 minites walk from the consulate, taxi from airport to downtown montreal was $40 flat rate

[TLRight 0]

Where will you be coming from? I'm from edmonton and to save money on hotel, food and transportation I did day trips.

For my medical I flew to Vancouver all in one day with no issues.

For Montreal I left Tuesday evening to arrive at 2am with my appointment at 8:30 at the consulate. I arrived at 7:10 to the consulate and ended up being the first K1 of the day getting bumped up to 7:30 and finishing my whole appointment even before my scheduled appointment. Then that evening I flew home at 4pm.

Yes too flights but with planning ahead you can get cheaper flights and it is still way less than having to stay nearly a week in Montreal

[NikLR 13,220]

It would have been cheaper for me to fly to and from Montreal twice, than to stay for the week at the hotel being $99/night. I had a fridge but no toaster or microwave. I made sure every meal was two and did a bit of shopping for sandwiches.

[zilchfox 296]

I stayed in Motel Pierre for about $50. It's quite run down, though...however budget was important to me.