Fodors Montreal & Quebec City 2013

Montral and Qubec City are like France without jet lag, two vibrant centers of European joie de vivre within driving distance of major cities in the northeastern United States. They are cities of great contrasts between old and new, quaint and cool. Sidewalk cafs and cobblestone streets are charming backdrops to the latest in high fashion, haute cuisine, and avant-garde art.

Montral is a forward-thinking, party-loving island metropolis of 1.9 million people that expands to about 3.8 million with its environs. A new art gallery, a new concert hall, refurbished downtown parks, and the return of Formula 1 racing are all signs of Montrals restored fortunes.

Meanwhile, Qubec City brims with new confidence. It has even one-upped Montral by snagging a deal with the Cirque du Soleil to provide free street entertainment for visitors and locals.

Both cities are defined by the exhilarating extremes of four distinct seasons, picturesque waterfront settings along the St. Lawrence River, and four centuries of history. Montral and Qubec City are easily walkable, with lively downtown cores and friendly, relaxed vibes. You can expect tantalizing French food in both cities, from humble to haute, and good value for hotels and shopping. The U.S. and Canadian dollars are roughly at par, so the big currency discount for Americans is a thing of the past, at least for now.

Culturally, Montral is in constant motion. A new concert hall for the Orchestre Symphonique de Montral is the pice de rsistance of the Quartier des Spectacles, an effervescent downtown district of more than 80 venues for film, music, theater, dance, visual arts, and comedy.

The Muse des Beaux-Arts de Montral, one of Canadas oldest museums, has created a new pavilion of Canadian and Qubec art in an adjacent church. To the relief of local architectural preservationists, the museum retained the churchs magnificent stone exterior and its main nave, which will be used as an auditorium and site for temporary exhibitions. It also rescued the 20 Tiffany stained-glass windowsthe largest collection of Tiffany glass outside the United Statesfrom the chapel and remounted them in the nave.

Cant afford tickets to the Cirque du Soleils big shows in Las Vegas? Make a summer visit to Qubecs Old City in 2013 for a free taste of the worlds most innovative circus. Thanks to a five-year C$30-million deal signed with the Cirque in 2009, the company has been providing free street shows five days a week each summer. A notable success, the contract has been extended until 2015 and might well continue indefinitely.

The mayor is betting the Cirque will continue staving off any recession-driven drop in tourism. And he has to enjoy the discomfort of his citys upstart, upriver rival, Montral, which, in spite of being the site of the Cirques world headquarters, has to make do with occasional performances by visiting troupes.

Another wildly creative happening in the city is the monumental Image Mill 3D, which includes a dazzling three-dimensional video projected onto the stark walls of the Old Ports grain silos. This is sound, light, music, and film with a futuristic style.

Even in a city full of chic boutique hotels, the Ritz-Carlton Montral is something to behold. After a four-year hiatus while major renovations were taking place, this iconic Montral hotel re-opened in 2012 just in time for its 100th birthday. Even if you cant afford a Ritzy room, this exquisitely restored landmark is the place for celebrity spotting, cocktail sipping, and dining in the new Maison Boulud, home to international star chef Daniel Boulud.

At most, Dorchester Square and Place du Canada, which face each other across boulevard Ren Lvesque, total just a little more than 5 acres, but their location right in the center of downtown make them worthy of the money and care the city has lavished on them in the last few years. In 2010, Montral reopened Dorchester Square after a restoration project that added new lawns and wide walkways and replanted trees.

In 2012, Place du Canada also benefited from a major facelift. The two neighboring squares with their lawns and mature shady trees play an important part in the lives of Montralers. If the corner of rues Ste-Catherine and Peel is the heart of downtown, Dorchester and Place du Canada are its lungs.

Montrals new Bixi systemshort for bicycle-taxi rentalis a smash hit, and the citys whopping 350 miles of cycling paths are greenways for both transportation and leisure. Pick up a bike from any of the rental stations around the city and drop it off at your destination.

In Qubec City, the bike path of the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain, a beautiful linear park created for the citys 400th anniversary in 2008, connects with new trails to the Portneuf farming country and the wonder of the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, all the way to Mont-Sainte-Anne.

The exciting Train du Massif de Charlevoix departs Parc de la Chute-Montmorency outside of Qubec City, heading for the superb ski resort of Le Massif de Charlevoix and the artistic village of Baie-Saint-Paul. At the end of the line is the charming cliff-top town of La Malbaie, home of the baronial Htel Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu. The hotels talented chefs cater the trains gourmet meals. The new railway features restored vintage cars with exceptional interiors and panoramic windows, which are key to taking in the scenery along the route.