Montréal - Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
Tel: (514) 394 7377 or 1 800 465 1213.
Website: www.admtl.com

Montréal-Trudeau is located 25km (15 miles) west of the city centre.

Airport facilities: Facilities include bureaux de change, ATMs, restaurants, cafes, bars, newsagents, duty-free and other shops and tourist information. A valet parking service is also available. Car hire is provided by Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty.

Transport to the city: L'Aérobus airport shuttle service (tel: (514) 842 2281) links Montréal-Trudeau Airport with the Montreal Bus Central Station. From the central bus station, passengers can take the complimentary shuttle service (tel: (514) 631 1856) to major downtown hotels. Taxis and limousines are also available.

Approximate flight times to Montreal: From London is 6 hours; from New York is 1 hour 20 minutes; from Los Angeles is 5 hours; from Toronto is 1 hour 10 minutes and from Sydney is 20 hours 25 minutes.

Getting There By Rail

VIA Rail (tel: (514) 989 2626 or 1 888 842 7245; website: www.viarail.ca) is Canada's national rail service provider. Services from the USA are operated by Amtrak (tel: 1 800 872 7245; website: www.amtrak.com). Montreal's Gare Centrale (Central Station) is located at 895 rue de la Gauchetière West. It has several restaurants and is directly linked to the Underground City's network of shops and hotels. Trains arriving from the west also stop at the basic Dorval Station, near the airport.

Rail services: Montreal is located along the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, which accounts for 85% of Canada's passenger rail traffic. Both economy and first-class (VIA 1) cars are available on corridor trains, which link Montreal with Quebec City to the east, and Ottawa and Toronto to the west. The carriages are clean and quiet, with large windows that confer a sense of the country's vastness as the train passes acres of farmland and mixed conifer and deciduous forests; VIA 1 fares include a surprisingly good meal and complimentary Canadian wines. Eastern transcontinental services are the daily Ocean from Halifax and the thrice-weekly Chaleur from Gaspé, both with economy and sleeper classes. Amtrak runs daily trains from New York and Washington, DC.

Getting There By Road

Montreal is well served by a network of autoroutes (motorways), which are normally two-digit numbers identified by red and blue signs, as well as main (100-199) and secondary (200-399) highways, which have green signs. Traffic drives on the right. Road signs are international but are usually in French. Maximum speed limits are 100kph (62mph) on motorways, 80kph (50mph) on rural highways and 50kph (31mph) in built-up areas. It is illegal to turn right at a red light on the island of Montreal; however, these turns are legal elsewhere in the province (unless posted otherwise).

The minimum driving age is 16 years. An International Driving Permit is recommended, although it is not legally required for visits of less than six months. Proof of insurance (minimum C$50,000 third-party liability) must be carried. Non-residents may be covered for compensation under the province's no-fault insurance if driving a vehicle registered in Quebec or a province or US state with a reciprocal arrangement. The Société de l'Assurance Automobile du Québec (SAAQ) (tel: (514) 873 7620; website: www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca) provides further information. There are often road checks for intoxicated drivers; the maximum legal alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.08%. Seat belts are compulsory for all passengers. Radar detection devices are strictly prohibited and may not be carried in automobiles. Snow tyres are a necessity in winter.

Information on road conditions is available from the Ministère des Transports (tel: 1 888 355 0511; website: www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca). CAA-Québec (part of the Canadian Automobile Association) offers travel planning, insurance and other services to motorists (tel: (514) 861 7575; website: www.caaquebec.com).

Emergency breakdown services: CAA-Québec (tel: (514) 861 1313 (Montreal area only); CAA/AAA (tel: 1 800 222 4357 or 222 from most mobile phones).

Routes to the city: Highways 20 and 40 (the Trans-Canada Highway) are the main east-west routes through the city, arriving from Quebec City to the east and Toronto (via Highway 401) and Ottawa (via Highway 417) from the west. US I-87 from New York City becomes Highway 15 at the border, south of Montreal.

Coach services: All buses depart from the Station Centrale d'Autobus Montréal (Montreal Bus Central Station), 505 boulevard de Maisonneuve East (tel: (514) 842 2281; schedules and fares for all coach companies). Facilities include ATMs, a bureau de change, bars and restaurants, car hire, Internet access, left luggage and coach passes.

Orléans Express (tel: 1 888 999 3977; website: www.orleansexpress.com) is the main coach company within the province of Quebec. Greyhound Canada (tel: 1 800 661 8747; website: www.greyhound.ca) runs services from Canadian destinations west of Ottawa as well as the United States. Other coach services include Adirondack Trailways (tel: 1 800 776 7548; website: www.trailwaysny.com) from New York City and Coach Canada (tel: 1 800 461 7661; website: www.coachcanada.com) from Toronto.

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