My junior’s spring break in first week of March. I am taking her and a friend to see a couple of schools. We live in the South. They want to visit Indiana University and University of Vermont. Financially and weather wise - obviously doesnt make a ton of sense but…
From my research - I think our best bet would be to fly to and from Indiana ($250 per ticket), then leave next day from Atlanta and fly to Montreal ($350 round trip) (not Burlington where Vermont is because there is only one direct flight and it is $550 per ticket) and then rent a car in Montreal and drive 1.15 hour to Burlington. Anyone done it this way before? Other suggestions? Am I crazy to even entertain this?
I don’t think there is any good way to combine those two schools into a single trip. A couple thoughts occur to me. Do you all have passports? You will need that to enter and leave Canada. Also, early March is still winter. You may run into bad travel weather which could complicate things.
March is very much winter in Quebec. Are you confident with driving in wintry conditions? Have you priced rental cars for crossing international borders? And that border crossing might be quick and easy, or it might not.
If your daughter ends up attending U Vermont, how will she travel back and forth? If the cost of the flight to Burlington is prohibitive to just visit, how will that work if she matriculates there? Will she be able to come home for breaks?
What about Manchester, NH instead of Montreal? It’s 2.5 hours to Burlington. Might be simpler than dealing with passports, border crossing, international car rental. Albany, at 3 hours’ drive away would be another alternative.
Another note, if you do decide to fly into Montreal. If your daughter’s friend who is traveling with you is not yet 18, it would be a good idea to have a notarized letter from her parents, authorizing you to take her out of the country. You may not need it, but if a border agent asks questions, you would be prepared.
“and then rent a car in Montreal and drive 1.15 hour to Burlington.”
I have made this drive many times. Montreal is more like 2 hours from UVM / Burlington Vermont, particularly if you include time to cross the border. However, the airport in Montreal is slightly west of the city, and the roads from Burlington VT to Montreal arrive more from the south and east. I would leave 2 1/2 hours for the drive from Burlington to the Montreal airport or vice versa. You might try to avoid driving through Montreal right at rush hour. As others have said you would need passports.
One time I drove to Montreal, and my wife and very young daughter flew up a few days later to join me. We then drove home together. Immigration in Montreal did not want to let my wife and daughter into Canada because they were afraid that my wife was trying to run away with my daughter. I think that they let them in only after immigration realized that I am originally from Montreal. If you are entering Canada with a minor, I would have letters from all parents of the minor that they know what you are doing and are fine with it.
You could of course drop by one of the English Language universities in Montreal (McGill, Concordia) while you are there.
This plan sounds fraught with potential problems. It will end up being very expensive. The itinerary isn’t logical. I guess you can TRY, but there is so much that can go wrong here. My experience with the US/Canada border near Montreal is that it takes a VERY long time to get over that border, in either direction. Add weather to that, and you could be looking at many chances for things to go wrong.
I’m sure your child wants to visit, but I suggest visiting after acceptance. Top choices are going to become obvious and a visit can be arranged when she has more time to figure out her options.
Is this really more about a fun break for two girls? If so, no problem, but they can have a fun break, and a relatively cheap one, by just going to Indiana, if they are really serious. My son and husband did that last year at around the same time. They went to the museum at the speedway, took in a fun basketball game vs Purdue, and enjoyed the campus tour the next day. Maybe a more sensible itinerary would be to add a college visit in neighboring Ohio or Illinois, but you will likely have to pay an extra $100 or so if you return the car in a different state.
@Lindagaf it is a fun spring break trip for the girls and for various reasons - these are two schools they are both interested in. Getting to Burlington is harder and more $$ than I figured. So as of now - thinking we go to Indiana and see if there is somewhere else we want to visit from there.
We did something like this last October via Toronto rather than Montreal, and it was fine - it was the best way to get home from Rochester. The only problem we encountered was massive confusion regarding our departure gate because the Toronto Raptors were flying around the same time. Canadians know how to clear roads. On the other hand, I know from past experience that the Canadian immigration officials are in fact very careful about checking minors who are traveling with only one parent or with non-parents, so the advice about getting a notarized letter is important if either your daughter or her friend are under 18.
Seconding the Manchester, NH option. No, you do not want to fly through Montreal just to get to Vermont. Between the weather and the borders, this could be really ugly really quickly.
These girls are juniors. There still is time to visit Burlington. Maybe in the summer as part of a more extended road trip? VT, NH, Quebec, Ontario? Lots to see and do with a bit of planning.
Just agreeing that you definitely should consider weather problems in Burlington in March. For that reason alone, you may want to make it it’s own trip at another time. As you’ve learned, your preference for non-direct just doesn’t work for Burlington. It’s lovely though!
The drive from Bloomington to Chicago isn’t terrible to go have some fun, or flights from Indy to Chicago are probably pretty easy. Tons of schools there too if there is any interest.
We live north of Albany and go to Montreal once a year or so just for fun and it is usually pretty easy. The ONLY time we had any trouble crossing the border was when we were flying from Montreal on what would be an international flight. Lots of explaining why we were crossing into Canada just to fly when there are airports in the US. It is worth the extra money and hassle of changing flights because having to be interviewed twice on the way over and twice again on the way back was stressful and time consuming! If you aren’t looking at schools in Canada and just want to use the airport, it will be much easier to stay in the US.