As we get ready to take Will on his second flight, it seems only right to go back to his first as a refresher!
Tomorrow we’ll be flying out West to visit Mike’s family and introduce Will to the rest of his aunts, uncles, and cousins! We can’t wait, but I am definitely starting to get a little nervous about the longer flight we’ll be taking with Will this time.
Will passed his first flight with flying colors, but it was only 2ish hours up to Canada so it was a good way to ease him into traveling. I’d never been before, but it was honestly one of my favorite trips I’ve ever taken! Not only because there was so much to see and do, but because it was SUCH a kid friendly destination!
Our itinerary is below, but there is SO much more you could do, especially with kids a little older.
DAY #1
We flew direct from Atlanta into Montreal, which was an easy, quick flight with a baby. We probably looked a little ridiculous getting all our bags from the car to the airport, but once we offloaded our checked bags, it was much easier!
We started off with 2 large checked bags (one for me and one for Mike); 2 small checked bags; 1 carry-on bag (Will’s stuff); my purse; Will’s diaper bag; and Mike’s backpack, but the 2 keys to success at the airport were the Doona and the giant carry-on bag!
We knew we wanted the Doona for travel even before Will was born. It’s more compact than most strollers, and while it doesn’t have any storage, it is perfect for travel before it pulls triple duty as a baby carrier, stroller, and carseat!
We rolled Will through the airport in the Doona and carried the carseat base and cover in our giant LL Bean bag. We gate-checked the Doona right before getting on the plane, which was perfect because we just attached the base, put everything in the case, and it was there waiting for us when we got off. From there, we just threw our diaper bag and extra stuff into the now empty tote bag and stuffed that into the overhead bins.
Will did such a great job on the plane! I nursed him during take-off and landing, but he didn’t seem to fuss either way. He only slept for maybe an hour each leg, but I’ll take it! He made friends with the flight attendants and had a great time looking out the window. These little stick on spinners were runner up for MVP, but we’ll probably need more in our arsenal now that he’s almost a year old.
There are changing tables in the bathrooms on Delta flights, but we were able to just change him on the seat since it was only us in the row. I always keep my little portable diaper station with me, as well as diaper baggies (AKA doggie poop bags with better branding) if I’m out somewhere to minimize other people smelling dirty diapers.
When we landed, we just grabbed the Doona bag at the gate. It has backpack straps, so Mike looked a little like a turtle but it was easier for him to carry it that way while I just wore Will in the baby carrier until we got out of the airport.
We used Turo for the first time, which was an amazing experience! They were waiting at the gate for us, and we were able to quickly snap the Doona base in and get on the road. This was SO much more seamless than dealing with the rental car nonsense, and it was actually a cheaper option!
It was an easy drive from the airport to Old Town Montreal. There are 2 main areas to stay in in the city – Old Town and Downtown. Downtown is really cool, but we knew we wanted to be in Old Town by the water. It was stunning and really made you feel like you were in Europe.
We stayed at the Hotel Gault, which was an amazing experience. They had a Graco pack n play for Will, and the room was so spacious that we were able to make the bathroom his sleeping area and keep it dark with the white noise machine going. I always travel with these Graco sheets that fit the pack n play perfectly, but they also fit the crib at the next hotel, too!
We hit the ground running our first day! Will took a good nap while we unpacked everything – I’ve found that it’s way easier traveling with a baby if you keep everything organized and set up ready to go. While he slept, Mike and I organized Will’s food area (formula, bottles, water bottles, cleaning station), and we then got ready for date night because – oh yeah – it was Valentine’s Day!
We had a beautiful dinner at a highly rated Italian restaurant which I would have linked here if I hadn’t gotten food poisoning that night. Oh well! It was a great experience right up until the puking so not a total bust. Will slept through most of dinner, and we had a great Valentines Day!
DAY #2
The next day was spent exploring Old Montreal. It was FREEZING, so we tried to arrange our day with lots of breaks to pop inside and get warmed up. We bundled up our snowbunny and headed out for breakfast. Mike found this really charming little spot called Le Cartet.
It wasn’t very crowded, and we were able to easily sit in a corner while Will dozed – this was back when he was tiny and fell asleep anywhere! We stopped for some pastries on the way out at Olive et Gourmando and did some sight seeing around the neighborhood until we had to stop and feed the baby.
I always try to find nice hotels if I have to use the bathroom because they are usually really clean and accessible compared to restaurants or shops where they typically don’t want you coming in off the street just for the bathroom. We popped into the Hotel William Gray because it was in a great location close to us. I was still breastfeeding at that point, so we were able to find a quiet private spot to nurse Will followed by a bottle, hit the bathrooms, then venture back out.
Naturally, our next stop was a cute little pub we’d eyed the night before called The Pub Wolf & Workman. We stopped in for beers and a quick bite since we wanted to be hungry for our dinner that night!
Once we were warm and full, we headed back out into the snow to go to the Montreal sign at the harbor. It was a little hard to find on maps because it’s in the back of a building, but it was a beautiful spot! There are a ton of things for kids to do around the harbor, but since Will was so little and because it was so chilly, we just took a few photos, explored, then headed home to the hotel.
We had tickets that night for a really cool experience at the Notre Dame Cathedral. They do an incredible light and music show inside – we didn’t know what to expect, but it was such an amazing way to see the church and really highlighted the architecture. We were so glad we did this because you have to pay to enter the church during the day (unless it’s a Mass) so it was well worth the price to see the church and see a really cool light show!
Originally, we had a reservation at a nearby restaurant for dinner, but when we got there, they’d accidentally given up our table. Unfortunately, having a stroller means you’re really limited with where you can sit – not only so that you are out of the way but also to avoid patrons and waiters bumping the baby as they walk by. We’d stopped by earlier in the day and reserved a specific table, so when it was taken, we pivoted and stopped into another place Mike had flagged.
Auberge St. Gabriel turned out to be one of the best accidents! It was a dark, moody restaurant that gave us serious GOT vibes, but the staff was so kind. We explained the situation, and they immediately went to see what they could do. The only table available was a banquet table at the front of the room by the fire, but they happily asked if it was ok with us. It ended up being perfect because we had lots of space to let Will babble and play, and when he fell asleep after eating his dinner we could tuck him out of the way to snooze.
Even with it being a vibe-y, trendy place, there were tons of families, and we felt so welcome! The food was amazing, they never made us feel out of place with a baby, and we couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
DAY #3
It had been snowing off and on, so for our last day we wanted to take Will to the park to play in the snow for the first time. We started off the day at Tommy Cafe, a quaint little breakfast spot that delivered on these yummy dishes.
From there, we headed out to Parc Mont Royal. It’s a huge park in the city with lots of options for kids of all ages, especially during warmer months when snow isn’t covering the ponds, but it was still beautiful.
You could ice skate on the frozen lake or cross country ski, but Will was justttt a little too young for that, so we just took him for a walk and let him play in the snow. He liked it for a bit before he got cold and we bailed to warm up in the car and feed him.
While we were over in that area, we stopped by St. Joseph’s Oratory – a beautiful cathedral on a hill overlooking Montreal. It was under construction, so we unfortunately couldn’t climb to the top, but it had gorgeous views of the city and some neat history.
We were starving by that point, so we headed home and stopped by a cozy tavern called Pub St. Pierre for a beer and a snack. Mike finally tried poutine (no, thank you!), and I had the pad thai which this bar is randomly known for. Everything was delicious, but it was packed and Will woke up and started screaming. It was his only tantrum of the trip so you can’t blame him, but that was our cue to get him home!
DAY #4
It was time to move on to Quebec City! We packed up the car and drove the 3ish hours to QC from Montreal. It wasn’t a bad drive but did get a little dicey when it started to snow!
QC was stunning! It’s a relatively small town that feels like an old European village. We checked into the gorgeous Auberge St. Antoine and once again set up shop. The layout of this hotel was great because we could put Will’s crib in the living room so he could have privacy and quiet for naps. The hotel staff was so kind and welcoming, and we felt right at home!
I will say – Quebec City was much harder than Montreal with a stroller. There are a ton of cobble stones, and the shops and restaurants are smaller and tighter. There were also several that had age limits meaning kids under 18 weren’t allowed since they were technically bars.
Even so, we found a great little pub, Le Pape-Georges, to tuck into for some much needed beer and soup after our travel day. We explored around town, but we were so cold by this point that we just headed back to the hotel to cuddle up and rest after a long day. Sometimes you just need a night in with pizza + HBO!
DAY #5
Our last day in QC was Mike’s 42nd birthday! We walked up to the Fairmont Hotel which is up on a hill in QC. There is a funicular that will take you up there faster – and more easily – but it felt so good to get a bit of cardio in in the cold! It only took about 20 minutes to walk up to the hotel and put our names in for the breakfast buffet.
We probably hit the buffet a little too hard, but Will was passed out for most of it so Mom and Dad got to spend a leisurely breakfast enjoying bottomless waffles, bacon, mimosas – and pretty much anything else you could want! We were too full to do the bobsled up at the hotel, but it would be really fun to come back and do with older kids.
We took our time wandering around after brunch and took the funicular back down to the city center to sleep off our food coma.
The icing on Mike’s proverbial birthday cake (and our trip!) was our dinner that last night at the hotel restaurant. There’s an amazing spot called the Chez Muffy that happened to be attached to our hotel which was so convenient. The tasting menu looked amazing, but we weren’t sure we should do it since it can be a little unpredictable dining with a baby. We’ve taken Will with us to restaurants since he was itty bitty, but you still never know.
We told the staff that we didn’t want to have to stop them halfway through if we needed to tend to the baby, but they insisted we just let them know to have the chef pause the next course if Will got fussy and we needed to step out. They could not have been more welcoming and supportive.
Like so many other “fancy” spots we’d been in during this trip, there were many other families and so much support for including kids at meals.
Will was a champ, as always! He happily sat with us while we ate and only started to get antsy when it was time for his dinner. The staff graciously paused our dishes, brought us wine while we were taking care of the baby, and patiently waited while we fed him and played a little before he fell back asleep. Once we got him back to sleep in the stroller after dinner, we finished out our meal and left full, happy, and not ready to head home!
DAY #6
After jamming a lot into a long weekend trip, we packed up and drove back to the airport to head home to the US!
The Turo process amazing, and all we had to do was drop the car off at our gate to the person waiting for us. We popped the Doona base out (you technically don’t need the base and can seatbelt it it, but we felt more comfortable bringing the base since we’d be driving a lot) and switched it over to a stroller to get into the airport. We offloaded the 4 checked bags and breezed through security and customs.
He was a champ on the flight home and was very proud of his very 1st passport stamp! This was such a positive first international experience with a baby, and we definitely feel brave enough to do it again. I was so anxious about traveling that far with a 6-month-old, but I am SO glad we did it. I really felt like it gets scarier the longer you put it off, so I wanted to “rip the bandaid!”
It will be VERY interesting to see how our super busy almost-1-year-old (??!) does on the flight out West tomorrow, but we’ve got our sights set on London 2025 so we’ll take all the practice we can get!
I’ve linked all the things that streamlined our 1st international trip with a baby, but drop any rec’s below!
Doona Stroller: https://amzn.to/3VX9gbv
Doona Base: https://amzn.to/4cdiLJh
Doona Cover: https://amzn.to/4cypQUu
Graco Crib Sheets: https://amzn.to/3L0DHqW
Frida Baby Sound Machine: https://amzn.to/4cDMcDV
Stick-On Spinners: https://amzn.to/3xG68qX
Diaper changing bag: https://amzn.to/3zdfdYK
Diaper baggies: https://amzn.to/4bnZtzw
Kyte baby onesies: https://amzn.to/4cswrA4
Kyte baby sleep sack: https://amzn.to/3Lee3Pm
Snow suit: https://amzn.to/45Q2N5q
Cold weather onesie: https://amzn.to/3RTE9eu
Long baby socks: https://amzn.to/4bw4Xsf
Baby gloves: https://amzn.to/3RRrHfc
Baby hats: https://amzn.to/4cIC78Y
Baby headphones: https://amzn.to/4cKP7uH
LL Bean XL Tote: https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/35198?page=hunters-tote-bag-open-top&bc=50-516672-677&feat=677-GN3&csp=f&attrValue_0=1469&pos=6
*affiliate links*
Hemingway & Herriot 