BY AIR

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport
Which Budget (to research cheap flights overseas)
Air Canada
West Jet
Porter
Air Transat

NOTE: If you're traveling from the US, Sometimes it can be cheaper to fly into Plattsburgh, New York or Burlington, Vermont and then rent a car and drive or take a bus into Montreal. For ground transportation, you can either take the airport shuttle, which takes you to the central bus station downtown (about $24 return) and offers a free mini-bus connection to some of the major hotels downtown once you arrive at the central bus terminal; a taxi, which costs about $35-$40 flat rate; or public transit, which is two bus rides and, depending on where you're going, one or two metros*, which will cost you about $2.75. The metro lines cover most of downtown. There is also a commuter train that you can link into after taking one bus, but it doesn't run all that frequently, so I would advise against it.

Here is how to get downtown by public transport from the airport: When you exit the airport, look for the bus stop 204 Cardinal (dir. Est/East)--it should be along the median that separates the taxi and shuttle bus lane from the lane for regular traffic. A single ticket costs $2.75. Remember to take a transfer. Take the bus to the Dorval train station--it should be the first stop. Look for the bus stop 211 Bord-du-Lac (dir. Est/East). This bus will take you to Lionel-Groulx metro station, which is one of the main interchanges. If you would like to know the bus schedule, you can go to www.stcum.qc.ca.

BY TRAIN

VIA Rail
Amtrak

If you're coming from the west, VIA will stop at Dorval Station and Gare Centrale (not the same as the Gare Centrale for the bus!). Make sure you go to Gare Centrale. Bonaventure metro* station stops at Gare Centrale, though it is still a bit of a walk to get there.

BY BUS

Greyhound
Coach Canada

If you're coming from the West, the buses will usually stop at Dorval and Gare Centrale stations (not the same as the Gare Centrale for the train!). Make sure you get off at Gare Centrale.

IN THE CITY

Once you're in the city, depending on how long you plan to stay, you can buy either a one-day tourist's pass ($9), a three-day tourist's pass ($17), a weekly pass ($20), or 6 tickets ($12.75) for public transit, which includes buses and the metro*. http://www.stcum.qc.ca; http://www.metrodemontreal.com/index-e.html

Concordia University is located at Guy-Concordia metro* station, and McGill University is at McGill metro* station. The main buses that service McGill are the 15 (de Maisonneuve Blvd), the 24 (Sherbrooke St), and the 144 (Av. des Pins). The main buses that service Concordia are the 15, the 24, the 165 (Cote-des-Neiges), the 66 (Westmount), the 144, and the 150 (Rene Levesque Blvd).

Taxis are fairly inexpensive, though rates may vary from company to company. Here's a link to help you estimate the fare for a ride.

Concordia and McGill Universities are about a 10-15 walk from each other.

*The Montreal subway system is known as "the metro." If you ask for directions on the street, remember to refer to these stations as "the metro," or else you may be pointed to a Subway restaurant instead. It's been known to happen!

NOTE: The first language of the city is French, but about 30% of the population is English. Downtown all the shops and restaurants will have salespeople and servers who are fluent in both languages, and all public transport drivers and ticket sellers will also be able to speak English. The signage throughout the city is only in French, though, so please ask one of the conference volunteers if you need help getting your bearings.