Find the cheapest bus tickets from Montreal to New York

So you’ve decided to visit the Big Apple over the weekend? You’ve come to the right place to book your travel! Here are a few tips to help you on your journey.

Planning

Bus service from Montreal to New York is offered by Adirondack Trailways and Greyhound, and you can easily compare schedules and fares for both directly on Busbud. Both are reliable companies, so choose according to your schedule!

You can usually take the bus as early as 7:00 am or as late as 11:45pm, and prices range from $73-87.

Compared to the train, where you typically only have one departure option per day, taking the bus offers the most flexibility for your trip.

Things To Remember The Day You Travel

The day of your departure, I recommend arriving at at the Berri-UQAM station at least 45 mins in advance, or as someone who is usually fashionably late, I always set an hour before in my calendar. This will give you the time to comfortably arrive at the station, and you can enjoy the station’s coffee shop and clean restrooms until onboarding. Arriving early also gives you better seating selection— read on to learn why this is useful.

Essential things to pack: a book or magazine to read (I always bring my Kindle!), snacks, headphones for music and maybe a movie or three on your tablet, smartphone or laptop. My favorite playlist for bus rides is a tropical house beats playlist called Tropical Beats curated by Spotify Australia & New Zealand.

Note: Remember to print your ticket from home or work and bring it with you!

The Trip

You’re in for a fairly long ride, so I recommend sitting near the front as you’ll usually get a quieter crowd near the driver. If you take the night bus, everyone’s usually asleep by 2am, so any seat is fine in that case.

If you choose to ride during the day, pick a window seat for an enjoyable ride watching the beautiful Adirondacks scenery.

You’ll be entering New York state at the Lacolle border, and the stop is fairly quick (30mins) unless you’re traveling during a major holiday season like Christmas where processing can take over an hour. Make sure to declare everything you have, including food. Processed food like granola bars won’t raise an eyebrow, but fresh exotic fruit might. Officially, you must declare all vegetables, fruits and meat you’re bringing with you.

Arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal is fun, because you’re in the center of Manhattan, and the streets are bustling at all hours. Once you step off the bus, you’ll only be 2 minutes away from Time Square on foot. This beats getting off at the airport any day!

For coffee, walk down to Piccolo Café on 8th & 40th Street. For a more substantial meal, walk north to Margon (as seen on 30 Rock) on 46th Street,a good Cuban diner a few blocks away from the station. Other good eats are Xi’an Famous Foods for some Chinese noodles on 45th Street near 5th Avenue, as well as Marseille, on the corner of 9th & 44th Street if you’re longing for some French cuisine already. The latter is a sit-down bistro, whereas the first two are good value and quick eats.

Why choose the bus over train or plane?

If you’re still shopping around, here’s the most compelling reason to choose the bus.

Advantage over train: A quick price check shows that the Amtrak train is $138 roundtrip from Montreal to New York City, whereas the least expensive bus option is $99 for the same trip. The train is longer and more expensive, so the only reason you’d choose it is for a bit of extra legroom. But honestly, I’d rather take the savings over slightly more comfort, especially since the buses are plenty comfortable for my needs.

Furthermore, when I searched on Amtrak, there was only one single possible departure time and one single return time that I could choose from, whereas for the bus I could choose from 5 different departure times from early morning 7:30am to 11:45pm, giving me much more flexibility to schedule my trip.

One thing I gotta give to the train though… they have a snack car. When taking the bus, always bring snacks with you!

Advantage over plane: A quick price check for next week shows that the plane costs $250, which is almost double the price of the bus. While it’s true that you save four hours of travel time by flying, once you factor in the taxi ride to the airport, gate check and boarding as well as the taxi once you land, the time difference isn’t as significant and you’ve spent a lot more money. And that’s without mentioning traffic! The bus station is much more accessible by public transit.

P.S. Legroom on the bus > legroom on the plane.

Saving time by sleeping on the bus: If you’re an easy sleeper like me, choosing to travel on the night bus gives you an additional perk— upon arrival, you have a full day to visit and enjoy NYC instead of losing a day to get there. Simply drop of your luggage at your hostel, hotel or host’ place, freshen up and you’re good to go.