Everything you need to have a successful outing
Montreal is one of Canada’s most engaging cities and a perfect destination for field trips. With nearby student ski trip destinations, museums focused on history, fine arts, and science, and a vibrant and exciting cultural landscape unique in North America, you may want to plan more than one visit!
Montreal has garnered a reputation as a busy city a but a charter bus rental from Bus.com will keep things simple, even when visiting multiple locations.
Field trips come in all shapes and sizes, and so do our buses! Whether your group is large or small and traveling near or far, we have a bus that will meet your needs while also fitting into your budget. We’ve listed a brief overview of some of our most popular bus types below, but if you have any questions or concerns, or If you’re still not sure what might work best for your group, our 24/7 customer care team is always on hand to help.
Our most luxurious buses, a coach bus, can seat up to 55. In addition to a host of optional amenities, a coach bus comes standard with an onboard restroom, extra-comfortable individual seats, and spacious undercarriage bays for luggage or equipment. If your field trip is more than three hours away, this is the bus for you.
Our school buses are an affordable mainstay of field trip transportation. They may not have all the luxurious amenities of a coach bus, but they're an efficient choice for most short-distance field trip destinations. School buses have cushioned bench seats and lots of window real estate to give students a chance to watch the changing landscape roll by. In most configurations, school buses seat about 47 people.
Are you looking for the most efficient budget option? Do you have a smaller group? A minibus might be the right choice for you! The minibus is a smaller version of a classic school bus and features the same interior design and iconic bench seating. Most minibus models accommodate up to 21 passengers.
There are dozens of options for fun field trips throughout the Montreal area, but sifting through all of them can take a lot of time. We’ve collected some of the top destinations for you here! These entertaining and educational destinations explore world ecosystems, art history, and even the cosmos, providing plenty of opportunities for educators to reinforce their curriculum outside the classroom.
Situated near Montreal’s famous Olympic Stadium, The Biodome was originally designed by Roger Taillibert as a velodrome for the 1976 Olympics. From 1989-1992, construction took place to transform it into the Biodome as it exists today. The Biodome replicates interior versions of four distinct ecosystems from the Americas, including both their flora and fauna! Students can visit a tropical rainforest, a boreal forest, a subpolar region, and a seaside recreation of the Gulf of St.Lawrence. The museum also features discounted tickets for students and free tickets for bus drivers and teachers.
Designed by famed architect Buckminster Fuller, the Biosphere was originally built as the United States pavilion for the 1967 World’s Fair. Today, the Biosphere is part of Montreal’s Space for Life museum district and functions as the only environmental museum in all of North America. For teachers, the museum offers many learning resources to support education before and after a class trip. There are discounted student tickets, and there are several guided activities (most of which take place outdoors). Students will have the opportunity to learn about climate change, how our communities are changing, the benefits of nature in our communities, and more.
The Redpath Museum was built in 1882 and gifted to McGill University by businessman and philanthropist Peter Redpath. The Redpath Museum’s age makes it the oldest building in Canada built specifically for museum purposes. Every year over 100,000 people, including roughly 40,000 students, visit the museum’s extensive collections, which currently consist of over 3 million objects. The price of admission varies depending on what type of tour a group chooses to take. Some tours (such as the interactive learning ones) will be more expensive, whereas self-guided tours start at just $6 per student. All of the museum’s educational resources align with the Common Framework for Science Learning Outcomes and the MELS program.
Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium is one of the museums that comprise the Space for Life museum district, which features the four main natural museums in Montreal. The planetarium is located near the Montreal Olympic Park and has two separate theaters. Sustainability was a key concept in the construction of the planetarium, and the entire complex carries a coveted LEED Platinum certification. The theater provides an immersive experience of the stars where students can hang out on bean bags while observing the night sky. When considering a trip here, anticipate it will take a minimum of 90 minutes to 2 hours for the planetarium show alone. Additionally, if you plan on attending one of the planetarium’s free activities as well, that can add 60 to 90 minutes more.
The Montreal Tower provides an unbeatable vantage point to check out the city and a visit makes a great start or finish to a well-rounded city tour. The structure is the tallest inclined tower in the world and forms part of the support base of Montreal’s famed Olympic Stadium. After the 1976 Olympics, a multi-story observatory and large glass elevator were added. This elevator takes visitors right to the top and has a capacity for up to 50 passengers, meaning your entire class can ride up together! In addition to breathtaking views onto the city below, the top of the observatory features history exhibits on Montreal’s Olympic Park and the changes it has undergone since the 1976 Winter Olympics.
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