Travel tips: Canada and US trip, should we hire a car?

HUSBAND AND I WANT TO VISIT QUEBEC CITY AND MONTREAL, PICK UP A ONE-WAY CAR RENTAL IN THE US, DRIVE AROUND MAINE AND DROP OFF IN BOSTON. ANY SUGGESTIONS? S. STRICKLAND, CANBERRA

Quebec City is closer to Maine than Montreal but getting from there to somewhere in Maine where you could rent a car is not easy. Jackman, Maine has an Alamo car rental outlet but there is no easy way to get there, apart from taking a taxi across the border from Saint-Georges, which would cost a fortune. For that reason, it would be much easier if you were to take either a bus or train from Montreal across the border, and the closest place where you might pick up a car is Plattsburgh, in northern New York State. There you have a choice of major car rental agencies including Hertz, Avis and Alamo. The problem is you're a long way from Maine. If that state is crucial to your travel plans there's nothing for it but a rather long drive across Vermont. What you could do instead is take the Plattsburgh-Grand Isle Ferry across Lake Champlain, take the Roosevelt Highway and then Highway 89 to pick up Highway 100 to travel south. This is a glorious road that sashays through some of the loveliest parts of rural Vermont and into the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, another honeypot. From there it's an easy drive east to Boston where you could drop your hire car.

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