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Montreal Destinations

Best of Montreal

Basilique Notre-Dame The neo-Gothic Basilique Notre-Dame boasts a heavenly gilt and sky-blue interior, Limoges stained glass and hand-carved wooden prophets; it even inspired its Protestant architect to convert to Catholicism.

The Vieux-Port Strap on a pair of rollerblades and cruise along the pedestrian-only promenade embracing the St Lawrence River. The Vieux-Port is admittedly touristy, but the views of cobblestoned Vieux-Montréal are simply spectacular.

Musée des Beaux Arts Feast your eyes on the high-calibre temporary art exhibits hosted by Canada’s oldest art museum, the worthy Musée des Beaux Arts, then check out the contemporary art chambers in the basement - especially the radical canvases conceived by Automatiste Québec painter Paul-Émile Borduas.

Schwartz’s Montréal Delicatessen Sink your teeth into a Schwartz’s smoked meat sandwich (available lean, medium or extra fatty) - an unmissable Montréal original that will get you through the winter.

Château Ramezay Get your Montréal history fix at one of the oldest buildings in North America, the Château Ramezay, where Benjamin Franklin almost persuaded the city to become the fourteenth state in the Colonies and which now holds copious art and artefacts.

L’Express Pick up some of the local joual at the posh L’Express, a Parisian style brasserie on trendy rue St-Denis, by eavesdropping on your neighbours’ boisterous conversation while tucking into a deliciously rich confit canard.

Nightlife Though the boulevard can be gritty at spots, the Main (aka Boulevard St-Laurent) is at its best after sundown when the manifold bars and clubs that open onto the street keep patrons grooving and boozing well into the wee hours.

Mont Royal Take a break and flake out on the wooded slopes of Mont Royal, the trail-laced mountain that gave the city its name, then hike up to the lookout point for an unparalleled view of downtown.

Biodôme Cool off during the humid summer months by hanging with the penguins in the Biodôme’s bone-chilling and snow-capped Polar Zone, one of four distinct ecosystems living under its domed roof. You can bask in the hot and sultry tropical rainforest section during the colder months.

Cours Mont-Royal Break the bank by shopping at the swanky Cours Mont-Royal, its four floors of streetwear and designer boutiques lit by ornate chandeliers preserved from the building’s heyday as the largest hotel in the British Commonwealth.

The Vieux-Port Strap on a pair of rollerblades and cruise along the pedestrian-only promenade embracing the St Lawrence River. The Vieux-Port is admittedly touristy, but the views of cobblestoned Vieux-Montréal are simply spectacular.

Musée des Beaux Arts Feast your eyes on the high-calibre temporary art exhibits hosted by Canada’s oldest art museum, the worthy Musée des Beaux Arts, then check out the contemporary art chambers in the basement - especially the radical canvases conceived by Automatiste Québec painter Paul-Émile Borduas.

Schwartz’s Montréal Delicatessen Sink your teeth into a Schwartz’s smoked meat sandwich (available lean, medium or extra fatty) - an unmissable Montréal original that will get you through the winter.

**Château Ramezay ** Get your Montréal history fix at one of the oldest buildings in North America, the Château Ramezay, where Benjamin Franklin almost persuaded the city to become the fourteenth state in the Colonies and which now holds copious art and artefacts.

**L’Express ** Pick up some of the local joual at the posh L’Express, a Parisian style brasserie on trendy rue St-Denis, by eavesdropping on your neighbours’ boisterous conversation while tucking into a deliciously rich confit canard.

Nightlife Though the boulevard can be gritty at spots, the Main (aka Boulevard St-Laurent) is at its best after sundown when the manifold bars and clubs that open onto the street keep patrons grooving and boozing well into the wee hours.

Mont Royal Take a break and flake out on the wooded slopes of Mont Royal, the trail-laced mountain that gave the city its name, then hike up to the lookout point for an unparalleled view of downtown.

Biodôme Cool off during the humid summer months by hanging with the penguins in the Biodôme’s bone-chilling and snow-capped Polar Zone, one of four distinct ecosystems living under its domed roof. You can bask in the hot and sultry tropical rainforest section during the colder months.

Cours Mont-Royal Break the bank by shopping at the swanky Cours Mont-Royal, its four floors of streetwear and designer boutiques lit by ornate chandeliers preserved from the building’s heyday as the largest hotel in the British Commonwealth.

Around Montreal

The lake-dotted countryside around Montréal offers a range of recuperative pleasures for the city-dweller, starting with the largely wilderness stretch of the Outaouais to the west, 135km northwest of Montréal and extending along the north side of the Ottawa River. Once the domain of Algonquin tribes, the region was not developed until the 1800s, when it became an important centre for the lumber industry. While the bulk of the activities in the region are of an outdoorsy nature - hiking, canoeing, snowmobiling, cycling and cross-country skiing - Montebello and the lush farmland of the Cantons-de-l’Est (Eastern Townships), east towards the US border, are worth visiting for their atmosphere and historical heritage. Even Hull , formerly Ottawa’s dull cousin, is now a draw thanks to the Musée Canadien des Civilisations , Québec’s finest museum.

Extending along the north side of the St Lawrence from the Ottawa River to the Saguenay are the Laurentians - one of the world’s oldest ranges - where five hundred million years of erosion have moulded it into a rippling landscape of undulating hills and valleys. Immediately north of Montréal, the more accessible Lower Laurentians are dotted with whitewashed farm cottages and manor houses, but settlement in the Upper Laurentians did not begin until the 1830s, when the construction of the P’tit Train du Nord railway tracks let in the mining and lumber industries. When the decline in both industries left the area in a depression, salvation came in the form of the recreational demands of the growing populace of Montréal. The region is now one of North America’s largest ski areas, with the number of resorts increasing annually.

Downtown Montreal

Montréal’s downtown lies roughly between rue Sherbrooke and rue St-Antoine to the north and south, rue St-Denis to the east and rue Peel to the west, though there’s some overlap with the Golden Square Mile, and distinctions are not always clear, to be sure. Of the main streets, rue Ste-Catherine offers the most in the way of shopping, dining and entertainment, while boulevard de Maisonneuve is more business oriented.

Even if you’re not staying in one of the area’s hotels, you’ll spend at least some time in these parts, as it’s here that you’ll probably arrive - either at the southerly train station or the easterly bus station. Though the main sights are the high-rises and shopping complexes, the area is also dotted with old churches, museums and public squares filled with activity from buskers, artists and market vendors

Main and East Montreal

Boulevard St-Laurent - The Main - leads all the way up from Vieux-Montréal to the northern extremities of the city. North of rue Sherbrooke is the most absorbing episode along the way, a district where Montréal’s cosmopolitan diversity is evident in distinct enclaves of immigrant neighbourhoods. Running parallel to rue St-Denis , the heart of the upbeat studenty Quartier Latin, this zone is where the most fun can be had in Montréal, with a huge array of ethnic food outlets and bars spilling out onto the streets. If the party atmosphere is too much, you can head for the landscaped expanse of Mont Royal or the overwhelming Stade Olympique and the vast Jardin Botanique further east.

Montreals other Attractions

The islands of Montréal, Île Ste-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame and their environs, offer various slightly-out-of-the-way sights, all well served by public transport but mostly worth the trip only if you have time to kill. Lying just south of Montréal, the combined 2.7 square kilometres of the smaller islands were the main venue for Expo ‘67 and have been developed as playgrounds for the city’s inhabitants, with the La Ronde amusement park the main draw. The Maison St-Gabriel is included in this section as it is a bit of a hike from central Montréal. The fur-trading centre of Lachine is on the western shore of Montréal island, about the same distance from downtown as the art museum in the suburb of St-Laurent , while the Musée Ferroviaire Canadien (Canadian Railway Museum) is off the island on the south shore of the St Lawrence. Biosphère , 160 chemin Tour de l’Île (June-Sept daily 10am-6pm; Aug-May Tues-Sat 10am-4pm; $8.50; www.biosphere.ec.gc.ca ). An interactive museum focusing on the St Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes. The exhibits change yearly and there’s lots to amuse children, from interactive touch-screens to skill-testing games, movies, user-friendly computers, multimedia displays and educational workshops. On the fourth floor, a gorgeous lookout point takes in the St Lawrence River and the city. Métro Île-Ste-Hélène.

Cosmodôme and Space Camp Canada , 2150 Autoroute des Laurentides, Laval (late June to early Sept daily 10am-6pm; early Sept to late June Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; $9.75). A voyage through the solar system in a moving theatre, where you can walk on the moon, see a real moon rock, take control of the space shuttle Endeavour and become a cosmonaut. Buses #60 and #61 from Métro Henri-Bourassa.

Écomusée du Fier Monde , 2050 rue Amherst (Wed 11am-8pm, Thurs-Sun 10.30am-5pm; $5). Housed in a wonderful Art Deco former public bathhouse, this museum focuses on the history of Montréal’s industrialization with exceptionally good temporary exhibits. Métro Beaudry.

Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery , 1400 boul de Maisonneuve (Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 1-5pm; ellen-gallery.concordia.ca ). Canadian art by both established and emerging artists on the main floor of Concordia University’s George-Webster building. Métro Guy-Concordia.

Lieu historique national du Commerce-de-la-Fourrure-à-Lachine , 1255 boul St-Joseph, Lachine (April to mid-Oct Mon 1-6pm, Tues-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 1-6pm; mid-Oct to early Dec Wed-Sun 9am-12.30pm & 1-5pm; $2.50; www.parcscanada.gc.ca/fourrure ). On the shore of Lac St-Louis, the old Lachine warehouse puts on an exhibition on the fur trade; the staff wear the costumes of natives, coureurs des bois and the Scottish merchants who worked here in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Bus #195 west from Métro Angrignon.

Maison St-Gabriel , 2146 Place Dublin (daily: late June to early Sept guided tours hourly 10am-5pm; mid-April to late June & early Sept to mid-Dec guided tours Tues-Sun 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm; $5). Dating from 1698, this stone farmhouse was the home of Marguerite Bourgeoys ; antique furniture and the restored kitchen are the main attractions. Bus #57 from Métro Charlevoix.

Musée d’Art de St-Laurent , 615 boul Ste-Croix, Ville St-Laurent (Wed-Sun noon-5pm; $3, free Wed). A small museum in the former neo-Gothic chapel of St-Laurent college, featuring early traditional arts and crafts from Québec. Métro Du Collège.

Musée Ferroviaire Canadien , 122a rue St-Pierre, St-Constant (May to early Sept daily 9am-5pm; Sept to late Oct Sat & Sun 9am-5pm; $6). Canada’s largest collection of railway, tramway and steam locomotives is hard to reach without a car, though bus #160 near Métro Bonaventure does the (infrequent) journey.

Musée Stewart , Old Fort, Île Ste-Hélène (mid-May to early Sept 10am-6pm; early-Sept to mid-May Wed-Mon 10am-5pm; $6; www.stewart-museum.org ). In the fortified arsenal commissioned by the Duke of Wellington, the museum contains a collection of weapons and assorted domestic and scientific artefacts. The fort is also the summer venue for the re-enactment of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century military manoeuvres by the Fraser Highlanders and Compagnie Franche de la Marine. Métro Île-Ste-Hélène.

Musée de la ville de Lachine , 110 chemin LaSalle, Lachine (Wed-Sun 11.30am-4.30pm; closed Jan-March; free). This seventeenth-century fur-trading post contains a humdrum collection of contemporaneous artefacts and a display on the history of the Lachine canal. Bus #110 from Métro Angrignon.

Planétarium de Montréal , 1000 rue St-Jacques ouest (several performances daily; tel 872-4530; $6; www.planetarium.montreal.qc.ca ). Shows include “guided tours” of the solar system and more distant galaxies, while various performances explain eclipses, sunspots and the movement of the planets. Métro Bonaventure.

La Ronde , Île Ste-Hélène (late May to late August 10.30am-10pm; $29, ground admission only $15). Ticket gives unlimited access to every ride in the amusement park and admission to the nearby Aqua Parc, a waterslide park. La Ronde is the venue for various celebrations throughout the year, including the annual Fireworks Competition from June to July. Métro Île-Ste-Hélène.

Vieux-Montreal

Severed from downtown by the Autoroute Ville-Marie, the gracious district of Vieux-Montréal was left to decay until the last couple of decades, when developers stepped in with generally tasteful renovations that brought colour and vitality back to the area. The continent’s greatest concentration of seventeenth-, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings has its fair share of tourists, but it’s popular with Montréalers, too - formerly as a symbolic place to air francophone grievances; more recently as a spot to while away the hours in a café or restaurant.