Planning a trip to Montreal...

[MagicalKingdom]

Hey everyone, I plan on going to Montreal for Memorial Day Weekend. My dream has always been "Paris in the Spring", but I just can't afford it and Montreal looks like the closest thing to it...magical with a European feel. If anyone knows of some good places to eat, some nice places to stay, and other fun things to do, let me know. I would love to hear them. Right now, I'm just doing a search on http://www.411.ca/ which has turned up some pretty good things. Thanks!

 

[PatriciaH]

We are planning a trip to Montreal this summer too. This is the top rated hotel on Trip Adviser an it looks reasonable:

http://www.lerelaislyonnais.com/

 

[rella's fan]

Montreal's a great city. If you're looking for more to do you could take the train to Quebec City which is absolutely beautiful (check out VIA rail, it's not that expensive or far), you would definitely feel like you're in Europe there, very old and quaint.

 

[Gigi22]

Agreed, if you want a European feel to your vacation, Quebec City is much more European in feel than Montreal. Don't get me wrong, Montreal is a lovely city (we go there quite often), but only has a relatively small "historic" area, if that is what you are after. It is mainly a quite modern North American city, with very good food, where the vast majority of people speak French. Much of the shopping is on St. Catherine Street. There are several very good stores such as Simon's and Ogilvy's. Wonderful places to eat...

 

[emh1129]

We've been thinking of going there, too. I went once with friends long ago but would love to go with DH and the kids.
Are there many kid-friendly things to do there?

 

[englishteacha]

I haven't been but one of my coworkers goes several times a year. We had hoped to take our students there but were "shot down" by the school board. We wanted to take them to the BioDome, the old city, museums and such. The BioDome was the biggest attraction because we study the rainforest and since most of our students will never get to see one in real life, the BioDome would be a cool substitute.

 

[sanapp]

I agree that Quebec City is more European feel than Montreal. Montreal has a much smaller old city section than the walled Quebec City. I enjoyed Quebec City much more for that, but Montreal for the nightlife. Montreal has a wonderful farmers market if that is what you want to call it.

 

[Gigi22]

We visit Montreal two or three times a year, usually travelling by train, so we stay at the Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth Hotel, which is attached to the train station and the subway (the 'metro'). There are a number of other very good "chain" hotels downtown, including a Sofitel, a Loews and the Ritz-Carleton--all of these can be fairly expensive. There are also some boutique hotels in the historic area of town, both the Hotel le St-James and the Hotel Nelligan have had very good press. The best restaurant is reputedly Toque, which is rather expensive--and reservations are required. A fun place to go, for a lot less money is Le Bourlingueur, in the old part of the city. Also in the old city is Bonaparte, a traditional French restaurant, which is quite good. If you are a smoked meat fan, Montreal smoked meat has a huge following, the best is available at Chez Schwartz Charcuterie Hebraique de Montreal, which is a small restaurant that also does a booming take out business. Montreal bagels also have a terrific reputation, the two best sources are at St. Viateur Bagel & Cafe and the Fairmont Bagel (which has nothing to do with the hotel chain). You can get a delicious inexpensive breakfast or lunch at St. Viateur. Very good dim sum is available at Maison Kam Fung, but be aware that there are huge lineups to get in on Sat. and Sun., and expect a wait to get in, particularly for parties of 4 or more.
I am not too sure about kid friendly activities in Montreal, but I do understand that the Biodome and the Jardin Botanique and Insectarium are appealing to children.

 

[acsprack86]

I second everybody's opinion that Quebec has a more European feel. As a French major in college, I had the opportunity to go to Paris, Quebec and Montreal. There are parts of Quebec that I enjoyed more than Paris! That said, I'll give you my favorites from Montreal.

Food - I ate my way through my Canadian vacation! While in Montreal/Quebec, try "poutine." It's French fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. Sounds odd at first, but it's really quite amazing, and it's a specialty of the area. There is an ice cream place in both Montreal and Quebec I think called Maple Delights that has amazing maple flavored ice cream. Beavertails are great too, they used to have them at the Canadian pavilion at Epcot. Lastly, for breakfast try Chez Cora's. They have the usual breakfast stuff but with the addition of lots of fresh fruit with every dish. It's a yummy start to the day!

When I wasn't eating, I enjoyed the Science Museum. Near the museum, there is a Duck tour that I quite enjoyed. If you're into amusement parks, I would expect La Ronde (run by Six Flags I think) to be open. Montreal is known for festivals, so look for festivals taking place while you're there.

There is a new Cirque du Soleil touring show that will be announced in the next week or so...no name yet, but you can buy tickets. It will be right in the city along the old port. Montreal is the first stop on the tour, so you'd be among the first to see a new show.

 

[BillSears]

I loved visitng Notre-Dame Basilica! It was amazing.

http://www.basiliquenddm.org/en/

 

[GrumpySly]

I live in Montreal's suburb and this is true that Quebec city has more the European feel than Montreal. Then again, Montreal is a real nice city to visit with a lot to do.

For your kids, I would recommend to go to the old port. There you can do a lot of activities like bicycle for 4 persons, view street performers at Place Jacques-Cartier (most of them are really good) and do not miss going to the Science centre and the Imax theater. At Imax you will be able to really experience the 3D and shows are available both in french and english. The science centre is also real good and for all ages. Cirque du Soleil show will be running, it starts at the beginning of May but you will have to buy your tickets well in advance as this show will most likely but sold out most of the nights.

As acsprack86 said, food experience is really something is Montreal. You can eat almost everything you like. There are restaurant from all parts of the world most of them with a real nice experience. You can also try the poutine, that's something special !!

Feel free to ask any questions you have, I'll try my best to answer them.

Sylvain.