Planning a trip to Montreal

[diskids2]

Thanks so much! I have another question for anyone as well. I noticed it is about an 18 minute walk from Jean Drapeau to La Ronde. Are there taxi's available once you exit the Metro?

Not sure how I feel about walking that much with the amusement park that day.

 

[glendalais]

Thanks so much! I have another question for anyone as well. I noticed it is about an 18 minute walk from Jean Drapeau to La Ronde. Are there taxi's available once you exit the Metro?

Not sure how I feel about walking that much with the amusement park that day.

Once upon a time, there used to be a bus that ran from Jean-Drapeau station to La Ronde. However, it seems to have been discontinued by the STM, as I can't find it on their website.

From what I can tell, you can take the metro to Papineau station, and then take Bus 169 (signs for Île-Ronde), which will take you to the park.

Barring that, I'm sure there will be taxis at Jean-Drapeau station. If not, you can call any of the companies on this list that serve the "A-11" sector

 

[weewuvvdisney]

When you exit the Jean Drapeau Metro, you can take the 167 bus to Laronde.

Take note though, the 167 bus goes in three directions. There is te 167 to the Casino, the 167 to Laronde and the 167 to the Beach (summer only).

The 167 to Laronde is on the left side where the buses are. Just make sure you take the correct one.


When you come out of Laronde, if you are tired, I'm pretty sure there would be taxis that take the bridge to Mtl and around town. Remember Montreal is an island and Parc Jean Drapeau is on a smaller island.

If you decide to take the 167 back to Jean Drapeau, it is on the left side when you exit Laronde (where you got off the bus from the Mtl). If you take the buses on the right side of laronde's exit, you will be on the bus #169 which goes to the Papineau Metro.

Actually, going from downtown to the Laronde, it would probably be easier taking the 169. You would take the Place Des Arts Metro near your hotel and get off at Papineau. Go upstairs and take the bus 169 which just goes over the bridge (right beside the Metro Station) and directly to Laronde.


Hope this helps.


Gleadalais - the reason that the 167 (Laronde) doesn't show on the website for the STM (bus company) is that it is operational only when Laronde is open. It should be opening at the end of May for weekends and then sometime in June fulltime. It is the same thing with the 167 which goes to the "Beach". Only operational when the "Beach" is open.

 

[diskids2]

Thank you both so much! Which way do you think will be quicker? Taking Yellow line and then bus 167 or taking bus 169 from Place d'Arts?

 

[weewuvvdisney]

My mistake: wrote Place des Arts Metro by mistake - should have been McGill metro.


You would take the green line from McGill Metro to Papineau Metro (direction Honore-Beaugrand) - go upstairs and take the 169 Laronde bus. Just look for the signs for the bus stop. I haven't gone this way in years so not sure where the stop is. (This bus goes up and over the Jacques Cartier bridge to Laronde at Parc Jean Drapeau). Just a word of warning.... if you are going on a night when there is the Fireworks Competition - the 169 would be suspended for quite some time as the bridge closes an hour or so before the fireworks and I'm not sure exactly what time the bridge would open up at.

****************
If you wanted to go to Parc Jean Drapeau by Metro, you would need to take the green line from McGill to Berri station (direction Honore-Beaugrand) and then transfer to the yellow line to go to Parc Jean Drapeau (directions Longueuil - Universite de Sherbrooke). (The yellow Metro line goes under the river to Parc Jean Drapeau) You would follow the crowd upstairs to the bus lines and take the 167 Laronde bus.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


They would probably take about the same amount of time. it would take a bit longer by Metro to get to the Island but the bus on the island would probably be a bit quicker.

It's shorter to go directly to Papineau but there might be some traffic getting on the bridge.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


You can have a nice "higher" view of Montreal from the bridge.... You can see the river, downtown Mtl (when returning from Laronde) etc.

Either way, you should be able to get a seat or if the bus is crowded, you could stand aside and wait for the next one. The are turns, stops and starts. I would think that in July, the buses could come quite regularly. You can check the schedules beforehand on the website so that you have an idea of the frequency.

Hope this helps!

 

[diskids2]

My mistake: wrote Place des Arts Metro by mistake - should have been McGill metro.


You would take the green line from McGill Metro to Papineau Metro (direction Honore-Beaugrand) - go upstairs and take the 169 Laronde bus. Just look for the signs for the bus stop. I haven't gone this way in years so not sure where the stop is. (This bus goes up and over the Jacques Cartier bridge to Laronde at Parc Jean Drapeau). Just a word of warning.... if you are going on a night when there is the Fireworks Competition - the 169 would be suspended for quite some time as the bridge closes an hour or so before the fireworks and I'm not sure exactly what time the bridge would open up at.

****************
If you wanted to go to Parc Jean Drapeau by Metro, you would need to take the green line from McGill to Berri station (direction Honore-Beaugrand) and then transfer to the yellow line to go to Parc Jean Drapeau (directions Longueuil - Universite de Sherbrooke). (The yellow Metro line goes under the river to Parc Jean Drapeau) You would follow the crowd upstairs to the bus lines and take the 167 Laronde bus.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


They would probably take about the same amount of time. it would take a bit longer by Metro to get to the Island but the bus on the island would probably be a bit quicker.

It's shorter to go directly to Papineau but there might be some traffic getting on the bridge.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


You can have a nice "higher" view of Montreal from the bridge.... You can see the river, downtown Mtl (when returning from Laronde) etc.

Either way, you should be able to get a seat or if the bus is crowded, you could stand aside and wait for the next one. The are turns, stops and starts. I would think that in July, the buses could come quite regularly. You can check the schedules beforehand on the website so that you have an idea of the frequency.

Hope this helps!

Yes, perfect. We are going in July, but on a Thursday. I did that on purpose as I didn't want to get caught up in the fireworks competition. I either plan on watching it from Old Montreal or not at all....just couldn't fit it in.

I think I may take the bus over the bridge and get some of the nice views. Good to have two ways of doing things!

 

[diskids2]

Two months to our trip...whole family is getting excited. All of our passports arrived, so at least we can get back and forth!

I do have a quick question right now. Are there any restaurant coupon sites like restaurant.com in the US. I have been searching, but can't seem to come up with any.

Thanks!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Unfortunately, we don't have a website like that in Canada yet, but we really should!

Instead, we have websites that give you daily deals to all sorts of things in a city such as Teambuy or Groupon but they're more meant for locals. You could sign up for Montreal and see what you get though.

 

[diskids2]

Unfortunately, we don't have a website like that in Canada yet, but we really should!

Instead, we have websites that give you daily deals to all sorts of things in a city such as Teambuy or Groupon but they're more meant for locals. You could sign up for Montreal and see what you get though.

Ok thanks! Off to do that....

 

[weewuvvdisney]

I don't know of any discount sites for restaurants. Perhaps you could look on the "tourist sites" and they may have something. Also, when you get to Montreal, check out the phamplets that they have at most hotels. You might find something in there. Also check with the conceirge at the hotel.

Was downtown yesterday afternoon and passed by the "entertainment district". It is in full swing. Lots of bandstands set up for the Francofolies Festival. After that it's the Jazz Festival. Going to be a fun summer.

Before you know it, you will be here.

Oh yes, just to let you know... the buses at Metro Jean-Drapeau (going to Laronde/or the beach/ or the Casino) are working on a regular basis now.

Do you have any last minute questions?




Janna

 

[MtlFire]

Two months to our trip...whole family is getting excited. All of our passports arrived, so at least we can get back and forth!

I do have a quick question right now. Are there any restaurant coupon sites like restaurant.com in the US. I have been searching, but can't seem to come up with any.

Thanks!

You can pick up en Entertainment book for Montreal for about 15$. It will more than pay for itself with the food and attraction discount coupons in it. I'm a local and I get the book most years. www.entertainment.com

 

[diskids2]

I don't know of any discount sites for restaurants. Perhaps you could look on the "tourist sites" and they may have something. Also, when you get to Montreal, check out the phamplets that they have at most hotels. You might find something in there. Also check with the conceirge at the hotel.

Was downtown yesterday afternoon and passed by the "entertainment district". It is in full swing. Lots of bandstands set up for the Francofolies Festival. After that it's the Jazz Festival. Going to be a fun summer.

Before you know it, you will be here.

Oh yes, just to let you know... the buses at Metro Jean-Drapeau (going to Laronde/or the beach/ or the Casino) are working on a regular basis now.

Do you have any last minute questions?




Janna

Hi all....yes, our trip is getting close. We changed our hotel from Le Square Phillips to Le Centre Sheraton. We were going to go with the Sheraton initially and then I got a really good rate $99 per night, so we grabbed it and I changed ALL the directions I had on our itinerary!

After the fourth, I'm going to pay for some of the tours we plan on doing and grabbing some of the tickets. We are so excited and can't wait.

 

[diskids2]

You can pick up en Entertainment book for Montreal for about 15$. It will more than pay for itself with the food and attraction discount coupons in it. I'm a local and I get the book most years. www.entertainment.com

I am going to take a look at that...thanks so much for the suggestion!

 

[andysgirl360]

Hi there! Not sure if this was mentioned already - but the Montreal Science Center at the Old Port in Old Montreal has a fabulous new exhibit - Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology. It is from National Geographic and Lucasfilm. Along with the exhibit there are costumes and props from the Indiana Jones movies. I don't think the exhibit is actually going to the US for quite sometime, so if you are fans I would check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkdcHArwczY&feature=share

and www.indianajonestheexhibition.com

 

[DancingDiva]

1. The train station is right downtown and connects to lots of underground shopping and hotels! Montreal underground is a little city in itself!

2. I’ve stayed at both of those. Phillips Square is a bit more modern while Bonaventure is older but still nice. Both are very central! We always love the kitchenette feature at Philips Square!

3. La Ronde is awesome! Awesome rides and fun for all! If your there during the fireworks definitely expect lots of crowds but like you said if your used to Disney you should be used to it!

4. Can’t help you on this one.

5. Personally if I were in Montreal and wanted to visit Quebec I would rent a car and stay there a night or two. It’s a gorgeous historic city. Just walking around downtown in the evening is one of my favourite things to do! They also have a water park (granted its no blizzard beach but it’s still lots of fun) it’s called Valcartier and its a short drive outside the city!

6. You can most certainly tour the Bell Center, I’ve done it a few times and even if you’re not a Canadians fan or hockey fan the history is pretty kool! Lucky for me I am both a Canadians and a hockey fan so this was right up my alley!

7. When in Montreal, don’t bother with a car, the metro system is great and you can always hop in a cab if you need to. But trying to find parking and driving in the city is pretty crazy!

8. You can always do with more but I’m sure you’ll be able to see lots in 6 days! Plus even if you don’t see it all you can always come back! 

9. If you want a quick cheap (ish) meal, try Nickels on Saint Catherine Street. It’s a 50 style diner, they’ve got awesome food there! Try the curly fries and milkshake! Yum yum!
Also if you’re in Montreal you NEED to try smoked meat! They got some world famous spots: Schwartz' Deli on North Saint Laurent Street is probably the most famous and also Dunn's.. i think they moved to Metcalf street now not sure (this place gets super busy they may even sit you at different tables!) ... there are lots more!
If you’re looking for a good steak, Vieux Port , in old Montreal is amazing. More upscale but worth it. You may want to make reservations at this spot.

10. There is lots to do in Montreal... check out the biodome., if your kids like soccer why not a Montreal Impact game, football not sure if its in season but check out the Alouettes!

Have a great trip!!

 

[diskids2]

Hi there! Not sure if this was mentioned already - but the Montreal Science Center at the Old Port in Old Montreal has a fabulous new exhibit - Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology. It is from National Geographic and Lucasfilm. Along with the exhibit there are costumes and props from the Indiana Jones movies. I don't think the exhibit is actually going to the US for quite sometime, so if you are fans I would check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkdcHArwczY&feature=share

and www.indianajonestheexhibition.com

My daughter's bf is a HUGE Indiana Jones fan, so we have that on our schedule already.. Thanks so much for letting me know though!

 

[weewuvvdisney]

diskids2

I just sent you a PM !!!

 

[diskids2]

1. The train station is right downtown and connects to lots of underground shopping and hotels! Montreal underground is a little city in itself!

2. I’ve stayed at both of those. Phillips Square is a bit more modern while Bonaventure is older but still nice. Both are very central! We always love the kitchenette feature at Philips Square!

3. La Ronde is awesome! Awesome rides and fun for all! If your there during the fireworks definitely expect lots of crowds but like you said if your used to Disney you should be used to it!

4. Can’t help you on this one.

5. Personally if I were in Montreal and wanted to visit Quebec I would rent a car and stay there a night or two. It’s a gorgeous historic city. Just walking around downtown in the evening is one of my favourite things to do! They also have a water park (granted its no blizzard beach but it’s still lots of fun) it’s called Valcartier and its a short drive outside the city!

6. You can most certainly tour the Bell Center, I’ve done it a few times and even if you’re not a Canadians fan or hockey fan the history is pretty kool! Lucky for me I am both a Canadians and a hockey fan so this was right up my alley!

7. When in Montreal, don’t bother with a car, the metro system is great and you can always hop in a cab if you need to. But trying to find parking and driving in the city is pretty crazy!

8. You can always do with more but I’m sure you’ll be able to see lots in 6 days! Plus even if you don’t see it all you can always come back! 

9. If you want a quick cheap (ish) meal, try Nickels on Saint Catherine Street. It’s a 50 style diner, they’ve got awesome food there! Try the curly fries and milkshake! Yum yum!
Also if you’re in Montreal you NEED to try smoked meat! They got some world famous spots: Schwartz' Deli on North Saint Laurent Street is probably the most famous and also Dunn's.. i think they moved to Metcalf street now not sure (this place gets super busy they may even sit you at different tables!) ... there are lots more!
If you’re looking for a good steak, Vieux Port , in old Montreal is amazing. More upscale but worth it. You may want to make reservations at this spot.

10. There is lots to do in Montreal... check out the biodome., if your kids like soccer why not a Montreal Impact game, football not sure if its in season but check out the Alouettes!

Have a great trip!!

Hi...sorry I missed your post before...great suggestions. I did check out the Alouettes as my DH and DS are avid NFL fans...but they are playing away the week we will be visiting....but there's always next trip!

I have been wondering if I need reservations at restaurants. My family is very picky! We have been scouring menu's and most of the ones they like are pub like food...burgers, etc. I have managed to get them to try a crepe place, Schwartz, and La Banquise (or at least they are on the itinerary). Think Chef Mickey's, Whispering Canyon, TREX, Rainforest, and you get the kind of food they like. Well my kids at least!

 

[diskids2]

diskids2

I just sent you a PM !!!

Got it and THANKS!

Does anyone know if capri's and sneakers are ok for casual dining places? For that matter my DH would be in shorts. I keep having to remind myself that although we are on vacation it's a city!

 

[weewuvvdisney]

Shorts, capris, sandals, sneakers - definitely not a problem.

I really don't think that you need to make reservations unless you are eating some fancy places.

Schwartz - there is always a line up cuz it's a small restaurant.

Les 3 Brasseurs is good also (one on Ste Catherine or the one in Old Montreal).

There are so many good restaurants... you just walk in. If you are looking for a quick bite - all the underground malls have food courts.

Once you arrive here, you will see that it's pretty laid back. Most dress casually. You will see people coming and going to work in the downtown offices but that's about it.

When do you arrive?





Janna