Thinking of a trip to Montreal. Tell me about where to stay, what to see.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m thinking of taking a summer trip to Montreal. I’m utterly unfamiliar with the city, so I’m ignorant about the city’s neighborhoods.

I’m deciding between a hotel or a vacation condo right now. I really love to rent condos nowadays, but what would be a good location? My wish list is a safe neighborhood, preferably within walking distance of the main attractions or the old city center full of interesting architecture and historical buildings.

And what ought I not to miss as a visitor?

Anybody have any recommendations or advice?

2

Hard to say without dates, because summer is festivals season in Montreal and it would depend on the amount of disturbance you are willing to stand for example : it start with the Montreal Jazz Fest, immediately followed by the Just for Laughs fest. And these are just the two biggest ones. And you also have the Montreal Gay Pride, the Fantasia film festival, the Festival des Flms du Monde, the Francofolies. As you can see, you have a choice ! So more details will be required.

3

I had no specific date in mind, but it would be nice to avoid any ginormous event that would thoroughly clog up hotels, roads and restaurants. I had been thinking of about any long weekend starting about mid-July through the end of August, though.

4

Hmm, you are SOL. There are no long weekends, from mid-July to end of August here. Our holiday schedule is as follows : June 24[sup]th[/sup], St-Jean-Baptiste day, Quebec’s national holiday, July 1[sup]st[/sup], Canada day (AKA Moving Day in Mtl), the last 2 weeks of July are Construction holidays (when most everybody take their vacation, so the city is mostly empty of locals) and Labor day in September.

So, I guess your best bet would be in late July.

5

I went to Montreal for a few days a week or so ago. I really enjoyed the Botanical Gardens. They’re huge and splendid. The light show in the Basilica Notre Dame was also very erm, unique. :slight_smile: The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is worth a look and is also free. I found Montreal very walkable and the metro was clean and efficient.

6

I’d love to spend a month or more out there, check out the historical areas, a festival or two, the strip clubs that are supposed to be so legendary.

7

You should take a walk through Jacques Cartier Square (Place Jacques-Cartier). It’s a walking neighbourhood filled with small shops and restaurants. It’s tourist oriented but you’re a tourist.

8

And while at the Botanical Gardens, take the time to visit the Insectarium and the Biodome.

9

In terms of places to stay, I don’t have any specific recommendations, but when you are looking at ads look for places in “Centre-Ville”(downtown), “Vieux-Port”(Old Port) and possibly Ville-Marie. If you can afford Westmount, that’s pretty close to stuff, too. The transit system here is great, though, so staying a little further out doesn’t mean you’re that far from all the action. I can get downtown from the Plateau in about 15-20 minutes on transit. If you feel like biking, getting around on the Bixibikes could be useful to you as well.

It’s earlier than what you’ve indicated, but if you want to avoid crazy crowds, avoid the weekend of the 11-13 of June too, since that’s the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada.

If you like fireworks, ever Saturday night from June to August (and a few times on other nights as well, unfortunately), there are some rather spectacular fireworks hosted at the amusement park La Ronde which can be seen from many vantage points in the city. They even close down the bridge to road traffic so that people can sit there to watch the fireworks. I say unfortunately only because I happen to live close enough to have my glassware and pots and pans rattle with every boom, and unless we get out of the house early, we are prisoners in our own neighbourhood since the roads become packed with gaping idiots sitting in lawn chairs in the middle of them. The fireworks are beautiful though. I’ve just put up with them for 4 years!

Architecturally, the McGill University campus is rather interesting, and the museums there are interesting. Or so I heard!

If you like beer, there is are several good micro/craft breweries in Montreal and a ton of terasses to enjoy them on in the summer.

If you get here before they move on to Québec City and if you can afford/get tickets at all, I do recommend the Cirque du Soleil’s new show, Totem. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and was really amazed. And the hoop dancer guy is hawt!

Once you know a little more of what you’re interested in, feel free to ask more questions!

10

I heartily endorse the Botanical Gardens and Biodome. Skip the Insectarium unless you like to look at a lot of little bugs stuck on pins. The bugs all looked alike to me. :smiley: They each are right on the subway line though, which is good. They’re all near the old Olympic stadium.

11

Like the folks said, you will definitely not be able to find any time during the summer that Montreal is not having one festival or another; it’s part of our reputation. But don’t worry about the traffic; you shouldn’t be driving downtown under any circumstances, especially during festival season, because there’s no need with our transit system and it’s bloody inconvenient anyway. Get yourself a transit pass and use the metro. This will also enable you to look for accommodations outside the downtown area – if you find a place near a metro, you’re set, especially if you’re in one of the closer-in neighbourhoods such as the Plateau (which is really pretty in summertime and has, I believe, a lot of B&Bs) or the Village.

In fact, why not check out the festivals? Besides that, I endorse your agenda of wandering. Montreal is kind of a gestalt – there are definitely cool attractions, depending on your tastes (second the Biodome and Botanical Gardens and Notre-Dame and add the Montreal Fine Arts Museum) – but the most pleasure is to be had wandering around and soaking up the neighbourhoods. As I say, the Plateau and Mile End (same borough) are among the prettiest, and coolest – chill little restaurants and shops all over; the main commercial streets are Mont-Royal, Saint-Laurent, du Parc, and Saint-Viateur – but check out the Village, Little Italy/the Marché Jean-Talon (Jean-Talon or De Castelnau metro), working-class areas such as Saint-Henri and Hochelaga–Maisonneuve (near the Olympic Stadium – have lunch at the Marché Maisonneuve), and of course the Old Port.

You’ll probably love Heritage Montreal’s Architectours, which are guided tours of the architecture of Montreal neighbourhoods, many of them off the beaten (tourist) path, and are given in both official languages. They start this year on August 7.

Just a warning about the Bixi system – it’s not meant as a bike rental service, but as a bike transit service. You use it to get where you’re going and then stop. If you keep using the bike for longer than 30 minutes, you will be charged extra. However, your initial fee is good for the whole day, so you can simply drop the bike at a station before that time elapses and take a new one, if you like. There are various businesses, including in the Plateau and Old Port, that rent bikes for longer periods of time.

12

I stayed at this hostel last summer for Worldcon: http://www.lesousbois.com/

I loved it - right in the middle of the Old City, in a beautiful old alley, and just a ten-minute walk to the metro. It’s a cut above most dorm-style hostels, as well. Instead of just having bunk beds, this place used air mattresses on bunked platforms that were big enough to accomodate a small bag as well as your mattress, and the whole thing was blocked off by a curtain. Was a really fun place to stay - and if you want a bit more privacy, there are small cabins in the courtyard you can rent.

Could be a fun, cheap alternative to a condo.

13

Assuming you eat meat, you should try Schwartz’s Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen. Honest, that’s its name (barring of course any typos that may have seeped in there), but everybody just refers to it as Schwartz’s. If I understand correctly, it’s the last deli that still smokes its meat, rather than doing whatever chemical abominations are otherwise standard.

If you don’t eat meat, don’t go anywhere near the place! Really! You’ve been warned. The meat is stored in the front window and is piled high and deep!

If you want something a little different, you might enjoy kayaking along the Lachine Canal. I’ve never done it, but I run along the Lachine Canal when I’m there on business and it looks like fun.

If you’re a fan of a) Art Deco and b) markets, then check out the Atwater Market.

Actually, if you’re a fan of Art Deco, Montreal is a great place to explore

Great espresso/espresso drinks can be had at the following:

If you like fiddle music, then Wednesday night is fiddle night at Hurley’s Irish Pub. The fiddler in residence is Jonathan Mooreman and he is a wizard on the instrument.

If you want to see Cirque du Soleil on its home turf, its on in Montreal now thru July. It’s kind of cool because they still do it in a tent which has a nice atmosphere.

That’s all the random things I can think of at the moment. At any rate, you’ll have lots of fun and there is tons to do.

14

I don’t rent the kayaks, but I do rent the outriggers from montrealoutrigger.com (warning, crappy website, but great people!) and paddle in a different section of the canal, between Monk and whatever the locks are at the western end. They share docks with 22 Dragons, a dragon boat company. I also paddle with them - if by some slim chance you’re actually interested in trying it out, I can get you on a dragon boat for free.

15

Wow, did I mis-parse that name… :slight_smile:

I’ll have to check it out.

In '08 I stayed at the main Hostelling International hostel near Lucien L’Allier metro. (And man, there’s nothing like that particular metro station for enormous interior entrance volumes…)

16

Not sure about your budget, but lots of students leave for the summer and rent out their places for cheap for weeks or months at a time. If they live in the McGill ghetto or on the Plateau you’d be in a nice spot between downtown, Old Montreal and the more hipster-y areas. The problem with living or staying near the Old Port is that it is clogged with tourists, all summer. And there are festivals, all summer.

17

I spent a week in Montreal a few years ago, and found it a truly exciting, accessible and friendly city . . . especially “The Village” and Buckminster Fuller’s “Biosphère.” I’ll have to return sometime; one week wasn’t nearly enough.