I’m thinking of going to Montreal for a few days (possibly June 25-July 1) to relax and get away from everything and everyone here.
What is a cheap place to stay at that you reccommend? Anything to do while I’m there (first time staying in Montreal)?
Thanks!
I was there in February for 8 days and had a great time.
The Travelodge in the centre of town is clean, fairly cheap and close to everything.
I’m from the UK, but as your from Ottawa most of things I really enjoyed you will already be familiar with;
Ice Hockey - Fantastic stadium, great fun evening out
Mountains - Hired a car and went up to the mountains which are beautiful
Another stand out thing to go see is the Space3D movie at the Imax theatre. It is in French and my French language skills are fairly poor but it is still extraordinary to see a 3D movie, shot in space on an Imax screen.
I really enjoyed the Casino too.
I went to a number of great restaurants and bars primarily because it was about 25 below zero and freezing my ass off didn’t seem like much fun. I’m sure locals will tell you more about those than I can.
Have fun.
I was there for a week during the summer of 2001 (I’m pretty sure it was late June).
We stayed at the Hotel St. Denis and it was not expensive (their rates page shows they’ve gone up a little bit since we were there, but the basic room - and it’s really basic - at $48.30 USD/night). Very close to a Metro station and convenient to many things.
There’s a lot of things to do in Montreal - we really had a great time while we were there.
It looks like you’ll be there during at least one of the showings of the internation fireworks competition that is held there - we managed to see 2 of them. Definitely cool.
There are lots of websites out there with things to do in Montreal - depending on what you like, you can probably find something.
I couldn’t speak as to hotels, but if you’re going to be there between June 25th and July 1st, then you’re going to be right smack dab in the middle of the Festival International de Jazz (or, the Jazz Fest). It begins on the 26th and runs through to the 6th of July.
Good things about the Fest: free shows every night, and plenty of cheap other shows. Seriously, it’s huge. There are a bunch of outdoor venues and bars all over the downtown core get into it.
Bad things: Lots and lots of people. The downtown area is pretty much blocked off for cars, and very crowded otherwise. Unless you like jazz, like the atmosphere, or only go early in the day, then stay away from the area.
You might also have trouble finding cheap hotel rooms, since the Fest attracts lots of people–don’t know how much of a problem this really is, though.
As someone else mentioned, there’s also the fireworks festival ongoing at La Ronde (an amusement park on Ile St-Helene). You can get tickets to La Ronde and stay for the fireworks, or find a spot on the main island and watch from there. There’s also a bridge that arches over Ile St-Helene, and lots of people park there (or walk) and watch from there.
Thanks for the replies so far. Do any other Montreal Dopers have ideas? BTW, the plans now are to go back to Ottawa on the afternoon of the 1st, in order to be on the Hill for the fireworks that night.