I’m thinking about going up to see the fireworks show. I don’t want to pay the rather high official admission price but I’ve heard there are many good places to see it from for free (such as the Jacques-Cartier Bridge).
Any advice on a spot with a good view and a place to park that’s an easy commute?
A bump
The bridge itself is probably the best, as it overlooks La Ronde and is closed to traffic starting a few hours before sunset. You basically have to walk it, though, so find parking on the Island and use transit/cab to get as close as you can.
Alternatively, rue Notre Dame near the bridge is also generally used as a viewing area, and even René-Levesque. I think a lot of the streets in the area offer a view, really. Seriously, people stake out spots early - I’ve seen people set up lawn chairs as early as 3pm! Some streets in the area are effectively closed to traffic, given how the fireworks-watchers have this piss-off habit of setting up their chairs in the middle of the goddamned roads.
I hope you enjoy the fireworks!
[rant]Actually, I hope everyone grows to hate them and they stop doing them, because I live nearby and if we need to go anywhere by car, unless we leave by 5pm or so we are effectively stuck…also people sitting in the middle of roads that aren’t blocked off, and just the general asshattery of a lot of fireworks-watchers. But I’m just bitter after dealing with this every summer weekend for 5 years. I should move! :)[/rant]
I’ll see if I can drag elfbabe into this one, she’s a regular attendee and took us to see it last summer. Majorly awesome!!
If you want to watch from the bridge, you’re going to have to budget a lot of time before and after the fireworks to get on and off of the bridge - there are a LOT of people up there. And if you want to bring a car (please, please, please do not bring a car, it is a silly idea) you are DEFINITELY going to have to arrive way ahead of time to find parking and stay until after the crowds leave so you can get out. I would say that unless something seriously prevents you from using the metro (a physical disability, a really serious problem with crowds) you are really better off parking far away and taking the metro in.
We watched every fireworks show last year from approximately the location marked on http://goo.gl/maps/8iPR - we would plan it so that we would arrive at Station Papineau about 30-40 minutes before the show started, then walk to the spot. We were always there in plenty of time and always had a good view - you just have to kinda worm your way through the crowds until you get to good spots. There are always big empty areas, particularly right on Notre-Dame, so it’s not like you’re going to be blocking anyone’s view by not staying at the back of the crowd, which in that area is generally on René-Lévesque… or at the intersection of Notre-Dame and de Lorimier if you come from that direction. Seriously, just weave on through until you’re around the area I marked and there will be open space. Plus that is where the ice cream and cotton candy guys on bikes come through, if you want refreshments.
If you have a battery-powered radio, bring it so you can listen to the music that goes with the fireworks. That part is important. Lots of people have them and turn them way up so everyone can hear, but if you’re not near someone with a radio, it sucks to not be able to hear the music.
Sounds like a good plan. We’ll probably try this if we go (we’ll be keeping an eye on the weather).
We’re committed to driving most of the way as we’re coming up from New York. So is there a good spot to park that’s within walking distance or should we just park elsewhere and take the subway? (I assume Station Papineau is a subway stop.)
Papineau is a metro (subway) stop near the bridge on the Green line. Depending on where on Notre-Dame you want to go, Frontenac is also an option. The parking for La Ronde/Ile Notre-Dame will fill up early in the day - last Saturday the signs were saying it was full as of 11am, when we left town to visit in-laws.
You can park downtown, have dinner there, then take a downtown metro to Papineau/Frontenac. There are plenty of downtown stops: pretty much anything within the bottom of the Orange U in this metro map is considered downtown. I’d say parking is $12-20 a day, depending on the lot (based on vague memory - I never park downtown). There isn’t a lot of public parking in the area around the bridge access, and what there is gets taken pretty quickly. I’m not sure there’s much on the South Shore…if you get there early there may be spots at the Longueuil metro stop, but those may be hard to get and I don’t know the price.
Does anyone know if the street parking is restricted to residents in the area around LaSalle and Charlevoix stations? They’ll be coming in on that highway, so I’m thinking that would be a reasonable place to ditch the car and get on the metro. I KNOW there’s free nonresident street parking close to the highway up where I am by metro Côte-Ste-Catherine, but it’d be silly to come up this far just to get free parking near the highway.
You want them to park in the POINTE or VERDUN ? :eek: They’d be better off parking near Atwater or Lionel-Groulx (I wonder if it is possible to park after hours in the Atwater market parking ?)
I lived on the South Shore, so I always watched from Riverside Park in Saint Lambert. It’s a great view. You’ll see all the big ones, and you’ll only miss the very low-to-the-ground stuff. You can get there from a bus from the Longueuil Metro station. You can bring a picnic and hang out!
Hey, I lived (and parked) in Baltimore for a while. After that, the Pointe just ain’t that scary. (Besides! There’s more than one person! And the area directly around Lasalle metro is… kind of okay!)
So did you guys end up coming up for the fireworks? What did you think? We honestly weren’t that impressed with this week’s performance as compared to the really good ones last year.
DO. NOT. drive to the fireworks. The traffic is bananas and most of the area is blocked off anyway. Do almost anything else but that.
I’m not quite clear on what your itinerary is, but if you’re coming from out of town just for the fireworks, you might like to park at Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke metro station on the south shore and take the metro. This will save you having to cross the bridges into town, which are in a particularly bad state right now (Mercier’s closed on the way into town in the evening, Champlain’s reduced, and the Jacques-Cartier will be closed for the fireworks). You take the metro to Berri-UQAM and change (green line, Honoré-Beaugrand direction) for Papineau. I favour the spot Elfbabe mentioned. Don’t worry too much about crowds – the fireworks are so huge it’s difficult to get a bad spot.
Another thing that some people do is watch the fireworks from the rooftop terraces of the bars in the Gay Village nearby: Sky, Unity, and Drugstore (Drugstore doesn’t have a cover charge). They’re all on Ste-Catherine street (which is pedestrian only in summer) near Beaudry metro (the stop between Berri and Papineau). But get there early for good tables. There are also plenty of good restaurants in the Village if you’re having dinner beforehand, but reservations are important on firework nights.
Alternatively, I think there may be some good spots for watching the fireworks along the South Shore, so that you wouldn’t even have to come into town. Bring a radio so you can listen to the musical accompaniment.
While I thank you and everyone else for their help, we ended up having some people visiting that evening so we stayed home.
They continue on throughto the end of July. I’ll be travelling most of the month, so you won’t have to see me glare at you as you block my car in 
