Things to do in Montreal

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I have matters to attend to in Montreal next Monday & Tuesday evenings, but that leaves me with a free day in that city on Tuesday (1/31). Anything of compelling interest to do there?

I would prefer something uniquely Montrealian, e.g. some natural wonder or the like, that isn’t just a local version of something you can see or do in any big city.

I was actually just in Montreal this past weekend as well and I asked my hosts about it - they claimed that Montreal is a boring city with nothing to do and they had no suggestions. But maybe the collective wisdom of the Teeming Millions knows better.

Thanks.

2

Ask our esteemed matt_mcl to give you a tour of the Metro. :slight_smile:

3

I really liked the Biodome.

4

Go to a hockey game! And have poutine. As I’ve never been there these would be two items on my list. Also, that TV chef - Chuck, his restaurant seems like a cool place after hours.

5

The Buffalo Sabres are in town next Tuesday evening - it is usually a good game between them and the Habs. Though since you say you have evening plans, that might not be doable for you. I could try and find out whether the morning skate is open to the public on that day (I believe it usually is…) if you want to see that. There’s junior hockey in the area as well.

If you’re interested in trying poutine, there are several good places in town. I’m partial to La Banquise, because they have an extensive menu, good prices, and it’s very close to my home! It’s next to a big, beautiful city park that you can rent skates and go skating on a pond in.

La Fête des Neiges continues through to the 5th of February at Parc Jean Drapeau. Skiing, skating, ice sculptures and shops… lots of stuff to do.

There’s usually something going on at the Old Port, and the old city streets around the port are always fun to explore. Visit shops, stop in at a café, grab a pint somewhere.

If you like shopping, there’s Boulevard St Laurent, or the underground city in the downtown core.

There are science and art museums, as well as natural history, Canadian historyand the Biodome.

If you’re restricted to day time, music and theatre might be harder to find, but you never know. Have a look at the McGill concerts, or shows at the Centaur. The Mirroris usually a good free newspaper for to find this kind of stuff in.

Have a look around those links and feel free to ask if you might want to try something different - I might be able to point you in the right direction.
There is lots to do in Montreal and your hosts are clearly boring people if they don’t realize it!

ETA: you can walk around Mount Royal for the view, and go tobogganing too…

6

Long range forcast calls for a chilly and partly cloudy day, but if you’re well wrapped an excellent way to end the day would be a twilight view of the city from Mont Royale. Chalet du Mont Royale has a small collection of historical pictures of Montreal with descriptions and is a nice viewpoint.

7

Are your friends boring? Because that’s the only way I’ve figured out to be bored in Montreal.

mnemosyne covered a lot, but Dieu du Ciel is a really amazing brewpub that you should go to if you like extremely high-quality beer and can arrange your schedule so that you have time to become appropriately sober before whatever it is you need to do in the evening. If you’re a beer nerd, it’s worth it even if you only try a couple of things.

Other than that… what do you like?

8

Alternatively to the poutine, grab a smoked meat (or 2) at Schwartz’s.

9

Oh yes, how could I forget the breweries? There are a ton, all worth going to!

If you go to Dieu du Ciel, you can grab a Fairmountbagel from just up the street. Then head over to St Viateurand have one of their bagels, and pick a fight with a random stranger about which one is better (it’s not even in question that both are better than New York Style bagels…!)

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Practice speaking French.

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Don’t miss the giant orange.

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I got to spend two days there last year, and really enjoyed the Pointe-à-Callière. It is an archeology and history museum in a very pretty building with a fascinating basement where you get to walk among the excavations of various older buildings. It has pretty good views of the city too. I also did a walking tour, which I really enjoyed.

It really is a stunning city. The downtown area is absolutely breathtaking.

13

Thanks a lot (& to the others as well).

Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough but I’m not really looking for a way to “pass the time while I’m there” (actually considering that I will probably end up driving 400+ miles through Tuesday night & Wednesday morning it might be more prudent to sleep as much as possible by day). But I’m thinking the first time I was ever in Montreal was last weekend and after next Tuesday I might never be there again, so if there’s some unique or semi-unique experience that can be had in Montreal, I don’t want to let the chance pass by. A hockey game can be fun but I can attend hockey games in my area any time, and the same goes for some of the other options. That’s why I suggested “something uniquely Montrealian, e.g. some natural wonder or the like, that isn’t just a local version of something you can see or do in any big city”.

When I drove over the Pont Champlain last Friday it seemed to me that the river underneath it was frozen solid. I wasn’t looking too closely, what with needing to pay some attention to driving and to unfamiliar roadsigns, but if that’s correct, that’s something new - I don’t recall seeing a river of that size freeze up. If it’s safe and feasible to walk across the frozen river, that might be something to try.

14

Hmm ! It’s mild these days and unfortunately you don’t have a few days in the area, but I will suggest it anyway. You might want to get to go to Ste-Anne-de-la-perade for some ice fishing for tommycod

15

People do go ice fishing (catch and release I expect - I don’t know if fish out of the St Lawrence is safe to eat?) along the south shore… parking at Parc Marie-Victorinor along the BouchervilleIslands (a provincial park) might be a good place to start. I don’t know if there’s anywhere you can walk fully across, since I believe the icebreakers keep the shipping lanes open year-round (there are several ships in port at the moment).

You can skate/walk on the ice at the Old-Port, which is water from the St Lawrence - Quays Skating Rink. It’s been warm the past couple of days, though (above zero) so the natural rinks in the city are mostly closed, but they might re-open by next Tuesday. Keep in mind that any walking on the St-Lawrence will be affected by this as well!

There are places in the area where you can rent ski-doos, and several places where you can ski-doo on lakes and rivers, if that interests you. These activities would be outside the city, for the most part.

TheSt-Joseph Oratory is Canada’s largest Catholic church and has an interesting story to go with it. It’s a beautiful building with a great view, if you like architecture and want to see some of the city from up high. The 103 steps leading up to it get climbed by people on their knees to express their religious faith… or playoff hopes for the Habs.

Jean-Talon and Atwatermarkets can be interesting to just stroll through and pick up some interesting food and drinks.

The natural wonder would be Mount-Royal itself… you can see this view in person, if you’d like.

The Lachinecanal is a national historic site which might interest you. You can eat at the Atwater market and stroll along the canal.

16

I lived in Montreal 20 years ago and met my wife there and we are fortunate enough to be moving back this summer - we both passionately love the place. There are a lot of great suggestions but I particularly like detop’s & Driver 8’s, about Schwartz’s and Pointe a Calliere. At Schwartz’s you’ll probably have to wait in line for about 20 minutes. Make sure you talk to your fellow diners; everybody does that there. Pointe a Calliere is one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been in and, while I lived there I used to take visitors there.

Many of the restaurants in Montreal are BYOB, with no corkage fee and they cover an expansive range of type and quality of dining experience. Rent a Bixi (public, rental bikes located in numerous locations downtown) and explore. Montreal is also an incredibly safe, walkable city.

17

Bixis (Bixies ?) are not available at this time of year.

18

If you take this advice, be prepared to have a sweet bagel. NY bagels may not be what they used to be, but at least they are not sugary.

I will second the recommendation for Schwartz’s but either go at 3 in the afternoon or be prepared to wait in a line that has been known to stretch outdoors. I have never tasted poutine (it sounds disgusting to me). There is a Chinese dumpling place to kill for: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/1439828/restaurant/Downtown/Qing-Hua-Dumpling-Montreal. There is a quite reasonably priced all-you-can-eat sushi (and other Japanese delicacies) restaurant to die for: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/1589779/restaurant/Montreal/Parc-Extension/Sushi-Plus-Mt-Royal. And if you like Syrian (basically middle-eastern with flair) food, then I recommend Alep: Alep, Montreal Restaurant - Menu, Hours, Reviews & more - RestoMontreal.

The Biodome is fascinating. You can combine that with the botanical garden greenhouses that are interesting. Oh, and at 2:30 on Jan. 31, I will be giving a lecture at McGill on my current research.:o

19

:dubious:

Also, there’s no gambling in Vegas. How long had your hosts been dead for when you talked to them?

I’d endorse most of the things mentioned so far, and don’t have too much to add myself. If you like huge brunches, you could check out Beautys, on St Urbain and Mt-Royal, or that other place on Mt Royal further east (past St. Denis, closer by the metro station) that I always forget the name for. Or you can go for magic chicken at Romados on Rachel between St Denis and St Laurent (don’t know the precise side street). For drinking (and eating, too, I guess), St Denis between Sherbrooke and St Catherine is a nice area (check out Le Boire Amère and Chez St. Bock), as is the area around Mt Royal and St Denis (check out Bílý Kůň, the bar that has a Czech name but has not much else in common with Czech bars). Way up north there’s Vices & Versa (St Laurent and Beaubien, I think).

Museum-wise, the Pointe-à-Callière is a great museum in Montreal’s old town (which itself is also worth a visit), showcasing Montreal’s history in a very interesting way. (link). In the old town, there’s also the Basilica, which has a light show that I have not seen myself but that I hear is pretty nifty (link here - careful, it’s one of those websites whose designers must be shot to death because it makes music once you get there).

You can also go up the tower of the Olympic Stadium, which is a really interesting structure (might as well be for all the money it cost the city) about 500 ft high, offering a great view of the city. It’s by the biodome zoo, should you choose to go there. Can’t miss it.

Finally, I think the major event going on right now is Igloofest, an outdoor (sic!) music festival (DJs, techno, electronic music, don’t know what exactly) but it’s only on Thursday-Saturday. link.

Bah, I had no intention of writing such a long post but I’m still incensed that someone would call Montreal boring. Perhaps we should have a Montreal dopefest to set these fools straight?