Next month my family is taking a trip to Montreal. We’ve never been to Canada and Montreal is in driving distance so we decided to take a few days and go check out what Montreal has to offer.
I’d love to get some recommendations for hotels and fun things to see and do while we are there. We have a child (almost 3 years old) and at least 2 (possibly 4) adults going on this trip so we need things that would be entertaining for everyone. So far I’ve decided on seeing Notre-Dame Basilica and the biosphere as both of those seem like they would be fun for the whole family, but nothing is set in stone at this point.
So tell me all about your experiences in Montreal and what we should expect. Are there any Canadian foods/restaurants we absolutely must try while we are there? What should we expect driving across the border? Are you supposed to tip the waitstaff in Canada? Inquiring minds want to know!
Poutine and Smoked Meat sandwiches for the food. For the rest: hang out and have some beers, maybe get a bixi and ride around (the formula 1 circuit for instance). Visiting the Olympic stadium isn’t that interesting, but climbing Mount Royal is kind of cool. Plenty of other things to do, which I’m sure will be elaborated on by others.
Since you’re going to be visiting Notre Dame, you’ll be in the center of the Old City (Old Port). Enjoy the cobbled streets and the various restaurants and shops of the area. Walk down to the water (river) front and see what’s going on at the peer. Unfortunately you’ve just missed the yearly jazz festival but there will likely still be music and artists on the main plaza, especially on the weekends.
Forget the Olympic Stadium. Mount Royal (Beaver Lake) will be fun with your kid(s). I’d do the Biodome on a rainy day. Otherwise I’m not sure it’s all that amazing unless you love that sort of micro-climate exhibit thing with trees and bushes and water features, etc.
Consider visiting St. Joseph Oratory. It’s huge and offers a lovely shaded walking garden with statues on the property. Plenty of parking at the foot of it and great long staircases lead up to the cathedral. You’ll often see the faithful making the walk up on their knees; Try not to stare.
If you like middle eastern (lebanese in this case) food and you want a great sampling of flavours and dishes without investing much money, time and energy of a full restaurant experience you must go to Basha’s. There are many locations right downtown and in the old city.
The Biodome is great, and the Insectarium is cool as well. I highly recommend Parc Safari, in Hemmingsford, which is closer to the US border than Montreal itself is, so if your approach is from I-87 in New York State, you’ll want to do that first before you get to the city proper, or last after you leave it.
I’d recommend also driving a bit northeast and seeing stuff in Quebec City and the surrounding areas. Montmorency Park is a beautiful hike (but not too strenuous for kids), with nice waterfalls. The Museum of the Bee is fascinating. And just driving or walking through old Quebec City is interesting.
Do not expect ANYTHING to be in English. Maybe some places are better than others about it, but in my experience, announcements over PA systems tend to be in French, and to heck with English-speakers. Don’t ignore them - if you don’t understand French, ask someone to translate for you, because it could be important - don’t just wait and expect to hear an English translation following.
visiting Dunn’s restaurant is an absolute must for the absolute best smoked corned beef sandwiches. Make sure you leave the ladies and kids alone for a while and the men tour St Catherine St. Some great hole in the wall peeler joints.
I suggest using public transit instead of trying to drive everywhere inside of Montreal. Parking is a nightmare. Drivers are aggressive, and you can’t turn right on red lights.
The Biodome is a cool zoo, in the same area as the Olympic Stadium. The Botanical Gardens and the Olympic Stadium are in the area, too, and you can buy package tickets to visit some or all of those attractions.
And if you’d like a tour guide or would just like to meet me, for whatever reason, send me a message. I’ve got a few days off each week and I enjoy showing people my city.
We lived in NYC for years so we are good with taking the metro. My only concern is whether the signs and such will have an English translation. None of us speak French and I don’t want to end up spending half of my vacation on the train trying to figure out where I’m going.
You will need passports to cross the border. And yes we tip, usually around 18%. The credit card readers in restaurants will ask if you want to tip and whether you want to do an amount or a percentage. The ticket sellers in the Metro will not speak English to you (even if they can) and can get extremely nasty if you try. There are daily and weekly passes that may well be worth your while, but you should read the STM web site (which does have an English page) and decide what you want to do. Let me just mention one thing. The multi-ride tickets (called OPUS cards) cost money (how much? It used to be $3.50.) and can be used for only one person, unlike the NYCity Metro cards that can be used for up to 4. This is very confusing and not well explained. On the other hand, a fare gets you more-or-less unlimited transfers within an hour and a half.
I love the botanical gardens and don’t miss the Japanese and Chinese gardens inside it. Do take advantage of the combined botanical gardens/biodome ticket. The biodome is fascinating and I have never seen anything quite like. Inside are four exhibits representing four very different environments: tropical, arctic, temperate, and a marine eco-system.
For smoked meat, Schwartz’s is far superior to Dunn’s, but it is out of the way and often has lines out the door (go at 3PM to avoid them). There are loads of ethnic restaurants, but nothing unusual if you are from NY. Poutine is the only really distinctive local foods. The locals think the bagels are great, but I don’t. They are gnarly and sweet. For someone who grew up in Philly, they are strange. I guess they are good straight out of the oven with butter, but don’t expect them to go with lox and cream cheese.
You mentioned the “Biosphere”. That’s the name of the former U.S. pavilion for Expo 67. It contains a museum nowadays, I don’t know if it’s worth visiting. However, the islands it’s located on are a nice park, with a métro station and a Formula 1 race track that caters to bicycles.
I meant the biodome. It seems like something the kiddo would really be into so we want to go check it out.
We will take a look at the festivals and see what else is going on. My husband is very sad we won’t be there for the Just For Laughs festival but I’m sure we will have a great time just the same.
Smoked meat is good, but prepare to be underwhelmed, in my opinion. It’s basically a thick pastrami sandwich served on rye bread with a dill pickle. Oh I like it fine, but it’s a sandwich and that’s about it.
Tipping is the same as in the US. Montreal is very bilingual. Don’t be scared to speak English to wait staff, unless you’re off the island. A lot of establishments make a lot of money on tourism; they know how to treat guests.
I wouldn’t recommend letting the men go to the strip joints, unless you’re OK with that. Nothing untoward will happen, but I don’t think this makes for a good family vacation.
Try to say bonjour and merci at least: it will be appreciated, if only slightly.
There is an amusement park called La Ronde, but I don’t know how good that would be for a three year old. (And I can’t believe your kid is 3 already. Holy crap.)
My experience has been that Montrealers have no problem speaking English to you if they know you’re an American. They don’t expect us to know French. But some Montrealers will resent it if they think you’re a Canadian who doesn’t speak French.
I’ve got a few days off each week and I enjoy showing people my city.