Planning a trip to Montreal...
 

Hey everyone,

I plan on going to Montreal for Memorial Day Weekend. My dream has always been "Paris in the Spring", but I just can't afford it and Montreal looks like the closest thing to it...magical with a European feel. If anyone knows of some good places to eat, some nice places to stay, and other fun things to do, let me know. I would love to hear them. Right now, I'm just doing a search on http://www.411.ca/ which has turned up some pretty good things.

Thanks!

I'm also headed to Montreal, but haven't gotten beyond the yup-we're-going-there stage, so I'll be interested in what others say.

Though it may help to look here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/canada-462/

The destination forum can be a potential mine of information.

Just back from Montreal
 

Hi gang:

Just back from a meeting at McGill. Some of the cool things we did after the meetings:

1. Crescent Street for some nightlife (more on the Anglo side)
2. Top end of St. Laurent (more on the French side)
3. Schwartz's Montreal smoked meat (do the fatty kind)
4. Chinatown for dinner (really more of an "Asian" town with many options including Vietnamese)
5. Old City by the river (very pretty and some fancy restaurants)
6. Wander up and down St. Catherine (for some people watching)
7. Tried to see a Habs game (got the time wrong so we went to Crescent instead)
8. Montreal bagels (ask a local for recommendation bit of a religious war)
9. Had some beer at 3 Brasseurs (they have some nice in-house brews)
10. Poutine at La Belle Province

Cheers and safe travels all,
DocD

Let's follow the discussion as the thread moves to our Travel->Canada forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Bagels... definitely Fairmount Bagel Factory. http://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/index.htm

Brewpubs? 3 Brasseurs is average (but good ambiance) but I'd recommend l'Amere a Boire http://www.amereaboire.com/ and Le Cheval Blanc http://www.lechevalblanc.ca/index-an.php

Eats... Hard to figure out which one as there are SOOOO many places.

A definite eat (hotdogs + poutine) is at Montreal pool room (apparently its moving?) http://communities.canada.com/MONTRE...pool-room.aspx

Schwartz's is my favorite smoked meat. http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/

Le Vieux Montreal is the old town, it's a lot of fun to visit (albeit a good bit touristic).

Stay in the city, don't rent a car. The metro takes you nearly everywhere. Cabs are plentiful.

I grew up in YUL, but I still prefer YQB (Quebec City) for its more traditional old-France feel/vibe.

HTSC

out of the list above here is what I am somewhat familiar of :

1. Crescent Street for some nightlife (more on the Anglo side)

agreed, although I would avoid the Hard Rock Cafe ( too touristy )

2. Top end of St. Laurent (more on the French side)

Never been will try next time

3. Schwartz's Montreal smoked meat (do the fatty kind)

A pretty far walk from the heart of downtown & usually a line, but worth it.

I even like the smoked meat at the places downtown ( where it hangs in the window ), like Dunn's / Nickels etc ...

4. Chinatown for dinner (really more of an "Asian" town with many options including Vietnamese)
never had Asian food in Montreal

5. Old City by the river (very pretty and some fancy restaurants)

Next time I plan on trying out a pretty famous place called Joe Beef, as I saw it on one of the Food Network or Travel channel shows.

6. Wander up and down St. Catherine (for some people watching)
Awesome !

7. Tried to see a Habs game (got the time wrong so we went to Crescent instead)

I will do this once the Bruins become better and I can watch them play the Habs without getting destroyed

8. Montreal bagels (ask a local for recommendation bit of a religious war)

check this place out: http://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/ ( a pretty far walk from downtown ) although they are famous for their one sided sesame & one sided poppy seed bagel. Also this place is famous : St-Viateur Bagel & Café. Also make sure you find a breakfast place that has Crepes !!!

9. Had some beer at 3 Brasseurs (they have some nice in-house brews)

Great beers & I also like Crescent Street or the Peel Pub for beers

10. Poutine at La Belle Province

Poutine is good !

I prefer to stay at the mid level hotels LeCentre Sheraton, Hyatt or Hotel de la Montagne. Althought the Fairmont is really, really nice, if going fancy.

Other cool stuff to do:

My favorite thing to do in Montreal is Jet Boating at Old Port :

http://www.jetboatingmontreal.com/english/index.html

and for a great breakfast :
http://www.eggspectations.com/canada...ations_ca.html

a couple of my buddies swaer by this place for a quick bite : http://www.yelp.ca/biz/restaurant-boustan-montreal


Thanks ,Kyle

There are multiple Montreal threads in this forum. Scroll down 12-24 months, or do a quick search.

Some of my personal Montreal favorite things to do:

• Fairmont Bagel
• Atwater Market
• Antiquing on rue Notre Dame
• strolling Queen Mary Road
• take the Metro east to the Olympic Park, Biodome and Botanical Gardens
• walking anywhere and enjoying the architecture

This is an excellent Montreal resource: http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/

Enjoy your visit!
--
13F

Montreal is not particularly exotic and doesn't resemble Paris at all but it is a place where you can have fun and eat well, especially if you'd like to speak French - or at least read French signs. The deeper you go into Quebec, the more interesting it gets. East of Quebec City along the St. Lawrence you start finding towns that are truly French-only and they have a style and culture worth the visit. I love going to Parc de la Gapsesie and staying le Gite du Mont Albert. Not France but real Quebec and it's lovely.

If you want a more European feel visit old Quebec City. It's easy to visit both cities, there about 2 hours by train away. You can even do a day trip to Quebec City if you want.

Just thought I'd point this out...

The Montreal Transport Society (STM) has JUST started (Mar 29th, 2010) their direct bus service from the airport to Berri-UQAM ("Gare d'autocars de Montreal" - Montreal Berri-UQAM bus AND Metro stop) along with 7 other stops (amongst which, Lionel Groulx metro station and Rene-Levesque/Mansfield streets).

Fare is 7$ (payable in Canadian cash in the bus) and the standard/reduced fare cards are also accepted.

The buses are specially outfitted with luggage racks, similar to rental car shuttle buses.

The 24x7 service runs every 20 minutes during peak, 30 minutes off-peak, 60 minutes at night.

More details here: http://www.stm.info/English/info/a-747.htm

and here: http://www.stm.info/English/info/a-747.pdf

HTSC

Here's ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/canad...ebec-city.html ) a great thread from 1-2 years ago with LOTS of great detail; it really helped me plan my first trip to YUL in '08 (I also then posted my travelogue to that thread after my trip) and I loved my trip there so much I'm going back again next month to experience again what I enjoyed and to see all the other good stuff that I missed.

Where are you staying in Montreal and what are you interested in seeing? Oh, and how long are you there for?

I will try and give you some must sees and some off the beaten path suggestions.