Cities
Montréal
St. Lawrence RiverExuberant and exciting
Montréal is a multifaceted city justly proud of its contrasts. The world’s second-largest French-speaking city after Paris, with 3.4 million residents Montréal is also a melting pot of cultures from around the world, as its mosaic of neighbourhoods and diversity of restaurants will attest to. The city’s rich architectural heritage spans four centuries of history from the French Regime to the modern era. An island that’s anything but insular, Montréal is a lively town that’s always in the mood to celebrate!
Old Montréal
The sounds of the calèche (horse-drawn carriage) still echo on Old Montréal’s narrow cobblestone streets, flanked by 18th- and 19th-century greystone buildings. Your best introduction to the city’s history is Pointe-à-Callière, the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History, which, together with the Musée Marguerite-Bourgeoys, breathes life into the city’s 350-year past. Nearby, the Gothic Revival Notre-Dame basilica is renowned for the dazzling opulence of its interior.View from the top
You’ll get an incomparable view of the city from Mont Royal. Crowned by a magnificent park, the mountain is also home to the impressive Saint Joseph’s Oratory, a destination for pilgrims from around the world. The view is also great from the top of the stadium mast, an inclined tower that presides over Olympic Park. Designed and built for the 1976 summer games, the park is today home to the imposing stadium and the Biodôme, which houses fauna and flora from four different ecosystems. Across from the park, the Botanical Garden—the second largest in the world—cultivates a remarkable collection of plant species and provides an enchanting setting for the picturesque Chinese and Japanese gardens, as well as the Insectarium.Riverside Montréal
Bordered on all sides by the St. Lawrence River, Montréal is the largest port on a seaway that links the Atlantic to the Great Lakes. The city boasts a splendid Old Port that’s simply brimming with activity, whose star attraction is the Montréal Science Centre, a vast complex dedicated to science and technology. The Old Port also offers visitors a wide range of river excursions: where else can you go from shooting the rapids to the heart of downtown in the same trip? Located on two islands in the St. Lawrence, nearby Parc Jean-Drapeau offers an assortment of family outdoor activities all year long, as well as the perennially popular amusement park, La Ronde. The park is also home to the Casino de Montréal.One life, one city
Montréal’s vibrant cultural life attests to its exuberant creativity. The city’s cinemas and performance spaces offer up an impressive variety of entertainment, while its bars, cafés and clubs resound until the wee hours. Superb shopping is also one of the pleasures that Montréal, a well-known fashion capital, has to offer.The city boasts some 30 museums. Among these are the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, the oldest art museum in Canada; the Canadian Centre for Architecture, renowned for its top-notch collections and exhibitions; and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. The latter, the first of its kind in Canada, is architecturally integrated into the Place des Arts complex, whose stages have been graced by the biggest names in the performing arts for nearly 40 years and which is home to both the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Opéra de Montréal, as well as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
The city in action
Montréal has a vast network of cycle paths, with some 600 km (400 mi.) spanning the island. In the winter, while outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy skating or cross-country skiing in the city parks, those who are less fond of the cold can find a haven in the “underground city,” a 30-km (18.5-mi.) subterranean network that, thanks to a clean and efficient subway, connects office buildings, residential complexes, shopping malls, hotels, cinemas and restaurants.The neighbouring island of Laval is also a popular destination, attracting those who love rustic landscapes and green spaces like the Parc de la Rivière-des-Mille-Îles—as well as the shoppers who flock to its mega-malls.
Endless celebration
In Montréal, summer marks the high point in the annual program of festivities. With the onset of good weather comes a slew of large-scale cultural and sporting events, including the International des feux Loto-Québec, a dazzling pyrotechnical showdown; the Grand Prix of Canada, a challenging stop on the F-1 circuit; the Festival international de jazz de Montréal, which draws over a million spectators; and the equally popular Francofolies and Just For Laughs festivals.
