Things to Do in Montreal

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The epicenter of the city’s sea trade back in the 17th-century, Montreal’s Old Port lost its role as a trading post in the 1970s, falling temporarily into ruin until a major renovation transformed it into one of the city’s most important entertainment centers in the 1990s. Today, the vibrant waterfront district is home to an IMAX cinema, the acclaimed Montréal Science Centre and a landmark Clock Tower, as well a large outdoor skating rink in winter and an urban beach in summer. The scenic Old Port makes an atmospheric spot for walking, cycling and Segway tours, but other popular pastimes for visitors include river cruises, renting a paddleboat (pedalo) to paddle around the calm waters of Bonsecours Basin Park or soaring overhead in a seaplane for a unique bird’s eye view of the historic waterfront.

Site of the 1976 Olympic Games, Olympic Park is now a family-friendly destination packed with sites and activities. The four attractions are the Olympic Stadium (State Olympique), the Montreal Biodome (Biodôme de Montréal), the Botanical Garden (Jardin Botanique), and the Montreal Insectarium (Insectarium de Montreal). Plus, they are all within walking distance of each other.
Olympic Stadium is mainly used for baseball, festivals, fairs, and shows. It’s one of the most visited stadiums in the world. A platform at the top affords panoramic views of Montreal and its surroundings. At the Montreal Biodome, you can an amble through a rainforest, the Arctic Circle, rolling woodlands, or along the raw Atlantic oceanfront - all without ever leaving the building.
Inside the Botanical Gardens you can wander around 10 large, fragrant conservatory greenhouses, each with a theme, from orchids and begonias to ferns and rainforest flora.


Known as the artistic and hipster hub of Montreal, the Mile End is a neighborhood situated in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough of Montreal. This is where most fashionable eateries, speakeasy bars, vintage shops, and underground music venues are located, along with plentiful Hassidic Jewish and Portuguese communities – which just goes to show just how diverse Mile End really is. In fact, the neighborhood’s ethnic composition has changed a great deal ever since its beginnings in the late 19th century when the transcontinental railway station was built, and retains a strong international yet very local flair, as most ethnic groups have been living alongside each other for decades.

One of Montreal's most enduring symbols, the Notre Dame Basilica occupies a site rich with three centuries of history, with its most recent claim to fame being the baptism of Céline Dion's son.
Inside, one of the highlights is the altar, which displays 32 bronze panels representing birth, life, and death. The west tower houses one massive bell, which when rung, vibrates right up through your feet. The Chapelle du Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart Chapel) located behind the main hall is nicknamed the Wedding Chapel and is so popular that there is a two years wait to tie the knot.
Tuesday through Saturday, an evening sound and light display called "Et la lumière fut" ("And then there was light") uses cutting-edge technology to tell the story of the church and the city.

The mountain is the site of Mount Royal Park, the work of New York Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted. It's a sprawling, leafy playground that's perfect for cycling, jogging, horseback riding, picnicking; in winter, miles of paths and trails draw cross-country skiers and snowshoers.
On clear days, you can enjoy panoramic views from the Kondiaronk lookout near Chalet du Mont Royal, a grand old white villa that hosts big-band concerts in summer; or from the Observatoire de l'Est, a favorite rendezvous spot for lovebirds. En route you'll spot the landmark Cross of Montréal, which is illuminated at night.
Other features of the park include Lac des Castors (Beaver Lake), a sculpture garden, a lush forest, with numerous sets of stairs, and two cemeteries.

While technically a borough of Montreal, le Plateau Mont-Royal cannot be defined by geographical zones. Le Plateau is a lifestyle, a mindset, a way of seeing beauty in everything and appreciating the smallest of things. It’s having al fresco lunch in centennial parks, it’s hopping from one indie coffee shop to another, it’s shopping at the plethora of local designer boutiques, it’s getting a table at the newest French bistro or Japanese izakaya. It’s the place to be. This once working class-only neighborhood evolved into grooviest and most sought-after scene in Montréal.
Filled with hipsters on the eastern side and young, hip families on the western side, le Plateau is basically Montreal in a nutshell. It is where the iconic, colorful staircases of Montreal are found, in the charming and narrow tree-lined streets perpendicular to Mont-Royal Avenue, the main thoroughfare.

Stretching from the Rue Notre-Dame in the north to the Old Port in the south, Jacques Cartier Place (Place Jacques Cartier) is the famed cobbled square at the heart of Vieux Montréal. In this lively carnival, you can watch lively street performers, have your portrait painted, or watch the unfolding pageant of colorful people.
Under Nelsonâs Column, a popular market sells arts, crafts, flowers, and souvenirs. You can see all the action from a table in one of the inviting street cafés that line the square. Sip a glass of beer or wine and soak up the atmosphere, relax and let the afternoon go by, enjoy people-watching at its best. Afterward, you can stroll down the slope toward the Old Port, while marveling at the opulent 19th century townhouses and mansions.

More Things to Do in Montreal

Montreal Chinatown
To truly experience Montreal’s melting pot of cultures head to Chinatown. Dating back to the 1860s when Chinese immigrants went to Canada to work on the railroad and in the mines, the neighborhood has preserved its Asian culture for over 100 years. Walking the streets, it’s not uncommon to hear French, English, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin and other Asian dialects spoken on the same block. Moreover, Chinatown is where you’ll find a range of unique experiences you won’t find anywhere else in the city.
Conveniently, Montreal’s Chinatown is located in the city center, so you’ll be able to continue exploring. Enter on Saint Laurent Boulevard to walk through a traditional Chinese gate to get you in the right mindset. No trip to Chinatown would be complete without sampling the cuisine, especially as the food here tends not only to be delicious, but budget-friendly.

Montreal Place d'Armes
Nestled in the heart of historic Old-Montreal, Place d’Armes is the second oldest public site in Montreal. The Sulpicians, who played a major role in the founding of the city and built the still-existing Saint-Sulpice Seminary on the southern side of the square, called it Place de la Fabrique as it was used as a hay and wood market. The name was, however, changed to Place d’Armes in 1721 when it became the stage of various military events.
Place d’Armes more or less kept it actual size and allure since the completion of Notre-Dame Basilica in 1830, with the notable exception that it is now flanked by the city’s first high rise buildings -representing major periods of Montreal's development- the New York Life Insurance Building as well as the Art deco gem and Empire State Building lookalike Aldred Building.

Jean-Talon Market (Marché Jean-Talon)


Montreal Underground City
Montreal’s Underground City (Montréal Souterrain) is the largest underground complex in the world. A labyrinthine maze of downtown tunnels connecting malls and hotels, offices, museums, banks, universities, and seven metro stations, the complex holds its own during the cold Canadian winter months, when over half a million use the space every day. There are 120 access points to Underground City, and with 80% of downtown Montreal’s office and commercial space connected via over 20 miles of tunnels spread over 4.6 square miles, as an urban planning achievement it’s impressive.
You can get maps of Underground City for free from all of the metro stations, and you might need one. This place is huge and practically a city in itself with some 5,000 stores, restaurants, boutiques, theaters, and connections to everything from a church to a hockey and ice skating museum.


Dorchester Square (Le Square Dorchester)
Dorchester Square is a leafy and large urban park in downtown Montreal surrounded by boutiques and skyscrapers; it is bordered by René-Lévesque Boulevard to the south, Peel Street to the west, Metcalfe Street to the east, and Dominion Street to the north. The elegantly manicured alleys are shadowed by mature trees and lead to four statues, each representing a segment of Canadian history (Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Boer War Memorial, which is the the only equestrian statue in Montreal, Lion of Belfort, and Robert Burns Statue). From spring to autumn, it almost bursts to the seams with smartly dressed office workers enjoying fresh air during their lunch break.
But what is currently known as Dominion Square used to be, in fact, two different squares: Dorchester Square and Place du Canada, which were both inaugurated in 1878. The recent reunification of the two created a new area just over 21,000 m2 (2.1 hectares), making it a focal point for pedestrian traffic in the district.

Pointe-à-Callière
Located in the beautiful historic neighborhood of Old Montreal, Pointe-à-Callière is an archaeology and history museum dedicated to Montreal’s and Canada’s tortuous past. The museum was built on what is believed to be the birthplace of Montreal; archaeological studies have shown evidence of over 1,000 years of human activity in this very location. Pointe-à-Callière opened in 1992 for the city of Montreal’s 350th anniversary celebrations, and, after 10 years of extensive digs, became one of the largest archaeological collections in the country. Guided tours and information sessions are available every day at no extra charge. Visitors will a disability should not that the museum is entirely wheelchair accessible except for sections in the archaeological crypt below ground level.

Outremont
Often regarded as one of the fanciest and most expensive areas in Montreal, Outremont has only recently started to be on the tourist map. Understandably so – with its elegant avenues and stately manors, it’s no wonder more and more visitors are drawn to it. The name Outremont actually comes from a pun with the French wording for ‘over the mountain,’ seeing as most Montrealers resided south of the Mount Royal at the time. The three main thoroughfares are Bernard Avenue, Van Horne Avenue, and Laurier Avenue, which are filled with upscale shops, trendy cafés and chic French bistros that even locals consider a treat. The district also includes Mount-Royal cemetery (resting place of many major Canadian figures), which is popular with runners thanks to its giant leafy trees and soothing atmosphere.

Montreal Little Italy
What would a visit to Montreal be without spending some time in gourmet Little Italy? Montreal is nothing if not about food and history, and few other places than Little Italy can boast having these two – in spades. With some cafés having been opened for 100 years (a rarity on this side of the pond) and the presence of the world-class Jean-Talon Market (North America’s largest open-air market and one of the top tourist attractions in the city), Montreal’s Little Italy is not to be missed.
Although only a handful of Italians families have been calling Montreal home since the 17th century, it wasn’t until the early 1900s that the population of Italian descent really started to form a community. Unbeknownst to them, this camaraderie would not only end up being beneficial to Montreal’s industrialization, but also act as the perfect family reunification pretext for 15,000 of devastated families struck by Italy’s infamous implication in World War II.



La Fontaine Park (Parc La Fontaine)
Eighty-four acres of pure bliss – that is what locals are going to describe La Fontaine Park. Right in the hustle and bustle of the city stands a lavish green park, which features two linked ponds with a fountain and waterfall, an open-air theatre venue, a cultural centre, a dog park, playing fields, bike paths, barbecues and tennis courts. It remains one of the most popular parks among Montrealers, year-round.
But La Fontaine Park wasn’t always this urban forest; it is located on the grounds of what used to be the old Logan farm, which was sold in 1845 to the Government of Canada and used for military practice until the 1900s. This part of Montreal was still very much rural back then, and the soldiers used the surrounding wilderness to train. At one point, the military left, and the park got its first landscaping makeover – it was the first phase of the development of the city's large nature parks.

Montreal Biosphere (la Biosphère)
A lasting structure and symbol of Expo 67, the Biosphere is a unique architectural treasure of Montreal and the masterpiece of architect Buckminster Fuller.
Since 1995, it has been home to exhibitions, permanent and temporary, that are geared toward educating people about major environmental issues. Its interactive exhibits help those of all ages better understand the profound effects of climate change and provides information on how to make a lighter footprint on this Earth.
Such exhibits as "+1 Degree Celsius: What Difference Does it Make?" uses an interactive digital Earth globe and short films to demonstrate the science behind climate change.
Another exhibit, "Finding Balance", looks at how our consumer habits shape the environment while a temporary exhibit, "Water Wonders!", takes a fun spin on all things H2O with games and experiments for guests to tackle.
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