Anyone been to Montreal?

DH and I were thinking of going to Montreal this year in late Spring or summer.

any tips or recommendations? Thanks!!

Re: Anyone been to Montreal?

go to the hard rock cafe- we had a ball!

Re: Anyone been to Montreal?

I was just there in August... see the Old Town, the Olympic Stadium and Botanical Gardens are nice...I was with my mom so we didn't really get to see much of the nightlife...but there is one street (can't remember the name of it now) that has all restaurants and bars on it...It looked like fun.

We stayed at the Hotel de la Montagne which was one block away from there and was a really nice, boutique hotel.

Re: Anyone been to Montreal?

There are a few threads on this...

I wrote this on one of the more recent ones:

Things to see:

- Basilique Notre-Dame
- Boncourse Market
- Olympic Stadium
- Biodome
- Bontanical Gardens
- Old Port
- Underground City

ETA: Found my Montreal doc LOL

Stash Cafe was fantastic! We ate lunch there one day...their pierogi and borsch was DELISH!

Cafe Santropel was another good place.
- Coffee, sandwiches
3990 rue Saint-Urbain

Make sure you try the bagels there...they are really god - almost better than here - they're sweet and sort of dense.

If you're into Starbucks - I made a list of the nearest ones to where we stayed

Montreal Trust
1500 McGill College

Chapters-St. Catherine
1171 St. Catherine West

CVI - Bonaventure
800 de la Gauchetiere West

Also, this episode was really helpful - we visited the little shop she visits and got some jewlery and some wine glasses. It looks like it's airing again in December.

Re: Anyone been to Montreal?

this was from aother post:

We stayed in Old Montreal - down by the port...at a fabulous little hotel - Aberge du Vieux-Port

Most of the hotels down by the Port are relatively new - early '90's - and are housed in old shipping buildings. view of area from the port


The staff was friendly and helpful...the breakfast was sinfully delicious and the lobby was tastefully appointed. The hotel is ranked as a small luxury hotel - with a top rated French restaurant...no pool or gym facilities - however you can get an in-room massage (which DH did). You can hear the "traffic" in the room from the hallway...and some from the port (I imagine it is even noisier on the street side) - but those little minuses were easily overlooked. :wink:

I am oddly obsessed with Cathedrals...so seeing the Basilique Notre-Dame was a top priority...it was absolutely stunning....just breathtaking!



The organ

One of the pulpit's

... ceiling

The pictures honestly don't do it justice.


The Boncourse Market


An old hotel - I think it's currently a government building...


We took a day trip to the Olympic Stadium which was amazing.

.

The Biodome - view from the tower was a highlight.


The Ecosystems were incredible...each ecosystem had their own climate, animals, trees/plants...really well done (and I am NOT a fan of zoos, etc.)
Lion Monkeys

Bull Frogs

King Penguin

up close!


The Bontanical Gardens was immense...we walked around the Chinese Garden

and caught a glimpse of the lanterns - had we gone back at night, we would have seen them all lit up...

.

We did a lot of walking...and eating...Old Port basically looks like this - very old-world, European...cobblestone roads...old stone & brick buildings.


The weather was perfect - low 70's...warm sun, cool air - perfect fall weather. It rained our last day


But even that was perfect

Re: Anyone been to Montreal?

WOW, Colleen, your photos are amazing! I am going to check the related threads and search a bit too.

thanks everyone for the tips!

Re: Anyone been to Montreal?

We just went

We stayed at the Queen Elizabeth

We liked it but next time I think I would stay in old montreal in one of the hotels mentioned in above posts

But a restaurant rec would be Gibby's in Old Montreal
loved it!

And we had crepes at a place called Crepes Suzanne or Suzette right in Old Montreal as well. Crepes, bananas, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream - unbelievable!