Quick Area Guide
About Montreal
Montreal is the largest bilingual city in North America and is recognized as the world's second largest French-speaking metropolis, where the other official language is English. A popular tourism destination because of its beauty and nightlife, it is a city of international repute with a refreshing European flair. The “Montréalais” experience a high quality of life in this safe and affordable city. One major advantage of living in Montreal is that the cost of living is one of the lowest in North American metropolitan cities, and there is a market of properties that satisfies most every budget.
Culinary delights can certainly be found here. Dining in Montreal should be a formative part of anyone’s trip to this city. Fine cuisine can be found everywhere. Montrealers and their visitors take the time to enjoy meals in French bistros, sip coffee on sidewalk cafés, and chose from a huge selection of regional and international dining. Cuban, Ethiopian, Polish – you name it, you’ll find it.
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Attractions
The city of festivals
Montreal is famous for its festivals. In the sultry heat of the summer or on a frosty winter night, Montrealers revel in their festivals. Whether it's reproducing the belly laugh at the Just For Laughs Festival or painting the town every colour of the rainbow during Divers/Cité, Montreal's Lesbian and Gay Pride Celebrations' week, people come from all over the world to attend these Montreal parties. Entire blocks are closed to traffic and stages are set up for numerous free concerts and film screenings. The fun starts in winter, with la Fête des Neiges and the Montreal High Lights Festival, and goes nonstop through the whole year, with other favourites such as the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, the Grand Prix du Canada formula 1 race, the Mondial SAQ for wine lovers, and the beloved Montreal International Fireworks Competition, plus the one of the world’s most notorious film festivals.
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Golf and Tennis
Coming soon...
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Museums
Montreal’s museums
There is a museum for every interest in Montreal. One of its most popular is the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the grande dame of the Canadian museum world. Founded in 1860, these two pavilions, connected by an underground passageway, host a large collection of decorative and ethnographic objects, 19th-century paintings, and Canadian paintings, prints and drawings, only a small fraction of which can be displayed at a time. It also hosts major international travelling shows. Montreal's modern art museum, the Musée d'art contemporain, specializes in works dating from 1940 onwards. The museum hosts shows in all media used by contemporary artists. The Centre canadien de 'architecture opened in 1989, is an interestingly schizoid building. The CCA is not only a museum that hosts shows of all kinds related to architecture, but also a major study centre for the discipline.
There are also various art galleries that you can visit freely and Montreal's "maisons de la culture". These “culture houses” which are funded by the city, are located in different neighborhoods and present plays, concerts and many free exhibitions.
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Neighborhoods
The old city, affectionately known as le “Vieux Port” or “Old Montreal”
The historic once walled-in district of one of
North America’s earliest societies is still bustling with life. To get a feel for this sector requires a good pair of walking shoes and a healthy appetite. Learn just how much the district's rich architecture and its archaeological remains, streets, squares, courtyards, piers and public artworks can tell us about its history and that of its inhabitants. Discover the first peoples to inhabit this sector, the native Indians, at the archaeological and history museum, Pointe-à-Callière and visit the rich and varied collection of some 30,000 items, from pre-contact Amerindian times to the 1900’s at the Château Ramezay Museum, a museum since 1895.
Discover Westmount
Montreal is made up of an eclectic range of neighbourhoods each with its own history, traditions and scenery. Westmount, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Montreal, lies within walking distance of the downtown core of the city, yet remains free of the hustle and bustle of downtown with the feel of a small-town community. Westmount’s official web site states: “The community lies over one and a half square miles on the western slopes of Mount Royal. It encompasses an urban forest, numerous parks and playgrounds, as well as cultural, religious and educational institutions. Its green is not restricted to public green spaces; with 11,000 trees plus a myriad of carefully tended private lawns and gardens, Westmount
is a gem in the greater metropolitan setting.” Several public and private schools as well as an excellent public library, the city’s own public security force, a YMCA, a public greenhouse, indoor and outdoor skating rinks and grass playing fields provide residents with excellent services and plenty of leisure activity.
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Preserves and Parks
A mountain in the middle of the city? Witness Montreal’s beloved
Mount Royal
Montreal gets its name from this mountain that watches over the city. The park, inaugurated in 1876, has always been a sanctuary for locals and their visitors looking for a respite from city life. Joggers, hikers, cyclists, cross-country skiers and skaters alike have made the mountain their playground. Hardly aware of the bustling city below, people enjoy the quiet of the woods, or the open fields for picnics, or the astonishing views all around. The park was designed by Frederic Olmsted, an American landscape artist renowned for his creation of Central Park in New York City. It can be easily reached via public transportation or car and can be explored by bicycle or on foot.
St-Lawrence River
Besides the visual appeal of this grand icy blue river that snakes its way along the shores of the city, the
St-Lawrence River tells the story of how Montreal came to be – from its origins as a young colony to the cosmopolitan city that it has become. Inhabitants have lived, worked and played along its shores throughout Montreal’s history. There is something for everyone to enjoy - for the history buffs, it’s visiting historic landmarks like the fur trading posts and lighthouse along the
Lachine Canal; for the thrill seekers, it’s taking a white water rafting trip through the strong currents. There are even sizeable waves for surfers who fight for the perfect ride, as they launch off a secret local beach off of le Notre Dame.
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Shopping
Montreal offers phenomenal shopping from serious chic to unique gifts, not to mention a host of services such as soothing spa treatments. Browsing or buying, you'll discover great shops all over the city... and even underneath it! Those not interested in walking the snowy streets in winter can get all their shopping done in the underground network of commercial centres - without a winter coat. Others will venture out into streets lined with Victorian boutiques, antique shops, perfume stores and exquisite kitchen shops. From downtown chic to Old Montreal charm, the incredible choice is yours.
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Theaters
The National Theatre School of Canada was established in Montreal in 1960 and offers professional training in English and French in acting, playwriting, directing, set and costume design, and technical production.
The historic Centaur Theatre, situated among the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal, is a jewel in Montreal's theatre crown. Home of Canada's first stock exchange, the illustrious building houses two outstanding performance spaces, the Seagram's art gallery and lounge, administrative and production facilities and a fully computerized box office system. Inside this glorious edifice is Montreal's leading English-language theatre company. Founded in 1969, the Centaur Theatre Company continues to be one of the most exciting theatre companies in the country. Other English and French theatres, offering alternative plays or the old stand-by’s, are found tucked in the different ghettos in the city.
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