Upcoming Trip to Montreal

[hipster duck]

Bernard Ave. from Outremont through Mile End.

One of my favourite streets in Montreal. Starts off on its west end as a City Beautiful boulevard; like something Daniel Burnham would've designed. It then becomes more commercial and has a good collection of Art Deco apartment buildings, outdoor street cafes, a polished vibe. When you cross Park Ave. it's more hipster and Hasidic.

The whole thing is maybe a mile long, so it really packs it in.

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Bernard Ave. from Outremont through Mile End.

One of my favourite streets in Montreal. Starts off on its west end as a City Beautiful boulevard; like something Daniel Burnham would've designed. It then becomes more commercial and has a good collection of Art Deco apartment buildings, outdoor street cafes, a polished vibe. When you cross Park Ave. it's more hipster and Hasidic.

The whole thing is maybe a mile long, so it really packs it in.

Plus there's Lester's Smoked Meat

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Bernard Ave. from Outremont through Mile End.

One of my favourite streets in Montreal. Starts off on its west end as a City Beautiful boulevard; like something Daniel Burnham would've designed. It then becomes more commercial and has a good collection of Art Deco apartment buildings, outdoor street cafes, a polished vibe. When you cross Park Ave. it's more hipster and Hasidic.

The whole thing is maybe a mile long, so it really packs it in.

Good call. I've always loved Bernard. My wife and I have walked and driven up and down its length numerous times.

[JHikka]

Pub Le Sainte-Elisabeth.

[GreaterMontréal]

If you like soccer, the Montréal Impact will be playing against the LA Galaxy on May 28 , 8pm. at Stade Saputo.

[Darkoshvilli]

I lived on Bernard just west of st-laurent a couple years ago. Right beside a gay karaoke bar whose patrons constantly left a sea of piss in the alley right outside my window and a douchy cigar lounge, where im pretty sure I saw Zach Braff smoke a cigar once while I was getting high on the balcony.

There was also a weird stocky dude with a dog and a black cat that lived across the street on Bernard. He never had any blinds on and would just sit and stare out the window.

[lrt's friend]

The Montreal Botanical Gardens are the best gardens in Eastern North America and easily accessible on the Metro. It is a great place and has every sort of garden, even a poison plant garden.

Look into the possibility of guided walking tours. A good guide will show you things that you will otherwise miss. As someone from Philadelphia, learn about Benjamin Franklin's trip to Montreal (and its purpose) and where he stayed in Old Montreal. One of the reasons why Canada became a separate country.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by wacko

This thread is quite timely, as my parents and I will be visiting Montreal in June (we'll be going to Mont-Tremblant and Ottawa as well). So I'll be sure to try out some of the suggestions listed here.

For Ottawa:

1. Parliament Hill (obviously, get your free tickets at the visitor centre early in the day across the street)
2. Byward Market (have lunch or dinner there, a great place to walk around)
3. Ottawa's museums, the Museum of History, Museum of Nature, War Museum, National Art Gallery, (note Museum of Science and Technology is being rebuilt and is closed). All of these are within walking distance of downtown. The walk between Parliament Hill, National Art Gallery and the Museum of History via Major's Hill Park and the Interprovincial Bridge has great views.
4. Rent a bike a follow the Rideau Canal out to Hog's Back Falls (most people don't know that this is a man-made waterfall). You can follow the canal on both sides most of the way, on the west side through the Central Experimental Farm. There are scenic driveways if you must drive. You could also bike along the Ottawa River west from downtown out to Britannia Beach.
5. Diefenbunker is a half hour drive west of Ottawa in Carp but is well worth the visit for some cold war history. What would have happened if an atomic bomb was dropped on Ottawa?
6. A drive through Rockcliffe Park (diplomatic row sort of) and then onto the Aviation Museum.
7. Rideau Hall (on the way to Rockcliffe) (the Governor-General's residence). I believe you need arrange a tour in advance.
8. Gatineau Park (for nature lovers, bike trails, hiking trails, scenic driveways, scenic lookouts over the Ottawa River Valley, Kingsmere (learn about our most quirky Prime Minister, MacKenzie King)
9. Ottawa River cruise (many nice views, the only way to get a good look at Rideau Falls)
10. For nature lovers, Mer Bleue, a very unique natural environment in a sphagnum bog, an easy walk via a board walk, just south east of the city at the end of Ridge Road. A nice place for a picnic.
11, Royal Canadian Mint. You will need to make an appointment in advance.
12. Walk along the Ottawa Locks immediately below Parliament Hill. Watch the boats going through the locks and 19th century manual operation of the locks. The oldest building in the city is here and is the Bytown Museum where you can learn about early Ottawa history.
13. For a feel of urban Ottawa, walk, bus or drive down Bank Street from Parliament Hill to Billings Bridge. This is Ottawa's main street with a wide variety of shops and restaurants and through a number of different neighbourhoods including the upscale area named 'The Glebe' (between the Queensway expressway and Lansdowne Park). You will see the renewal of Lansdowne Park where the Ottawa Red Blacks play. There are several restaurants next to the stadium. The Aberdeen Pavilion is an architectural gem and where the Stanley Cup was won in the early days. I always given a blatant plug to my cousin's Gelato shop named Stella Luna, a few blocks south of Lansdowne Park in Old Ottawa South. It has very good homemade gelato and some eclectic flavours. They also have Panini's as well.
14. Don't forget to have a Beavertail (available in the Byward Market). A true Ottawa experience.
15. On your way to Mont Tremblant, travel to Montebello on the north side of the Ottawa River and visit the Chateau Montebello, the largest log building in the world. You can have lunch there with a taste of French Canada.

sorry for sidetracking this thread.

[Stanz]

Semi-hijack: Does anyone know if the planned observatory at the top of Place Ville Marie is open yet? I'll be in town May 10th & the information online is kind of vague.

[le calmar]

It is scheduled to open in May, but the exact date is not specified yet.

[big T]

Originally Posted by niwell

May as well take advantage of this thread to hijack it a little bit - I'm planning a long weekend trip in late May, which will be the first time I've visited in almost 5 years. I know neighbourhoods decently well, and have too many restaurant recommendations to deal with! But am particularly interested in checking out the craft beer scene.

Do any forumers have particular favourites or good suggestions for craft beer bars, or places that have a good craft selection? I found this map http://montreal.eater.com/maps/best-...pubs-beer-bars which seems helpful, but I know when I see similar things for Toronto they are often missing places I know about. The only definites I want to check out are Dieu Du Ciel and Vices et Versa.

Others have covered the must-dos pretty thoroughly, so I'll just reply on the craft beer front. Luckily, Montreal is one of the very best craft beer cities in the world, so you will have lots of options. Too many, in fact.

First, Vices & Versa absolutely should be the first place you hit. They have an excellent, always changing selection of Quebec beers, which always includes a bunch of Dunham brews as that brewery is owned by the same guy as the bar. The waiters are usually knowledgeable, but as a rule anything by Dunham, Hopfenstark, Brasseurs du Monde or Les Trois Mousqueraires is bound to be excellent. As a bonus, the food is pretty good.

Other good beer pubs include the fairly new Isle de Garde (nearby, corner of Beaubien and Christophe Colomb) and Helm (Mile end).

There are also a few great brewpubs (which only serve their own beer). First and foremost is the Benelux. They now have both a downtown and a Verdun location, with different beers brewed in premises in each one. If it's a nice day the hike out to Verdun is worth it just for the awesome terrasse at the back. Definitely my favorite brewpub in Montreal.
Other good spots: l'Amère à Boire (st Denis), Dieu du Ciel (a bit overrated to be honest, but still good), La Succursale (Masson), Le Reservoir (Duluth).
Not as good but still ok: Brasseurs de Montreal (2-3 locations I believe), le St Houblon (st Denis), Brouhaha (a bit out of the way in Rosemont so maybe not worth the hike unless you've explored other options above already), Les Soeurs Grises (ok beer and good food, and convenient if you're in old mtl already)

Avoid: Brutopia (Crescent), le Saint Bock (st Denis - go to nearby Amere a Boire instead)

Hope this helps and let us know what you thought!

[Martin Mtl]

Any fan of architecture should also check the Canadian Center for Architecture in the western part of downtown. It has one of the largest architecture book store in the country. The building itself is very nice, obviously, and you can go from there to Westmount, it's a 10 minutes walk. Other lesser known museums that are worth a peek: the McCord museum on Sherbrooke and the Redpath museum, one of the oldest natural science museum on the continent. It's small, but it's like travelling back in time.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by big T

Others have covered the must-dos pretty thoroughly, so I'll just reply on the craft beer front. Luckily, Montreal is one of the very best craft beer cities in the world, so you will have lots of options. Too many, in fact.

First, Vices & Versa absolutely should be the first place you hit. They have an excellent, always changing selection of Quebec beers, which always includes a bunch of Dunham brews as that brewery is owned by the same guy as the bar. The waiters are usually knowledgeable, but as a rule anything by Dunham, Hopfenstark, Brasseurs du Monde or Les Trois Mousqueraires is bound to be excellent. As a bonus, the food is pretty good.

Other good beer pubs include the fairly new Isle de Garde (nearby, corner of Beaubien and Christophe Colomb) and Helm (Mile end).

There are also a few great brewpubs (which only serve their own beer). First and foremost is the Benelux. They now have both a downtown and a Verdun location, with different beers brewed in premises in each one. If it's a nice day the hike out to Verdun is worth it just for the awesome terrasse at the back. Definitely my favorite brewpub in Montreal.
Other good spots: l'Amère à Boire (st Denis), Dieu du Ciel (a bit overrated to be honest, but still good), La Succursale (Masson), Le Reservoir (Duluth).
Not as good but still ok: Brasseurs de Montreal (2-3 locations I believe), le St Houblon (st Denis), Brouhaha (a bit out of the way in Rosemont so maybe not worth the hike unless you've explored other options above already), Les Soeurs Grises (ok beer and good food, and convenient if you're in old mtl already)

Avoid: Brutopia (Crescent), le Saint Bock (st Denis - go to nearby Amere a Boire instead)

Hope this helps and let us know what you thought!

Excellent, thank you! This definitely helps a lot. Had heard good things about vices et versa so glad that others feel the same way. Will have to make some touch decisions as we don't have a huge amount of time to spend.

If you are ever looking for Toronto recommendations let me know - there's so much new stuff within the past few year it's hard to figure out from just online research.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by niwell

If you are ever looking for Toronto recommendations let me know - there's so much new stuff within the past few year it's hard to figure out from just online research.

Perhaps I could start a similar thread about Toronto eventually, because I really want to start exploring the city more (I felt like a only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer... I usually go to NYC when I want to spend a few days in a different city, but I am due for a change) It is always great to get some feedbacks and advices from locals instead of sticking to guidebooks. This thread is a good example, a lot of the suggestions on here are not going to be in the guidebooks. Hell I spent many year in Montreal and this thread made me realize there are quite a few things I have to check out.

[MolsonExport]

Montreal's Church/Cathedral heritage is peerless in Canada, and among the very best anywhere. I recommend checking a few out. Many can be found in some of the great neighborhoods described by others in this thread.
Witness: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=221754

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by Parkway

I tried this in the Sky Bar but it was suggested I would have more luck here.

I will be visiting Montreal with my girlfriend at the end of May. I'm hoping to enlist some of you fine people in figuring out what we should do for the 5 days we will be there. Here are the categories I'm looking for help with:

1. Things we should definitely do, can't miss attractions. Things that are in a guidebook but still live up to the hype.

-Old Montreal. It's got an awesome Euro vibe, lots of people, history, things to eat, and is def worth a visit.


-Old Port. Gorgeous views of the city, romantic to walk along the river and just have some wine on the grass and look at the city. I come to Old Port every time I visit Montreal. Their waterfront is laid out very nicely.

The Village (St Catherines St) It's lively, lots of people walking around, has great clubs, and it closed to cars during the May to September time frame so walking is easy. Def worth an explore.


Mont Royale. I go here every time I'm in Montreal. Best views of the city by far, lots of green space, and you can walk all the way to the top via the stairs, or climb the mountain and have a real adventure. Either way, the lookout point is cool. Lots of movies have been filmed here, and you get a real sense of the city.

2. Things to skip, they might be in the guidebook and all over the internet but its really just not worth it. (Philadelphia example: the Liberty Bell)

-I wasn't really impressed with the Olympic Stadium. It was okay, but not worth the trip all the way out there IMO.

-Also, La Ronde theme park is okay but not really worth the visit. Canada's Wonderland is much better and that's the theme park I usually go to, so maybe my standards were a bit high.



3. Underrated attractions and things locals like to do or places they like to hang out, things that won't appear on Trip Advisor.

-Honestly just explore the city on foot. Unlike Toronto, Montreal is more compact and less spread apart. It makes traveling by foot/bike so much easier and more fun (IMO). So get out and take in the vibe. Montreal is all about the vibe, go explore the streets, eat the food, take the Metro, and get to know the city on foot. That's my best advice. I find I spend most of my time at the Old Port, Old Montreal, St Catherine Street/The Village, and Mont Royal when I'm there. Take the Metro to the Mont Royal stop and walk around, the street vibe is awesome.

Lets hear it!

I've answered your questions above and bolded my responses. I hope this helps

[wacko]

Thanks to lrt's friend for the recommendations regarding Ottawa, and everyone else à propos de Montréal. I've only been to eastern Canada once, and that was Toronto last millennium. Time to see more of Canada!

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by wacko

Thanks to lrt's friend for the recommendations regarding Ottawa, and everyone else à propos de Montréal. I've only been to eastern Canada once, and that was Toronto last millennium. Time to see more of Canada!

A few more ideas in Ottawa, go inside Notre Dame Basilica (one of Ottawa's oldest churches), it has a stunning interior and is right across the street from the National Art Gallery. Less well known is the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, in rural east Ottawa, which has several buildings and gives you a feel of what rural Eastern Ontario was like in the 1930s. It includes a historic rail station, church, school, a number of historic houses, a vintage gas station, a number of farm buildings with vintage machinery and heritage livestock and some weekends there is railway circuit at the back of the park where enthusiasts run their small scale trains (big enough that you can sit on them). Check the museum schedule. For beer enthusiasts (I am not), I have heard that Beau's brewery is excellent and is located half way between Ottawa and Montreal in the small town of Vankleek Hill. I am sure that a variety of Beau's beers are available in some Ottawa restaurants and bars.

[Bernard Brown]

Moishe's after 9 pm for cheaper prices. The food is excellent.

http://moishes.ca/x72P578w/wp-conten...minuit2016.pdf

Also, don't forget to visit the quartier 10-30 in Brossard .

[matthew6]

Be sure to catch a flic at Cinema L'Amour!