Best things to do in Montreal
Find out more about those top places in Montreal
Quebec’s largest and Canada’s second largest city, Montreal fuses the best of the old and new worlds. The gas lamp lit cobbled streets of Vieux-Montreal rival that of nearby Quebec City with their intoxicating European ambiance and French bistros while the city’s position as western Canada’s economic and cultural powerhouse means it is a bastion of modern multiculturalism in a deeply traditional Francophone province. Undoubtedly the city’s main draw is the old town, which includes the eye-catching Notre-Dame Basilica and the buzzing Rue St. Denis. However, beyond this Gallic charm is a vibrant and modern city with a clutch of challenging art galleries, such as L’Arsenal, clustered in the up and coming neighborhood of Griffintown.
-
Mount Royal
The most significant fact about the Mount Royal is that it is where the name 'Montreal' was gotten. The Mount Royal which is located in Montreal City, west of Downtown Montreal in Quebec is a large volcanic-related Hill or small mountain. It is a part of the Monteregian Hills which can be found between the Appalachian Mountains and the Laurentians. An electric fat tire bike tour of the Mount Royal is not to be missed.
-
Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal
Located in the historic and symbolic district of Old Montreal, 100 Notre-Dame Street West right on the corner of Saint Sulpice Street, this Basilica has its street named after it. The Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal is one of the best maintained Basilicas in Canada.
-
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
This museum was established in 1860 by a group of Montreal art patrons and collectors as the Art Association of Montreal. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is one of the premier museums in North America with an encyclopedic collection to its name. This encyclopedic collection boasts over 43,000 works from times past to this present age which makes it stand out in Canada.
-
Montreal Tower Observatory
The Montreal Tower Observatory is a puzzling edifice mainly due to its dramatic incline. However, a tour of this structure helps you better understand the mechanism by which this building still stands. Basically, the top of the tower and a mass of 8,000 tons which is a permanent attachment alongside a solid concrete base that is buried 10 meters below ground. The base boasts of a mass of 145,009 tons.
-
Old Port of Montreal
The Old Port of Montreal dates to as far back as 1611 where it is recorded that it was already used as a trading post by the French for trades. It stretches over 2 km along the Saint Lawrence River and hosts about six million tourists annually. Montreal's Port activities were shifted to the present day Port of Montreal which is in the borough of Mercier - Hochelega-Maisonneuve. The Old Port was then redeveloped in the early 1990s to become the popular tourist attraction it is today.
