Lonely Planet Montreal & Quebec City , livre ebook

Montréal & Québec City

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Montréal & Québec City
Montréal’s Top Experiences
What’s New
Need to Know
Perfect Days
Month By Month
Travel with Kids
Under the Radar
Visiting Québec City
Dining Out
Bar Open
Showtime
Treasure Hunt

Explore Montréal & Québec City

Neighborhoods at a Glance
Old Montréal
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Parc Jean-Drapeau
Sights
Eating
Entertainment
Sports & Activities
Downtown
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Rue St-Denis & the Village
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Plateau Mont-Royal & the Northeast
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Little Italy, Mile End & Outremont
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Lachine Canal, Little Burgundy & the Southwest
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sports & Activities
Day Trips from Montréal
Trois-Rivières
The Laurentians
The Eastern Townships
Sleeping
Québec City

Understand Shanghai

Understand Montréal & Québec City
History
Spirit of Montréal
Music & the Arts
Brilliant Architecture
Québec City’s History & Culture

Survival Guide

Transportation
Arriving in Montréal
Air
Bus
Car & Motorcycle
Train
Arriving in Québec City
Air
Bus
Car & Motorcycle
Train
Getting Around Montréal & Québec City
Bus & Metro
Bicycle
Boat
Calèche
Car & Motorcycle
Taxi & Ride Share
Funicular
Tours
Montréal
Québec City
Directory A–Z
Accessible Travel
Customs Regulations
Discount Cards
Emergency
Health
Internet Access
Electricity
Legal Matters
LGBTIQ+ Travelers
Medical Services
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Responsible Travel
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Tourist Information
Visas
Language

Behind the Scenes
Montréal Maps
1. Old Montréal
2. Downtown
3. Rue St-Denis & the Village
4. Parc Jean-Drapeau
5. Plateau Mont-Royal
6. Little Italy, Mile End & Outremont
7. Lachine Canal, Little Burgundy & the Southwest
Our Writers

COVID-19
We have re-checked every business in this book before publication to ensure that it is still open after the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 will continue to be felt long after the outbreak has been contained, and many businesses, services and events referenced in this guide may experience ongoing restrictions. Some businesses may be temporarily closed, have changed their opening hours and services, or require bookings; some unfortunately could have closed permanently. We suggest you check with venues before visiting for the latest information.
Welcome to Montréal

It’s the Frenchness of Montréal that works its slow magic on me. The francophone rhythms are there in its music, film festivals and sense of humor. I love the thoughtful appreciation of everything from theater to pastries. I could linger for hours in cafes and terraces, or stroll the city seeking street murals. Locals have enlightened me as to Montréal’s winter pleasures – its coziness, outdoor thrills and apple ice cider. And this city that’s mastered winter also knows how to go nuts in summer.

Old Montréal | HENRYK SADURA/GETTY IMAGES ©

By Phillip Tang, Writer
@philliptang mrtangtangtang
For more about our writers , see
Montréal’s Top Experiences

1 YESTERDAY TODAY
The splendid buildings of Vieux-Montréal (Old Montréal) tell an illustrious tale of Anglo-French history on its streets. Peer inside the grand buildings around the Place d’Armes and you will see a fresh take on Montréal’s past, helping you understand what makes the city tick today. Victorian stone houses are turned into galleries and craft-beer pubs, while lightshows and street art use today’s lingo to tell Montréal’s fascinating story of architecture and intrigue near the waterfront.

PERRY MASTROVITO/GETTY IMAGES ©

Basilique Notre-Dame laser show
Montréal’s celebrity icon, Basilique Notre-Dame , has wowed visitors with its showy display of carved wood and stained-glass windows since 1892. For modern-day awe, the high-tech orchestral laser show Aura Basilica projects a shower of sparkles and fairytale scenes onto the ceiling.

LINDA SZETO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Glimpse the heart of giants
Architectural giants flank the streets of the Old Town with their handsome-but-impenetrable, facades. Crew Café gives us mere mortals a rare peek into the heart of the old Royal Bank, now a cafe, under its golden honeycomb ceilings.

CATHERINE ZIBO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Archaeology or art?
Don’t think of Pointe-à-Callière as an archaeology museum so much as a contemporary art installation in cool underground locations. Laser projections, a pirate ship, circus costumes and dolled-up artefacts tell the story of Montréal’s development. History is fun here.

Exhibit, Pointe-à-Callière Cité d’archéologie et d’histoire de Montréal | TODAMO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Montréal’s Top Experiences
2 GREEN CITY
Nature is never far away in Montréal. It’s what happens when you make a green mountain the heart of your city. Across Montréal are a network of cycling paths, waterways and islands. No wonder Montréalers grow up jogging, paddling canals and skating in the fresh air. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if the city was built to worship nature, or if the forested paths were cleared to admire the city.

Parc Jean-Drapeau
This pair of island parks in the St Lawrence River is a great place for a view of the city in the fresh air. After walking the green paths of Parc Jean-Drapeau , get active kayaking off the beach of Plage des Îles or kick back to the electro summer beats of Piknic Électronik.

R.M. NUNES/SHUTTERSTOCK © BIOSPHERE ARCHITECT: BUCKMINSTER FULLER

Parc du Mont-Royal
It doesn’t get more Montréal than picnicking, sunbathing and jogging on the ‘mountain’ Parc du Mont-Royal . Admire the city with panoramic views from the Belvédère Kondiaronk lookout or from the Observatoire de l’Est, a favorite rendezvous for lovebirds.

Parc du Mont-Royal | BAKERJARVIS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Canal de Lachine
A 14km-long cycling and pedestrian pathway, with picnic areas (load up on Marché Atwater) and outdoor spaces. Hire a bike to cruise along the Canal de Lachine path, parallel with the flotillas of kayaks and pleasure boats gliding along the canal’s calm waters.

Canal de Lachine | MARC BRUXELLE/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Montréal’s Top Experiences
3 WINTER LOVE
Celebrate the cold in friendly pubs, at steaming sugar shacks, and on the slopes of local mountains on skis, snowboards and toboggans. To see Montréal in winter is to witness another city awaken, with the waters of the Vieux-Port transformed into an outdoor patinoire (rink), snow sculptures decorating the white streets and the Québécois spirit warm and alive.

Lac aux Castors
Outdoor ice-skating bliss starts at the slopes above the Lac aux Castors . Rent the skates, cross-country skis, snow-shoes and sleds you need to get involved right away.

MARC BRUXELLE/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Sugar fix
Head to cabanes à sucre ( sugar shacks) and do the taffy pull, where steaming maple syrup is cooled in the snow and onto popsicle sticks.

MARC BRUXELLE/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Snow festivities
Fête des Neiges turns Parc Jean-Drapeau into a winter paradise with curling, ice-sculpting contests, dogsled races (MAPAQ humane regulated) and snow games.

HEMIS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ©

Montréal’s Top Experiences
4 EASYGOING STYLE
There is a touch of the slower European pace of life that Montréal has over its big-city siblings. This city appreciates slow, cosy times in cafes, museums and local stores in its neighbourhoods. Take your time, and you’ll find that this is the capital of French charm in the Americas.

Village life
The village charm of Montréal’s neighborhoods is the city’s secret magic. Visit bohemian Plateau Mont-Royal for artsy cafes, street art, and unusual boutiques; Mile End for bagel bakeries and hip bars; and Westmount for Victorian homes and leafy parks.

INSPIRED BY MAPS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Magnificent museums
Strolling away hours in museums is a proud Montréaler hobby. Start at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal taking in a showcase of old masters and contemporary artists. Then for those ‘only in Montréal’ artists, see Québécois legends of Musée d’Art Contemporain and the history of the fur trade at Lachine National Historic Site .

CAGKAN SAYIN/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Cool cats
If hosting the world’s largest jazz festival isn’t enough, Montréal oozes cool every other night of the year in jazz bars and dens, such as Casa del Popolo, to folk guitarists and spoken-word poets.

Montréal’s Top Experiences
5 SUMMER FESTIVALS
From June to August, Montréalers get high on sunshine in parks, beaches, mountaintop forests and endless festivals. The steamy outdoors is more alive than ever with arts-loving visitors filling the streets. Rooftop bars turn into parties, punctuated with the fireworks shows of L’International des Feux Loto-Québec on Parc Jean-Drapeau.

Montréal Pride
Paris who? The largest LGBTIQ+ Pride Week in Canada and the Francophone world is in Montréal . Bar rooftops fill up in the Village and fabulous events culminate with a parade drawing 300,000 spectators.

Montréal Pride | DAV HIMBT/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
Big band, bebop, swing or gypsy jazz, you are sure to find your groove at over 1000 concerts in the world’s largest jazz festival .

JOSEPH S L TAN MATT/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Just for Laughs Festival
Montréal hosts the largest standup comedy festival in the world, drawing big names like Laverne Cox and Trevor Noah and launching the careers of newcomers.

MEUNIERD/SHUTTE