Vieux-Port

Description:

• Montréal's Old Port was transformed in 1992 from a dreary commercial wharf area into a 2km-long (1 1/4-mile), 53-hectare (131-acre) promenade and public park with bicycle paths, exhibition halls, and a variety of family activities, including the Centre des Sciences de Montréal. The area is most active from mid-May to October, when harbor cruises set out from here and bicycles, in-line skates and family-friendly Quadricycle carts are available for rent. The Cirque du Soleil raises its tents here for 2 months every spring, and warm months also bring information booths staffed by bilingual attendants and 45-minute guided tours in the open-sided La Balade tram. In the winter, things are quieter, but an outdoor ice-skating rink is an attraction. At the far eastern end of the port in the last of the old warehouses is a 1922 clock tower, La Tour de l'Horloge, with 192 steps leading past the exposed clockworks to observation decks overlooking the St. Lawrence River (admission is free). The Vieux-Port stretches along the waterfront parallel to rue de la Commune from rue McGill to rue Berri.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010