Seeing the sights

Description:

This is the most highly regarded casual Chinese restaurant in Montreal; Kam Fung draws with Cantonese and Szechuan cuisine and a pleasing if rather utilitarian décor. Peking Duck is the house specialty, and is available without advance order—a point of institutional pride. It is just as well known for its dim sum; an enormous selection of dumplings, many filled with the same fresh seafood you can see in the aquariums, are wheeled out on platters for the hungry weekend hordes.

Our Local Expert Says:

If you are actually looking to buy anything in this area of town look for the shop signs that are not written in either English or in French… Those will be the places that will give you the best bargains.

Description:

Chinatown in Montréal is only a few streets long. Centred on De la Gauchetière street it runs from St. Laurent Boulevard to past St. Urbain street. It is packed with ground level and sub-basement shops – above which live many of the residents of the quarter. This historic area is demarcated by four gates guarded by stone lions. Although the area is called Chinatown it is actually home to people of many diverse Asian origins, reflected in the diversity of its many restaurants. The quality and affordability of the restaurants are Montreal's Chinatown's claim to fame.

Our Local Expert Says:

The Underground City is a great way to meander through the city’s shopping areas when it is rainy, snowy or otherwise unpleasant outside.

Description:

The Underground city is one of Montreal's claims to fame. Its kilometers of passageways under the city allow shoppers and tourists to get to where they are going without the hassles posed by the sometimes seemingly interminable winter snows and slushy streets. One particularly interesting bit of this subterranean maze is in the Cours Mont-Royal, near Peel Street. At one point the atrium of the mall extends several stories high and the facades of the stores facing the atrium (inside the mall) are made to reflect exterior building design.

Description:

This restaurant and market covers 30,000 square feet on the lower level of Place Ville Marie. Food is prepared to order at various stations, and it is the perfect spot for children as the choice is all but unlimited. Though the concept is originally Swiss, the foods of the world are literally at your feet: seafood, grilled meats, pasta, pizza, Indonesian and Chinese specialties and sushi, to name but a few. The Caveau offers an extensive selection of wines from around the world by the glass.

Description:

Located behind the City Hall, this huge public space is a good place to relax, get a great view of downtown, and check out the remains of the old fortifications that surrounded the new city. Though the fortifications themselves were demolished in the 1820s as the city outgrew them, you can still see the pieces in the shape of two lines of stone. It's a fine vantage point from which to view the City Hall.

Description:

Apart from being one of the most historically significant places in the city, this square is also one of the city's most popular and lively. Watched over by Nelson's Column and lined with flowers and gardens, this is where artists, lovers, the hip and the semi-hip meet. It is also the port of entry for most visitors to Old Montreal. The best time to visit this square is in the summer, as it is then a car-free zone. Call or see the website to know more.

Our Local Expert Says:

Old Montreal is a beautiful place to visit, particularly in the wintertime. New Year’s Eve every year there is a celebration in Place Jacques Cartier, culminating in fireworks at midnight.

Description:

Old Montreal is the area immediately surrounding the Old Port. It was the first developed part of the city of Montreal, as reflected through its architecture and narrow cobbled streets. Many of the more historically significant buildings are in this area of town, as well as the Champ-de-Mars, an old parade ground where citizens used to be able to come to enjoy the spectacle of public hangings. It is very tourist friendly. The Place Jacques Cartier, an open square leading from the town hall (Hôtel de Ville) down to the water, is the venue for shows at all times of the year.

Description:

Bonsecours Market, an imposing neoclassical building with a long facade, a colonnaded portico, and a silvery dome, was built in the mid-1800s -- the Doric columns of the portico were cast of iron in England -- and first used as the Parliament of United Canada and then as Montréal's City Hall. The architecture alone makes a brief visit worthwhile. For many years after 1878 it was the city's central market. Essentially abandoned for much of the 20th century, it was restored in 1964 to house city government offices and in 1992 became the information and exhibition center for the celebration of the city's 350th birthday. It continues to be used as an exhibition space and also houses three restaurants with terraces and over a dozen art galleries and high-end but affordable boutiques featuring Québécois products.

Description:

Visiting the Old Port area throws visitors back to the days of the city's founding with its narrow cobbled streets and old style of architecture. This tourist-oriented area of town recalls Montreal's history with museums and restaurants set in buildings dating back to the origin of the city – in the mid 1600s. Horse-drawn carriages (calèches) line up to provide transportation to the foot-weary, but the Old Port is pleasantly pedestrian friendly and an exploration on foot guarantees the time to stop and peruse at will.

Description:

Want to explore your adventurous side? Hop on to one of the bikes and hit the road. With every rental you can avail of a bicycle path card, which will allow you easy access. If you're the person who can't find your way around in a new place, then hire one of the professional guides who'll take you through a list of avenues including the Lachine Canal, St. Helen's Island and many more. Enjoy great views of the river, gaze in wonder at the beauty of Mt. Royal, sit back to catch your breath at the Olympic or Boucherville Islands Park. Get yourself some wheels and let the wind blow through your hair as you enjoy a ride through the most beautiful places of Old Montreal.

Description:

Located between St-Jacques and Notre-Dame Streets, this square dates from the late 17th century. Surrounding it are many of the original buildings from subsequent historical eras, including Notre-Dame Basilica and the St-Sulpice Seminary. At the centre of the square is a statue of Paul de Chomedey, the "Sieur de Maisonneuve" and founder of Montreal. Most tourists today also know the square as the place where they can find a calèche ride through the streets of Old Montreal.

Description:

Established in 1817 and set up on St-Jacques Street in 1819, this bank is the oldest in Canada. This location, for years its head office, features an imposing façade designed by British architect John Wells in 1847, and modelled on Romanesque structures. The bank's interior is remarkable for its vaulted-roof lobby and four bas-reliefs. The overall effect is lavish and spectacular. It represents symbols of an age gone by, when successful corporations would signal their prosperity, stability and importance by creating ornate cut stone and sculptures. The lobby is free to explore.

Our Local Expert Says:

McKibbin's Irish pub is a mainstay of the Concordia student (and professor) lifestyle. Don't wimp out and order the salad, it has great bison burgers!

Description:

You know you have something going when you are voted in as Montreal's top spot to eat for cheap. Crowds come for live entertainment, 18 imported beers on tap, Irish sports on TV and a huge variety of single malt scotches. There is a Monday poker night with a prize auction, a terrace, cigar room, and a lounge with fireplace. Wednesdays, the ladies get to drink for free whereupon things become slightly less civilized. Sunday offers traditional Irish music.

Description:

Crescent Street is the busiest downtown drag West of St. Laurent Boulevard on any given evening. From Thursday until Saturday the streets are crowded from happy hour until the wee hours. Everyone from stumbling beer-drinking youngsters to a more refined and mature crowd can find a place to go out on Crescent Street; but unless you arrive early, you might not find a seat! The pub type joints are found South of Saint-Catherine Street (generally speaking) and the more clubby atmospheres are found between St. Catherine Street and De Maisonneuve Street.

Description:

Winner of the Torchbearer Award as one of the top hotels in the Holiday Inn stable, this property's design follows traditional feng shui. Designed with the business traveler in mind, rooms and suites include large desks, data ports, dual phone lines with voice mail, iron and ironing board, coffee maker and mini-bar. The hotel's Chez Chine restaurant serves traditional fine Chinese cuisine and delicious continental options. This is the closest hotel to the Palais des Congrès convention centre.

Our Local Expert Says:

Several locations around the city offer up the same breakfast and lunch fare, eggspect eggcellence.

Description:

One of five outlets in Montreal, this restaurant takes the lowly egg and creates an entire menu around it. Set in a renovated office building, the décor features a two-storey space with wrought iron, huge windows and exposed brick. Dishes include two eggs any style with bacon, ham or sausage, toast, baked beans and grilled potatoes and ham and potato gratin topper. Service is cheerful and helpful and breakfast for two, excluding tip, comes to between.

Description:

Montréal's Museum of Fine Arts is the city's most prominent museum, opened in 1912 in Canada's first building designed specifically for the visual arts. The original neoclassical pavilion is on the north side of Sherbrooke. A striking new annex was built in 1991 directly across the street and tripled exhibition space, adding sub-street-level floors and underground galleries that connect to the old building. Art on display is nearly always dramatically mounted, carefully lit, and diligently explained in both French and English.

Our recommendation is to enter the annex on the south side of rue Sherbrooke, take the elevator to the top, and work your way down. The permanent collection, which totals more than 33,000 works, is largely devoted to international contemporary art and Canadian works created after 1960, and to European painting, sculpture, and decorative art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. On the upper floors are many of the gems of the collection: paintings by 12th- to 19th-century artists Hogarth, Tintoretto, Bruegel, El Greco, Ribera, and portraitist George Romney; and works -- representative, if not world-class -- by more recent artists including Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Cézanne, and Rodin. French-Canadian landscape watercolorist Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888?1970) is well represented; a separate museum that had been devoted just to him donated its entire collection to Beaux-Arts in 2007.

Temporary exhibitions can be dazzling: A recent show brought the treasures of Catherine the Great, including her spectacular Coronation Coach, from the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg. An exhibition of art from Cuba is scheduled for 2008. The museum's street-level store on the south side of rue Sherbrooke has an impressive selection of quality books, games, and folk art. A good café is adjacent.

Our Local Expert Says:

Go to the Mount-Royal on a Sunday in the early afternoon to see what locals do on a summer afternoon. Bring a Frisbee, a hacky-sac or a friend and relax in the sun. Don’t show up too early- Montrealers take their time waking up on the weekends.

Description:

"The mountain", as Mount-Royal Park is known to locals, is the largest green space on Montreal Island. It was designed by Olmstead, who also designed Central Park in New York City. Mount-Royal Park is the playground for the city. During the week people traipse up and down the paths constantly: cutting across the mountain to work, running late to class toward McGill University and just taking the time to enjoy the moments of privacy that the mountain's hidden paths offer. Sundays during the summer the East side of the Mount-Royal (near the statue) explodes with activity and music. Crowds gather to play music, lounge in the sun and relax with friends in the sweetly hazy heat.

Description:

The tables on the terrace that wraps around this corner building are filled whenever there's even a slim possibility that a heavy sweater and a bowl of café au lait will fend off frostbite. In summer, the loyalists get to stay out until way past midnight. Brunch is popular even if the food is unexceptional, but do consider this place any time a snack or a meal is in order. Portions are ample and inexpensive. An easygoing atmosphere prevails; it's popular with musicians, actors, and artists, so contrive to look mysterious or celebrated.

Our Local Expert Says:

The biodome is quite simply a must-see. There is nothing quite like walking from the Arctic to a tropical forest in under 5 minutes.

Description:

Housed in what was the Olympic velodrome, this science centre and ecological zoo is home to four distinct ecosystems. You will find a lush Tropical Forest, the temperate Laurentian Forest, the St. Lawrence Marine Ecosystem and the Polar worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic. Plenty of interpretative panels and staff are on hand to help you on your self-guided tour. The Environment Place amphitheatre presents films, performances and lectures, all related to conservation and environmental protection.

Description:

The Olympic Park was the pride and joy of Montrealers when it was built for the 1976 summer Olympics. They nicknamed it the "Big O". Now the Olympic Park has been re-named the "Big Uh-Oh!" because of the money it has cost the city to maintain the structure. That said, it does not take away from the spectacular architecture- or the thrill of riding up the elevator tower and watching the city fall away from you through the glass walls in front of you. Also making the trip in that direction of town worth it are the Biodome, Botanical Gardens and the Insectarium, all clearly indicated and none further than a five minute walk from the Olympic Stadium.

Description:

Chilly nights are made much warmer for diners at this rock-solid Polish cafe in the heart of Old Montreal. Indeed, this is a culinary sanctuary, evidenced by pews from an old chapel and refectory tables from a convent. Dishes include all the rib-sticking, hearty standards from a traditional Polish kitchen. 

Description:

Winner of the Torchbearer Award as one of the top hotels in the Holiday Inn stable, this property's design follows traditional feng shui. Designed with the business traveler in mind, rooms and suites include large desks, data ports, dual phone lines with voice mail, iron and ironing board, coffee maker and mini-bar. The hotel's Chez Chine restaurant serves traditional fine Chinese cuisine and delicious continental options. This is the closest hotel to the Palais des Congrès convention centre.