MONTREAL
Jean-Talon Market Pla teau Mile End MONTREAL
Mount Royal Park
Montreal
McGill University Pointe-à-Callière Museum
Habitat 67
Montreal Museum of Fine Art
Griffintown
CANAD A Montreal
Quebec ½ mile Old
One of the many local beers on tap at the
Brouepub Dieu de Ciel
GETTING THERE & AROUND Air Canada, British Airways, Air Transat and American Airlines fly between the UK and Montreal multiple times a week.
aircanada.com
ba.com
airtransat.com
aa.com Average flight time: 7h15m. One-stop options are available through the likes of Air France.
airfrance.co.uk In the summer months, central Montreal is largely walkable, though you’ll find the Metro network handy for covering longer distances. You can purchase an OPUS travel card for use on public transport (C$11/£6.60 for 24 hours of unlimited rides).
stm.info It’s worth also budgeting for taxis, as some outer neighbourhoods aren’t as easily or quickly reached any other way. Local operator Taxi Diamond has its own app.
taxidiamond.com If you’d rather travel under your own steam, check out BIXI, the official app for the city’s bike-sharing scheme.
bixi.com
AFTER HOURS BIG IN JAPAN BAR: Set on Montreal’s popular bar strip St Laurent Boulevard, this dimly lit and intimate den sees drinkers sat around a U-shaped bar sipping sake and Japanese whiskies. Twinkly lights give it plenty of date-night appeal.
instagram.com/ biginjapan_bar BROUEPUB DIEU DE CIEL: Quebec province does beer par excellence. This recently renovated brewpub on Avenue Laurier allows you to sample top examples at the source, from refreshing lagers to English-style bitters and blonde hefeweizens (wheat beers). Order a tasting flight and line your stomach with some poutine — the Quebec staple of chips, cheese curds and gravy.
dieuduciel.com AURA AT NOTRE-DAME BASILICA: Old meets new at Old Montreal’s spectacular basilica with this immersive light and music show. Most evenings, as audiences watch on from the pews, captivating scenes themed around the church’s history are projected onto the ceiling, walls and altar in a riot of colour, sound and motion.
aurabasiliquemontreal.com
150
NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/TRAVEL
LIKE A LOCAL BAGEL BAKES: Montreal is known for its unique style of handmade bagels: small, chewy and slightly sweet. They’re wood- fired 24 hours a day at the city’s two popular Mile End bakeries — Fairmont Bagel and St Viateur — where they can be eaten almost straight from the oven.
fairmountbagel.com
stviateurbagel.com NEW NEIGHBOURHOODS: Want to explore beyond the main visitor districts? Formerly industrial Griffintown is now a hub for the local creative scene, such as the Arsenal Contemporary Art centre, as well as stylish and modern housing. Meanwhile, leafy Verdun by the waterside has its own sandy beach and a glut of homely restaurants. UNDERGROUND CITY: If you’re visiting in winter, you don’t need to traverse the icy streets. Much of Montreal’s Downtown is connected by a network of subterranean shopping centres and tunnels. Known as the Underground City, it’s a heaven-sent hack for getting around when temperatures plunge to -30C.
WHEN TO GO Winters can be bitterly cold and long in Montreal, with an average temperature of -9C, so it’s best to plan a visit between late spring (May) and early autumn (September) to experience the city to the full. Summer is also when the terrace season will be in full swing, along with the packed festival calendar. It’s not unusual for daytime highs to hit or exceed 30C in July and August, so if you plan to do a lot of walking, you may want to stick to more temperate June or September instead.
MORE INFO Visit Montreal.
mtl.org Fodor’s Montréal and Québec City. £14.99
HOW TO DO IT Canadian Affair has a six-night break to Montreal from £836 per person, including accommodation and international flights as well.
canadianaffair.com
t S
e r w a L
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER
R e c n
r e v i
St Laurent Boulevard
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180
