Notre-Dame Basilica
Hershey Rosen Says walking around the Old Port neighbourhood of Montreal, it would be hard to miss the two large towers of the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal peeking out above the skyline. If you’re impressed by the outside, just wait until you walk in those doors. Completed in 1829, it’s the first Gothic Revival-style church built in Canada, and the stained-glass windows and beautiful religious paintings leave many visitors in awe. Walking into the Basilica is like walking back through history. Pope John Paul II visited and it also hosted the funerals of Prime Minister Pierre-ElliottTrudeau and Canada’s beloved ice hockey legend Maurice Richard.
Hershey Rosen Share Some of the most beautiful places to visit in Montreal Quebec, Canada.
OLd Montreal
Old Montreal is appropriately named in one sense: it’s the oldest neighbourhood in the city, and contains the site where Montreal was first established in 1642. And yet, the crowds that gather in Old Montreal call to mind youth and excitement. The many local fashion boutiques and cafes are always busy People stream into the area to walk, bike, and boat the beautiful waterfront (known as the Old Port) during the day, and to drink and dine at its many modern restaurants at night. And this doesn’t only happen in the summer. In late January, thousands of people don snow suits and fill the harbour for Igloofest, an outdoor electronic music festival. OId Montreal is an incredible mixture of new and old that you won’t want to miss. access to the sacristy, galleries and baptistry
Mount Royal
Hershey Rosen about Mount Royal. He says that it is a mountain located right in the heart of downtown Montreal, much of it within a large park of the same name. It was actually Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of New York’s Central Park, who designed Mount Royal Park, and the two landmarks serve a similar purpose: existing as an outdoor space in the city where people meet, hang out, spend time outdoors, play sports, and much more. Climb to the lookout point at the top, visit the giant cross and look out over the entire city of Montreal. Or, visit on a Sunday for one of Mount Royal’s biggest draws: tam-tams. Tam-tams are weekly gatherings (weather-permitting) of drummers, dancers, vendors, and just about anyone else. It’s a big outdoor party and you’re invited.
Montreal Museum of FineArts
Don your beret, wax your moustache, and pop over to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to see some of the 41,000 works in its collection. Founded in 1860, the museum is actually the most-visited art museum in Canada, attracting over one million art-lovers every year. And it's an art museum in the broadest sense of the word, as traditional fine arts, music, film, fashion, and design all have a place inside its walls. In a few hours of browsing, you might encounter an ancient glass vase, a painting by Rembrandt, and unique modern furniture. Travelling exhibits join the collection every year, meaning you’ll never have the same experience twice.
The Underground City
Now that you’ve enjoyed one of Canada’s busiest shopping streets, it’s time to see what lies beneath it. Montreal is home to what is widely called an “underground city.” The RÉSO, as it is officially named, is a network of nearly 32 kilometres of underground paths and tunnels which connect shopping centres, subway stations, and buildings. You can enter the network from the street, nine major hotels, or eight different subway stations, and have access to 2,000 stores, 17 museums, an ice hockey arena, a movie theatre, night clubs, and countless other restaurants and businesses. Whether you’re trying to escape a cold day outside, you love to shop, or you just enjoy exploring, join the 500,000 people who make their way through the underground city every day.
Place des Festivals
In the heart of downtown Montreal is an entertainment district known as the Quartier des spectacles. The centrepiece of that district? The Place des Festivals. The Place is essentially an outdoor public square built to host big festivals and big crowds, and it definitely stays true to that purpose. The Just for Laughs comedy festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and a number of other events make use of the space to host free shows and concerts year-round. The largest interactive fountain in Canada, with 235 water jets, sits inside the square, as do four huge light towers and two glass-encased restaurants. Hershey Rosen says, no matter when you’re in Montreal, the Place des Festivals will have something worth checking out.
Space for Life
Montreal’s Space for Life (Espace Pour La Vie) is a collection of four different experiences: The Biodôme, Botanical Garden, Insectarium, and Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium. Space is about connecting us with nature and our place in the universe, all in one convenient and exciting place. In just one day, you can stop and smell about 22,000 flowers and plants, have lunch alongside penguins or lynx, try and decide whether something is a stick or an insect, and then sit back and enjoy a 360-degree projection of the Northern Lights. You could do all of that in one day, but you might want to set aside a couple. There’s a lot to see.
