finngirl56

My husband and I (both in our early 50's)are planning a 7-day trip to Montreal in early September. Which part of town/hotel(s) would you recommend? What will the typical weather be like? How strong is the U.S. dollar right now in Canada? Finally, some ideas for shopping, items to buy, restaurants to frequent, ways to get around town, and sights to see?
Thanks!

zootsi

If you do a search on this forum on Montreal, you'll get a ton of ideas. Also, go to the bonjourquebec website, call them and request a free guidebook for Montreal, which is VERY useful.
The weather in early September will be quite pleasant, probably 70's in the day, 50's in the evening.
The dollar is very weak against the Cdn dollar right now, about $1.05 US to $1.00 Cdn.
There are three basic areas to stay - the old city, the downtown, or the plateau. They all have their pluses and minuses. I personally prefer the plateau, but whatever area you stay, you'll have a great time - just try not to stay in the neighborhood where St Lawrence intersects St. Catherine, as it's a little seedy.
The best ways to get around town are: walking, the Metro, and bikes. Montreal is unsurpassed for shopping and dining, in my opinion, the most interesting restaurants, bistros and cafes (many byob) are in the Plateau area.
Enjoy!

BAK

Monteral is a high fashion city, and depen ding on where you are coming from, mens and womens clothing may be the shopping highlight.

I narrow the areas to downtown and Old Montreal -- you can go vist the Plateau area one day on your visit.

Downtown is sort of like mid-town Manhatten, and Old MOntreal is sort of like a lot of the Left Bank in Paris -- small hotels.

If you could tell us what hotel you'd choose in, say New York or LA, we might be able to suggest Montreal places in keeping.

The widest selection of restaurants in Canada -- you can have a Jewish steak at Moishe's and Vietnamese and Haitian food, or Italian fancy or Italian family-style, of elegant French, or ...

My favorites are Chez La Mere Michel, high end elegant French, and go to www.schwartzsdeli.com to learn about Schwartz's deli for Montreal Smoked Meat sandwiches.

BAK

aucho53

Hey finngirl56,

I'm sure you guys will love Montreal! As a resident, I am still discovering new things in my own city, that's houw much there is do here.
Here are a few basics to help you:

Decent to Good Hotels:
My # 1 pick for comfort at reasonable prices is the Omni on Sherbrooke W.
-Sofitel, also on the same street.
-Intercontinental
-Delta
-Best Western Europa (I love the location of this hotel, its smack in the action of downtown)

Heck in Mtl, you can even stay at the YMCA for about 65$/night and you would still enjoy your stay!!

Restaurants $=cheap $$$=expensive
Soupe et Nouilles (St Catherine W) $
Guido and Angelina's (2 locations on St Catherine W) $$
Boccacino's ( St Catherine W. Bar/Restaurant) $$
Amir (various locations) $
Confusion (Tapas Bar on St Denis) $$$
Casa Napoli (St Laurent in little Italy AMAZING food!!) $$$
Three Amigos (St Catherine W, mexican) $
Le Jardin Nelson (Place Jacques Cartier Old Montreal) $$$
Ti Amo (Prince Arthur St) $$

In terms of transportation, the metro is very efficient and will take you anywhere you want to go. And the downtown core is very walkable.

Shopping in Montreal is great!! There are the big malls and complexes downtown, The Eaton Center, Place Montreal Trust, La Cathedrale, Cours Mont Royal etc, and there are tons of small to medium sized shops everywhere.
September is a great time in Montreal, I hope you enjoy your stay in our great city!

Layla

finngirl56

Thanks everyone for the great tips, I'm already learning so much from all of you.

We're from a small town in Northern California, but quite well traveled. In the US we often stay at Embassy Suites, Westin, Sheraton, at least three or four star hotels. Also Radisson and Hyatt come to mind.

We LOVE good food, and are pretty adventurous, always looking for something new to try, but good seafood and steaks are always appreciated. I doubt that we'll be buying much clothing, rather things for our home, nice quality artsy items, perhaps local crafts, whatever is typical of the area.
I understand Montreal is much like France (Paris), the buildings, cafes, clothing styles etc.

We're excited and are looking forward to it! Since we're there for a whole week, would you recommend us venturing out to other cities, and if so, what would you suggest? Interesting sights nearby?

Thanks again!

aucho53

Hi again finngirl56,

Well, personally I would say stay in Montreal the full week, there is plenty to do. But if you are feeling like you need a change you could always head up north to Mont-Tremblant or Mont-Saint-Sauveur, which are beautuful quaint mountain towns that plenty to offer. Mont Tremblant is 1.5hrs away and St-Sauveur is 45mins away.
If you enjoy good steak then montreal has some great top of the line steakhouses...they are pricey but you will love them.
Gibby's on Youville in old montreal is fantastic, very posh and the food and service is great. But for a few drinks and a nice steak dinner it will take you well over 100$ for two people.
There is also Le Queue De Cheval on Rene-Levesque street, which has in my opinion the best steaks ever! They are dry-aged and incredible, however they are similar in price, if not pricier than Gibby's. But for a splurge or special night out they are fantastic.
Moishes is another popular jewish steak house, i've never been but have heard good things.

If you enjoy 4 star hotels then I think the Omni would be a good choice for you. If you get a room on a higher floor you could have a nice view.
The Ritz Carlton on Sherbrooke street is another fine choice, as all Ritz Carltons are

The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth is a lovely hotel, I've never stayed there but have been inside and I'm sure the rooms and service are great.

Feel free to email me should you have any other questions [email protected]

Layla

zootsi

With 7 days, you might want to consider one overnight in Quebec City, which is totally unique for North America - a 1600's walled city on a bluff overlooking the St Lawrence. Except for the cars, it is nearly the same as being in an old city in France.
Montreal is a fabulous city, and does have some interesting architecture, but it looks more like many other North American cities (except for the small Old City neighborhood), than European.
It does have some strong French influences and ambiance (lots of outdoor cafes and great food), but if you want a REAL European look, Quebec City is it.

Carmanah

And of course, if you're seeking Europe, there's always Europe.

Vttraveler

In addition to the bonjourquebec website you should check
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/B2C/00/default.asp
It has lots of information on lodging and things to see and a listing of events.
If you click on experience montreal, then neighborhoods, you will get good descriptions of various parts of the city.

I would stay in the Plateau or downtown, not Old montreal which is more touristy (but charming). The downtown area has more of the big hotels. The tourism website has information on multi-night packages called "sweet deals" for a lot of the hotels. if you take the suggestion of an overnight trip to Quebec in the middle of your stay you could even stay at two different Montreal hotels and experience different neighborhoods.

PamSF

We're in our mid 50's and took our first trip to Montreal last September. We loved it! We stayed at the Auberge Sans Soucy in Old Town. We liked it because it was small, the staff immensely gracious and the breakfast plentiful.We were enough away from the craziness of Old Town to make our stay quite enjoyable. Be warned-it does not have a lift.

Public transportation is fabulous in Montreal and we used it continuously either bus or Metro. You should absolutely go to the Botanical Garden and do not miss the Lantern Festival in the evening if it is there during your stay.

We ate like kings while in Montreal. I did a sizable amount of research on Chowhound prior to leaving the States to figure out just where to eat. I would not miss a chance to have a smoked meat sandwich!

We did rent a car for one day and drove out into apple country. It is a great thing to do. There is primarily French spoken and the countryside is lucious. Apple harvest should be in full swing if you are there in late September.

Aleta

to Pam and SF: since you did a lot of research on restaurants, I'd be interested in where you went and how they met your expectations, including approximate cost

finngirl56

Once again, thanks everyone for the great tips and ideas!

In the meanwhile, we've changed our plans slightly. Instead of flying directly into Montreal, we've decided to go to Burlington, Vermont first, spend a night there, then using a rental car, drive to Montreal. By doing this, we're only paying about one-third for our plane tickets plus we can use a free companion ticket we have with United. Unbelievable, huh?

By having a car we'll definitely do some side trips, such as Quebec City, and possibly some others. Now we just have to sit down and really start planning the details. If anyone thinks of anything else that may benefit us, please let us know.

Thanks again,
Benita

PamSF

We ate at the following-Montreal:
Ghandi(which we hit at the end of our stay and liked a great deal..very good East Indian).We were burnt out on French food


Garde a Mange(In Old town) we ate here twice and really liked it. It's tres casual and filled with "young people". The oysters are a very, very good pick.
Make reservations! Loud and fun. Ask your concierge as the place is not well marked.

Schwartz's: we ate here twice for lunch and really liked it. The line is worth the wait and you cannot be into "fine dining". The smoked meat is to die for.

In Quebec City we ate at, and absolutely loved,(in big letters) A Cloche Pencher. You do need reservations. We also ate at Laurie Raphael which I would avoid again and again!

PamSF

As soon as my 50 plus mind can recall the other places we ate and liked, I'll get back to you

finngirl56

Once again, thanks to all of you for the very useful info.

Vttraveler, we checked out the website you gave (tourisme-montreal something), and looks like we'll get a better deal on a hotel we'd looked at. Instead of paying 199/night, we can have it for 164/night, third night 50% off, plus breakfast included, so that'll save us quite a bit.

Looks like we'll be going towards the end of September, rather than the beginning. We decided to use some miles we have, pay only US 100, and fly directly to Montreal. We'll rent a car as needed, and make daytrips to Quebec and Vermont, possibly elsewhere. May even take the train someplace??

Plane tickets first, then hotel, and finally our meals, in order of priority

Benita