Montreal Trip Suggestions
 

My wife and I leave Sept 4 for a 25th anniversary trip to Montreal. We are staying at the Fairmont QE. Our anniversary dinner is planned at Auberge Saint-Gabriel. It's my wife's first visit to Montreal. Other than Old Montreal and the Underground, what recommendations do you have? We are there 3 days.

While Old Montreal can be enjoyable to leisurely stroll through (esp. some of the side streets), in my opinion, skip the underground (unless you like mall shopping); this is not what makes Montreal unique. Instead: take the paths designed by Frederic Law Olmsted up the mountain, go to Ile Sainte-Helene and enjoy the river views, go and sit by Parc Lafontaine and soak in the ambience, stroll through the side streets of the Plateau Mont-Royal district, visit either the Jean-Talon Market or Atwater Market.... and here we have more than 3 days covered easily.

Enjoy your time in our fair city! DAN

If by the underground you mean the underground city, I would not plan to spend much time there this week. The weather is far too nice above ground at this time of year.

If you go to Isle st Helene I recommend visiting the Biosphere, the old US pavilion Buckminster Fuller dome. There are good views of the port area and the museum has interesting exhibits on environmental issues. There is a 40th anniversary exhibit on Expo '67 there now.

The Pointe a calliere archeology museum in the old port area is a great introduction to Montreal history.

The tourism office puts out a good guide with walking tours of the various neighborhoods and a separate walking guide to Old Montreal

A recent article in Frommer's budget magazine recommends traveling along St. Laurent for an idea of the city's great ethnic mix, and that makes sense to me.
http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/c...060601611.html
Jean Talon Market, mentioned in the last post, is in Little Italy

Happy anniversary

Unless it's moved...

There's an excellent tourist office within a short walk of the Queen Elizabeth.

Go out the front door onto Rene Levesque, and look to your left.

You should see a big park across the street.

The tourism office is at the other end of the par, about a block away.

Best nearby snacks -- hard to believe, but in the railway station underneath the hotel, a couple of escalator rides away.

Maybe Dan can confirm or correct, but I think Atwater Market has more tores open inside a week long, plus there's more interesting stores right nearby. Lots of antique shops.

BAK

The museum of fine arts is on Sherbrooke street west, you can walk to that area from the QE. The sofitel hotel has a large outdoor terrace to stop for a drink. For an anniversary trip, I would recommend dinner at Il Cortile's outdoor courtyard,
it's spectacular, have the hotel reserve for you.
It's on Sherbrooke st, near Guy. Easily walkable from the QE.

On a nice day, a stroll on St. Denis street could be quite pleasant, shops and cafes abound. Get dropped off at Sherbrooke st. and walk north.

If you decide to see the underground area, enter at les Cours Mt Royal, at Peel and de Maisonneuve;
on Peel, and across from les Cours is a great place for snack/coffee or lunch, Vasco de Gamas.
Another one down towards ste catherine st, is le Pain Doré, a bakery with a coffee shop on 2nd floor.

What are your likes and dislikes; if you want more restaurant rec's , I can provide my personal favorites in different areas.

Great suggestions. Thanks to all. I had planned dinner the 2nd evening at Restaurant du Vieux-Port, but could certainly change that if there are better recommendations. Not having been in that part of town I do know there is a large Italian section. Is there a great restaurant there? We both love real Italian food.
We also love European-style shopping, with small unique shops. Is St. Denis the place for that kind of shopping?

I hope others can recommend a good restaurant in Little Italy for you. It is a fun neighborhood to walk around in. There are lots of houses where you can see grape vines growing in the back yard. I will send the name of a good bakery we visited a few weeks ago.

For shopping I think you would enjoy St Denis betwen Sherbrooke and Mont Royal You would probably also enjoy Mont Royal or Laurier in the Plateau area

The bakery I was thinking of is on Dante in Little Italy (3277), Alati-Caserta