twace

I'll be going with a friend to Montreal for the Easter long weekend and we've both never been there before.We only have 2 full days there and fly home at noon on the 3rd day.We had a good fare deal we couldn't pass up but also only have the long weekend to travel.
Can anyone suggest the top things to do in Montreal?We hear it's such a great place,and I would love to make the trip a worthy and memorable one as we've both always wanted to visit.He's not big on shopping,but I can be, so I would like to hit the most popular shopping place, but balance it.We would like to see the popular churches too. Do they have simple fashion for males...? Does the Notre Dame have church services? How much? Is it generally expensive in Montreal? And I'm not sure what else to do???Not sure if we should do shopping one day and site seeing the next day? or vice versa? We will be staying at the Crowne Plaza on Sherbrooke St. I hope that's a convenient area.
Please help! ANY advise is welcome to make this trip a memorable one!!

icuka

I visited Montreal not long ago with my husband for our anniversary. Make sure you visit Notre Dame - so beautiful. We spent a long afternoon there touring the church and for Easter weekend Im sure they will have lovely services. We also walked down to Old Montreal and had dinner at a couple of wonderful cafes. We found Montreal to be reasonable. It was not expensive at all. The shopping areas are all very hip as well. Have a fun time!

zootsi

The Crowne Plaza is one of the few large hotels in the plateau area of Montreal, a very lively, hip area. The only drawback is that you are a bit of a hike (20 minutes) to the downtown and underground city which can be a savior on a nasty March day. However the Plaza is built right over the Sherbrooke metro stop, so if you want to go downtown, it's only a 5 minute ride. As for things to do - see the old city (a little dead in March), and Notre Dame. The old city is near the waterfront which may have ice skating, sledding, etc, going on. The Museum of Fine Arts is world class, and is about 10 blocks from your hotel. You are very close to St. Denis, perhaps the most interesting street for just walking in the city - lots and lots of cafes, shops, restaurants, etc. If you would enjoy a large indoor tropical rainforest, the Biodome is great fun, and it's located at the old Olympic Park (this is too far to walk!). The area you are in is rich in interesting byob ethnic restaurants, particularly Duluth street.

twace

Thank you to you both! This is helping put my short trip together.
I know it's still cold there, but i'm optimistic that it won't bother my touring since Montreal is so beautiful.
I welcome more thoughts and ideas. The more the better. i don't know where to start.

mitchdesj

Most montrealers are off work on friday which is good friday; stores and restaurants are open; churches will have special services that day for good friday.

So far we are having moderate weather and the prediction for the next few days is not bad; dressed suitably, you'll be able to tour outside no problem, if we don't get any more snow till then, the sidewalks are dry enough to wear sneakers and no boots; that's pretty much what I did this week downtown.

twace

thanks for the weather tip! only a few more sleeps and we're on our way i check the forecast everyday and it's now changing...if you are from montreal, do you expect it to rain this long weekend? that's what i'm seeing.
Also,i'm quite rusty on my francais...are they friendly there when walking into stores, etc? a little nervous about the french part.
so from all your comments and other feedback, in 2 days i plan to visit Old Montreal, Notre-Dame Basilica, Museum of Archaeology, and do some shopping. is Mount Royale worth visiting? and can someone recommend a nice restaurant (but not too expensive) to dine in?
Only a few more days until we're off, and i'm getting excited, but still unsure of our two day itinerary!

twace

in addition to my above reply, can you verify that businesses and tourist attractions are open on good friday?I forgot about this!! I just want to be sure!!

mitchdesj

hello twace, I'm curious to find out how your weekend went !!