2 Best Sights in Montreal, Quebec

If your taste runs to the chic and fashionable, then there is simply no better street than avenue Bernard, west of avenue Querbes, for people-watching. Its wide sidewalks and shady trees make it ideal for the kind of outdoor cafés and restaurants that attract the bright and the beautiful. And, in summer, the avenue is pedestrianized between avenues Wiseman and Bloomfield, with people walking freely and outdoor patios spilling out into the street.

A walk here is a walk through Montréal's multicultural history. The shops, restaurants, synagogues, and churches that line the 10-block stretch north of rue Sherbrooke reflect the various waves of immigrants that have called it home. Keep your eyes open and you'll see see Jewish delis, Hungarian charcuterie shops, Greek restaurants and bakeries, Portuguese rotisseries, Italian cafés, Vietnamese sandwich shops, Spanish tapas bars, and Peruvian eateries. You'll also spot some of the city's trendiest restaurants, cafés, and galleries, as well as the dernier cri in skateboard fashion. The first immigrants to move into the area in the 1880s were Jews escaping pogroms in Eastern Europe. It was they who called the street "the Main," as in Main Street—a moniker that endures to this day. Even francophone Montrealers often call it "La Main."