6 Best Sights in Quebec, Canada

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.

The mix of reasonably priced restaurants and bars, groceries and specialty food shops, and boutiques makes avenue Cartier a favorite lunchtime and after-work stop for many local residents. After business hours the street hums with locals running errands or soaking up the sun on patios. When darkness falls, the avenue's patrons get noticeably younger. The attraction? A half-dozen nightclubs and pubs that offer everything from wine and quiet conversation to Latin music and earsplitting dance tunes.

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."

One of the city's oldest streets, the Grande Allée was the route people took from outlying areas to come sell their furs in town. In the 19th century, the wealthy built neo-Gothic and Queen Anne–style mansions here, which now house trendy cafés, clubs, and restaurants. The street actually has four names: inside the city walls it's rue St-Louis; outside the walls, Grande Allée Est; farther west, Grande Allée Ouest; then finally, boulevard Laurier.

Nestled between the historic Château Frontenac and the majestic Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec, Rue du Trésor exudes an undeniable allure. During the French Regime, settlers flocked to this very street to pay their taxes at the royal treasury, which is how Rue du Trésor ("Treasury Street") earned its name. Today, this charming cobblestoned lane, affectionately known as "Artists' Street," transforms into a vibrant open-air art gallery particularly in summer and on long weekends, During the quieter shoulder seasons, the street takes on a more tranquil, yet equally enchanting, ambiance.

Art fans might want to explore this tiny street off chemin Royal, named after the early-19th-century painter known for his landscapes of the island. Horatio Walker lived on this street from 1904 until his death in 1938. At nos. 11 and 13 rue Horatio-Walker are his home and workshop, but neither are open to the public.