Montreal is one of the most popular destinations in the world and one of the few Francophone places where you can speak English during your entire visit. Montreal is familiar enough to feel welcoming but foreign enough to feel exotic.
Montreal is unique in North America, blending a brash New World urbanity with the romantic charm of its
European-flavored historic districts and a Gallic sense of joie de vivre apparent in the city’s many pavement cafes and dynamic nightlife. Although its downtown skyscrapers are a testament to the economic clout of Canada’s second largest city, visitors are more likely to be drawn by the promise of a horse-drawn caleche ride along the cobbled streets of Old Montreal, near the St Lawrence River or around Mount Royal, the city’s landmark.
The charming buildings of Old Montreal, which was the heart of the city until the end of the 19th century, are today filled with boutiques, bars and restaurants. Montrealers and visitors alike promenade along the adjacent Old Port. The nearby islands in the St Lawrence - Ile Ste-Helene and Ile Notre-Dame - were the site of the Expo 67 World Fair , and now comprise the city’s largest park, Parc Jean Drarpeau .The other must-see is the legacy of another international event: the 1976 Summer Olympics. The Big ‘O’ (the Olympic Stadium) has the world’s tallest inclined tower and is next door to the city’s Botanical Garden.
Montreal has drawn on the combined strengths of its French and British roots to attract newcomers from around the world. This multicultural mix has fostered a fertile and vibrant cultural life. A broad range of movies, plays and shows draw large audiences, while bars, cafes and discotheques rock until the early hours of the morning. Shopping in Montreal - a fashion capital - is another pleasure not to be missed.
Montreal is an international city, accessible from just about anywhere. Connected throughout the world by major airlines, Montreal is only an hour and a half from New York, two hours from Chicago, and six and a half hours from London. Taxis, limousines and shuttle buses get travelers quickly to and from the city center, stopping at major hotels. Services are excellent, and available in many languages.
Culture is to Montreal what air is to all living things. In fact, most Montrealers don’t distinguish culture from their daily existence. It’s just there. As they live and breathe. Perhaps it’s the effect of the majestic St. Lawrence River that leads to rich voyages of the imagination. Or maybe it’s the French passion that has stimulated artists for centuries. Whatever it is, it has inspired such world-acclaimed artists as Orchestre symphonique under the baton of Kent Nagano, the Grands Ballets Canadiens under the direction of Gradimir Pankov, novelists Michel Tremblay and Mordecai Richler and the Cirque du Soleil.
