Montreal, the world’s second-largest French-speaking city and the largest city in Canada’s Quebec province, offers a fascinating mix of the foreign and familiar, old and new, offbeat and traditional. Its many diversions attract more than 14 million people a year, nearly 20% of them from the U.S.
Most visitors begin their Montreal vacation by sightseeing in Old Montreal, the city’s centuries-old birthplace, with its cobblestone streets, historic architecture, and charming boutiques, galleries and restaurants. The prime attraction in Old Montreal is Notre-Dame Basilica, a spectacular Gothic-Revival-style cathedral. Just south of Old Montreal, at the Old Port, visitors can experience the mighty St. Lawrence River via a sightseeing boat, a more exciting speedboat tour of the Lachine Rapids, or a stroll along the riverside recreational park. Culture-lovers should make sure their Montreal travel plans include a Montreal Museums Pass, which allows holders to visit 32 of the city’s world-class museums and attractions for one price, including unlimited transit on the clean, convenient Metro rail system. And a vacation to Montreal should definitely include shopping, as the city offers the highest concentration of stores anywhere in Canada, including miles of commercial space underground in the vast Underground City (a plus during the cold winters).
U.S. visitors must carry a valid passport when traveling by air between the U.S. and Canada. On June 1, 2009, a new American law known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will require U.S. citizens 16 years of age or over who re-enter the United States by land and sea to have a passport or other appropriate secure document like a NEXUS card (for more information on the latest entry and exit requirements for U.S. citizens, visit travel.state.gov, the U.S. State Department’s website). The closest U.S./Canada border crossings—in New York and Vermont—are a one-hour drive from downtown Montreal. Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport offers many convenient flights to the U.S., and New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are all less than an hour-and-a-half away by air. Driving is on the right, and visitors with valid drivers’ licenses may drive in Quebec for a maximum of six consecutive months without a Quebec driver’s license. The coldest month in Montreal is January, when the average low is 8°F, and the warmest month is July, when the average high is 80°F. Currency is the Canadian dollar. For more information on a vacation in Montreal, log on to www.tourisme-montreal.com, the Greater Montreal Convention and Tourism Bureau’s website.