Quebec residents or past visitors!

AlexLindzz · March 2016

So we cancelled our cruise because Mexico was the main stop (Zika). We are now considering traveling to Quebec for a 4 day weekend....potentially July. I would LOVE to hear any opinions on a city to visit, advice on things to do, where to stay, etc. TIA!
ETA: thinking of Montreal.

jarethinafrock · March 2016

I have never been to Montréal/Québec, but a good friend of mine is from there and she says it is beautiful. Apparently it has a very European feel and summertime is a great time to visit.

EmmieAnn22 · March 2016

The hubs and I went last year for our babymoon/anniversary last year. We absolutely loved it!

During the summer they have an international fireworks competition. While we were there the city putting it on was China. It's free and there are lots of places to get a good view. We stayed in the old section of town a block from Notre Dame and were able to walk to the pier to watch. Bonus there is a frozen custard place near by.

China town was pretty interesting but small. We ended up walking through to get to the subway to head up to the botanical garden. Gardens were beautiful and I enjoyed lots of places to sit and take a break.

All the food we had was great. It's like France but with maple syrup on everything. No joke they put maple syrup on so many things.

Like I said earlier we stayed very near Notre Dame in the old section. Would highly recommend that. Tons of shopping all around, history, food, and close to the subway.

The olympic village is a little worn down. They have a sort of zoo in there and it. His sister recommended it but it was hot and crowded and not worth the money.

Hope that's helpful.

jolydan · March 2016

***lurker from July16****
you can private message me. I lived in Montreal for 28 years, I can probably help you!

ShinyBlackAnt · March 2016

I love Quebec city...great for walking and 4 days is a good amount. We rented a car for a day and went up to the waterfall and the island with a million farms...had an amazing time.

MrsDho11 · March 2016

DH and I went to Montreal a couple years ago for a wedding and both really liked even though neither of us are really city people! Very walkable, which is a bonus IMO, at least where we saw, and I would definitely recommend it for a long weekend trip!

Alyeena · March 2016

I was born and raised in Montréal

I have visited Québec city quite a few times but of course I am biased towards Montréal lol.

Where to stay depends on your budget of course but a very nice hotel I can recommend is The Westin, it is right next to Old Montréal, china town, downtown and a metro station to get you everywhere else.

Old Montréal is definitely the most touristy area of the city, because it looks just like Paris with amazing cafés and restaurants, it is next to the water and it is really nice to take a walk there. You also have a museum there and the science center.

Restaurants I love in Old Montreal:

Le Stash Cafe (Polish) https://restaurantstashcafe.ca/

Les Jardins Nelson (French) https://www.jardinnelson.com/en/home/

And you must try eating a Queue de Castor if you like sugary things, it is a delicious dessert, and you can eat it easily while walking around. https://www.yelp.ca/biz/queue-de-castor-montréal-2

Don't forget to taste Poutine too!!! La Banquise is a very good place to try https://labanquise.com/en/ but there are many more.

Chinatown is only a few little streets you can walk in the middle of, it is nice to see and you can get good pastries and some bubble tea there.

Montréal also has a lot of museums, you can visit the regular exhibitions for free. https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en/
https://museesmontreal.org/en/museums/2

You may want to visit Saint Helen's Island, someone already mentioned the fireworks that happen in the amusement park there almost every week. But there are many more things to see and do there.

One of the best things about Montréal is also the churches, if you like to visit those (they are one of my favorite things to see when I travel) like

Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal or

Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal.

That is all I can think of now, but if you want to know more you can always PM me.

doraleigh35 · March 2016

I've been to Montreal quite a bit in the summer while DH was there for work. July is a great time of year to visit. We typically stay at The Intercontinental or The Marriott.

@Alyeena gave a ton of awesome suggestions. Old Montreal is my favorite. There are lots of shops, cafes and restaurants. I also love Notre-Dame Basilica where Celine Dion got married.

We always go to Dunn's for smoked meat. It's open 24 hours. Definitely make sure you go somewhere for poutine!

I've also been to Quebec City, but I like Montreal better!

banfrog · March 2016

I've been to Montreal a number of times. My best friend is from there. The old port always seemed to have touristy stuff going on in the summer. The summers are beautiful there but can be fairly humid. My best friend was 36 weeks pregnant one summer I was there and we had to really plan out our time outdoors. But there is tonnes to see indoors and out.
I encourage you to brush up on a little bit of french if you don't have any or are out of practice. You can get by largely with english in downtown Montreal but there are still the odd little things like signs are in french, and metro announcements are only in french. You can totally get by (and I find it's way easier in the summer when there are more tourists) but the winter my DH and I went, he was so overwhelmed. We had the occasional person insist on only conversing in french and that made my DH get this total deer in the headlights look. lol

Alyeena · March 2016

@banfrog You can get by perfectly fine speaking English everywhere in Montreal since the city is both English and French.

But some of the French people dislike American tourists and will be sometimes rude if they ask something to them in English -_- That is one of the not so nice things about Montreal because of all of the history of confrontation between English and French people. That is probably the kind of people you met.

AlexLindzz · March 2016

Thanks ladies! I studied French in high school and college so I think it would be so much fun to be in a city that has French speakers and culture!

banfrog · March 2016

@Alyeena my husband was hit with quite the culture shock. It was overwhelming for him for things to be kind of familiar but in another language. I think he was just afraid of talking with people in general because he doesn't have any french at all. People were nice and pleasant with us. It was interesting to see the city through his eyes because it never was jarring to me. I've got family, who do not speak any english what so ever, in the Montreal area that I see occasionally when I make a trip there to see my best friend so I never really noticed until my English speaking only husband pointed it out. He enjoyed his time there and would love to go back but I know his first trip was a huge culture shock.

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