Going to Montreal next week...what should I see?

[Piltdown13]

It's archaeology conference time once again, and this year we're meeting in Montreal. In an effot to save money, I made my plane/hotel reservations before the conference program came out...and having looked at the program, it looks like I will have at least a day and a half, possibly two days, free for sightseeing (all the stuff I'm interested in, plus my own presentation, is packed into the first day or so).

So...Canadian DUers (and previous tourists :-)) -- what would you rate as a don't-miss Montreal attraction? I've never been there before; to give a geographical starting-point, the conference venues (Palais de Congres) and my hotel appear to be near Old Montreal.

Thanks guys!! :hi:

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. Quebec City.

Beautiful place.

[HEyHEY]

2. HAHA AMEN!

Quebec rocks on Montreal. But Montreal is nice anyway. Check out St Catherine's, the Contemporary art museum, and of course the french quarter.

[Piltdown13]

3. Those sound interesting...

are they pretty centrally located? (I don't know much about Montreal, as you can see.)

[carpetbagger]

4. Things to see in a day in Montreal

The Notre Dame Basilica. (This is the one place I wouldn't miss). While you're downtown, there's a number of other old churches well worth seeing, even if you're not particularly Christian. St Joseph's Oratory is a bit out of downtown, but it's a large church done in modern 1920's style (maybe approaching art deco), and it's next to a large park and many coffee shops.

If it's spring or summer, I've not seen a better botanical garden in North America than the one near the old olympic village.

There's a good art museum downtown, and if I remember McGill has some interesting museum collections. Somewhere on the west side there's a neat little historical site with a bunch of stuff relating to the fur trade, but I can't remember what it's called.

The other folks are right when they say you need to get to Quebec City some time in your life. It's in my opinion the most beautiful city in North America, and the only major walled city there as well. With the surrounding countryside, it's a poor man's European vacation.

EDIT: maps here... http://musicm.mcgill.ca/netads/http/maps.html

[Piltdown13]

8. Oh, cool...REAL maps!

I've been piecing things together from subway and bus route maps, as well as some rather bizarre "cartoon" maps from the conference hotel website (according to which my hotel is under a giant saxophone!).

I love to look at old churches too...Notre Dame basilica will defintely go on the list. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough to hit the botanical gardens also. And the first couple of days of meetings are at McGill, so it will be easy to check out whatever museums they have. :-)

[phaseolus]

5. La Cantina restaurant, 9090 St. Laurent

I hear the botanical gardens are cool, too -- I plan to visit them next time they send me to Montreal, if it's summer

[Piltdown13]

10. Is that a Mexican place?

I hope so...there isn't any good Mexican food where I live.

[Piltdown13]

6. Thanks y'all!

Having looked at some maps and such, it looks like I'd be pretty close to most of those attractions. I didn't realize how well-located we were from a tourist standpoint (definitely wasn't the case at some of the meetings I've attended in the past!).

:hi:

[NightTrain]

7. Check out Old Montreal.

It's on the waterfront and is well worth seeing! :thumbsup:

[Piltdown13]

9. It looks like I'm staying pretty close to that area

So I'm sure I'll get a chance to wander on over. Thanks for the suggestion!