Montreal in a Few Days

Montreal sits on an island in the Saint Lawrence River, and it wears its age well. Stone buildings from the 1700s stand only a few blocks from design studios and galleries. Daily life happens in French, business slips easily into English, and the food is better than it has any need to be. Arrive hungry, and pack shoes you can walk in, because the best parts of town are explored on foot. Every district has its own pace, from the quiet residential streets of the Plateau to the busy lanes by the river.

Places to Sleep

• Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth: In 1969 Yoko Ono and John Lennon held their week-long bed-in in room 1742, where Give Peace a Chance was recorded, and the room can still be booked. Beyond that it is a big, tidy hotel built straight above Central Station, which makes arriving by train simple and keeps the underground city at your door.
• Hotel Le St-James: Once a bank, on Saint-Jacques Street in the heart of Old Montreal, and deliberately kept ornate. Sixty rooms, none laid out like another, and a team that remembers what you asked for the day before. The location puts the cobbled lanes right outside the door.
• W Montreal: Moody, contemporary rooms inside the former Bank of Canada building on Victoria Square, a brief walk from Old Montreal. The bar on the ground floor turns lively after dark, which will suit some guests and bother others, so ask for a higher room if you want quiet. Staff are happy to point you to other places for a calmer drink.

What to See and Do

• Walking Old Montreal: Narrow cobbled lanes lined with buildings that date from the French colonial era. Begin on Place Jacques-Cartier, step into Notre-Dame Basilica to see its deep blue vaulted ceiling, then wander the side streets with no plan. Cafes, small galleries and riverside views turn up at nearly every corner, and street performers fill the squares in summer.
• Mount Royal Park: The designer of Manhattan's Central Park, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, also planned this green hilltop. Walk up to the Kondiaronk lookout for a sweep over the downtown towers, or follow the level trail to Beaver Lake and linger there. Locals jog, picnic and ski across it according to the season.
• Musée des beaux-arts (MMFA): Five connected pavilions along Sherbrooke Street, joined by underground passages, with European Old Masters, painters from Quebec and modern art. Just the permanent collection fills a couple of hours, and the building itself is worth a look, so allow time for a coffee halfway through.

Where to Eat

• Joe Beef: A compact restaurant on Notre-Dame Street West in Little Burgundy. Dishes are written up on a chalkboard and shift with the morning's deliveries. Expect hearty cooking with French leanings, served in portions that assume you missed lunch.
• Schwartz's Deli: A fixture on Saint-Laurent Boulevard since 1928, famous for piled-high smoked meat sandwiches. Expect a line out the door and shared tables, and order it medium-fat unless you already have strong views.
• Toqué: Chef Normand Laprise founded this restaurant around Quebec farmers and fishers, and its tasting menu follows the seasons. It is the splurge of the trip, and a worthwhile one.

A Few Things Worth Knowing

• Two languages, every day: Nowhere else on this continent has more French speakers in one city, yet Montreal is also among the most bilingual places on earth. Staff in shops and restaurants greet you in French and will move into English the moment it helps. A friendly “bonjour” always goes down well with locals.
• Festival season: Well over a hundred festivals are held here each year. The International Jazz Festival shuts down downtown streets in late June, and Just for Laughs comes next in July. Book rooms early for both, since the city fills up fast.
• The underground city: RESO, also called la ville souterraine, joins metro stops, offices and malls along more than thirty kilometres of passages. In the depths of January it is a real blessing.
• Cirque du Soleil started here: The circus began as a band of street performers from Baie-Saint-Paul and put on its first full production in Quebec in 1984. Its headquarters have stayed in Montreal ever since, so you may spot performers training around town.