Begin at the Montreal Botanical Garden (Le Jardin Botanique de Montréal). Take your pick of planted areas--the Peace Garden with its tiled pillars and walls; the Garden of Innovations showing new landscaping trends; the peaceful Japanese Garden; the elegant Chinese garden; and many others. Don't miss the conservatories, too--they range from a hacienda to a tropical rain forest theme. Enjoy guided tours, horticultural workshops, demonstrations, music and more. The garden is located at 4101 Sherbrooke Street East near downtown Montreal.
Visit Mount Royal Park (Parc du Mont-Royal), designed in the 1870s by famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Start at the Smith House, where you can get information about the park and its many activities. Then enjoy what suits you most--ice skating, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing in winter, and bird-watching, hiking or boating in summer. (You can rent equipment from the Friends of the Mountain--Les Amis de la Montagne.) The park is located in the southern part of the Island of Montreal just north of downtown Montreal.
Enjoy a beautiful hardwood forest at Bois-de-Liesse Nature Park (Parc-nature du Bois-de-Liesse). This conservation park in the city features a winding brook and a pond. You can join in activities hosted by naturalists, or wander on your own and view wildlife such as American beavers, red foxes and map turtles. Summer activities include hiking and canoeing; winter activities range from cross-country skiing to tobogganing. The park is located at 9432 Gouin Blvd. West in the northwestern part of the Island of Montreal.
