Not much remains from Montreal’s 16th century beginnings, but Old Montreal is, by North American standards, very old indeed. Walk the streets of that district for a sense of the city's history. Notable sights include the Notre-Dame Basilica, a huge Gothic Revival edifice with a gilt-star-studded blue ceiling and stained glass to impress. The oldest public clock in North America has topped the Saint-Sulpice Seminary portal since 1701. The busy, touristy Place Jacques-Cartier will take you to the river and the Old Port, once the biggest port on the continent. Take a boat trip on the St. Lawrence or just walk along the quay -- children will enjoy the Montreal Science Centre (montrealsciencecentre.com) there -- to Musee Pointe-a-Calliere, the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History (pacmusee.qc.ca). This striking modern edifice stands on remains of older buildings, as befits a place dedicated to telling Montreal's, and by extension, Canada's, story.
Montreal's central business district presents a picture of modernity studded with remains of the old. The Mary, Queen of the World, Cathedral, modeled after St. Peter's in 1875, stands juxtaposed with the 673-foot glass-and-steel pyramid of 1000 de la Gauchetiere, Montreal's highest building. Hockey fans will enjoy a peek at Bell Centre, where the Montreal Canadiens play. Those interested in the art of building can spend a few hours exploring the exhibitions at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (cca.qc.ca). The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (mbam.qc.ca), the oldest of its type in North America, displays an outstanding collection of Canadian art, European Old Masters and 20th century moderns. Visitors tired of Montreal's winter cold and summer humidity will appreciate the convenience offered by the 20-mile network of subterranean malls that make up the Underground City -- some locals walk to work without ever emerging outside. Pick up a map, or you will get lost among the food courts, entertainment venues and chain stores.
The multicultural heart of Montreal beats most vigorously in the colorful district of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. Watch the buskers on rue Prince-Arthur, and admire the handsome Square Saint-Louis, where 19th century bourgeois origins blend with later adoption by the bohemians. Have a morning coffee in a French patisserie that wouldn't look out of place in Paris, then lunch on a smoked meat sandwich at the Montreal institution, Schwartz's (schwartzsdeli.com). The importance of the Mont Royal hill to Montrealers belies its 764 feet of elevation. The site of an original Iroquois settlement and the place where the island was declared to be French, it stands proudly above the city. No building is allowed to be higher than the “mountain” -- a woodland park with walks, a winter skating rink that turns into a boating lake in the summer and a viewing terrace with a city panorama.
It would be worth making the Metro journey to the 1976 Olympic Park, or Parc Olympique (parcolympique.qc.ca), whether to ponder over the whole complex as a feat of Brutalist architecture or take the ride up the 640-foot inclined tower that cranes its neck above the Olympic Stadium. In the same complex, the velodrome -- shaped like a cycling helmet -- has been converted into the Montreal Biodome (espacepourlavie.ca), showcasing five different ecosystems of the Americas in a combination of a greenhouse and a zoo. Each zone is planted with the appropriate flora and inhabited by the correct fauna. Wander freely from the tropical rain forest where monkeys squeal behind you in the jungle thickets to Antarctic islands where penguins dive from rocks into cold pools. The natural theme continues at the bug-shaped Insectarium, which features arthropods dead and alive, and the excellent botanics. Don't miss the the sublime Chinese and Japanese gardens.
