To call Montreal merely the Paris of North America is to sell it short. True, the island in the Saint Lawrence River has the architecture, the food and joie de vivre of the French capital, but it is a mix of more than 40 ethnic groups, a complicated history and a vibrant and edgy bohemian scene that confounds that description.
The city freezes during wintertime and temperatures plummet to -30, but there is no bad time to search for cheap flights to Montreal. Montrealers make the most of winter with a carnival; shopping in Ville Souteraine, the underground city, with more than 30km of shopping, and its hearty fare (including poutine, a rib-sticking mix of chips, cheese curd and gravy).
The starting point for the tourist is Vieux Montreal. Here, you’ll find City Hall, Bonsecours Market, and the awe-inspiring Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel. In “new” Montreal, Le Plateau is the city’s creative heart, home to designers, writers and artists.
Montreal is human scale with Mont Royal, 1,000 parks, 350km of bicycle paths and 900 outdoor skating rinks. Prince Arthur Street, Saint-Laurent and Les Eclusiers are the places to party. Bars are open until 3am and some never close.
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With predominantly wet, warm summers and cold, snowy winters, the climate of Montreal is varied and seasonal. In winter snowfall is abundant, and snow is common both in spring and autumn. Temperatures well below freezing are experienced in winter, and the bitter weather is exacerbated by wind chill. Summer brings sunshine and pleasant days, with high humidity on occasion, although highs seldom exceed 25C. Rain can be expected any time of year in Montreal, but summer tends to be the wettest season. A feature of the climate of Montreal is the possibility of late autumn heat waves, enjoyed as "Indian summers", which frequently occur.
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Although Montreal has a long and harsh winter it is still a year-round tourist destination thanks to its numerous festivals and underground city with more than 2,000 shops.
Peak season
Summer, specifically late June to August is the busiest and most expensive time to book Montreal flights and visit. The weather is warm and there are a number of festivals going on at that time including: the ten-day Festival International de Jazz in late June, the International Fireworks Competition in late June and July, the World Film Festival and Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in August.
Off season
Many frequent visitors actually prefer to go during September and October when the crowds have disappeared and the weather’s still pleasant. In terms of value, spring is the best time to visit because Montreal flights, hotels and car rentals drop dramatically, but bear in mind that it is mud season, the time when all the snow melts and getting around town can become a little uncomfortable.
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City Transfer: There is an airport shuttle bus service into the centre of Montreal and to the major downtown hotels. The shuttle bus also transfers passengers between Montreal-Mirabel and Montreal-Trudeau airports, taking about 45 minutes. Taxis are also readily available.
Car Rental: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, National and Thrifty are represented on site.
Facilities: The Departures level offers ATMs and bureaux de change as well as duty-free and other shops. A variety of restaurants, bars and cafes, and shops are available on both levels and wireless Internet access is available from anywhere in the terminal. Business facilities are available in the VIP lounge. Disabled travellers are well catered for; passengers with special needs should contact their airline in advance.
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Montreal's sensible layout combined with an extensive and super-efficient public transport system (Metro, bus and commuter rail services) make getting around the city easy. In fair weather hundreds of kilometres of bike paths that span the island offer a healthier, pleasant option. Public transport is run by STCUM. The pristine metro has dozens of stations along four different lines with numerous stops in the subterranean mall. The metro stops are all integrated with a comprehensive network of city bus routes. The metro and buses run between 5.30am and 1am, with a limited night bus service filling in. The inner city services in turn connect to a commuter rail network that serves the suburbs. Fares are standard on both the bus and metro and transfers are free; a discounted tourist pass is available for bus and metro. Metered taxis can be hailed in the streets downtown or ordered by telephone. There are numerous car rental firms in the city, but roads are often heavily congested and traffic jams are common.
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- Eat some poutine, the national dish, a warming dish of fries topped with fresh cheese curds and gravy. The smoked meat sandwich (served with potato chips, coleslaw and a pickle) is a Montreal tradition too. Go to Schwartz's to buy it, it has been a "Montreal Tradition Since 1928".
- Mark Twain once said that Montreal was the only city he was ever in where you couldn't throw a brick for breaking a church window. There are four Roman Catholic basilicas: Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, Notre-Dame Basilica, St. Patrick's Basilica, and Saint Joseph's Oratory, Canada's largest church. Its dome is the largest after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
- The Underground city is an ingenious way of escaping the cold Montreal winters. There are more than 32km (20 miles) of tunnels with shopping malls, hotels, offices, museums and public transport systems.
- You can walk from the top of Peel Street to Mount Royal for a panoramic view of the city, the river and the Monteregian Hills in the distance. There is a park and two cemeteries at the top of Mount Royal - Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, which is Catholic, founded in 1854, and Mount Royal cemetery, a nondenominational resting place founded in 1853.
- The Old Town (Vieux Montréal) is charming and very, very old by North American standards. The oldest buildings date back to the 1600s. Architectural gems include Montreal City Hall, Bonsecours Market and the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel.
- The Latin Quarter is where the restaurants and bars are. The Museum Quarter is where you will find the Museum of Fine Arts and the McCord Museum of Canadian History.
- Montreal likes to laugh. Montreal Just for Laughs festival takes place in July. It also likes to listen to jazz music. The world-famous festival is on in late-June/July.
- The Montreal Biodome is a fascinating place, a zoo with four ecosystems: Tropical Forest, a replica of the South American rainforest; Laurentian Forest, a replica of North American wilderness; Saint Lawrence Marine Eco-system, modelled on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence; and a polar area divided into Arctic and Antarctic.
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