Montreal in May

[LenexatoKCMO]

GF and I will be heading up north to take a beating on our dollar conversion in mid-May.  Long weekend in Montreal.  Anyone have any tips, must do restaurants, sites etc?  Any beers besides Unibroue to keep an eye out for?  Thanks in advance.

[kclofter]

I'm interested in these recommendations too - wife & are are attending Canadian F1 GP in June.

[chrizow]

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/tr ... nts&st=nyt

[LenexatoKCMO]

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/tr ... nts&st=nyt

Thanks Chriz - now I am starving.    We were already thinking about a reservation at Toque but these all sound pretty tempting. 

[DaveKCMO]

from my cross-country trip last year:

Day 17, Part 2: Top 5 Things I Love About Montréal

[bbqboy]

http://www.roguefood.com/forums/index.p ... ic=2436&hl

[DaveKCMO]

GF and I will be heading up north to take a beating on our dollar conversion in mid-May.  Long weekend in Montreal.  Anyone have any tips, must do restaurants, sites etc?  Any beers besides Unibroue to keep an eye out for?  Thanks in advance.

do you like traditional french food? if so, you're in for a treat. if not, you'll need to do some research on where to eat. what part of town are you staying in? will you have a car? are you flying directly to montreal?

[LenexatoKCMO]

do you like traditional french food? if so, you're in for a treat. if not, you'll need to do some research on where to eat. what part of town are you staying in? will you have a car? are you flying directly to montreal?

I definitely am a fan of traditional french and bistro fare.  Unfortunately my french was never very good to begin with and now is extra rusty.  We are staying DT in a hotel linked into the metro/underground city, so I wasn't planning on messing around with a car - figured we would cab it to the hotel and then rely on the metro.  We have to connect through Chicago - the airfare wasn't cheap but we were able to package the hotel in for nearly free. 

[phna]

*****
1615 rue Saint-Denis
Montréal, QC H2X 3K3, Canada
(514) 287-3555

^^ according to google maps

General Information
Juliette & Chocolat, a prestigious chocolate restaurant and shop that specializes in a liquid high-end and hard to find chocolate vintages.

[scooterj]

If you like architecture, tour the bascilica.  Definitely worthwhile.  I've done the tour twice.

I went to Montreal a lot back in my college years.  I really don't remember where all I ate except that I remember a burger place, and some really good pizza in the northwest part of the city (across the river from downtown proper) that we ordered to-go... but they forgot to cut.  Luckily we found a pocketknife in the trunk. 

[jimb]

I'm interested in these recommendations too - wife & are are attending Canadian F1 GP in June.

Lucky dog!  I'll be there (and Toronto) in late May, but with a bus-load of high schoolers!

[scooterj]

I think i told this story long ago in another thread, but one funny thing about Montreal is that I always seem to get lost there.    One time I had to flag down a police officer for help and he ended up giving me an escort out of the city.    On another visit  I got lost and wound up at a hockey game.  My biggest regret of that trip was that it didn't occur to me to just stay and watch the game.

[49r]

Le Club Super Sexe - OUI! 

[DaveKCMO]

I think i told this story long ago in another thread, but one funny thing about Montreal is that I always seem to get lost there.    One time I had to flag down a police officer for help and he ended up giving me an escort out of the city.    On another visit  I got lost and wound up at a hockey game.  My biggest regret of that trip was that it didn't occur to me to just stay and watch the game.

definitely invest in the streetwise map of montreal!

[Missionite]

Even with conversion rates, Canada seems to be a popular place for Americans this year. I will also be in Toronto in mid-May and have plans to go to Montreal next summer.

Since suggestions are being thrown around, does anyone have any must sees dos in Toronto or Niagara Falls that they would like to share?

Matt

[DaveKCMO]

Since suggestions are being thrown around, does anyone have any must sees dos in Toronto or Niagara Falls that they would like to share?

second city!

[GRID]

Even with conversion rates, Canada seems to be a popular place for Americans this year. I will also be in Toronto in mid-May and have plans to go to Montreal next summer.

Since suggestions are being thrown around, does anyone have any must sees dos in Toronto or Niagara Falls that they would like to share?

Matt

Niagara Falls is a bit lame but cool to see.  Go see the falls and then get your ass up to Toronto .

Seriously, it's a tourist trap.  Maid of Mist is kindo of cool, but really, it's nothing special and the USA side is ghetto.

Toronto is awesome.  Spend some time there, use the transit system and stay downtown.  Rent a bike, or walk over and take the ferry to the Toronto Islands.  But in general just explore the city.  The suburbs there are horrendous make Orange County (suburban LA) traffic look like nothing.  But the city (urban core) makes most US cities look ridiculous and sad just like most Canadian cities do.

As far as Montreal goes, it's been forever since I have been, but it's nothing like Vancouver or Toronto.  It's truly "foreign" and French where Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg are very USA domesticated.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Niagara Falls is a bit lame but cool to see.  Go see the falls and then get your ass up to Toronto .

Seriously, it's a tourist trap.  Maid of Mist is kindo of cool, but really, it's nothing special and the USA side is ghetto.

Niagra is a lot like Branson - you just have to embrace the trashy tourist cheese and have fun with it.  It has been awhile but I remember the night time light show on the falls being a big draw. 

[Missionite]

Niagra is a lot like Branson - you just have to embrace the trashy tourist cheese and have fun with it. 

That is what I've heard. We do have plans for Maid of the Mist, but other than that we don't know what else we'll do in Niagara. If we get bored, we can always drive back to Toronto.

Right now our plans call for one day in Niagara, two in Toronto (three if you count the day at Canada's Wonderland) and one at Darien Lake (outside of Buffalo). We're staying at the Courtyard in downtown Toronto which is on Yonge I believe. We plan on using public transportation during our Toronto days and then renting a car at Union Station for the rest of our trip. We've decided that the CN tower is too touristy and not worth the money. We've thought about a visit to the Islands too. Otherwise, we're going to play it by ear.

Any dining suggestions?

Matt

[DaveKCMO]

i skipped the CN tower too. toronto isn't all that interesting geographically (or architecturally) anyway.