Montreal vs. Chicago for a long weekend

I loved Montreal when I visited last Fourth of July weekend. Think of it as New Orleans' Canadian cousin -- a city with a rich French heritage and great dining and nightlife.

There are several things to see in Montreal, such as Mount Royal (mountain in middle of city), Notre Dame Basilica, Olympic Stadium, the Biodome, the Botanic Gardens, and the Museum of Fine Arts. My favorite thing to do was to stroll the various neighborhoods. Old Montreal and Plateau Mont-Royal are particularly nice.

A car is not necessary. A very cheap shuttle runs from the airport to the downtown area. Most of the places that you'll want to see are within walking distance of one another, and for the ones that are not, you can use the good subway system.

As I recall, Montreal is not cheap, but not expensive either compared to similar North American cities.

I recommend Montreal, the second largest French speaking city on the planet.

Rue Prince Arthur and St. Denis, Parc Olympique and the Biodome and Botanical Gardens, Old Montreal and the waterfront at the Old Port, Crescent St. and its many jazz salons... yes, Montreal has much to offer.

The public transit is very easy to negotiate.

 

A votre sante !

 

Stuff to do in Montreal: food, strip clubs and hot women in general.

MOntreal.

Chicago is a much better city in my experience, but since you've been there you should go to Montreal.

Au Pied de Cochon, Europea

Plenty of quality restaurants in Montreal; check out Chowhound to learn the most up to date opinions. http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/22

Montreal also has a public bike rental system just like Paris and London, but I'm not sure when the season kicks in. Be aware that snow may still be falling at Easter time.

Enjoy, there is no other city in North America with Montreal's vibe.

Seeing I am from Montreal, I can help you out. In all honesty having a car in the city is not worth it, it isn't practical plus it is hard to find parking. Another reason having a car in this city at this present time, constant construction. Your best bet is walking or taking the metro. Only downside of the metro it closes at 1am, so you might be stuck cabbing (which I do not recommend)

 

As for the restaurants we got a nice selection of amazing eateries (i.e: Au Pied de Cochon, Toqué, Joe Beef, Milos and so on). Each one is in a different location but close to a metro. As for costs Toqué and Milos are probably two of the most expensive restaurants in the city, which can cost about up to $200 a person.

 

If you are up for drinks, check out Whisky Cafe on Bernard and St Laurent. Friday nights are packed, but if you go on Saturday it might not seem busy, but everyone will be in the cigar lounge. There is also Bily Kun, which is pretty cool, you might be looking at the ostrich heads on the wall all night.

 

A lot of people like Old Montreal, because you get the old world feel of the city. Which has some really good places to eat and a few decent nightclubs (i.e Cherry, Velvet and U.N).

 

Also don't forget to check out Schwartz's for some Montreal smoke meat and Fairmount for Montreal bagels. Plus if you are up for it, there is Mount Royal. You can get two different views of the city, one over looking the city and one you can see the Big O (Olympic Stadium). Plus there is also Beaver Lake (no beavers live there that I know of).

 

As for Easter, not sure if anything special is happening in the city, so it shouldn't be that expensive to get a place to stay.

 

One thing before I forget, one place you have to really check out is Olive & Gourmando. It is on the corner of Saint Pierre and Saint Paul in Old Montreal. It is open from 8am to 6pm, Tuesday to Saturday. You got to try out the Cuban. It is honestly the best Cuban I've ever had. In all honesty, it puts to shame the Cubans in Miami.

Edited by ettebe - 3/4/12 at 1:24pm