Travel Guide to Montreal

My most recent (and most remembered) trip out of the country involved a trip to Montreal, Canada. Towards the end of the summer, my two best friends and I decided to make the drive up to Canada for a weekend to spend some quality time together before going off to our different colleges. When we first arrived in Montreal, I expected it to be just another big city like New York or Philadelphia, except with a drinking age of 18 rather than 21. I was quite surprised to discover that this is not at all true.

The first thing that you will notice when you step foot in Montreal is that everything is in French. Although the city is considered fully bilingual, it is essentially French speaking. Street signs, menus, billboards; everything is in French. This widespread use of French language immediately provides Montreal with a very European feel unlike in any other Canadian city. The historic setting also strongly contributes to the European feel of Montreal. Although there are many modern skyscrapers and towers, there is also an abundance of historic buildings and monuments from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There are cobblestone streets, cafes, and arts that are not comparable to anywhere in the United States. So, if you’re visiting Montreal to experience the distinct culture, make sure you take a walk down Rue Saint-Paul as this is Montreal’s oldest and most historic street. Some other impressive landmarks include the incredible Notre-Dame Basilica, the Museum of Fine Arts, and St. Josephs’s Oratory.

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However, if you’ve come to Montreal for different reasons, such as the nightlife and food, you’ve definitely come to the right place. In fact, Montreal was just rated the number 7 best party city by CNN travel, and after visiting I can certainly vouch for this. As you know, the drinking age in Montreal is only 18, so as college freshman nearly all of us are able to simply enter a liquor store and buy whatever we desire or order a drink at a bar or club. While this is unique compared to here in the United States, there are various other aspects of Montreal that you will find much more outrageous. For example, you cannot walk a single block in downtown Montreal without encountering a nightclub, strip club, or an exotic massage parlor. Whereas nightclubs are a pretty ordinary sight for all of us, I can guarantee that you have never seen this many strip clubs or massage parlors in your life. Although I did not have much experience with these either of these, I quickly discovered that they are nothing like what you will find in America, as a majority of strip clubs and massage parlors are full-contact (I won’t go in any more detail about this). However, if this does interest you, you must be prepared to spend A LOT of money, just like with everything else in Montreal.

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Drinks at typical nightclubs in Montreal range anywhere from 5 to 10 dollars per drink, and food isn’t too cheap either. If you plan on eating at a nice restaurant, plan on spending anywhere from 20 to 30 dollars per meal, but usually this is totally worth it. The food in Montreal is comparable to that of the French, with crepes, smoked meat, and delicious pastries being very prominent. However, there are also many very unique foods that you can actually find fairly cheap if you go to the right places. One example of such a food is Poutine, which is simply French fries smothered in cheese curds and gravy. And while Poutine sounds a bit unappetizing, it is surprisingly delicious, so make sure you get the chance to try this along with many other exceptional foods.

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One thought on “Travel Guide to Montreal

  1. Quebec is a very interesting place. I’ve never been, but I have dealt with many French Canadians at my work in the summer. Their summer plans usually include going somewhere on the Jersey Shore over the summer “vacation” period. One of the beliefs they are very vocal about is how they , Quebec, want to secede from Canada and become a state of France. France turns them down each time this idea is proposed.

    As you stated, Montreal is different than the rest of Canada. It is one of the places on my list of places I want to visit if I ever get the chance to leave the country. I never realized the night life in Montreal was that interesting though. I knew it was a fun place to be and that the drinking age was 18, but I did not realize they had that much fun. I also never realized it had so many similarities to Europe. I knew some of it was historic, but I did not know about all of the other similarities.

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