Philip Durbin (Jul 27 2025 at 15:11): Philip Durbin (Jul 27 2025 at 15:11):@Dan you said you had some Montreal recommendations, right? I figured I'd kick off a topic. Everyone one else should feel welcome to jump in as well! We just booked a hotel for a few weeks from now.
Philip Durbin (Jul 27 2025 at 15:23):We're staying right downtown, near the Place de Arts (map).
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:29):That's not far from where we're staying. But my ideal would be the plateau.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:29):My recs may mostly be the basic stuff.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:31):See old town and river front. See the pedestrian streets (Duluth, Prince Arthur, maybe more) in the plateau neighborhood. Walk up the mountain to see the city view.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:32):But let your curiosity guide you. There's just lots of little things.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:33):Also note that since the pandemic they've turned normal streets into open streets all summer long. https://www.mtl.org/en/experience/stepping-montreal-pedestrian-only-streets (though the perma-pedestrian streets are special in their own way)
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:33):Also if your family likes city biking you could rent. The city bike here is called Bixi. I think the company that makes them, and all the bikes with the same form factor in like every major city, is from Montréal.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:34):I'd say Montreal has better bike infrastructure than Boston. Lots of dedicated separated lanes.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:35):Bixi may require you to rush and find the next station though. Last time I used it it was like that. Rent all day but only use it for a half hour at a time. Stressful but low key fun.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:39):Leonard Cohen was a music legend, largely from the 1960s but kept up into old age. Died 10ish years ago. He was from here. There's a massive mural tribute on the side of a small skyscraper. From Crescent street at night it's a little scary even as he's looming over you. But you can also see it from the mountain top.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:39):If you like cats there's a great cat cafe on Duluth st. The Happy Cat but in French. The cats come and bother you or hang out on the catwalk while you eat. At least that's how it was in 2019.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:42):English and French seems to be 50/50 but French is the default.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:42):99.9% of people know English though.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:50):If you say more about what you're interested in I might be able to tell you more. There's definitely history and architecture stuff that my friend here put on our itinerary. TripAdvisor could probably tell you about that though.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:53):Oh! I forgot the Tam Tams. The drum circle that's all day every Sunday at the base of the mountain. Some jugglers and slack line types, but it seems they are more early like 2PM? We seemed to mostly missed them yesterday. They're usually off to the side in a clearing in the woods though, not right by the drummers.
Dan (Jul 28 2025 at 18:54):I personally don't seem to enjoy having a busy itinerary when I'm here. Just find a nice place and hang out and poke around. But that's me.
Philip Durbin (Jul 28 2025 at 22:02):Wow, thanks for the brain dump! This is great!
Dan (Jul 30 2025 at 15:51):I'll add a final thing since it's something new to me: not only in town, but on the outskirts of town, there's lots of great bike paths with interesting things to see. If you all are into biking for a few hours.
We went on what seemed like a race track(?) with some serious bikers, on one of the islands. And yesterday we rode along the canal to a park with a bunch of really cool public art.
Philip Durbin (Aug 22 2025 at 14:59):We're packing for this trip to Montreal and I just wanted to say thanks again for all the recommendations! I have 19 places pinned on Google Maps. Way more than we can handle but I bet we'll check out some of those car-free streets and the cat cafe. :smile:
Dan (Oct 05 2025 at 20:02):Did you ever tell us how this went? Did you end up seeing the cats?!?
Philip Durbin (Oct 05 2025 at 21:38):Oh! I forget. The cat cafe was great. We went to this one: https://cafechatlheureux.com
You can just walk in, order something, and hang out with cats. (They do insist that you wash your hands first thing.)
When I got back to Boston I looked up a couple cat cafes but you have make a reservation and it's something like $40 per hour.
Philip Durbin (Oct 05 2025 at 21:39):Our friends told us that Montreal has a different festival with different music every weekend in the summer and we got techno, which I was very happy with. Surprisingly, the music, which was quite loud, went until 11pm in the evening, even on Sunday. Montreal seems like way more of a party town than Boston.
Philip Durbin (Oct 05 2025 at 21:40):We hiked up to the top of Parc du Mont-Royal, which was great. Nice views up there.
Philip Durbin (Oct 05 2025 at 21:41):Otherwise, we had some great food. (An Indian restaurant was a highlight.) And my kids got to practice their French. A great trip. Thanks for asking!
Philip Durbin (Oct 05 2025 at 21:42):Oh, we did notice the drummers you mentioned but they were just wrapping up.
Dan (Oct 06 2025 at 17:36):Yep that's the cafe I was thinking of. I only went in 2019.
Dan (Oct 06 2025 at 17:37):Yeah there's a cat cafe in Newmarket NH and it's similarly uninspiring. The cats charge by the hour.
Dan (Oct 06 2025 at 17:38):I did not notice a music festival when I was there this year. Only the Just For Laughs fest. I have caught the jazz fest though. Right downtown. Very cool. Free iirc? Did you check out the techno? I'd love to see that as well.
Dan (Oct 06 2025 at 17:38):(We should chat more about music in general)
Dan (Oct 06 2025 at 17:58):Er you said you checked out the techno. I guess I mean, was it free just downtown?
Philip Durbin (Oct 06 2025 at 22:00):Yeah, the music was free and everywhere. Several city blocks. And food trucks. Lots of people hanging out. Some roped off areas for alcohol.
Dan (Oct 06 2025 at 22:21):That sounds really cool
Last updated: Nov 11 2025 at 06:28 UTC