Montreal

Last Updated on 2023-07-16

Montreal! The best city to visit!

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From its museums, to its parks, to its bustling tourist areas like Ste Catherine, St Laurent, and St Denis, there is never a dull moment in Montreal. Even after visiting so many times, I always end up discovering something new on each visit. It does help me a lot that English is spoken everywhere here, since it takes all the fun out of traveling if one can’t communicate with the locals.
(Of course, like France, Quebec is not very fond of English. Once in a while, out in the suburbs, you’ll bump into someone who will rail at you for not speaking French. But most people I met were comfortable speaking English. One of the big points in favor of Montreal, it is like a visiting a exotic foreign country where one can still communicate with the locals!)

In addition to being a major cosmopolitan city with many different communities living together, and having a collection of awesome ethnic restaurants, the people of Montreal are very friendly, and Montreal is also a very safe city — there are no regions I am afraid of being in at any time of the day or night — as long as there are other people around, I feel totally safe. Drunks are the only problems you may encounter.

Food in Montreal is what I keep coming back for here. I’ve eaten in numerous places; even when I’m on my own exploring restaurants, when such a policy is bound to end in bad results in other cities, it is hard to escape bad food! Amazingly, even with just randomly choosing a restaurant, I have usually encountered excellent cuisine in Montreal.

The top food on my list, for nearly two decades now are: Schwartz’s Smoked Meat Sandwich, the Ciche Kebab Terbialy at Le Petit Alep, and poutine most anywhere.

Cravings for these is usually the trigger for me to pack up and drive the six hours to Montreal or take the Greyhound bus (now with sometimes-may-work Wi-Fi). Of course, it only helps when there also happens to be an Asterix Exhibition on at the Museum, or when it is summer and the outdoor music festivals have begun, or when it is winter and the city is even more inviting because there are no crowds of tourists anywhere, or … etc., etc. Montreal has a unending supply of delights for any tourist at any time of the year. It is my number one destination for any vacation or any 4-day weekend visit.

I first visited this city in 1988, and through the 2000s and 2010s I have been making two to three trips each year. And each time, still exciting enough and discovering new things to make me want to come back again.

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