Anyone here been to montreal? got any advice, places to go, etc etc?? i'm going this weekend for a bachelor party and only have two nights, one of which will be spent watching the montreal canadiens take on the colorado avalance, the other (or both) most likely in a strip club of some sort, as well as some gambling in between.
gen [email] said at 8:33 PM 10-19-2006: Wow. That sounds really touristy. Any plans to actually experience Montreal while you're in town? I live in Montreal, so I'll make some suggestions. But right now, I have to go to a former medical school chassmate's vernissage at Blizzarts.
woody [email] said at 10:44 AM 10-20-2006: You're suggesting attending a Habs game is not "experiencing Montreal"? Wow. Now that's insane. I think that's a little more authentic Montreal than "brit-punk-glam-new-wave-rock" and electronic music.
gen [email] said at 4:59 PM 10-20-2006: Spending your 2 nights in stripclubs is not really experiencing Montreal. It's the ultimate tourist attraction.
And - FYI - Montreal is the house music capital of Canada, so a great number of bars and clubs here play electronic music. I don't like house so I didn't recommend any such venues, but it is 'authentic Montreal'. And the Saphir has quite a long history in this city - when it opened it was one of the most hardcore hip-hop joints in the city.
gen [email] said at 5:18 PM 10-20-2006: In fact, if you want 'authentic Montreal' electronic music - go to the SAT (Societe des Arts Technologiques) MixSessions. And don't listen to Woody - he seems pretty clueless about contemporary Montreal.
gen [email] said at 5:09 PM 10-20-2006: And gambling is not authentic Montreal either - another tourist trap. It may be typical to gamble in Vegas, but it's not in Montreal. In fact, projects for casinos in other parts of the city (Chinatown, Pointe St-Charles) have all been halted by protest from local residents - the societal cost (e.g., in terms of gambling addiction and crime) is too high - no one want a casino in their neighbourhood.
kara [email] said at 5:52 PM 10-20-2006: I don't think Christian was asking for people to critique what he already had planned, he was asking for additional ideas.
dave [email] said at 9:28 PM 10-20-2006: yah talk about tapping on someone's interest. He's going for a bachelor party, gambling and boobies are standard for such things c'est no?
gen [email] said at 12:59 AM 10-20-2006: Gen's Quick Guide to Downtown Montreal
FOOD: the best food in Montreal is French food Garcon 1112 Sherbrooke West; French; reservations: 514-843-4000 L’Express 3927 Saint-Denis; French; reservations required: 514-845-5333 Le P’tit Plateau 330 Marie-Anne East; French; bring your own wine; reservations required: 514-282-6342 Chez l’epicier 311 Saint-Paul East in Old Montreal; French and Quebecois; reservations: 514-878-2232 Schwartz’s World Famous Smoked Meat 3895 St Laurent; a must for carnivores L’Avenue 922 Mont-Royal East, breakfast/brunch Café Cherrier 3635 St-Denis, corner Cherrier; breakfast/brunch served until 3pm; cute side patio in summer
DRINKING: St-Laurent is the place to be GoGo Lounge 3682 St Laurent; my favourite lounge in Montreal; opens 7pm, lineup by 9pm on Fri-Sat, rock’n’roll oldies and newbies Laika 4040 St-Laurent; mostly electronic music El Salon 4388 St-Laurent; live music Casa Del Popolo / La Sala Rossa 4873 St-Laurent; live music Bar Bily Kun 354 Mont-Royal West; opens 3pm; electronic music
DANCING: PANIC! at Saphir 3699 St-Laurent; don’t go before midnight; Friday night is Panic! and DJ Plastik Patrik plays brit-punk-glam-new-wave-rock
SIGHTSEEING: must-sees Old Montreal and Old Port of Montreal Walk down St-Laurent through Chinatown through Old Montreal to the Old Port of Montreal; nice walk/bike path running West along the St-Lawrence river McGill University Campus main gates at the corner of McGill College Ave and Sherbrooke Mount Royal one path enters at the top of Peel Street, on McGill campus
MUSEUMS: McCord Museum of Canadian History 690 Sherbrooke West, across the street from McGill University; open Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5pm Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal 185 Ste-Catherine at Place des Arts; open 11am-6pm Musee des Beaux Arts de Montreal 1380 Sherbrooke West; open 11am-5pm
There's tons more to see, but that should keep you busy for 2 days. If you want to know about Montreal shopping, I'll be glad to make suggestions.
For more information:
www.tourisme-montreal.org
www.voir.ca
www.hour.ca
woody [email] said at 10:32 AM 10-20-2006: You can legally pay another person to have sex, if that floats yer boat. Just don't negotiate it in public, and don't pimp.
gen [email] said at 10:44 AM 10-20-2006: I doubt that either of those things are really legal, but they are tolerated. You hear of police raids on these 'salons de massage' sometimes.
woody [email] said at 10:57 AM 10-20-2006: They raid them to look for pimping. Basically, they have to prove the owner/manager knew it was going on in their facility. Or they sometimes try to prove that as a place of business, it is "in view of the public".
Again, prostitution is completely legal in Canada, all provinces.
christian [email] said at 1:56 PM 10-23-2006: unfortunately i made this post about 5 minutes before leaving for the weekend but was hoping to be able to check back on it before we got there. alas
also everyone already covered the obvious but yeah i was going for a bachelor party, not a cultural experience. DRIVING all the way there for only 2 nights was killing me, ive been wanting to go to montreal for a long time and it was really hard to not plan my own trip and stay longer, but i'm just going to have to go again very very soon and have a 'proper' 'non-touristy' trip. your guide looks helpful, i will definitely come back to this in about 6 months
the canadiens game was UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE. i dont even know how to describe it. better than any playoff game ive ever been to. better than anything. completely mind-blowing. i havent felt such a natural high like that in a long long long time.
christian [email] said at 4:29 PM 10-23-2006: i kind of hate strip clubs and there were a lot of fatties so that didnt help. i was not impressed. the overall quantity of titties in one weekend is notable, however.
archibalds in dc > montreal, though im sure there were better places that we just didnt find/know about
