Escape from New York: Montreal

Sure we love New York, but even the die-hards need to escape sometimes. Check out contributor Kelly Moore’s suggestions for the perfect summer weekend in Montreal…

I was looking for a place to get away to for a long weekend before the end of the summer. I like to save my beach vacations for wintertime, when I need to escape the cold, so I considered Montreal. It’s close to New York (just a 53-minute flight), yet it really feels like you have left the US. My husband and I decided to spend a few days there, and I must say it was the perfect place to go for a short break from NYC.

We flew on a Friday on American Airlines out of LaGuardia. If f you take the 8 AM flight, you get there just after 9. The customs process was the fastest I’ve ever experienced—we zipped right through and there was practically no line. There are a few options for getting into the city from the airport. A bus stops near most downtown hotels, and it costs just $8 (CAD), or you can take a taxi for a flat fee of $40 (I should mention that the Canadian dollar is nearly at an even exchange with the US dollar, and I found that, for the most part, prices were comparable to those in the States). The trip in a cab to our downtown hotel, the Sofitel, took about 20 minutes. We had booked the Sofitel through Travelocity and got a great rate. It was centrally located, the staff was friendly and helpful, and the accommodations were all in order. We were checked in by 10 AM and had the whole day ahead of us.

We spent Friday strolling. Montreal is quite manageable on foot, but there is also a metro which is very user-friendly. I prefer to stay above ground in a new city, though, so I can see everything for myself. Montreal a lively place with a lot going on, but you never feel crowded the way you sometimes do in New York. There are several pedestrian zones with activities, live music, children’s events, and more. We ended up stopping at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Arts ($12 per person), which took about 45 minutes to explore and was worth the stop for sure.

Old Montreal

Next, we headed down to Old Montreal (Vieux-Montreal). This is the part of town that has the most European/French feel: cobblestone streets, old buildings, and the Canadian version of Notre Dame (which was beautiful, but nothing like the one in Paris). This is a very touristy area, with tons of people wandering through the winding, narrow streets, but still a lot of fun. There are many choices of restaurants with outdoor seating, and we grabbed a good people-watching spot for a nice French lunch—duck and fois gras. (A note about the language: They say about 65% of the Quebec population speaks French as their first language. However, everyone we came across spoke unaccented English just perfectly. No need to be hesitant on account of a language barrier).

For dinner that night we chose L’express, which is apparently a Montreal institution. The concierge at the hotel confirmed that we made a good choice. The food was very tasty (more duck, more fois gras), and it’s in a great neighborhood to stroll around in afterward. The restaurant is not terribly central, so you need to take a cab or the metro if you start in midtown.

Quebec City

We had pre-booked a day trip to Quebec City for Saturday through Viator, which I would highly recommend. We boarded a bus around 8 AM (which picked us up right at our hotel) and then settled in for a scenic 3-hour ride. When we arrived, we were free to have lunch on our own, and then we joined back up with the group for a walking tour of the old city. It is quite cute, and, like Old Montreal, has a very European look and feel. (I had heard that in Quebec City, 95% of the population speaks French as a first language, but I still found that everyone spoke English.) After the walking tour, we all got back on the bus and visited some areas not so easily accessible by foot, and then were given about three hours of free time to wander. Some people opted to take a boat tour, but we explored the streets. It’s all very touristy, but still pleasant and interesting. We had a great meal at Le Lapin Saute, where we took a break from duck and tried the lapin, or rabbit. We also had delicious soup which I had never heard of, but will attempt to duplicate in the future—turnip and honey cream.

On Sunday, we started with a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, which was just down the street from our hotel and free of charge (except for their temporary special exhibit, a Tom Wesselmann retrospective that we passed up because of the time). The museum was nothing like what we are used to here in New York, but certainly worth a visit.

After that, we headed over to McGill University and then decided to climb Mont Royal. It was a long way up, with many stairs, but it provided a nice view of the entire city. The Parc du Mont-Royal was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead who also designed both Central and Prospect Park. There were lots of locals rollerblading, biking, and enjoying the outdoors, and it was clear that if you lived in Montreal, you’d hang out here a lot. After we walked around for a bit, we jumped on a bus and went back down into the city to grab a bite along Rue St. Denis.

Biking through Montreal

After lunch, my husband convinced me that we should rent bikes. I was a little hesitant because I am accident-prone and haven’t been on a bike (except in spin class) for about ten years. In Montreal, though, you can rent a bike on nearly every street corner. When you’re done with it, you just find the nearest rack and drop it back off. For $7, we got a 24-hour “subscription,” which means you get 30-minutes with a bike at a time, and can take as many 30-minute rides as you want in that subscription period (if you to over 30-minutes at a time there is an additional fee). We found so many beautiful parks and lakes, and we went into all the gorgeous residential neighborhoods—we really got around! I don’t know if you’d get me on a bike in New York, but in Montreal it was easy and safe. We even grabbed bikes after dinner to get back to the hotel after a couple glasses of wine and it was no problem! Speaking of dinner, we ate at another popular place called Brasserie T on the lively Rue St. Catherine, where we enjoyed steak frites and fois gras, escargot and ‘saucisse de Montreal’. Good stuff!

Maple Syrup Pie

On Monday, we jumped back on some bikes and rode into Old Montreal for a pre-booked 90-minute guided walking tour. We had already spent time there on Friday, but it was good to go around with a guide who could tell us more about what we were seeing and who brought us to areas we didn’t manage to get to on our own. It was worthwhile and very informative, and the guide was great. I learned that many movies with Parisian scenes are actually filmed in Old Montreal. I also learned that in Quebec, a woman is not allowed to take her husband’s name, a law passed in 1981 to promote gender equality! After the tour, we ate again, this time at a restaurant a tiny bit off the beaten path called Cabaret du Roy. We had maple, apple and pancetta crepes, delicious salmon with strawberry coulis (another recipe I will attempt on my own), and more duck! This is also where we found our favorite food item: maple syrup pie. It was incredible. Very sweet, but delicious, and a must-try item if you are in Montreal (it is served all over the city, and I wished we had tried it before our last meal!).

We took one final bike ride back to the hotel, then hit the airport. We were back in Queens in no time. It was a great place to go for a short break from the city, especially during the summer.