Located on an island in the St. Lawrence River, and first settled as a frontier outpost by fur-trapping French voyageurs, Montreal (pop. 1,016,376) has grown into Canada’s second-largest city, and today is easily the most European city in North America, with the largest French-speaking population outside La France. Hotbed of the separatist movement, Montreal tolerates the polyglot federalism of Canada, but the accent here is most definitely on the “French” in French-Canadian; in a wide variety of gourmet restaurants, stylish boutiques, nightclubs, museums, and theaters—you can half-close your eyes and pretend you’re in Paris.
The city takes its name from a 700-foot-high hill, now the very pleasant tree-covered Mount Royal Park just north of downtown. Planned by Frederick Law Olmsted and opened in 1876, the park’s stairs and paths lead up to a belvedere, from which you have a sweeping view of the city, the St. Lawrence River, the southern suburbs and, on the eastern slope, a huge steel cross that’s lit up at night.
At the foot of Mount Royal Park runs Sherbrooke Street, Montreal’s most prestigious and majestic street, lined with grand 1920s buildings as impressive as any on Park Avenue. Among the many posh boutiques (Chanel, Armani, et al.) and luxury hotels (like the Ritz-Carlton, where Richard Burton married Elizabeth Taylor), you’ll find the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (closed Mon.; free, special exhibits $C15; 514/285-1600), at 1380 Sherbrooke Street. The oldest museum in Canada, the Museum of Fine Arts has a large permanent collection of European, Canadian, and American art, as well as an extensive display of Eskimo artifacts. A half mile east, the McCord Museum of Canadian History (closed Mon.; $C7; 514/398-7100) at 690 Sherbrooke Street has a wonderful collection of art and artifacts related to Montreal, Quebec, and Canada—everything from Victorian evening gowns to “First Nation” masks and carvings. South of the Museum of Fine Arts, the elegantly modern Canadian Center for Architecture (closed Mon. & Tues.; $C10; 514/939-7026), at 1920 Rue Baile, mounts fascinating shows devoted to the built environment.
About a mile southeast of Mount Royal, just off the riverfront, the two-block-long, cobblestoned square of Place Jacques Cartier is the heart of Old Montreal, a picturesque neighborhood that was the site of the earliest European settlement. In the summer the square is transformed into an open-air market, and all year-round you can sample the area’s excellent cafés and restaurants.
