How about Montreal in winter? If you don’t know where to go in winter, have a weekend to spare and a decent budget, I invite you to fly to Canada, and more specifically to Montreal.

 

From January to March, the town launches “les hivernales”, a program of sporting and participatory activities for young and old. As part of Montreal’s 375th anniversary celebrations, theMontréal tourism office and Air Transat invited us to try out their activities over three days.

Montreal is Canada’s second most populous city and surely one of the most cosmopolitan in the world, with its small Chinatown, Latin Quarter, Gay Village and European Quarter on the Plateau side. It’s both an American city, with its few buildings and wide arteries, and a laid-back one, with numerous parks where squirrels frolic, as well as a more chic one, with its Victorian houses on the Westmount side. Montreal is a peaceful French-speaking city where Americans, Canadians and Europeans mix naturally.

Note that as a approved tailor-made travel agency, I can help you create your own your tailor-made trip to Canada and create a personalized itinerary to suit your needs. Please send me an email at : contact@mademoiselle-voyage.fr

For all your EVISA requests for Canada, I suggest you visit this website very detailed and easy-to-use site, specializing in visasto apply for a visa online.

 

DAY 1: FRIDAY, WE START WITH MONTREAL’S INCONTOURNABLES

 

Morning departure to discover Montreal’s underground network on the Place des Armes side on Sainte Catherine.

Montreal, the world’s snowiest city, has adapted to sub-zero temperatures. It offers over 33 km of subterranean network, including huge underground galleries with shops, fast-food outlets, boutiques, banks, hotel entrances, a dozen or so subway stations… everything is organized so that in winter, you have minimal contact with the outside world.

Discover the world trade center Montreal’s modern, design-oriented Intercontinental hotel with its absinthe bar. Continue your visit with a coffee break at “The crew“, a pretty bank converted into a café close to old Montreal. The place has a charm all of its own!

A must-see visit to Notre Dame Basilica, where Céline Dion married and buried her husband René Angeli. (admission $6, place d’armes metro station). Stroll the streets of vieux Montréal, you’ll find beautiful art galleries, home decor boutiques, small cafés and you can buy maple products in Vieux Montréal at 84 rue saint Paul.

 

 

For lunch, enjoy the Restaurant Holder ( rue McGill, Square-Victoria) for good food in a pleasant setting, a brasserie à la Montréalaise: velouté, grilled calamari, meat and pasta are all on the menu. You’re in for a real treat!

In the afternoon, we get in the bath and warm up… Treat yourself to a few hours at the spa Bota Bota, an unusual and relaxing place in Montreal.

Have fun on the toboggans set up in Place Jacques Cartier and warm up around the wood-burning stoves provided by the town.

 

 

In the evening, head for theIgloofest which attracts thousands of electronic music fans every year to dance the night away under the stars in Montreal’s Old Port. We were invited to the 11th edition of Igloofest with Laurent Garnier on opening night, and the experience was pretty wild and unique! Montrealers and tourists alike arrive in their ski suits or fleece pyjamas, hats and boots to dance the night away. This event is an opportunity to go out in the snow and cold, to try out the games set up here and there, to eat grilled chamalows with friends… The organizers wanted to give the locals a taste for going out and having fun. Igloofest has already attracted over 9,000 visitors in one evening. The line-up changes nightly and features the best local and international DJs. Igloofest is one of the city’s hippest events, taking place 12 nights over 4 weekends.

√ Metro champs de mars in Montreal’s old port, quai jacques cartier.

 

 

DAY 2: SATURDAY, DISCOVER MONTREAL’S SNOWFEST AT JEAN DRAPEAU PARK

In the morning, come first to the patinoire Natrel in Montreal’s Old Port. Refrigerated ice enables the skating rink to remain open more than a hundred days a year.

√ Skate rental: 10$/p (lockers on site for your personal belongings)

√ 1 day approx. $7/p and free for children under 6.

√ Metro champs of March

 

In the afternoon, off to the Jean Drapeau park. In my opinion, it’s THE must-see family event of the winter season. Here, your “little ones” will have the time of their lives, as the program focuses on the great outdoors, with a host of activities: sculpture workshop, zip line, Ferris wheel, sledges, dog sledding initiation, everything is designed to entertain your children and you at the same time.

 

√ Parc Jean Drapeau metro station

√ Entrance to snow festivals: Family package for 4 people $50. L’Accropasse gives you exclusive, unlimited access to our tubing, zip-lining and Ferris wheel activities during the 8-day Fête des neiges de Montréal.

A little hungry? It’s an opportunity to taste quebec specialties. We start with Quebec’s best poutine from multi-award winner Stéphane, a proud Quebecer. His black truck is a must-see in the park. Locals line up to try the $9 fried bacon poutine or the delicious maple-brushed oven-grilled chicken wings. A pure delight that I recommend to you. Let’s move on to the sweet side with a fatty dessert, Castor tail. A long, deep-fried doughnut covered in chocolate or maple butter. It’s good, but one tail is enough! For those who don’t want to try it, try maple cotton candy or maple taffy, sweets that are easy to eat!

 

At the end of the day, at nightfall, with the mobile application Memory City available in 4 languages, visit Old Montreal in a different way. Freely inspired by the history of Montreal, Cité Mémoire invites you to meet a multitude of characters who have witnessed the city’s evolution through time. More than twenty tableaux unfold in images, words and music, animated by a sometimes playful, sometimes poetic breath. La cité mémoire de Montréal lets you discover an original and unique concept that doesn’t exist anywhere else. You’ll be able to play the game 10 months out of 12 for 4 years.

 

 

In the evening, head for Mimi la Nuit, a small neighborhood restaurant-bar in Old Montreal whose kitchen is run by Éloi Dion, renowned for his blackened chicken, shrimps and fries, and where cocktail parties can be organized. The wine list is carefully composed and the cocktails inspired. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, a DJ entertains the evenings.

√ 22, rue Saint-Paul Est (Place-d’Armes)

 

DAY 3: SUNDAY, ON TESTE UN BRUNCH LOCAL AND ON VISIT PLATEAU MONT ROYAL

Head for the Lili Coat 4675 st-laurent, for a rather rich and tasty brunch in a totally trendy location. Here we eat at the counter, facing the kitchen! The brunch is excellent and hearty, with fresh produce, so I highly recommend this address! A word of clarification: although offal remains the house favorite, the chef is strongly oriented towards vegetables, fish and seafood.

 

 

In the afternoon, explore the Jean Talon located in the heart of Little Italy, an authentic market and one of Montreal’s oldest public markets, then head east to Plateau-Mont-Royal, nicknamed the French Quarter.

The Plateau-Mont-Royal is a borough of the City of Montreal that takes its name from its location at the top of the Sherbrooke Street terrace. Here you’ll find beautiful duplexes and triplexes on Rue Bullion, for example. In winter you can even go skating on the Parc Lafontaine lake before grabbing a poutine at the Banquise or a Schwartz, smoked meat sandwiches that have become very popular and where it’s not uncommon to queue!

Drop in at Mont Royal, 1260 Chemin Remembrance for a panoramic view of the city and its skyscrapers, with the St. Lawrence River in the background. It’s a place of fresh air, where you can walk or cycle in the huge park, where curious grey squirrels play. In winter, the chalet offers a well-heated refuge for a hot drink, and the gazebo is just perfect for relaxing.

 

In the evening, get ready to take off and head back to France – your weekend is almost over!

 

| OUR OTHER GOOD ADDRESSES

DIRECT FLIGHTS AND TICKET PRICES WITH AIR TRANSAT

• Flight prices Paris-Montreal or Paris-Quebec City between 390 euros and 600 euros from February to April.

 

WHY TRAVEL WITH AIR TRANSAT?

Air transat is a no-brainer, serving nearly 60 destinations in more than 25 countries and establishing itself as a leading player between Europe and Canada. The company offers 50 direct routes between Canada and nearly 30 European cities.

• In 2016, it was voted the best leisure airline in North America.
• It’s an innovative, eco-responsible company: Air Transat is one of the carriers to have adopted the best fuel management practices, resulting in a significant and measurable reduction in its energy consumption by 10%, its water consumption by 40% and its greenhouse gas emissions.
• The company compost and recycles metals, glass, plastic and paper.
• It’s a company that takes great care of its passengers.
• We are committed to protecting children with Sos Children’s Villages and children’s dreams foundation. In France, Air Transat works in partnership with theAssociation Petits Princes.
• We tested the classe club, which offers even more comfort in economy class, as well as significant in-flight advantages such as priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, business-class comfort, an excellent meal tray, unlimited drinks and snacks, like this Liège coffee enjoyed mid-flight!

 

 

Note that as a approved tailor-made travel agency, I can help you create your own your tailor-made trip to Canada and create a personalized itinerary to suit your needs. Please send me an email at : contact@mademoiselle-voyage.fr

For all your EVISA requests for Canada, I suggest you visit this website very detailed and easy-to-use site, specializing in visas to apply for a visa online.

 

 

This article is our experience. It was made possible thanks to a collaboration withMontréal tourism office and Air Transat, whom we thank for their invitation.