My husband had a large conference to attend in Montreal last week, so I went with along with him and our youngest while the two oldest stayed home with grandma. After a long (16 hour drive), we arrived in the city, and oddly enough the first thing that I noticed was the graffiti everywhere.
The next day, while my husband spent the day at the conference, my daughter and I went to the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Montreal. It was amazingly beautiful and only cost $5. There were several other museums that I wanted to visit, but I really couldn’t justify spending $10-15 to enter each one, so we ended up going back to the hotel.
The next day we woke up to a thunderstorm, and the rain did not let up all day. We did try to venture out during a drizzle which quickly turned into a soaking ran that drenched us. A homeless woman chastised me and said that surely my daughter would get pneumonia, and in between the chastising, she managed to sell me a bracelet she was hawking for $2. At that point, I just wanted to get away from her and back to the hotel and into dry clothes. I was only about 4 blocks from the hotel, but we were soaked, so I stopped a taxi and asked how much to take us back to the hotel–$6! Instead, I walked as quickly as I could back to the hotel and then dried us both off and got us into warm clothes. Homemade chili warmed us up.
So, my overall impressions of Montreal were not that great. However, I do think it would be a nice place to visit if we had money to pay for all of the museums that I would like to attend. My husband was also busy all day each day at the conference, so it would be nice if the next time we went he could sight see a bit with us. Maybe someday in the future. . .
I went to Montreal once and thought it was a beautiful city! I also loved that they speak French there.
What were your favorite things to see?
Well, at least you saw one museum. In addition your little one got some focused parent time and the other two enjoyed some grandparent attention!
We try to splurge a bit when we travel, because we most likely won’t be back that way again in our lives!
We usually try to see more than we did this trip, but we are trying to aggressively pay down debt. 🙂 Maybe next time we go. (Actually we wouldn’t have travelled if my husband didn’t have to go for his conference.)
I’ve been to Quebec City as a kid, with my parents, and still remember thinking it was cool that here in North America there was a region where people actually spoke French as a primary language.
We ended up driving by Montreal I believe – not sure exactly. We were driving to Toronto from Quebec City. Anyway, I’ve been interested in visiting Montreal sometime. Seems like it might some issues like many big cities here in the US – based on the graffiti and homeless issues you mentioned. Actually, I don’t see as much graffiti here in the US as we used to have maybe 20+ years ago….
Well, at least you got to have a fun trip and bonded some with your oldest. That’s pretty cool.
Yes, like I said, it would be good to go back when we could spend money more freely! 🙂 I also think visiting in the spring would be pretty.
Well, it’s a little late now, but if you’re ever in Montreal again, there is what is called a “Montreal Museums Pass” (http://www.museesmontreal.org/en/The_Montreal_Museums_Pass__your_cultural_passport_for_easy_access_to_38_museums.htm) and it allows access into all of the museums over three days for $60, or $65 with a covered metro pass during those three days. It’s a great bang for your buck if you want to see a lot of what the city has to offer, but don’t want to spend $5-10 for each location. Also, depending on the time of year, you can take a train ride, and a cruise up Canal Lachine, too.
I adore Montreal, I loved the time I spent there, and my fiance and I are going next fall for our honeymoon. I’m sorry to hear your experience wasn’t too great, but maybe it would have been better if the weather were better, you’d had a museum pass, and your husband were available to take in the city. I do hope you will give Montreal another chance if the opportunity arises, it’s a wonderful place.
That sounds like a good plan. Based on all the comments, I think a return trip to Montreal some time might be in order.