What to do in Montreal? There are many places to walk and shop, many things to eat, look at and do – but if you've not been here before, or are showing newcomers around, there's a short list of must-see sites that will fill any long weekend visit admirably.
Montreal is a city of festivals. Some have been running for decades, some are new, some fizzle out then are revived. Some are famous worldwide, others are less well known, but all have their interesting features. We keep track of the list for you.
A basic data sheet to help visitors find their around Montreal, with entries about customs and immigration, drinking and smoking laws, basic transportation issues and all the trivia that concern the alert traveller.
As a city known for its lively and varied culinary scene, it isn't surprising that Montreal also has a crew of curious and critical food bloggers keeping an eye on things and reporting on their finds as they go.
Île Bizard is one of the quieter and more rural corners of the City of Montreal, with a population of 14,000 people on a small island off the western edges of Montreal and Laval islands, and overlooking the Lake of Two Mountains and the distant prospect of Oka Park.
Île-de-la-Visitation Park is the smallest of the nature parks in the Montreal area at 34 hectares. The park is composed of a shoreline along the Rivière des Prairies and a forested island, with several old buildings and ruins dating back more than a century.
Montreal's museums contain both the general relics of Western culture and works and artifacts more specifically connected to its own history and cultural world. A hot afternoon in summer or a cold winter's day can both be improved by a couple of hours spent in a nice museum.
On any weekend afternoon from spring till fall, you can saunter in Jarry Park and enjoy the pond, the fountain, the trees and the flowers, and appreciate the multicultural cross-section of people for whom this park is an urban refuge. And then in winter there's skating on the pond.
Parc Jean-Drapeau is one of the most interesting and varied parks in the Montreal area, visible from the Old Port, and full of old and more recent history. The park encompasses two islands of which Île Sainte-Hélène is a natural island and Île Notre-Dame is entirely man-made.
Lafontaine Park is Plateau Mont-Royal's biggest park, and one of the most beautifully landscaped in the entire city. It features two linked ponds with a fountain and waterfalls, cultural venues, sports fields and much green space within its 40 hectares.
Montreal has a fabulous wealth of churches, from the most lavish basilicas down to the most modest parish churches. The Roman Catholic Church was deeply involved in the establishment of the city so most, but not all, of the city's notable churches are Catholic ones: there are some elegant examples from other persuasions as well.
More and more locals and visitors are asking about vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Luckily, this city has so many good restaurants generally that options in this category are plentiful, everything from establishments offering strictly vegan food to omnivore restos with reliable vegetarian options.
Montreal has lots of things you can do with your kids, and we've got a good listing here of suggestions for all seasons of the year, indoor and outdoor, active, passive, educational and just plain fun.
Far from downtown and close to the last remaining vestiges of rural life on the island of Montreal is a thumblike peninsula called Cap Saint-Jacques. Its beach, in a shallow bay on the western side, is the only natural sandy beach in the Montreal area.
While Montreal can't claim to be a city that never sleeps, it's certainly a place where one can find coffee, eats and basic groceries around the clock, although some neighbourhoods are clearly better for this kind of thing than others.
The nature preserve on Nuns' Island is a little gem of natural preservation, with local birds, animals and plants finding a home there. A 26-hectare forest encircles a semi-artificial lake, the Lac des Battures, and forms part of the Lachine Rapids eco-territory.
Named after Montreal's founder Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (1612-1676), Maisonneuve Park is a pleasant piece of green space in east-end Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. It offers plenty of room to walk, cycle or run, or simply laze under the trees on a hot summer day.
The jewel of Montreal's city parks is Mount Royal, which crowns the city with a natural tiara of greenery and trees, making it a favourite refuge from urban stresses. It offers a breath of air on a hot day, a spot for a picnic, cross-country ski trails in winter and two spectacular spots with views of the city.
Angrignon Park is southwestern Montreal's biggest park, an unfussy expanse of green space with a long pond and plenty of trees, a quiet retreat from city noise but handy to the metro terminus that bears its name.
Quebec is one of the world's best places for seeing autumn foliage, a tradition sometimes called 
