Montreal - City of Canada

The city of Montreal is one of the primary destinations of Travel in the country of Canada. The city is enriched with its history and culture and the tourists who visit the country should definitely keep the Travel Plan of Montreal in their minds. The Montreal Tours are certainly not complete without visiting the Tourist Attractions in Montreal. The city is the second largest among all the cities of the country and the biggest one in the province of Quebec.

Originally called Ville-Marie some historians think the city takes its present name from Mount Royal, the three-headed hill at the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the city is located, or Mont Réal as it was spelled in Middle French.

Montreal lies at the confluence of several climatic regions. Usually, the climate is classified as humid continental or hemiboreal. Precipitation is abundant with an average snowfall of 2.25 metres per year in the winter. Regular rainfall throughout the year averages 900 mm . Summer is the wettest season statistically, but it is also the sunniest.

Montreal was referred to as "Canada's Cultural Capital" by Monocle Magazine. It is additionally the cultural centre of Quebec, and of French-speaking North America as a whole. The city is Canada's centre for French language television productions, radio, theatre, film, multimedia and print publishing. In the late 1990s, Montreal started to become a hotspot for low-budget independent English theatre with companies such as Optative Theatrical Laboratories, MainLine Theatre, Gravy Bath Theatre, Sa Booge, Persephone, Pumpkin Productions, and Tableau D'Hôte Theatre adding to the scene.

The Montreal Casino a center of great entertainment which is reflected in the major footfall which it experiences on a regular basis. The special aspect about the casino is that it is open 24 hours a day and throughout the week even on Sundays.

A cultural heart of classical art and the venue for many summer festivals, the Place des Arts is a complex of different concert and theatre halls surrounding a large open-spaced square in the downtown. The Place des Arts harbours the headquarters of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra which performs in its halls regularly.

Crescent Street in downtown Montreal is popular among tourists. Throughout the summer, it features street fairs and festivals. The Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix and the NASCAR NAPA Auto Parts 200 both have street festivals, which mark the beginning and end of Montreal's summer festival season. Crescent Street is locally known mostly for its many clubs and bars. Saint-Laurent Boulevard and the surrounding Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood, are also well known for their nightlife, with many bars and nightclubs and a wide range of restaurants. Saint-Laurent street night spots are often less mainstream than those on Crescent street, with a great variety: from Top 40 and hip hop music to electronica and techno, from underground and alternative rock to live bands.

Nicknamed la ville aux cent clochers Montreal is renowned for its churches. Indeed, as Mark Twain once noted, "This is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window. The city has four Roman Catholic basilicas Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, the aforementioned Notre-Dame Basilica, St. Patrick's Basilica, and Saint Joseph's Oratory. The Oratory is the largest church in Canada, with the largest dome of its kind in the world after that of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

With access to six universities and twelve junior colleges in an 8 kilometre radius, Montreal has the highest concentration of post-secondary students of all major cities in North America .

The education system in the province of Quebec is slightly different from other systems in North America. Between the high school and university levels, there is an additional college level called "CEGEP". It is at the same time a preparatory school and a technical school . In Montreal, seventeen CEGEPs offer courses in French and five in English.

English-language elementary and secondary public schools on Montreal Island are operated by the English Montreal School Board and the Lester B. Pearson School Board. French-language elementary and secondary public schools in Montreal are operated by the Commission scolaire de Montréal Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys .

Montreal Tourist Places:
Centre d' histoire de Montreal
Chateau Ramezay Museum
City Hall
Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum
Montreal Holocaust Museum
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Montreal Science Centre
Montreal World Trade Center
Mount Royal
Notre-Dame Basilica
Old Port Montreal
Olympic Stadium
Place Jacques-Cartier
The Underground City
Jean Drapeau Park