Day trip to montreal?

Question

i'm from toronto and i'm planning on taking a day trip to montreal. i know a day isnt enough but its what i want to do.

so far my plan is to take the greyhound leaving at 12:01am and arriving in montreal at 8am. then the next morning at 6am i will be leaving montreal. i wont get a hotel so i'll spend the night at a club, find somewhere to eat then get to the bus station.

after looking at the map i decided i want to stay downtown and in old montreal. now i need to find out what to do there.

i want to see that underground city and have poutine. what else is downtown/old montreal? what is a good club downtown that plays hip hop and r&b?

where do the locals eat and what do you do for fun?

thanks for your help

Answer 1

For poutine, try la Banquise, or any of the "La Belle Province" fast food places all over the city.

Answer 2

I admire your optimism about not having anywhere to stay, but you should be very careful - if you pass out somewhere from sheer exhaustion you'll be very vulnerable.  Bus stations are NOT safe places to hang out.

However, if you really think you can handle it, good luck!  Now on to your questions:  the 'underground city' is a huge deception.  What it is, is a convenience - nothing more.  It is a network of shopping malls that are connected underground... essentially the basements of malls that are all connected.  There are no underground sky scrapers or parks or anything space-agey.  Don't waste your time!

We do have awesome shopping, so if you're into that you'll enjoy downtown.  You can check out the Old Port (Old Montreal) for the touristy things like 'beaver tails' otherwise known as 'queues de castors' which are a delicious dessert sold there, and all the usual stuff in old cities.

There are cool places like the Biodome, which you can check out online - trust me, it may be a bit 'school trip'ey but it's an awesome place even if you're not into museums/sites.

As for clubs, check out Coda on Saint Laurent, or Tokyo.  There are so many... http://www.montreal-clubs.com/ will introduce you to most of them!

I'm a local, and what I do for fun ranges all over the city.  You can check out the Lachine Canal which is beautiful in the summer, the Atwater Market, Jean Talon Market, McGill campus for a nice walk, go up Mount Royal to see the whole city from the lookout/chalet... You can hit Saint Laurent or Saint Catherine for shopping as well as smaller niche streets like Saint Denis for second-hand/vintage/punk, amazing museums... it's really just up to you and what kind of stuff you like in a city!  If you get bored, hit a terasse on Crescent street downtown, get a few drinks and people watch.  Depending on when you're coming, there are festivals (Jazz Festival, Just for Laughs, Fireworks, etc.).

If you want to check out restaurants (best poutine places even!) go to www.restomontreal.ca and you can search by whatever criteria you want including location, cuisine, and special features, as well as price.

Have a great trip!  Our city is fantastic during the summer.