Ideas for Montreal in May!

Http://wikitravel.org/en/Montreal

Oooohh! Montreal is awesome! So many things to do! Vieux Montreal is my favorite part about the city for sure. If you are up for it, you could also take a 2.5 hr bus trip from montreal to quebec city...which is absolutely beautiful. It'd be good for a day where you want less crowds and people and less of a city feel. The food is amazing in both places. They both have lots of little bars and restaurants on the side of the street with great patio dining! I strongly suggest a bus pass or metro pass. The taxi prices are crazy and they have a great public transport system. As for hotels, my cousin lives there so I haven't had to stay at a hotel there but I had friends stay at the Goveneur hotel which was a nice clean hotel, nothing luxurious though, but convenient because of location and the fact its on a main subway hub. If you like beer, there are tons of great Canadian beer and all restaurants proudly serve them If you wanna shop, definitely go to Rue St-Catherine...but the right part of it hahah the last half is notorious for being all fully nude strip clubs, and lots of them haha.

We are going to Montreal for a few days after our wedding too! We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Centre-Ville. We figured we'd spring for a nice hotel... it has a pool and hot tub which a lot of the older hotels don't have there.

I haven't been since I was a kid, but I'm really looking forward to it! Honestly, I'm looking forward to lots of good good, especially poutine. If you keep in touch, I can always tell you about our trip after we go (we are going in April, just before Easter).

My family is originally from Montreal and I visit a few times a year. I almost always stay with family though, so I don't have much to say about hotels. There are a lot of big chains downtown and in Old Montreal. You can't go wrong with those, but they won't be cheap. For location, just remember that the entire city is hilly - so Old Montreal is at the bottom. It's easy to walk from downtown to Old Montreal, but getting back up I usually take a bus or the metro!

As for food/activity options:

-The mountain area is great (particularly if you're up for hiking up to the top), and not so far away is Shwartz's for smoked meat.

-Have dinner in the Plateau area. There are a lot of small restaurants (particularly Italian) where you can bring your own wine. It also has some great poutine places.

-For touristy activities I suggest looking into the Botanical Garden, Biodome, Insectorium and Planatarium packages (you get a discount for doing more than one). FH proposed to me at the Botanical Gardens.

-Old Montreal is magnificent for just walking around, shopping (it's expensive) and eating. There are often activities going on, although you are there on weekdays so it won't be as lively as other times. There are a number of walking and vehicle tours you can do. There are also small fun things like paddle boating.

-If you feel like being a kid, La Ronde is the local amusement park.

If you need more specific information, feel free to PM me.

GER, that is all really good information... I'm definitely following this thread for our trip in April. Thanks!

We went to Montreal in 2012 to watch the Canadiens play on home ice. I wish it would have been May when we went because we went to the butterfly/botanical gardens. I would TOTALLY drive 1400 miles all over again to go back there. We spent like 3 hours in the insect museum. It was so cool. We stayed in an apartment in the old/historic section of town and it was fabulous. We were within walking distance of a market and the fruit was super cheap. We also went ice skating - in May/summer they have boats in these same ponds. There was a ton of stuff to do there when they had two feet of snow so I am sure there is much more to do/see when the weather is nice!

Thank you all so much for these tips--they're very helpful!

Erin: I'll definitely keep in touch for feedback after your trip in April! Hope you enjoy it. We may stay in the same Hilton and/or a Marriott, as I have a decent amount of reward points with each, though are still exploring options.

GER: Your ideas are especially useful! I may message you for more details in the next week or so as we do more planning.

Erin, if you're already married, I hope it was great and that you're enjoying your trip to Montreal!