My Family's First Trip to Montreal - Some Questions...

I will be travelling to Montreal this summer with my husband and nine
year old. We're planning to stay 5 nights at the Delta Centre-Ville.
Can we get by without a car, or would it be better to rent a car?
Also, is the Delta in a good location - downtown, or would we be
better off staying in the old part of the city? When we stayed in
Quebec City two years ago we stayed in the old part of the city and a
car was definitely not necessary. The other hotel I considered was
the Auberge du Vieux-Port (based on reviews at www.tripadvisor.com),
but I thought my nine year old would enjoy having acess to a swimming
pool at the Delta. BTW, is there enough to do in Montreal (especially
without a car - we are flying in) if we stay 5 nights and speak only
english? Is the downtown area safe to walk through? Any
thoughts/observations would be greatly appreciated! Any recommended
attractions/restaurants (I already have a copy of Frommer's Montreal)?
BTW, we have visited Canada several times in the past (different
locations) and think it's a beautiful country and the people we have
met have always been wonderful - friendly and very helpful. We are
definitely looking forward to our trip to Montreal!

"Jane Smith" wrote in message
om...
I will be travelling to Montreal this summer with my husband and nine
year old. We're planning to stay 5 nights at the Delta Centre-Ville.
Can we get by without a car, or would it be better to rent a car?
Also, is the Delta in a good location - downtown, or would we be
better off staying in the old part of the city? When we stayed in
Quebec City two years ago we stayed in the old part of the city and a
car was definitely not necessary. The other hotel I considered was
the Auberge du Vieux-Port (based on reviews at www.tripadvisor.com),
but I thought my nine year old would enjoy having acess to a swimming
pool at the Delta. BTW, is there enough to do in Montreal (especially
without a car - we are flying in) if we stay 5 nights and speak only
english? Is the downtown area safe to walk through? Any
thoughts/observations would be greatly appreciated! Any recommended
attractions/restaurants (I already have a copy of Frommer's Montreal)?
BTW, we have visited Canada several times in the past (different
locations) and think it's a beautiful country and the people we have
met have always been wonderful - friendly and very helpful. We are
definitely looking forward to our trip to Montreal!

Here's the Delta Centre-Ville site. Guess you haven't taken a look. It's two
blocks from the old part of the city.
http://www.ebookingsite.com/hoteldir...ntreal-de.html

You and your nine year old will enjoy the Biodome.

You can easily get by without a car. The streets layout, drivers (and
sidewalkers) attitude and lack of parking can be tedious.
Rentals are affordable though, so you might wanna consider it to circle the
island, for example.
The Delta is good for business trip, not for tourism, in my opinion. The
surrounding is ugly, and dead outside business hours. Montreal is not very
big, and everything is accessible, but this place will make you feel remote.
I would say that the Plateau, Mile-End and Outremont areas are the most
interesting (food, stores & arts), and the old town of course. You might
even be able to rent a flat online, rather than a hotel room.
And Montreal is truly bilingual, and safe (just watch for bike courriers and
cabs, they can be reckless).
Pick up a copy of Voir (www.voir.ca), or Hour (www.hour.ca) to know what's
happening.

"Jane Smith" wrote in message
om...
I will be travelling to Montreal this summer with my husband and nine
year old. We're planning to stay 5 nights at the Delta Centre-Ville.
Can we get by without a car, or would it be better to rent a car?
Also, is the Delta in a good location - downtown, or would we be
better off staying in the old part of the city? When we stayed in
Quebec City two years ago we stayed in the old part of the city and a
car was definitely not necessary. The other hotel I considered was
the Auberge du Vieux-Port (based on reviews at www.tripadvisor.com),
but I thought my nine year old would enjoy having acess to a swimming
pool at the Delta. BTW, is there enough to do in Montreal (especially
without a car - we are flying in) if we stay 5 nights and speak only
english? Is the downtown area safe to walk through? Any
thoughts/observations would be greatly appreciated! Any recommended
attractions/restaurants (I already have a copy of Frommer's Montreal)?
BTW, we have visited Canada several times in the past (different
locations) and think it's a beautiful country and the people we have
met have always been wonderful - friendly and very helpful. We are
definitely looking forward to our trip to Montreal!

(Jane Smith) wrote:

I will be travelling to Montreal this summer with my husband and nine
year old. We're planning to stay 5 nights at the Delta Centre-Ville.
Can we get by without a car, or would it be better to rent a car?

No need for a car unless you plan to leave the city. The Metro is
clean, safe and reliable.

Also, is the Delta in a good location - downtown, or would we be
better off staying in the old part of the city? When we stayed in
Quebec City two years ago we stayed in the old part of the city and a
car was definitely not necessary. The other hotel I considered was
the Auberge du Vieux-Port (based on reviews at www.tripadvisor.com),
but I thought my nine year old would enjoy having acess to a swimming
pool at the Delta.

The location is fine and I believe that you can get to the Metro
without stepping outside (not a problem in the summer anyway).

BTW, is there enough to do in Montreal (especially
without a car - we are flying in) if we stay 5 nights and speak only
english?

No problem with English. The city is bi-lingual. However, it would
be nice to be able to say a few French words (hello, goodbye, please
thank you, etc.) and good learning experience for your kids.
As for 4 or 5 days, you might be pushing it a bit. You might consider
renting a car for a day trip.

Is the downtown area safe to walk through? Any
thoughts/observations would be greatly appreciated!

Very safe, but there are a lot of adult entertainments on St.
Catherine's St. You may want to avoid that.

Any recommended
attractions/restaurants (I already have a copy of Frommer's Montreal)?

There are so many good restaurants! Check out www.chowhound.com
for recommendations. Do a search for "Montreal".
If you're taking kids, you might want to go when the annual fireworks
competition is going on.
http://www.lemondialsaq.com/en/
There is also a very fun, very wet jet boat ride on the St, Lawrence
rapids : http://www.raftingmontreal.com/english/jetBoat.html
that I'm sure the kids will love.
Another good family activity would be walking to the top of Mont
Royal.

BTW, we have visited Canada several times in the past (different
locations) and think it's a beautiful country and the people we have
met have always been wonderful - friendly and very helpful.

That has been my experience as well.

K
http://www.regimechangeusa.org/

(Jane Smith) wrote in message . com...

Do we need a car?
Is Montreal Safe?
Downtown/Vieux Port?

Hi,

Literally just got back yesterday from Montreal and Quebec.

The metro system in Montreal is awesome. It's logically laid out,
easy to use, relatively small (in comparison to NYC or London), safe.
It can be crowded, but I guess you'd have that any place. $18 CAD for
a 3-day unlimited pass.

We left our car with the valet, and didn't see it again 'til we were
leaving for Quebec. We saw plenty of things without the need for a
car. We spent 4 days, if you are spending 5, there will be plenty of
things to do.

We stayed in the Ritz downtown on Rue Sherbrooke. We had a hard time
deciding whether to stay downtown or at Vieux Montreal. After seeing
both, I think either way could work. As long as you have a metro stop
conveniently located to your hotel --- that is really the key. There
are enough attractions either in downtown OR Vieux Port, that you will
probably travel to get to one or the other.

Most of the downtown streets we walked were completely safe. We
walked probably 10-12 blocks through various parts of downtown at
1:00am, and we were fine. There are some streets that have loud clubs
and rowdy drunks --- but I guess all cities have those places.

I might suggest you visit "House of Jazz" at the link below:

http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/B2C...ookie%5Ftest=1

and www.houseofjazz.ca.

Although a little touristy, House of Jazz's memorabilia, big
chandalier, and live jazz music after 8pm (although guide book said
6:30pm) and good solid food made this a really fun night. Try to get
a table right on the floor next to the "stage" or a booth so everyone
can see. Good time.

Mazurka serves Polish food and this was a GREAT filling, inexpensive
meal :
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...al/D32996.html

Feel free to email me for more details.

Keith
Pittsburgh