Advice on visiting Montreal on the cheap? Books?

(Hopefully these groups are still viable...despite all the spam I'm
seeing on them.)

We're going to be visiting Montreal in a couple of week,s my wife and
daughter and I, and was hoping I could get some advice on what free and
cheap things to do while there?

Also, any recommendations on camping in that area?

Finally, any good Montreal travel guides or books? Like Fodors or
whatnot?

Thanks for any advice!!
Liam

wrote in message
ups.com...

We're going to be visiting Montreal in a couple of week,s
my wife and daughter and I, and was hoping I could get
some advice on what free and cheap things to do while there?

Free - 'in a couple weeks' is vague but there are many festivals that go on
in Montreal during the summer, most of which offer a number of free events.
There's a comedy festival, a film festival, an African music festival, etc,
etc.

There's also the park on Mt Royal.. I suppose you could call it Montreal's
version of Central Park, which has lots of walking and biking trails and a
few lookout points with some great views of the city. Unfortunately there's
a good amount of construction there this year but it's still something nice
to see.

Wandering around the Old Port can also be very nice. There's a bike path
that starts there and follows the Lachine Canal all the way into the
suburbs.

Changing the price range from free to cheap opens the door to a whole slew
of activities, you could look around the Old Port, there's plenty to do
there. There are all the usual tourist attractions that you can find at a
site like tripadvisor.com and what I recommend really depends on your
interests.

Also, any recommendations on camping in that area?

You have to go perhaps 30-45 minutes out of Montreal to find camping,
there's better camping if you go further.

Finally, any good Montreal travel guides or books? Like Fodors or
whatnot?

The most common I've seen people clinging to as they try to figure out which
metro to take is the one put out by Lonely Planet, though as a life-long
resident of the city I've never had a need to look at any of these.

Once you get here, you may want to pick up a copy of the Hour or the Mirror,
both of which are free weekly newspapers available in metros and numerous
other locations around town. They'll give you an idea of what's going on in
the city as well as provide you with movie, theatre, concert, etc listings.
Both come out on Thursdays.

Richard

Richard wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

We're going to be visiting Montreal in a couple of week,s
my wife and daughter and I, and was hoping I could get
some advice on what free and cheap things to do while there?

Free - 'in a couple weeks' is vague but there are many festivals that go on
in Montreal during the summer, most of which offer a number of free events.

We'll be there from the 25th to the 30th of this month.
Wow, thanks for the advice! That's some great stuff to start with.

Liam

wrote:
Richard wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

We're going to be visiting Montreal in a couple of week,s
my wife and daughter and I, and was hoping I could get
some advice on what free and cheap things to do while there?

There is a great exhibition at the Architectual Museum, it shows the
great and grand plans Montreal had in the 1960's to double its
population. They built the metro, expressways, held the Olympics and
the 67 Expo, but the people never came.

This exhibition shows the optimism of the era, a must see!

Also, a stroll through the market up near Rue Jean Talon on Saturday,
all sorts of produce, farm products, you will have a great al fresco
lunch.

The Lachine Canal, previously mentioned, down by the rapids is worth a
stroll, see the rapids that stopped the up river progress of the
Europeans and led to the establishment of Montreal.

Go out to one of the ethnic neighborhoods, say Snowdon for South Asian
and take in the atmosphere and find good cheap eating. A pleasure to
this Vermonters eyes.

There are often cheap or free concerts at McGill, check out the
aforementioned free newspapers.

Montreal is a great city, you will enjoy yourself.

Stuart Friedman
East Montpelier, VT