Guide to Montreal

Our language school is situated downtown Montreal at the junction of Sherbrooke and Crescent Street. Sherbrooke Street is referred to by the locals as “The Golden Mile”. The area hosts the majority of the city’s upscale residences as well as old historic buildings. Directly next to our language school you’ll find the Holt Renfrew Department Store, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Montreal has something to offer for local natives and visitors all four seasons of the year. Some of the top sites and activities in Montreal include:

• Crescent Street: The diverse variety of galleries, cafes, restaurants, and bars makes this street one of Montreal’s top tourist attractions. Many festivals and events, such as the Formula 1 Weekend, are also held on this street throughout the year.
• Old Montreal: The old architecture and original cobble stone streets of Montreal from many years ago has been restored and maintained in the historic district of Old Montreal. The best way to take in all of the beautiful historical sites is to take a nice, slow, long ride in a horse-drawn carriage through the magnificent district.
• Montreal Bike Fest: Various cycling activities are offered at the week-long Mountain Bike Fest. The grand finale of this thrilling event consists of 11,000 cyclists taking the streets for Un tour la nuit (a night tour), and then the Tour de l’Île de Montréal. More than 30,000 participants turn out each year for the largest cycling event in North America.

Montreal is Canada’s second largest city and is situated on an island in the St. Lawrence River. The Quebec province is in eastern Canada. Montreal is just 190 km from the nation’s capital, Ottawa; 275 km from Quebec’s capital, Quebec City; 550 km from Canada’s largest city, Toronto; and only 625 km from New York City.

Montreal’s climate is what most people perceive to be typical for Canada. In the summer time, it is typically warm with average high temperatures of 26°C (79°F) and lows of 16°C (61°F). During the winter the weather turns to become very cold, snowy, icy, and windy. Average high temperatures are just -5°C (23°F) and the average seasonal low is -13°C (9°F). With extreme temperatures in summer and winter, spring and fall are usually mild, but there is always the risk of a sudden temperature change.

Montreal has been referred to as "Canada's Cultural Capital". Most of Canada’s French language television productions, radio, theater, film, multimedia and print publishing can be found in Montreal. Of course, since Montreal is Canada’s French language headquarters, it has created a multicultural city.

The city is alive with jazz, visual arts, theater, music and dance. During the summer months, the downtown area of Montreal is constantly the host of festivals and parades, the largest of which being the Just for Laughs comedy festival.

Besides the cultural events and festivals, much of the culture that is found in Montreal comes from their world-renown abundance of churches. There are so many churches throughout the city that Montreal has earned the nickname la ville aux cent clochers (the city of a hundred bell towers). Mark Twain even wrote, "This is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window.”

Montreal is a great city for shopping with many markets, boutiques, malls and local shops.

Montreal has a lot of specialties but in particular, when in Montreal, you must shop for perfume and jewelry. The city has become known for its small boutiques that offer world class products and service that you won’t be able to find anywhere else!

If you want to do some serious shopping, here are some of the most popular shopping areas of Montreal: Herbrooke Street, Greene Avenue, Sherbrooke Street, Old Montreal, and not to forget the underground shopping complex of Place Ville Marie.

Discover everything Canada has to offer year round! Enjoy skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, and other exciting sports. Come and enjoy Canada's winter!