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 | Montreal Mont-Royal Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 98 |  |
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Wanting to take advantage of a warm sunny summer day in Montreal, we started off with a visit to the Frederick Law Olmsted (famous for designing Central Park in New York City) designed park atop Mont Royal for which the city of Montreal is named, it’s actually more of a hill than a Royal Mountain but Royal Hill just doesn’t sound very impressive, now does it? Since we had a car we drove here, there is a fee for parking with a maximum amount of $6CAD for all day. On our first visit to Montreal, we hiked up through the winding streets of the neighborhood at the foot of the “mountain” or you can take the orange line metro to the Mont-Royal Station and transfer to bus 11 (get a transfer in advance at the Metro station).
We parked near the Lac aux Castors (beaver lake, now I know where castor oil comes from!) where you’ll find sunbathers in the summer and skaters in the winter and walked the short distance to the Chalet du Mont-Royal where we had a nice, if a bit hazy, view of downtown Montreal. Be sure to go inside the Chalet to see the murals with scenes from Canadian history and the cute little squirrels decorating the rafters, there's also a snack shop and restrooms here. Another short path led us to Croix sur la Montagne, a 98 foot steel cross that is lighted at night. The major sites are pretty well marked with directional signs.
Nearby, you can also visit the two cemeteries, the Catholic Cimetiere de Notre-Dame-des-Neiges and the Protestant Cimetiere Mont-Royal where Anna Leonowens of “King and I” fame is buried. Another km or so away is St. Joseph’s Oratory which you can easily walk to. Leave a Comment Directions: Orange line metro to the Mont-Royal Station and transfer to bus 11 (get a transfer in advance at the Metro station).
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| | | | Mont-Royal: Relax in Mont Royal | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The city of Montréal takes its name from Mont Royal, the hill behind the city which, in turn, was named by Jacques Cartier (we’ll get around to him shortly). Mont Royal is now public parkland and, without doubt, the jewel of the city – count a visit as a “must do”.
We went there by public transport (frequent) and had a very pleasant walk shared with many others, some walking, some jogging, and some cycling. It’s that kind of place. (photos 2,3) Along the way, we were excited to see yet another squirrel, a different type from the one we’d seen in Vienna (photo 3). As I mentioned in my “Intro” page, we were a little jaded after our arrival in Montréal – the visit to Mont Royal was the ‘breather’ we needed. Address: Above MontréalDirections: Take the Métro (orange line) to Mont Royal station, then change to the No 11 bus – get out at Lac auc Castors and follow the trails.
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| | | | Mont-Royal: Enjoying Mont-Royal Park | Tip Rating: | | | | |
City of snow and of tunnels, where winter seems never to be ceasing, we wonder if we'll transform into moles by the end of it. That would be, if we did'nt have our beautiful Parc du Mont-Royal, our mountain in the middle of our island, and our multitude of parks and skating rinks.
This is where I learned to ski, both cross-country (there are 20 km of trails) and downhill and both with my cross-country skis, I don't suggest trying the later. Younger and older children can have fun tobogganing and tub sliding. When your older, you usually go at night with your friends, especially if there was a fresh fall of snow. And there are snowshoeing trails as well as ice skating. You can rent some equipment at the Beaver Lake pavilion.
In summer, thought, when we have our warm temperature back, then again do we go and enjoy our mountain. Sometimes for the Tam-tams, which are so many being percutionned that you can hear them well before you arrive. They are out as soon as the last snow has melted, as in this cold climate we take everything we can of the warm weather. Others go to participate or look at medieval tournaments. Made just for the fun of it, nothing organised. But fun enought for people who enjoy reenacting such battles.
Other than that, you can simply go and have a long nice walk amongst the trees, in small paths or on larger ones. And rent a pedal boat atop. Or rent a bike and go on the mountain biking paths.
Map of the park
Some history facts:
In 1535, Jacques Cartier climbed the mountain guided by the native inhabitants of Hochelaga (Native name for Montreal), and named it Mont-Royal. And in1874, Frederick Law Olmsted is hired by the City of Montreal to draft plans for the park. The same landscape architect who design Central Park, in New York.
To drive to the Mont-Royal Park: Car: Avenue Du Parc and take Voie Camilien-Houde to go up, there's lots of parking spaces.
Le MontRoyal driving instructions Address: By Park Avenue and/or Cote-Des-NeigesDirections: From Place-Des-Arts Metro, Jeanne-Mance exit, take either bus 129, 80 or 535 towards the North. It's hard to miss. From Mont-Royal Metro, Only one exit, take either the 11 bus the only one that can take you all the way up the mountain or the 97 bus.Website: http://www.lemontroyal.qc.ca/en_index2.html
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| | | | Mont-Royal: Chalet de Mont Royal | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Situated in the park, immediately above the city, you will find the substantial Chalet de Mont Royal, shown in the heading photo and photo 2. I’ve not been able to find much information about it, and it was closed during our visit. At first I thought it was intended as a kiosk, but I surmise it may be used as a reception centre. Certainly it is well maintained and someone obviously attends to the flags!
What is important, however, is the terraced area immediately in front of it, known as the Belvedere Kondiaronk and, from here, you gain excellent views over the city (photo 3 and my Montréal page intro photo). If you’ve developed a thirst on your walk this far, you’ll be glad to know that several drinking fountains are available (photo 4).
Not quite relevant to the Chateau, but I’ll include it here as I don’t feel it warrants a separate tip, can anyone tell me what are these curious gibbet devices (photo 5) we saw at quite a few places throughout the park? We surmised that they’re something to do with snow depth. Addendum. My very real thanks to my good VT mate Bwana_Brown for the advice that "...those strange-looking 'gibbet' contraptions are winter bird-feeders, equipped with a post-mounted barrier to try to keep Grey (and maybe the smaller Red) Squirrels from stealing all the goods!"
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