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MONTRÉAL ON A SHOESTRING
Have a student card? Want to travel? Then it’s off to Montréal! With
so much to see and do – a lot of it for free –, Montréal is by far one
of the most affordable travel destinations for students itching to
discover. From sightseeing to clubbing to shopping to eating and
beyond, there are tons of incredibly diverse things to see and do
all year round in Montréal, and you don’t need an excellent credit
rating to do it.
For example, Montréal is a city of festivals, which means accessible
year-round fun of all kinds. The summer Jazz Fest alone offers
hundreds – notice the plural – of free shows each year, and the
wintry Montreal HIGH LIGHTS Festival promotes all sorts of free,
free-spirited fun – notice how many times “free” is popping up
here? – What’s greater still, this is not the exception, but the rule
in Montréal. All year long, festivals of all kinds showcase different
talents and tastes with affordable activities and events.
Feel like a little culture? Head out to the Montréal Museum of
Fine Arts on half-price Wednesdays, starting from 5:30 pm. Or,
if you’ve got a gang of twenty or more together, enjoy group rates
for temporary
exhibitions or a free guided tour of the permanent collection. The
MMFA also offers many cultural activities – most of which are free
– such as workshops, lectures and symposia, as well as films on
art and films by artists.
If one museum is simply not enough, the Montréal Museum Pass
will get you into the city’s many museums at a fraction of the price.
Choose from one of three cards: free admission to each museum
for three days (one visit per museum - $60); free admission to each
museum PLUS unlimited use of public transportation for three
days (one visit per
museum - $65); and free admission to all museums for an entire
year (two admissions per museum - $200). What’s more, the Pass
is full of reduced prices to many of Montréal’s tourist attractions,
so not only do you save on some culture, you save on lots of other
fun things, too.
Mount Royal is a four-season playground with lots of room
for hiking, biking, picnicking, skiing, sledding, snowshoeing
and skating, among other things (like our summer Sunday
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Tam-Tam ritual). Skating outdoors on Beaver Lake or even
in the Old Port is a fav winter pastime in the city, but if the
weather isn’t on your side, the indoor skating rink at 1000 De
La Gauchetière will do the trick nicely. The ice quality is great
and the building is incredible: a 51-storey jewel in the Montréal
skyline, it exemplifies a new architectural philosophy through
its artful use of materials. Once you’ve finished gawking at the
construction, you can rent skates on-site and practice your
figure-eights in a rink bathed in natural light.
Not far from the rink is Montréal’s Chinatown –just look for the
dragons – where you’ll find inexpensive meals and deals. With a
thriving Chinese community, this flourishing area is home to shops
selling exotic foods, traditional crafts, martial arts accessories,
herbs and natural medicines… basically, all things Asian. It’s the
place to be for traditional holidays and festivals; a wander through
the narrow streets will have you feeling like you just stepped into
the Hangzhou market.
You can even run away to the circus! Montréal is rapidly becoming
THE circus arts capital on the planet, thanks in large part to
Montréal’s Circus City, La TOHU. Prestigious circus school, training
centre, environmental complex and Big Top all in one, La TOHU
brings you exhilarating circus talent from around the world while
doing its best to save the planet. Be entertained and amazed by
circus artistry in TOHU’s “green”
circular performance hall at reduced student rates. Or, check out
Montréal Complètement Cirque, their new international summer
circus festival that offers performances, demonstrations, and
hands-on workshops at prices that are easy on the pocketbook.
La Vitrine is your window to cheap tickets and last-minute deals on
pretty much anything and everything that you want to see. You can
even score passes to free events: reserve online or check out their
downtown information centre conveniently located in the Quartier
des spectacles (Entertainment district) on Sainte-Catherine
Street. If you want to put your finger on the cultural pulse in the
Greater Montréal region, La Vitrine is the place to do it.
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TRANSPORTATION
The 747 Express Bus is the best way to get to and from the airport,
with multiple stops downtown at a mere cost of $8. Once you’re
on-island, you can zip about the city thanks to our efficient public
transit system (STM). For only $8, the Tourist Card gives you
unlimited access to the bus and metro (subway) network for an
entire day. Or, if you will be hanging with us a little longer, there is a
3-day card for only $16. Another cool thing about our metro: an art
gallery in itself, each station was designed by a different architect
and some even showcase original works by Québécois artists. In
Montréal, even public transit is interesting!
If you prefer to get about by your own volition, then you have
two great options: BIXI, Montréal’s award-winning pay-as-yougo public bike rental service that lets you pick up and drop off at
any bike station on the island, and your feet. Compact and safe,
the downtown core alone is a pedestrian’s paradise, while each
neighbourhood in itself offers its own special appeal. Montréal
boasts several pedestrian-only streets (some seasonal, some
permanent) and the metropolitan bike path network includes over
540 km (approx. 335 ½ miles) across the island. Basically, this city
was made for moving!
DINING
Montréal’s international reputation for gastronomy isn’t limited to high-falutin’ gourmet gnosh – in fact, Montréal is a hotspot for
delicious cheap eats, too. You just have to know where to go. Here’s a list of places to eat big for little in Montreal:
RESTAURANTS LESS than $20
BENELUX brewpub and café
245 Sherbrooke Street West
514 543-9750
www.brasseriebenelux.com
Café Vasco da Gama
1472 Peel Street
514 286-2688
www.vascodagama.ca
Chez Cora
1240 Drummond Street
514 286-6171
www.chezcora.com
Jardin Nelson
407 Place Jacques-Cartier
514 861-5731
www.jardinnelson.com
Le Bourlingueur
363 Saint-François-Xavier
514 845-3646
www.lebourlingueur.ca
Pica Pica
1310 de Maisonneuve East
514 658-2874
Restaurant Le Taj
2077 Stanley Street
514 845-9015
www.restaurantletaj.com
Sir Winston Churchill
Pub Complex
1455-59 Crescent Street
514 288-3814
www.swcpc.com
Brisket Montréal
& Salon Krausmann
1093 Beaver Hall Hill
514 878-3641
www.briskets.ca
Canadian Maple Delights
84 Saint-Paul Street East
514 765-3456
www.mapledelights.com
L’Assommoir
112 Bernard Street West
514 272-0777
www.assommoir.ca
Marché du Vieux
217 Saint-Laurent Blvd
514 393-2772
www.marcheduvieux.com
Schwartz’s
3895 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
514 842-4813
www.schwartzsdeli.com
St-Viateur Bagel & Café
1127 du Mont-Royal Avenue East
514 528-6361
www.stviateurbagel.com
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Tasso, mezze bar
3829 Saint-Denis Street
514 842-0867
www.tassobaramezze.com
Europea Espace Boutique
33 Notre-Dame Street West
514 844-1572
www.europea.ca
Pub St-Paul
124 Saint-Paul Street East
514 874-0485
www.pubstpaul.com
So much to see, so much to do,
so little in the wallet… such is the
plight of any student wishing to
get out there and experience the
big, wide world. Montréal makes it
happen.
À bientôt!
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