Start your day with breakfast at downtown’s Chez Cora, a vibrant and friendly restaurant that offers an array of breakfast choices. Once you’ve filled up on fruit and carbs, you’re ready for Being a teen in Montréal, the city tour offered by Guidatour. This three-hour-long trip through the city’s neighbourhoods lets you see how young Montrealers lived during the 30s, 40s and 50s.
Time travelling tends to work up the appetite, so pick up a lunch box from Europea Espace Boutique in Old Montréal, which offers quality choices at reasonable prices. Unpack your delicious meal in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve on a picnic table in the Botanical Garden, one of the largest in the world, and open all year to nature lovers.
Just next door, the Insectarium, the most important of its kind in North America, is home to thousands of insects from all over the globe. Nearby, the Biodôme invites groups to explore the flora and fauna of four different ecosystems: tropical forest, Laurentian, St. Lawrence Marine and the Arctic-Antarctic.
At the heart of the Olympic Park, site of the 1976 Summer Games, thrill seekers can take the funicular to the top for a mind-blowing view of the city. At 175 metres up, the Tour de Montréal, the world’s tallest inclined tower, offers a perch that’s hard to beat.
Later, an authentic culinary adventure awaits in the Quartier International at the restaurant Fourquet Fourchette, where history buffs can tuck in to a festive meal in the heart of New France. Servers are dressed in period costume and meals are inspired by traditional Québec and Amerindian specialties.
Before wrapping up this first day of fun, try some ice skating on the vast indoor rink at downtown’s Atrium Le 1000. Those who prefer an outing of galactic proportions can go to the Montréal Planetarium, where the celestial VIPs include the planets, stars and the Milky Way.
