Montreal City

Introduction
Eurochic beauty, a flaneur's delight and a bilingual culturefest. Montreal's charm lies in its old-world atmosphere rather than its star attractions. Nonetheless, this city of immigrants has managed to carve out a place for itself as Quebec's economic and cultural centre. That it's friendly and easy to get around helps.

Destination Facts
Time zone: GMT -5
Area: 449
Coordinates: 45.541015625 latitude and -73.6535339355 longitude
Population: 3400000
Area codes: 514

Getting There
Montreal has a notoriously arctic winter (December-March) that makes it great as a base for winter sports, but with the sort of spiteful temperatures that would probably frighten a polar bear. Thankfully, Montreal gets around the problem with its 'Underground City', a unique climate-controlled labyrinth of 2000 shops and 29km (18mi) of corridors. This makes the city an alluring year-round tourist drawcard - a winter wonderland during the cold season and warm, long, lazy nights in the summer. Late May to early September is peak tourist time and sees a seamless procession of festivals, including the legendary Jazz Festival and the Grand Prix, take over the town.

Getting there and away
Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (PET), also known as Montr é al Trudeau Airport, is about 21km (13mi) west of downtown and is the centre of domestic, US and overseas flights. PET Airport (coded as YUL) has good connections to the city by either car, bus or metro (subway). The Qu é b é cois Bus Company runs A é robus shuttles from PET Airport to downtown. At Station A é robus, a smaller shuttle will pick you up and drop you anywhere in central downtown, free of charge. Driving to downtown Montreal from PET Airport will take roughly 20 or 30 minutes, although rush hour can extend your travelling time.

Getting around
Montreal has a very extensive and extremely practical subway-bus network. The western sectors of the city are reachable by suburban trains from the Bonaventure and Vend é me stations. Although quite heavy, automobile traffic flows reasonably well. Try not to drive in Old Montreal, where the streets are narrow and often congested. Tourist offices and bicycle-rental facilities can provide excellent maps of cycle paths and routes. If you are tempted to try an organised bus tour, various options are available, one of which allows you to visit the city and to get on and off where you like.

Weather
Although Montreal does enjoy four seasons, winter and summer are the most prominent. Spring is very short, and the first hints of autumn begin in mid-August. Winter starts in October and lasts until early May. The average January temperature is -18° C (-4° F).

Places of Interest
Montreal's charm lies in its old-world atmosphere rather than its star attractions. Nonetheless, this city of immigrants has managed to carve out a place for itself as Quebec's economic and cultural centre. That it's friendly and easy to get around helps.