6 Great Escapes to Make this Fall
Getaway destinations geared toward everyone from foodies to family adventurers.
Index
Nantucket, MA | Cape Cod, MA | Newport, RI | Washington D.C. | Montreal, Canada | Greenville, SC
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For the History Enthusiast
Montreal, Canada
By Dana Laverty
Montreal’s La Grande Roue de Montreal is the tallest observation wheel in Canada. Courtesy of Tourisme Montreal
Just six hours to our North, cosmopolitan Montreal has all the charm of a European city without the pesky jet lag, overtourism and language barriers.
Sure, French might be the official language of Quebec, but most Montreal residents also speak English, which will make your time in Canada’s second-largest city a little more manageable. Which comes in handy, if, say, you once felt so confident in your ability to speak French that you waltzed into a Paris cafe, ordered a croissant and an apple in the local language, and then nearly crawled under the table when you realized you instead asked for a croissant and a potato. (In my defense, the French words for apple — pomme — and potato — pomme de terre — are practically indistinguishable.)
But ha! No need to worry about that in bilingual Montreal, where the cultural delights, architecture, cuisine and history are everything you’d expect from a city with roots as an international trading port at the confluence of the St. Lawrence River, where French colonists built the Ville Marie fortress in 1642 on land where various Indigenous (First Peoples) tribes had lived for 8,000 years.
The Pointe-à-Callière Museum. Courtesy of Tourisme Montreal
You can delve into the city’s history, including the architectural remains of Ville Marie, at the Pointe-à-Callière Museum (pacmusee.qc.ca) in Old Montreal. It stands on several layers of ruins that are thousands of years old and pristinely preserved, with projections showing where windows once stood, and lights and sounds turning a 360-foot stretch of sewer into a neon-lit, subterranean wonderland. (Really. It’s amazing.)
The Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth. Courtesy of Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth, Alison Slattery.
The Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth (fairmont.com/queen-elizabeth-montreal) made a swanky diving-off point for our explorations. Opened in 1958, the downtown icon has hosted the likes of the late Queen Elizabeth and countless other celebrities within its Industrial-style walls. It’s where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their famous “bed-in” for peace in 1969 and wrote and recorded “Give Peace a Chance.” The lobby’s coffee shop is the perfect place to sit with a bracing cold brew and a breakfast sandwich while you plan out the day’s travels.
Mary Queen of the World Cathedral across the street from the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Courtesy of Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth, Alison Slattery.
The hotel leads down to Montreal’s ingenious Underground City, a twenty-mile network of metro stations, shops and restaurants that keeps you shielded from the elements on rainy days, snowy days or sultry summer afternoons when the temperature and humidity are both hovering somewhere around ninety-five.
More Nerdy Adventures
Four history-laden sites to check out in Montreal, plus the best part of almost any trip: the local cuisine.
Old Montreal offers shops and sidewalk dining. Courtesy of Tourisme Montreal
Old Montreal
Cobblestone streets, centuries-old architecture and charming shops, galleries and eateries beckon in the oldest — and quaintest — part of the city. Tuck into the Galerie Images Boréales (imagesboreales.com) to admire art, clothing, jewelry and crafts all made by Inuit artists and craftspeople, then head across the street for a sweet or savory crepe and a frothy cappuccino at Creperie Chez Suzette (chezsuzette.ca).
Atwater Market. Photo by Dana Laverty
Atwater Market
Come for the art deco atmosphere, stay for the fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, meats, seafood and cheeses offered by local merchants. The market first set up shop in 1933 and draws shoppers year-round. A variety of eateries offer food during the summer months; the brisket sandwich from Aylwin Barbecue (aylwinbarbecue.com), along with a mint lemonade from Le Petit Sao (lepetitsao.com) and a pint of Quebecois strawberries makes for a lovely repast. marchespublicsmtl.com
Old Port at sunset.
Le Bateau-Mouche River Cruises
See Montreal from aboard open-air boats similar to the ones that ply the Seine in Paris. Le Bateau-Mouche (bateaumouche.ca) offers several cruises from the Old Port area, including dinner, tapas, fireworks and one-hour intro sailings on the St. Lawrence River. Snacks and drinks are available on most outings.
The Montreal Botanical Garden.
Montreal Botanical Garden
Founded in 1931, the garden has sixteen themed areas — think lilacs, an alpine garden and a rose garden — buffered by a Chinese garden, a First Nations garden and a Japanese garden, as well as a wide variety of trees. If you’re up for more exploration, Olympic Park — where the 1976 Summer Olympics were held — is right across the street. espacepourlavie.ca
Poutine.
Cuisine
My kiddo and I were on the hunt for poutine — a messy mashup of french fries, gravy and cheese curds — crepes and Cadbury candy bars during our visit. But don’t miss out on Montreal’s other famous food offerings, like maple everything, croissants, smoked meat sandwiches, meat pie and Montreal bagels. You won’t even need to know the French word for potato or apple: Most restaurant menus are printed in French and English.
Nuts & Bolts
Travel Time: Six hours from Providence.
How to Get There: I-95 North to I-89 North.
Bucket List for Next TIme: Hiking and nature walks at Mount Royal Park, which is home to the 764-foot-tall peak that gave the city its name.
Worth a Detour: It might not change your life, as one visitor on Tripadvisor claimed, but the World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet in Burlington, Vermont, is certainly worth a side trip.
