Montreal Travel Guide

Montreal was the largest city in Canada up until the 70's and is now the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. The official language of Montreal is French as defined by the city's charter. It is among the five largest French-speaking cities in the world. Montreal is defined by its location in between the St. Lawrence river on its south, and by the Rivière des Prairies on its north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head hill called Mount Royal.

Montreal is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec, approximately 275 km southwest of Quebec City, the provincial capital, and 190 km east of Ottawa, the federal capital. It also lies 550 km northeast of Toronto, and 625 km directly north of New York City. The city is located on the central and eastern portions of the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which is the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean.

For over a century and a half, Montreal was the industrial and financial centre of Canada. The variety of buildings included factories, warehouses, mills, and refineries, which provide a legacy of historic and architectural interest, especially in the downtown area and the Old Port area.

Montreal is the cultural centre of Quebec, and of French-speaking North America as a whole. The city is Canada's centre for French language television productions, radio, theatre, film, multimedia and print publishing. The Quartier Latin is a neighbourhood crowded with cafés animated by this literary and musical activity.