"Montreal" Montreal by DueSer

The location of Montreal (pronounced Mohn-ree-all) on the map makes it the perfect getaway for a fun little weekend if you live or are visiting anywhere in New England. The city has just enough shopping, dining, and historical points of interest to keep you busy for a couple of days.

Vieux Montreal should be the main focus of your visit but you certainly don't need to stay there. There are many B&Bs in the surrounding neighborhoods. These B&Bs are, for the most part, in one of Montreal's pretty little row houses - like snowflakes, they all look different and beautiful close up but from a distance they all work together to make a lovely scene - and there are plenty of small, excellent restaurants in these neighborhoods (try L'Anecdote for lunch or St. Viateur Bagels for breakfast) to make dining hassle-free.

Then you can spend your time in Vieux Montreal shopping and seeing the sights - like the old fort walls from Champlain's time - or take pictures of stop signs in French ("arret") to prove to people you spent the weekend out of the country.

Don't forget to explore the amazing underground part of Montreal. A good part of what's going on in Montreal is going on under the streets.

Dinner would probably be best spent on Crescent between Mainsonneuve and Levesque. This is where it's really happening in the evenings.

Parking in Montreal isn't easy, though, so if you can take the train into town, even better for you. Walking and the Metro can help you out once you get into the city.