Montreal -- Marche Atwater or Marche Jean Talon or both? and General Itinerary Advice

[MalibuCA]

We are cruising the Crystal Symphony next September/October for the fall foliage cruise. We are spending 4 days pre-cruise (including an overnight on the ship) in Montreal. My planned itinerary is as follows:

 

Day 1 -- Vieux Montreal and Parc Mont Royal (taxi to the Chalet lookout and walk down from there)

 

Day 2 -- Musee des Beaux Art and Downtown

 

Day 3 -- Board the ship and Point-A-Calliere Museum of Archaeology and History (+ revisit any of the places already visited that we absolutely loved, if time permits)

 

Day 4 -- Plateau Mont Royal (including a stop at Patati Patata for poutines) and Jean Talon Market

 

Yes, I have been doing my homework!

 

First, please let me know your thoughts on this itinerary. I realize that I have a lot packed in, and of course, I want time for sidewalk cafes and people watching.

 

Second, I currently have the Jean Talon Market planned for Day 4. Is that the best market to visit, or would it be better to visit the Atwater Market instead on Day 1 after wandering through Vieux Montreal?

 

Third, we want to visit St-Viateur Bagels for breakfast one morning. Which day do you recommend we do this? Which location of sightseeing is closest to St-Viateur Bagels?

 

The food in Montreal sounds amazing! Ordinarily, I'm pretty trim and fit, but I feel like in 4 days in Montreal I'm likely to gain 10 pounds before I even get on the ship! Well worth it, however! Fortunately, I plan on lots and lots of walking, so maybe everything will even out in the long run.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

Shelley:)

 

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[dan_and_joe]

First, please let me know your thoughts on this itinerary. I realize that I have a lot packed in, and of course, I want time for sidewalk cafes and people watching.

 

As a Montrealer, I think it's a very good itinerary! Although, I think I would switch day 1 and day 4 and combine the Plateau area with the Mont Royal Park as they are close to each other. Also Vieux Montreal, IMO, deserves an entire day.

 

Second, I currently have the Jean Talon Market planned for Day 4. Is that the best market to visit, or would it be better to visit the Atwater Market instead on Day 1 after wandering through Vieux Montreal?

Jean Talon without a doubt. Don't get me wrong, I love Atwater Market (in fact, that's where I do a lot of my food shopping), but Jean Talon is massive and has a huge variety of food and snack vendors. Plus it's much closer to the Plateau area.

 

Third, we want to visit St-Viateur Bagels for breakfast one morning. Which day do you recommend we do this? Which location of sightseeing is closest to St-Viateur Bagels?

 

My first choice would be the original location on St-Viateur, because you know, it's the original bakery. But you can't sit down and have breakfast there (it's a bagel shop)... So my second choice would be the Mont Royal street location which has sit down breakfast and lunch.

 

As a first day in MTL, I would suggest starting by having breakfast at St-Viateur on Mont Royal, explore the Plateau area / shop, go by metro to Jean Talon Market for lunch, explore the Market / buy goodies and then take a cab to Mont Royal park. Finish it up with a poutine at Patati Patata or La Banquise.

 

For other restaurant suggestions, I personally like the Chowhound forum.

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy Montreal!

[MalibuCA]

Thank you so much! This really helps!

 

Shelley

[Ephraim]

Second, I currently have the Jean Talon Market planned for Day 4. Is that the best market to visit, or would it be better to visit the Atwater Market instead on Day 1 after wandering through Vieux Montreal?

 

Third, we want to visit St-Viateur Bagels for breakfast one morning. Which day do you recommend we do this? Which location of sightseeing is closest to St-Viateur Bagels?

 

1. Atwater is a small market that is mainly for the locals of that area. Jean-Talon is the city market. There are other small markets like Atwater all over the city... I would definitely suggest Jean-Talon.. larger and more vibrant.

 

2. I'm a Fairmount person, so I won't comment about the bagels.... but basically it's in Mile End, it's interesting if you are a fan of Mordechai Richler books, like Duddy Kravitz or you know Montreal history and know the places to go, like Wilensky's Light Lunch. But basically it's not really "near" anything. It's at the far end of the plateau. Then again, so is Fairmount. But St. Viateur does have a café on Mount-Royal, as well. Of course, the patisseries are around Laurier and so are some of the trendy shops of the area.

[Earl Rosebery]

Beauty's is THE breakfast Deli in Montreal. PS. Montreal bagels and smoked meat (brisket) are unlike anything else in the world. Ex Montrealers like me miss them terribly. Siegel's in vancouver tries hard and they fly the smoked meat in but it's not quite the same.