French Canadian city, Montreal, in the providence of Quebec offers the perfect summer escape in North America. According to Wikipedia, Montreal was originally called Ville-Marie, or “City of Mary” the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the city is located. The weather can vary from highs in the 60’s to upper 80’s Fahrenheit.
The city is bustling day and night. Montreal has beautiful waterways and cobblestone streets. The buildings have a European flair with numerous quaint restaurants, cafes and bars. Even though French is the official language I found that everyone spoke English willingly and the residents were very friendly and helpful.
The salsa scene is very active in Montreal. Club 649 is dedicated to salsa and it seemed to be open every night. All the clubs in Montreal are now smoke-free and Club 649 had nice hardwood floors and great music. We visited on Tuesday night and had plenty of room to dance. However, the space was quite small for a busy crowd and the air condition didn’t seem to work, after a few dances it was unbearably hot.
On Friday we visited Cactus, which is also dedicated to salsa dancing. According to the web reviews, the better dancers frequent this venue as well. Cactus also had nice hardwood floors and good music. However, the space was quite small and it was quite crowded without much room to dance. It felt a bit Closter phobic with the small room and heavy strobe lights.
Besides a lively dance scene, Montreal offers a lot of outdoor fun. The city boosts hundreds of miles of biking paths. We brought our bikes and did a 40 mile ride round trip into the city riding on paths safely designed and designated for bikers. However, you don’t need to bring your bike to Montreal as they can be easily rented from the bicycle sharing system, Bixi.
Montreal was the perfect summer getaway. From wonderful weather, parks, biking trails and nightlife, the city has something to offer for all.
Liked this article? Please share with your friends and “like” us on our Facebook page. Don’t forget to check out our calendar of events, weight loss calculator, 3D body mass index, food calorie counter, and exercise calorie calculator.