Montréal Guide
Downtown Montréal
Montréal's downtown lies roughly between rue Sherbrooke and rue St-Antoine to the north and south, towards rue St-Denis in the east and overlapping with the Golden Square Mile as it stretches west beyond rue Guy. Of the main streets, rue Ste-Catherine offers the most in the way of shopping, dining and entertainment, while boulevard de Maisonneuve is more business-oriented. A number of Métro stations on the green and orange lines provide easy access to downtown's attractions – most are linked to the so-called Underground City. Though the main sights are the high-rises and shopping complexes, the area is also dotted with old churches, museums and public squares filled with activity from buskers, artists and market vendors.
The Underground City
Place Ville Marie marks the beginning of Montréal's famous Underground City, planned as a refuge from the city's weather – outrageously cold in the winter and humid in the summer. The underground network began with the construction of the cruciform Place Ville Marie in the 1960s. Montréalers flooded into the first climate-controlled shopping arcade, and the Underground City duly spread. Today its 33km of passages provide access to the Métro, major hotels, shopping malls, transport termini, thousands of offices, apartments and restaurants, and a good smattering of cinemas and theatres. Everything underground is signposted, but you're still likely to get lost on your first visit – pick up a map of the ever-expanding system from the tourist office. However, while the pamphlets make the Underground City sound somewhat exotic, it's a pretty banal place – most Montréalers just use it to get from place to place, or drop in on a number of fairly standard shopping malls. If you're on a budget, check out the inexpensive food courts on the lowest floor of any of the malls (also handy for public toilets).
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