Best Attractions to See in Montreal for First Time Visitors

Montreal is the second biggest city in Canada located in Quebec. It is an urban location first founded in the 17th Century and is a very diverse region, with many residents being able to speak a mix of languages, including French, English, both, or another foreign language. The area is a picturesque one and has a selection of unique and historical venues often used as tourist attractions for those visiting the province.
For holidaymakers looking to stay in Canada for the first time, choosing where to go can be quite a difficult choice. For the tourists wanting to experience both a busy city day as well as a quiet stroll in the country – Montreal would make an excellent holiday spot. It offers some of the most scenic and historical attractions in Canada.

Fun Places to Visit in Montreal

From visiting homely restaurants to going on hikes along the banks of the many calm rivers running through the forest parks, to visiting nightclubs and casinos – there’s always something for everyone in Montreal to guarantee a fun time.
The nightlife scene in Montreal is quite varied too, and offers a variety of clubs and entertainment venues such as casinos and gaming venues for tourists to enjoy whilst visiting. However, if flash casinos aren’t your thing, you can always cosy up in one of the many boutique hotels and play casino games like slots online, live table games, or even bingo. And if gaming doesn’t interest you, there’s the Ausgang Plaza, where you can enjoy live music, film screenings, and art installations.

For those who enjoy their food, Montreal features some of the tastiest Canadian-inspired cuisines around. Some of the best restaurants and eateries in the area include the likes of Schwartz’s Deli, BOUILLON BILK, and Toque! which serve up some of the most delicious food in the Montreal area, leaving you craving for more.

Best Attractions in Montreal

For those with a passion for travel and who want to make the most of a holiday in Montreal, there are plenty of places to visit around the city. Montreal includes a wealth of activities and places to visit for holidaymakers, some of which have been listed below.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a museum offering a wide selection of exhibits focusing around visual arts, history and science.

Mount Royal

Mount Royal is a large rock hill in Montreal that features some of the most scenic shots in Canada as its picturesque peaks overlook the city. There are current plans for a railway station to be built underneath it.

Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal

A stunning feature of Old Montreal, this Gothic church is a centrepiece of Montreal and would make the most beautiful place for photo opportunities – especially at night when its magnificent blue windows are lit up.

Biodome

The Biodome is a large dome making up a garden centre that preserves four different ecosystems found in America, as well as being a habitat for several breeds of animals.

La Ronde

As the only Six Flags amusement park in Canada, La Ronde would make an amazing place to visit for those thrill-seekers out there who want to try out some of the fastest and iconic roller coasters which North America has to offer.

Overall, there are many fabulous places and attractions for couples and families to experience in Montreal. There’s always something for everyone to do, which makes Montreal a wonderful Canadian city ready to be discovered by holidaymaker

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IAAPA Attractions Expo 2017 Wrap Up

Every year, I look forward to attending the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions expo, which takes over a nice portion of the Orange County Convention Center. They fill the enormous show floor for sneak peaks of what we can expect from the future of theme park industry. It ranges from rides to food to even metal shop work, which we love here at Media Mikes! You literally need a few days to even properly cover this event fully. I have covered this event for the last few years with my dad. He is a Mike also, so fits with the site also 🙂 It has become a fun tradition. We split the event and conqueror. Only true way to see everything in the short week! This year a highlight year for sure!
Virtual reality definitely was the spotlight for this year, no question. It seemed like every place you turn there was a new VR experience to try. VR isn’t really my bag, so we didn’t partake too much but I am excited to see what these amusement parks have planned for the future. One that comes to mind was HALOGATE VR EXPERIENCE. This was one that I did try and I literally was blown away. I can see this be a very popular attraction. One that I have been on previously and would not recommend is definitely the MaxFlight simulator. It is old tech and a VERY ROUGH ride! Stay away from that one for sure!
If VR isn’t your bag there was tons of other great options to see including the outdoor sky-flying attraction called Aerodium Wind Tunnel. I could see myself doing this for sure and it is very easy to setup for companies. I feel like these could pop-up very easily anyway. There was also the Phoenix Pro virtual driving Formula 1 Simulator by Wave Italy. This was rad. You are sitting in a mock Formula 1 car and you are surrounded by screens in front of you as you speed through courses. Very interactive and a ton of fun!
The absolute highlight of this year for me has to be the Infinity Massage Chair station. I found my newest love with the Infinity Riage X3, the “world’s best massage chair”. This chair uses 3D Technology giving a state of the art Reflexology Massage with a Zero Gravity experience including Spinal Decompression and deep tissue massage. If that isn’t enough it even has Bluetooth for music and can be controlled by iPad application. If you are wondering YES I did buy one of these at the show, no joke! It was an amazing purchase and I honestly plan on using it daily!
Other than rides, there were also some great companies advertising costumes like full My Little Pony characters. These were really sharp and I know my daughter would have loved this when she was younger for sure! Stopped by Apple Industries booth, which was actually smaller from previous years, and had some fun with the photo booths. There was a fun “Fear the Walking Dead” zombie interactive experience, which had quite the line but was a ton of fun! I also found a super fun Willy Wonka coin game that had be glued it to it for a longer than I want to admit. I wish I would have bought one of those also but my wife would have easily divorced me for sure 😉
In previous years, I didn’t get to hit enough panels each year but this year we were able to catch the SeaWorld panel and it was definitely promising. Having worked personally for the company in the past, I am excited to see everything that it has planned for the future. Infinity Falls at Aquatica is going to be an amazing new ride! This park has always been a favorite of mine and I am glad to see that it has big plans for the future. All the theme parks had presence. I spotted plenty of high profile people over the week. So I expect to see some of this new attractions and technologies in a theme park near you!
Besides buying a massage chair, the most fun I enjoy is walking the floor and meeting the vendors and having them talk about all the excited new technology that they are working with and what we can expect even for next year. This convention is worldwide and the companies that come from all over the world to showcase what they are currently working on. I love meeting all these great people and I love getting a chance to try out these new attractions. I can’t wait for 2018, which also happens to be the 100th anniversary for IAAPA! So I can imagine that next year is going to be bigger than ever! Till next November!

 

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Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: 2017, attractions, expo, iaapa, wrap
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