Jaunted

Beer Travel / Drinking Travel / Beer Festivals / Montreal Travel / Festival Travel / Events / → All Tags

Montreal's Beer Festival is the Biggest and Best in Canada

We’ve been to our share of beer festivals, but there has never been one as classy as the Mondial de la Bière in Montreal. Although it sounds fancy because you must use your limited French language skills to pronounce it, the Montreal Beer Festival is the largest party dedicated to hops and barley in all of Canada. Of course there will be plenty of Molson and Moosehead, but there will also be other more exotic options as well.

This year’s festival is set to run from June 2 through June 6 at the historic Windsor Station. Admission is free, and tasting coupons are only $1 each. The coupons should get you a three-to-four-ounce sample, so you’ll need to watch it if you actually want to critique a few different brews before getting sloshed. The only catch is that some samples might cost more than just one coupon. We expect that to be the case for the Sam Adams Utopias from 2009 with its distinct flavor and even more distinct alcohol content—its 27% per volume.

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Get INTO the Cold / Quebec Travel / Curling / Fairmont Hotels / → All Tags

Get INTO the Cold: Montebello, Quebec

Trying to flee the freezing temperatures sweeping across the country is natural, but predictable. Instead, do what folks in these frigid destinations do—embrace it and get INTO the cold. The trick to staying toasty is chill-killing gear and lots of bone warming activity. So stop moping around waiting for summer to arrive and head to these five crazy cold places and get your winter wonderland on.

Montebello, Canada

Cold Meter: Extreme:
It’s damned cold in the Outaouais region of western Quebec province, no matter what the locals say. But, don’t panic when hearing reports of -20 degree temperatures. French Canadians speak in Celsius, so that would be only a chillez -4 F to Americans. But peeps around these parts don’t fret about such things. They see it as another chance to hang around a warm fire or tiny cafe after a day outside. Copious amounts of wine makes all things bearable here, too.

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Celeb Travel / Jimmy Fallon / Montreal Travel / Bar Travel / Canada Travel / → All Tags

Use Twitter to Stalk Jimmy Fallon in Montreal

While some celebs were getting poured on in L.A., Jimmy Fallon proved all the cool kids were actually in Canada. The Late Night host spent the weekend in Montreal for a friend's bachelor party where, he announced on his show Friday, they planned to do some snowmobiling and ice fishing. But, apparently, they decided to do some eating and bar hopping instead.

On Sunday, he tweeted, "Love to Montreal. Had a blast this weekend. Joe Beef, Chez Serge and Stereo. Great places." So, where are these great places? Joe Beef, located at the corner of De la Commune Street and De la Callière Street, in Old Montreal, has only 28 seats and a limited menu to ensure each customer has great service and each meal is as fresh as it can be. Every night there is a choice of four appetizers and four main courses written on a blackboard in the restaurant. Main dishes include tripe-a beef, fresh fish or traditional Montreal cuisine ranging from $18 to $40.They also have a “raw bar” where you get to choose from three or four different kinds of oysters, clams, crabs or lobsters ($8 to $18).

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Lindsay Lohan / Airport Security / Montreal Travel / Customs / → All Tags

Lindsay Lohan Gets Interrogated at Customs in Canada

Lindsay Lohan may have taken one of Jaunted's ideas for a vacation to heal her soul but she's obviously not dedicated to making it work.

Just last week, she headed up to Montreal to host a gig at a nightclub. Remember Lilo, it works if you work it.

However, her trip through customs in Canada didn't go quite as planned. While we usually get admonished for having our cell phones out or for not having our passports ready quick enough, Lindsay Lohan was actually "hauled into a backroom by border staff" at the Montreal Airport.

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Embedded Travel Guides / Jaunted in Montreal / Shira Lazar / Food Travel / Bagels / → All Tags

Springtime in Montreal: The Best Bagels in The World

Can't swing a trip to Paris for the Spring? Jaunted Embed Shira Lazar gives us a tour of her home town of Montreal, a much cheaper but just as authentic French experience.

Yesterday we told you about one of the two treats you must have when visiting Montreal. That was poutine. Today, we are going to teach you about goodness of Montreal bagels.

Montreal bagels are made completely different than any other bagel in the world. They are hand-rolled, thinner, boiled, dipped in honey water and put in a fire oven the old-fashioned way.

They are also addictive! We paid a visit to Mount Royal Bagel Factory on Lucerne to get a sneak (bagel) peek of how their amazing bagels are made. Actually, anyone can see how they are made, as it is done pretty much right in front of you behind the counter.

We might have a bias since we grew up in Montreal, but we've lived in other big cities and we can say these bagels really are the best in the world.

Insider Tip: Another great classic bagel brand to try is St. Viateur which has three shops in Montreal.

Related Stories:
· Jaunted's Springtime in Montreal [Jaunted]

Embedded Travel Guides / Jaunted in Montreal / Shira Lazar / Food Travel / Poutine / → All Tags

Springtime in Montreal: Where to Experience Poutine Goodness

Can't swing a trip to Paris for the Spring? Jaunted Embed Shira Lazar gives us a tour of her home town of Montreal, a much cheaper but just as authentic French experience.

Don’t come to Montreal on a diet and with a closed mind. Two signature foods you can’t leave the city without trying are Montreal Bagels and Poutine. Today, we're talking Poutine. We'll save the bagels for later.

Poutine is not exactly the healthiest choice you can make when visiting Montreal but it's an experience to say the least: French fries, melted cheese and gravy. C'est le Paradis!

The oldest and most famous joint in town is La Banquise, which has been serving up to 26 choices of poutine for nearly 40 years. Sample it during the day or indulge late-night after a long night of drinking. It's open until 3am!

Watch the video as we go back into the kitchen of La Banquise to watch them make our poutine goodness.

Embedded Travel Guides / Jaunted in Montreal / Shira Lazar / Saint Laurent / Schwartz's Deli / → All Tags

Springtime in Montreal: Schwartz’s Deli on Saint Laurent

Can't swing a trip to Paris for the Spring? Jaunted Embed Shira Lazar gives us a tour of her home town of Montreal, a much cheaper but just as authentic French experience.

We grew up shopping by day and party hopping by night on St. Laurent, known for its fun boutiques and supperclubs. Globe and BuonaNotte might not have five-star chefs, but the American/Italian dinners are pretty good and as the night continues, locals start dancing on chairs and tables until 3AM.

If you’re hungry again after that, there are a ton of late-night pizza and schwarma spots along the street too. For more of the pub/bar scene, walk to the closed cobblestone street of Prince Arthur.

But if you want a foodie experience to remember, then you must continue north on St. Laurent you’ll also find one of Montreal’s most famous deli’s Schwartz’s. Open from 8am to midnight on weekdays and weekends until 2:30am, Schwartz’s is the oldest deli in Canada (it opened in 1928), a true historic landmark. Nothing has changed since the place opened and all the ingredients are fresh and free of preservatives. Plus, their smoked meat is smoked daily. Trust us, your stomach and tastebuds will be eternally grateful.

Watch as Shira's takes a bite out of their famous smoked meat sandwich and interviews a waiter who’s worked there for 7 years.

Embedded Travel Guides / Jaunted in Montreal / Shira Lazar / Old Montreal / Nightlife / → All Tags

Springtime in Montreal: Old Montreal's Restaurants and Lounges

Can't swing a trip to Paris for the Spring? Jaunted Embed Shira Lazar gives us a tour of her home town of Montreal, a much cheaper but just as authentic French experience.

We stopped by L’Orignal, a “chalet chic” resto on industry night Monday, where they offered $4 vodka and had an oyster chucker right at the bar.

The owners of L’Orignal also have another hot resto/lounge in the area called Garde Manger. It’s a the hip dining destination, where you can order seafood platters and bbq ribs while wining and listening to funky tunes. We’re told the waiting staff are hot too. BTW- that seems to be actually a Montreal norm.
L'Oringal: 479, Saint-Alexis/Garde Manger: 408 St-François-Xavier

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Embedded Travel Guides / Jaunted in Montreal / Shira Lazar / Travel Videos / Old Montreal / → All Tags

Springtime in Montreal: Video Guide to Old Montreal

Can't swing a trip to Paris for the Spring? Jaunted Embed Shira Lazar gives us a tour of her home town of Montreal, a much cheaper but just as authentic French experience.

Telling people you’re from Montreal can be quite the conversation starter. That’s because whoever has been there tends to love the city, and people that haven’t been there, want to go there. What makes Montreal standout as the most unique city in the province of Quebec and in Canada entirely, is that it contains a melting pot of cultures, both English and French. Visiting or growing up there, is like experiencing a slice of Europe in the middle of North America.

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Zip Lines / Ski Resorts / Active Travel / Winter Travel / → All Tags

Mont Tremblant's Aerial Obstacle Course

Juliana might not have done the zip line at Whistler, but it's hardly the only ski resort with aerial insanity begging us to risk our necks this winter. Along with Heavenly's Flyer, Mont-Tremblant, a Jaunted fave, has a treetop obstacle course connected by zip lines known as the Acrobranche.

The full course will take you 2.5 hours to navigate and the resort sums it up best:

Fly from tree to tree using logs, barrels, bridges, trapezes and zip lines and more. Also try a rock wall followed by a succession of wild zip lines. Harnessed onto a steel cable, fly away for a series of breathtaking zip-line glides.

We'd pay C$39 ($31) for that for sure. If the ice, snow and cold doesn't make it edgy enough for you, try the night trip for C$10 more; après-zip line hot chocolate included!

Related Stories:
· Winter Activities at Tremblant [Official Site]
· Ski Resorts in Summer: Actually Worth Visiting? [Jaunted]

Eating Quebec / Food Travel / Diners / Eating-in-Quebec / → All Tags

The Best Diner In Montreal

It may be a little chilly right now, but Quebec offers as much culture as Europe for way less cash. And thanks to the resurgence of the dollar, there's never been a better time to head to Canada. Dana McMahan just got back and is dishing on the province's eats all this week.

I admit to being an over-planner: Just about every meal on my nine-day trip to Quebec was set ahead of time. But you can’t plan for those perfect little places that you stumble upon. You know, the kind of place you have to go into, regardless of whether you’re even hungry. Beauty’s Luncheonette is that place.

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Eating Quebec / Food Travel / Eating-in-Quebec / → All Tags

Bargain Shabu Shabu

It may be a little chilly right now, but Quebec offers as much culture as Europe for way less cash. And thanks to the resurgence of the dollar, there's never been a better time to head to Canada. Dana McMahan just got back and is dishing on the province's eats all this week.

There’s nothing wrong with choosing a restaurant because the name is fun to say, right? I have to admit, I got a little kick out of Twittering that I was headed to Hanashima Shabu Shabu before leaving for Montreal’s Chinatown that night.

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