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Montreal Tourisme: Making It Easier to Land Some Fries in Gravy

May 27, 2008 at 4:00 PM | 0 Comments

You may not realize it, but Montreal has been a global cultural mecca for decades. Sure it's frequently visited by University of Vermont students interested in legal boozing, but the city is also home to one of the most progressive electronic music, fashion, design and cuisine scenes in all of North America. Lucky for you, then that the good folks from Tourisme Montreal have made planning a long weekend there even easier with a new website.

The newly launched website offers a sleek, organized way to search for accommodations, cuisine, events and ways to experience the nightlife that Montreal is famous for. When you first open the page, you're greeted by a two minute aerial tour of the city that dramatically swoops in and out of different 'hoods. It wasn't really worth the two minutes and it kind of made us feel vertiginous, but it's definitely cool eye candy.

Although Montreal is not the value that it used to be for Americans, we were very impressed with the number of strong summer value accommodations packages that were offered on the site. One example that really widened our eyes was an introductory rate of $177 per night at The Ritz-Carlton. Uh, yes please!

You'll also find a guide to the wealth of summer festivals in town, which is good, since Montreal has 'em all: jazz, techno, theater, fashion and design.

One of the strongest points of the website is how specific you can get with searches. Whether it's shopping, events, cuisine, attractions or nightlife, you can really tailor your trip to your interests. Another feature we appreciated was the ability to bookmark places you want to experience and the hefty FAQ section which has information on climate, tipping and the always essential "Where can I buy alcohol?" (Answer: pretty much everywhere!)

The one thing we felt was noticeably lacking was a calendar. If you're planing a 4 day trip, you're constantly jostling between cuisine, events and attractions pages to organize your itinerary. That said, you can bookmark your way through the website and put together a customized itinerary and print it before you jet off with your friends.

One thing to keep in mind is that some of the grittier, underground places you may want to seek out in Montreal may not be found on the site. But overall, we like it--and we wish more destinations would put together similar sites.

Related Stories:
· Tourisme Montreal [Official Site]
· Tourism Board Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Mike9Alive]

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