Montreal & Quebec City

By Andrew Mortimer, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada

Having only been at UTM for a handful of weeks, I and a few other exchange students realised that if we wanted to explore our new surroundings, a great time to do so would be during the reading week, which was coming up in early October. Even though we hadn’t known each other long at all, 6 of us decided to book a week away in the province of Quebec—firstly Montreal and then Quebec City. This was a great decision, as we all really enjoyed the trip, especially experiencing the unique culture there. 2 days before we left, I was also lucky enough to go to a Maple Leafs ice hockey game at the Scotiabank Arena. Although it was a friendly, the rivalry with their opponents, the Detroit Red Wings, and their overtime victory meant that it was an exciting Friday night. By the early hours of Sunday morning, though, I was arriving at UTM to get the shuttle bus downtown to catch an 8-hour bus to Montreal.

Once we had arrived at our first hostel after that long trip, we decided to check out the pub, which was just across the street, before going to bed completely shattered. The next day, and every day afterwards, we woke up early to explore this distinctive province. We began by going up Mount Royal on the outskirts of Montreal, having had a bagel for breakfast at the nearby St-Viateur’s Bagel Shop. You got a really good view of the city from the top, and if you can fight past the other photographers, it’s a nice place to check out. After dawdling through thrift and tourist shops, we also checked out the famous Habitat 67 and took a compulsory photo with the ‘Bonjour Montréal’ sign before trying Schwartz’s Deli for a delicious sandwich.

During our trip, we also visited many churches and cathedrals, which were especially impressive. The most noteworthy one was the Notre-Dame Basilica, which was ranked the 6th most beautiful building in the world in 2023 and is one of the most visited monuments in North America. These places of worship, along with the language and architecture, contributed to the persistent feeling that Quebec’s combination of European and North American culture was completely singular globally and not like anywhere else in the world.

Once we arrived in Quebec City, via train, we found that, as a smaller city, it felt even more European and very much like we were in France. We were blown away by the Château Frontenac, a huge Fairmont Hotel, and Montmorency Falls, which was worth the trip out of the city considering that it is over 30m taller than Niagara Falls, and you can get much closer on foot too. We also managed to try their traditional dish of Pâté Chinois (very similar to Shepherd’s Pie).

Overall, this was one of the best weeks I can remember, despite the rain, as it was great to experience a completely unique culture with a great set of friends, and I would recommend taking a trip out to Quebec if possible to anyone on an exchange year nearby.