Canada’s second largest city is buzzing all year round. From the cool designer shops on Rue Saint-Denis to the waterfront and Old Montréal, Montreal has much to offer any business traveller with a bit of spare time (see our Four Hour Guide to the city). But as the UK gets to grips with the wintry temperatures, spare a thought for our cousins in Canada. Montreal, will see temperatures drop sub zero in the next month and to minus 10 degrees Celsius by Christmas. January and February are even colder. But business travellers visiting the creative island city over the winter months don’t need to panic.
Montreal has 32 km (21 miles) of underground pedestrian network, with shops, hotels, restaurants, metro stations, museums and banks all connected in bright clean, warm tunnels. It’s known as the double-decker city and during the winter half a million people use the network to keep out of the freezing temperatures.
Greg Klassen, senior vice president marketing strategy and communications for Canadian Tourism commission says: “Everybody loves winter. The Underground city is attached to all the major buildings and hotels so it’s common to walk underground from one appointment to the next.”
The 21-mile Montreal Underground Pedestrian Network wasn’t built because of the weather. In 1967 the city’s metro system opened and the underground network grew. Because of the harder rock found in Montreal (compared with London) the metro system is not as deep as the UK’s system and not all of it is completely underground, meaning there is natural air conditioning and even skylights from the city above. This gives the feel of walking through a giant airy shopping centre, with different levels for the restaurants, shops and apartments, often flooded with natural daylight.
The network began at Place Ville Marie when it was linked to Central Station. Other points of note are the shopping centre – the Eton Centre and the longest portion of the underground city – along St Catherine’s street (the equivalent of Oxford Street in London) as well as popping up at Place des Artes (close to the Hyatt hotel and the Museum of Contemporary Art) for Jazz music and street performances. You can check the Tourisme Montreal website for itineraries, but if you have a few hours and want to explore by yourself, it’s an enjoyable experience – just be sure to keep an eye on which direction you are taking as it is easy to get distracted and wander down a different route.
Klassen says: “The underground is elegant and you are taken from your hotel, to restaurants and business buildings all in the warmth. It’s somewhere you can enjoy night and day.”
Business travellers could spend their whole visit to Montreal in the underground network walking from hotel to convention centre to restaurant and back to the hotel. But although this ensures a cosy visit – it would be a shame to miss out on the vibrant city above. Just wrap up warm. For an article on where to meet in Montreal click here
For more information and events in and around the underground city see tourisme-montreal.org
Underground in numbers
The Underground Pedestrian Network in Montreal gives access to:
4 convention and meeting centres
3 exhibition halls,
9 fitness centres
309 food court-type restaurants
9 hotels
17 apartment buildings
6 bus and train stations
10 centres for performing arts
1 chapel
2 libraries
3 medical / dental clinics
13 cinemas
1 museum
101 office buildings
2 radio stations
53 restaurants
938 retailers
3 skating rinks
5 universities
