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9 Places In Montreal To Go For A Quiet Winter Walk
Photo cred - cotonwatte
The holidays are a hassle, and sometimes you just need to get away from all the responsibilities and the work and the studying and the endless commitments you just made to everyone in your life. You can always pull an Into the Wild move, like that American dude who threw away his entire life to move to the Alaskan wilderness (he eventually ate a poisonous plant by accident and died, if you're curious). An extreme fate, and you can do better. Don't go to Alaska. Stay here and explore Montreal's parks instead. Click here for 9 Places in Montreal To Go For A Quiet Winter Walk >
Mont-Royal Park
1260 Remembrance Road, Montréal, QC H3H 1A2
Do a few quiet (and freezing) loops around Lac des Castors, and you'll feel like you just conquered winter.
Photo cred - Serge Maheu
Parc Angrignon
3400, boul. des Trinitaires
Parc Maisonneuve
Montreal, QC H1X 2B1
For the masochistic types who want to enjoy the serene beauty of winter mornings, but also want to ponder the harsh truths of modern capitalism as reflected in the economic disaster of the Olympic Stadium. Two birds, one stone, zero chance we'll ever host the Olympics ever again, yay?
Photo cred- Márcio Cabral de Moura
Old Port
The old architecture gets 10x more lovely after it snows, and the bonus is that the abundance of museums, coffee shops, and souvenir stores means you have convenient shelters to dive into if the temperature gets too unbearable.
Underground City
Downtown
For when you want to walk, but don't want to walk outside. The underground city can feel like an extended dream sequence, because so few people use it during the day, so you can walk through a kilometer of tunnels without ever seeing anyone. I like to start at metro Bonaventure and walk in a loop until I end up at McGill (you may have to go outside for a brief moment though, for this to work). Everything's connected to a metro though, so at least it's impossible to get lost.
Anse-à-l’Orme Nature Park.
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Montréal, QC H9X 4A8
This park is in the West Island, which means that it's sufficiently far away from the city that you can see wild deer there sometimes.
Promenade Bellerive
Is there anything better than looking at a frozen lake on a quiet winter morning? (this is not sarcastic. I really love frozen lakes.)
Summit Circle
Westmount
Getting there requires walking through one of the richest neighbourhoods in Montreal, which is either amazing or terrible depending on what kind of person you are. The view of Montreal is amazing though - guarantees that you'll fall in love with the city again, in a new way.
It's also a popular spot for Westmount people to bring their dogs, and dogs! in the snow! Worth the climb uphill for that alone.
Parc-nature du Ruisseau-De Montigny
Riviere-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles, Montreal, QC H1J 2Y2
It's right in the name, but this park is known for its stream running through from south to north. There's a small waterfall (drop of 3 meters), and the entire area has developed a rich ecological system around the stream. It's the most colourful in the autumn, when the leaves change colour, and the most impressive in the spring, when the snow melts and increases the water.
It's a hassle to get to in the winter, but something about a frozen waterfall is still pretty cool, don't you think?
If you’re also a weirdo about Montreal culture and humour, find Sijia on Twitter (@hey_sijia) or on her tumblr.
