Exploring Montréal’s Foot and Bike Paths

One of the beauties of Montréal is its wide choice of foot and bike paths that are easily accessible by public transportation or within short driving distances from anywhere on the Island.

Ulysses Travel Guides has published two very informative publications pertaining to walking and biking in and around Montréal.

One is the soft bound pocketbook dealing with walking in and around Montréal entitled Randonée pédestre Montréal et environs. For those English Speaking readers this is an excellent chance to polish up on your French and at the same time to discover the interesting neighbourhoods, parks and streets of Montréal.

The most recent edition, authored by Yves Seguin, divides the book into several sections dealing with a variety of topics such as the fauna and floral of the nature parks, equipment to carry along, public transportation to the sites, maps, brief histories and exact locations of the areas to explore, as well as important addresses and phone numbers.

Predominately the book deals with Montréal’s nature parks as well as the
parks in close proximity to Montréal, however there are sections which introduce the reader to Montréal’s famous thoroughfares, such as Bld Saint-Laurent, rue Saint-Denis, rue Sherbrooke, avenue Mont-Royal (not to be confused with Parc Mont Royal). Each description of a particular area to explore is introduced with a brief history and the major attractions of the area.

As for the nature parks, the descriptions are very instructive. For example, Parc Mont-Royal, of which I have written a previous article, we are exposed to some interesting historical tidbits. However, I would have liked to have learned something more about the fauna and flora found throughout the mountain.

As the book is in pocket form it is very easy to carry around and refer to while you are exploring the various neighbourhoods and parks of Montréal. I hope the publisher comes out with an English edition of the book in order to appeal to a wider audience, particularly the many English speaking neighbours to the south of us.

Another very interesting guide by the same publishers and is in French and English is entitled Biking Montréal. This is a 23 page pamphlet containing condensed maps that include places of interest found on Montréal’s most popular bike routes. For the cyclist this handy little publication is indispensable and extremely practical. It also permits the cyclist to plan the length of his or her tour. Perhaps it would have been nice to combine the two publications into one.

Questions?
If you want more information about this area you can email the author or check out our North America Insiders page.

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