Rue St Catherine is a very busy major shopping street, full of interesting stores. The photo that you have chosen is far away from the retail area
St. Catherine Street, like St Laurent Street, like everywhere in Montreal has been destroyed by the so- called " French Canadian" takeover.Montreal used to be the culturally richest coolest city in Canada. Now it is bankrupt both financially and culturally.It is hostile to tourists.
I visited Montreal just in the middle of winter and there were no where to go due to cold weather. So Rue St. Catherine became an interesting place to go around. There are interesting shops to all taste and income. The most interesting part of it, there is a parallel underground passage going along a good deal of the Rue St. Catherine. When you feel to cold or too hot in the summer one could always take that route to reach different stores.
This area has been a hot spot for several years and still attracts a vibrant crowd. Great restaurants and supper clubs. Wonderful wine selections and some tantalizing tastes. Its a great spot for your hangover brunch after a night out
Very very nice place to do shopping and to discover what is Montréal without go far away. Many resturant and big store:) Downtown:)
Talk about shops and more, this is the place. On that main street you will find all that you are looking for including some good Cappucino along the way...
With few exceptions, such as the Ogilvy department store, a few interesting churches and a few shops that aren't ordinary and/or dreadful, this is an unsightly street on which you will be harassed by panhandlers every block. Crappy restaurants. No scenery. Nothing to make the visit worthwhile.
Rue-Sainte-Catherine is over 11km in length and is one of the main arteries of Montréal. There are some large department stores along the street but if the weather turns bad then it is possible to enter Montréal Souterrain which runs parallel to Rue-Sainte-Catherine as there a lot of access points through the department stores and Metro stations. This is a busy street but worth a look when in Montréal.
When I had arrived in Canada in 1994, I couldn't believe my eyes, that such thing could have existed. I mean so long street, that is the St.-Catherine Rue. It is 11.5 km long and stretches all the way from the north, that is, from the Park St-Clement, near the net of the railway tracks and straight downward to the south, following the course of Sainte Laurence River, to its end, near the Station Vendome in the vicinity of the highway circle, that is consisted of the freeway Decarie and freeway Ville -Marie. You just can't imagine, what You'll have to see on such long route. From the three to four storeys buildings,that house very different kind of stores and shops to the restaurants in the Downtown of Montreal. To the high buildings in the Centre Ville with the banks, grand retail stores and other commercial venues. Even now twenty years later, I clearly recall the picture of the magnificent arch steel bridge, the Jacques Cartier Bridge, that I had crossed with the bus, going to and after some time coming from Quebec-City, where I lived for one year.That is a bridge You can get turning off the St-Catherine Street. Then near is the McGill University, the some number of colleges, very renown and notable.Very fine museums of arts also are here, in the proximity of this wondrous avenue.Just have the patience and want to see as much as You can,wandering along this extremely long street.
Good shops, but being from Toronto-area, I did not find it to be much different from Queen Street in Toronto! Some good shops and restaurants, but overall it's not the biggest deal unless you're from a place without a lot of shopping.