Montreal travel tips from Martin!
Montreal is of course a proper/large city, with all the good and the bad that this entails. If you have one, I strongly recommend you leave your car at your accommodation and use public transport, especially the subway, or walk whenever you can.
Here is a selection of a few areas well worth a visit on foot, spending probably half a day for each, although you could easily stretch each to a full day.
Old Port and St-Lawrence River
The old town is quite nice, if not as beautiful nor as well preserved as that in Quebec City. The Notre-Dame Basilica, Jacques-Cartier place in front of the town hall, St-Paul street, the lowest street by the railway track, and the Old Port itself (transformed former docks) are where you will find lots of people and a good atmosphere (as well as many decent if overpriced/touristy restaurants). The Old Port in particular should have some "street" stands, street animation, and I believe a place where you can swim in summer (and definitely skate in winter under the big wheel!). The Bonsecours "market" is also worth a visit, although only a shadow of it former self.
Note that by walking south along the Old Port (to its extreme southern end), you can also access the walking path/promenade along the Lachine Canal, very popular these days. E.g. go along the canal up to the Atwater Market or a little further to l'Ambroisie (where the conference dinner will take place). Going all the way to Old Lachine, where the canal rejoins the St-Lawrence River, would take you slightly over 3 hours on foot.
You may also want to go to the two main islands in front of the Old Montreal in the middle of the St-Lawrence River (accessible by subway or bridges, and I believe by a boat shuttle): St Helen (beautiful park with a museum and the main amusement park (i.e. huge rides!) called La Ronde, and Notre-Dame (with the F1 track, rowing bassin, fake beach, and fancy casino). Note that the amusement park is the site of twice weekly fireworks shows (actually the most prestigious international competition between countries) at 22:00-22:30 during the summer on Thursdays and Sundays. When they are on, the huge metal Jacques-Cartier Bridge is closed to cars and open/full of pedestrians, probably the best place to watch free (although you can see the fireworks from anywhere not too far from the river, on both shores).
Chinatown
Chinatown (what is left of it anyway) is squeezed between the old town and the city centre. Make sure you actually go to a Vietnamese restaurant while there (or elsewhere in Montreal) to have a vietnamese soup ("phoa") and spring rolls (rouleaux du printemps; steamed not fried). This is a classic Montreal dish. Dim sums can also be fun.
City Centre and English nightlife area
Of course, you should walk along the main shopping street in the city centre, St-Catherine Street (and parallel street Sherbrooke, more upmarket), starting from roughly Guy street in the west (i.e. south; firmly English) up to Berri street in the east (i.e. north; firmly French)... farther east lies the gay quarter, which is pedestrian only during the summer. You will find all the main/usual shops there, uncountable shopping centres (most underground!), large department stores, etc. For a lunch, stop at the popular "Time Out" food court. Try following the street underground in its central section, in the so-called underground city linking all these shopping centres and department stores together (and subway stations, and cinemas, and the train station, and ...), an interesting challenge! You will graze the business quarter and skyscrappers along the way (as well as the Bell Center, home of the Montreal Canadiens, the most famous ice hockey team in the world!).
The main places to go out in the west/English area are along Crescent Street and to a lesser extent de la Montagne Street (perpendicular to St-Catherine street), although you will find much the same everywhere
in the city centre.
Festival Area and St-Lawrence Boulevard
As you head east (i.e. north) along St-Catherine Street, you will come to the "Place des Festivals", a large quadrangle-ish of streets that will be closed to cars and thus entirely for pedestrians, centred on the "Place des Arts", where the largest concert halls are concentrated (this is just a few minutes on foot from Chinatown, by the way). There is a succession of large festivals there during the entire summer, including the current and largest "International Montreal Jazz Festival", and there should be street animation at most times. Be warned that the crowds around each of the four main stages will reach several tens of thousands for each free show several times a day. Great fun though!
Just a little beyond this lies the main street dividing the west/English and east/French parts of the city, called St-Laurent boulevard. I suggest to walk north (i.e. west) along this street (so away from the river), especially north of Sherbrooke street, and going all the way to Mont-Royal street. You will see a succession of restaurants, bars, interesting shops, as well as cross what used to be the Portuguese neighborhood.
Make sure you stop at the restaurant called Schwartz's (a little south of Duluth Street) for a smoked meat sandwich, with either french fries or coslaw (do NOT have anything else!). This looks like a dirty chip shop, but it is probably the most famous restaurant in Montreal. Its smoked meat sandwich is legendary. I do a twice yearly pilgrimages there myself.
If you feel like venturing slightly farther north (so farther than Mont-Royal Street), you could also walk up to Laurier street, also perpendicular to St-Lawrence. Toward the west (between St-Lawrence and Cote St-Catherine Boulevard) is a succession of posh (and pricey) restaurants and designer shops. Toward the east (between Rachel and Papineau streets) is a more animated/down-to-earth strip of shops and restaurants, as well as delightful Laurier Park, well worth a stop for a family picnic.
(By the time one reaches Jean Talon boulevard along St-Laurent Boulevard there is have a miniature Vietnamese quarter, and Little Italy (with great food) is just slightly west, but both are too far to go on foot. You will also come relatively close to the two famous Montreal bagel shops, "St-Viateur" and "Fairmount" bagels. If you do not make it to the shops, make sure you buy some of these bagels elsewhere!
Plateau neighbourhood and Latin Quarter
Once you reach Mont-Royal Street along St-Laurent, turn right toward the east (i.e. north) and walk along it. In the summer it becomes pedestrian past St-Denis Street (more on that street below), with a rather bohemian atmosphere (although plenty of upmarket places these days there as well). Many restaurants, bars/cafes, bookshops, etc.
You should really walk east past St-Denis Street for some time to soak the atmosphere and grab a bite, but when you have had enough come back to St-Denis Street and walk south (i.e. east), back toward the river and city centre. First will be many nice shops, cafes, restaurants, but once you reach Sherbrooke Street St-Denis will become pedestrian in the summer and full of restaurants with terraces in the street, and often street animation. By the time you reach St-Catherine Street, turn right and go back toward the city centre. In effect, you have by then walked a rectangle of St-Laurent -> Mont-Royal -> St-Denis -> St-Catherine.
Note that there are also many other streets running east-west betwen St-Laurent and St-Denis that are worth to stroll along. Rachel, Duluth and Prince-Arthur (the later fully pedestrian) are full of restaurants, cafes, and interesting shops, and of course come to life particularly in the evenings (just like the strip of St-Denis between Sherbrooke and St-Catherine, although the restaurants there are rather unequal/poor). La Fontaine park, slightly east/north of St-Denis street, is well worth a visit (and has an outdoor theatre with frequent plays/concerts). Saint-Louis Square is probably the most famous square in montreal, a tradittional favourite of French poets and writers.
Do also try to walk along some of the smaller non-commercial streets in that neighborhood, to see the beautiful houses with large external staircases that are a hallmark of Montreal.
(The "Binerie Mont-Royal", now on St-Denis Street, offers traditional dishes in a snack bar style... try the "pate chinois" (essentially a shephard pie), "tourtiere" (essentially a meat pie) and most importantly the "ragout de boulettes de pattes de cochons" (meat balls in a pig feet sauce). Delicious!)
Somewhere/at some point, you will also have to try a "poutine", Quebec's famous chips with gravy and cheese curds. You will find many fancy versions theses days (with additional topings), including in up-market restaurants, but you should really try the standard/classic version in what looks like a chip shop. The best!
Mount Royal Park
The main park to walk around in Montreal is on the Mont-Royal mountain (Mount-Royal Park), with the best views of the city from the "chalet" (i.e. the cottage). It is easiest to start your walk from the top of the mountain (near Beaver Lake), but you actually can start all the way from the city centre if you want, or from the part of the park along Park Avenue (where there are large gatherings of tam-tams for music on Sundays). From there it is a short hop to the St-Joseph Oratory and the lively "Cote-des-Neiges" Boulevard, on the side of the mountain opposite the city centre. Note that on the street that goes down the mountain on the east (really north!) side, there is a rest/parking area (Belvedere Camillien-Houde) that is famous to watch the sun rise, usually after a long night out (but you are welcome to rise early instead!).
Museums
The main museums in Montreal are the Fine Arts Museum and Contemporary Arts museum in the city centre. Then there is a cluster around the old Olympic stadium in the east, with the Biodome, Planetarium (where the conference reception will be), Insectarium, and the huge and highly recommended Botanical Garden. There are of course a million smaller museums and other places of interest. Note that you can enter the old Forum (where Montreal won most of its Stanley cups), now transformed in a multi-purpose entertainment center, and you can drive along much of the Formula 1 track on Notre-Dame Island. If you want to see the influence of Oxbridge, walk in the McGill University campus just off the city centre (where the public lecture will be).