For three centuries the francophone Canadians have struggled to maintain their language and to assert their identity. As a result, Montreal is among the most interesting cities in the world. There are 18th-century houses of pale, local granite as well as a number of cobbled streets and a granite Gothic cathedral. Since French-speakers came into their own, Montreal has become a fascinating city. Theatres, art galleries, museums and dance companies are all flourishing; the literature is alive with a kind of self-awareness. Old buildings are valued and renovated. The oldest part of the city, Vieux Montreal, founded in 1642, became semi-derelict as business and banking moved to the new, high-rise downtown, but it is now enjoying a frenzy of gas-lamp and cobblestone restoration. It is full of galleries, restaurants and design hotels, many of which are terrific.

AUBERGE DU VIEUX-PORT
97 Commune Street (00 1 514 876 0081; fax: 876 8923; www.aubergeduvieuxport.com). Located on the riverfront in Vieux Montreal, the Auberge du Vieux-Port has 27 rooms, a restaurant and a rooftop terrace with views of the St-Lawrence River and the Old Port. There are also 17 lofts and apartments which can be booked on a nightly, weekly or monthly basis. £

AUBERGE LES PASSANTS DU SANS SOUCY
171 St Paul Street West (00 1 514 842 2634; fax: 842 2912; www.lesanssoucy.com).In Old Montreal overlooking the Sulpicien seminary: near Notre Dame Cathedral and some good French restaurants. The lobby doubles as an art gallery. There are nine good-sized bedrooms, all with lithographs by Chagall and Canadian artist Jean-Paul Riopelle. There are excellent breakfasts served at a communal toolbar. It's hard to get a room, you have to book at least two months ahead. £

HILTON MONTREAL BONAVENTURE
900 De La Gauchetiere Street West (00 1 514 878 2332; fax: 878 3881; www.hilton.com). Occupying the top two floors of Place Bonaventure, a 17-story business and international exhibition complex in downtown Montreal, the hotel boasts a heated rooftop pool. £

HOTEL GAULT
449 St-Hélène Street (00 1 514 904 1616; fax: 904 1717; www.hotelgault.com). The 30 rooms in the Hotel Gault, a converted textile warehouse in Old Montreal, feel like loft apartments. There are polished concrete floors, cast-iron columns, exposed brickwork and large, arched windows. Furnishings include giant charcoal grey sofas, bright woollen rugs and design gems such as Artemide Tolomeo lamps and re-editions of Pierre Paulin and Harry Bertoia chair. £

SOFITEL MONTREAL
1155 Sherbrooke Street West (00 1 514 285 9000; fax: 289 1155; www.sofitel.com). At the foot of the landmark Parc Mont Royal, the Sofitel Montreal has 258 rooms. £

ST JAMES HOTEL
355 St Jacques Street (00 1 514 841 3111; fax: 841 1232; www.hotellestjames.com). Situated in Old Montreal, this hotel is a Belgravia decorator's fantasy in a 12-floor, Second Empire building. The Rolling Stones took over the hotel on their last tour, and Mick Jagger is a big fan. The fact that there are more suites than rooms speaks volumes about the hotel's outer-stratosphere opulence. Have breakfast, tea and dinner in the high-ceilinged Grand Salon with its wrought-iron staircase. Splurge on a massage in the candle-lit, cathedral-like basement spa. ££

ST PAUL HOTEL
355 McGill Street (00 1 514 380 2222; fax: 380 2200; www.hotelstpaul.com). On the edge of hip, heritage-rich Old Montreal near Multimedia City. Montreal's answer to Silicon Valley. Beautifully restored Beaux Arts building; sophisticated and minimalist inside. Demanding business travellers, especially high-ranking media industry types. 120 rooms and suites decorated by Ana Borrallo. Eric Gonzalez, chef at Cube restaurant, creates modern French dishes with local ingredients. There are facilities galore for business travellers. The hotel's edgy design may not be the safest choice for conservative corporate gatherings. The hotel featured in the Hot List 2002. £

THE RITZ CARLTON
1228 Sherbrooke Street West (00 1 514 842 4212; fax: 842 3383; www.ritzcarlton.com). In the Golden Square Mile, the equivalent of New York's Fifth Avenue, a stone's throw from the Museum of Fine Arts. Recently refurbished grande dame with splendid, turn-of-the-century interiors. Liz Taylor married Richard Burton here (the first time) and its the venue of choice for monied Montreal weddings. There are 229 rooms and suites of wide corridors designed for Vuitton steamer trunks. Rooms have antique furniture and decorative fireplaces. Café de Paris serves the best eggs Benedict in town; in summer, alfresco meals at Le Jardin attract the city's elite. £

W MONTREAL
901 Victoria Square (001 514 395 3100; fax: 395 3150; www.whotels.com). Converted from the city's classic Banque du Canada building, the W Montreal is a sleek hotel located in the Quartier International District with rooms overlooking the Square Victoria Park. £

CAFE FERREIRA
1446 Peel Street (00 1 514 848 0988). Lunch at this wonderful Portuguese restaurant features very fresh fish and has the kind of bustle and reassurance factor that only highly proficient restaurants, such as the Gramercy Tavern in New York, achieve.

CHEZ SCHWARTZ CHARCUTERIE HEBRAIQUE
3895 Boulevard St-Laurent (00 1 514 842 4813). Smoked meat is a Montreal speciality, and it is well worth going to Schwartz's to eat as it was intended, in an atmosphere of studied indifference to service and decoration.

CUBE
Hotel Le St Paul (00 1 514 380 2222; fax: 380 2200; www.hotelstpaul.com, see Where to Stay). This was proclaimed one of the top 75 new restaurants in the world by US Condé Nast Traveler.

SAVANNAH
4448 Boulevard St-Laurent (00 1 514 904 0277). This spacious, stylish restaurant has a very talented chef from the USA.

TOQUE!
900 Place Jean-Paul Riopelle (00 1 514 499 2084). This is considered to be the best French restaurant in town. It is very ambitious, even whimsical.

BIODOME
4777 Pierre de Coubertin Avenue (00 1 514 868 3000). This is a former cycling stadium converted into a biodome housing four different climate zones.

BIOSPHERE
160 Chenin Tour de l'Isle, Ile Sainte-Hélène (00 1 514 283 5000). Buckminster Fuller's Biosphere, built for the 1967 Expo, is now an environmental centre, with a great view of the city beyond the sailor's church, Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, which inspired Leonard Cohen's song 'Suzanne'.

CANADIAN CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURE
1920 Baile Street (00 1 514 939 7026).

CHATEAU RAMEZAY MUSEUM
280 Notre Dame Street East (00 1 514 861 3708).

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL
1444 Union Avenue 00 1 514 843 6577).

HABITAT 67
2600 Pierre Dupuy Avenue (00 1 514 866 5971). This is one of Montreal's icons, a series of apartment boxes placed almost randomly on top of each other.

Some blocks short of the mountain is Sherbrooke Street, running east to west. Sherbrooke is the old residential and academic centre, where Scottish and English settlers built their baronial mansions and their university, McGill, in Gothic style. The westerly part is known as the golden square mile, which contains the famous Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the McCord Museum of Canadian History and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. The imposing gates of McGill open onto Sherbrooke, home to many of the city's luxury hotels, of which the Ritz-Carlton, built in 1912, is the most venerable.

MCCORD MUSEUM OF CANADIAN HISTORY
690 Sherbrooke Street West (00 1 514 398 7100; www.mccord-museum.qc.ca).

MCGILL UNIVERSITY
845 Sherbrooke Street West (00 1 514 398 4455; www.mcgill.ca).

MONTREAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
4101 Sherbrooke Street West (00 1 514 872 1400).

MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
1380-1390 Sherbrooke Street West (00 1 514 285 2000; www.mmfa.qc.ca). This is on both sides of Sherbrooke Street, linked by a subway. The southern part of this museum is a beautiful building designed by Montreal's most famous architect, Moshe Safdie.

MONTREAL SCIENCE CENTRE
333 Commune Street West (00 1 514 496 4724).

NOTRE-DAME BASILICA
116 Notre-Dame Street West (00 1 514 842 2925). This extraordinary basilica, the biggest cathedral in North America, was built in 1824 by an Irish Protestant architect and the end product is a dramatic example of Gothic Revival, with vibrant azure windows and extraordinary carving.

NOTRE-DAME DE BON SECOURS CHAPEL
400 St-Paul Street East (00 1 514 282 8670).

RUE ST DENIS
This is essentially the Latin Quarter of Montreal: arty, intellectual, French. Good restaurants are here along with many music, clothes and design shops. But don't expect the unrelenting chic of Paris: this is still pleasantly home-spun, unlike the downtown shopping and restaurant streets off Sherbrooke, Crescent, Drummond, Peel and parts of St Catherine.

AIRPORT
Montreal's Dorval airport is 19km away from the city.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
British Airways (0870 850 9850; www.ba.com). Air Canada (0870 524 7226; www.aircanada.com) flies daily from Heathrow to Montreal. Zoom Airlines (0870 240 0055; www.flyzoom.com)

Montreal's underground shops and restaurants mean that it works well even in winter. But the summer months offer more agreeable conditions for sightseeing. The best month is July.