Montreal

Stone warehouses line the old docks, which now carry a promenade and a wheel. One basin is frozen over in winter for outdoor skating.

Finished in 1829, with a ceiling painted deep blue and set with gold stars. A separate evening light show puts it in colours the daytime never shows.

A hill of 233m beside downtown, with the city and the river laid out from its lookout. On summer Sunday afternoons a drum circle gathers at the foot of it.

Passages join stations, shops and offices across 32km. In winter you can move between several districts without stepping outside.

One of the larger open air markets in North America, covered by a roof and open at the sides. Through summer most of the produce arrives direct from Quebec farms.

Houses here carry their spiral iron staircases on the outside. One account holds that keeping the stair out of the interior kept the taxable floor area down.

Japanese and Chinese gardens each take a section, and in autumn lanterns keep it open at night. An insectarium adjoins it under the same ticket.

Built for the 1976 games, this leaning tower of 165m is the tallest inclined structure anywhere. A funicular runs up the slope to the observation deck.

Large paintings cover whole walls, added to each summer during a festival. Older work is not always removed; sometimes the new one goes over it.

Concrete boxes stacked into housing for the fair of 1967. People live there still, so it is seen from outside except on the set tour dates.

Canada's largest church, on the northwest slope of Mount Royal, its great copper dome seen across the city. It honours Brother Andre, and some pilgrims climb the central wooden stairs on their knees. Side stairs and lifts also lead up.

The 1976 Olympic cycling velodrome, rebuilt inside as an ecosystem exhibit. You walk through four zones in turn: tropical rainforest, Quebec maple forest, the Gulf of St Lawrence and the polar regions. In the polar zone penguins waddle over the rocks.

An archaeology museum built over the spot where Montreal was founded in 1642. Below ground, glass panels underfoot reveal old walls, a burial ground and house foundations. One stretch takes you walking through a stone sewer built in 1832.

Founded in 1860, it is Canada's oldest art museum. Collections are spread across five pavilions on either side of Sherbrooke Street, linked by a tunnel under the road. Quebec and Canadian artists fill one pavilion of their own.

A canal opened in 1825 to carry boats inland past the rapids. After shipping stopped in 1970, a bike path of about 14km was laid along its banks. Rent a share bike and ride between the old factory buildings.

An art deco market hall of 1933 beside the Lachine Canal, topped by a clock tower. Butchers and cheesemongers occupy the lower floor, while seasonal produce stalls set up outside. People carry their buys to the canal bank to eat.

Buckminster Fuller's steel sphere, built as the US pavilion for Expo 1967. A fire in 1976 burned off its clear skin and left only the frame. An environment museum now fills it, a walk from the Jean-Drapeau metro station on Ile Sainte-Helene.

A district of downtown concert halls and squares that hosts one summer festival after another. During the jazz festival from late June, the outdoor stage shows are free. On winter nights light works are projected onto the building walls.

A cobbled square sloping from Old Montreal's city hall toward the river. At its top, Nelson's Column of 1809 is the oldest monument in Montreal. In summer street artists and acrobats stake out spots down its sides.

A neoclassical building of 1847 under a silver dome, which once also served as city hall. Shops and galleries of Quebec craftspeople occupy it now. From the riverside promenade the dome rises above the Old Port rooftops.

A scaled-down copy of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, finished in 1894. The bronze canopy over the altar copies the Roman one as well. Hemmed in by downtown towers, it only comes into view when you are right in front.

The city's east and west divide, where street numbers split in both directions. French and English speakers once lived on opposite sides of it. Immigrant shops and restaurants line it for kilometres, and locals nickname it The Main.

A jet boat leaves the Old Port and runs into the Lachine Rapids of the St Lawrence, hitting the waves head-on. Water pours over the gunwales and soaks you head to toe. Pack dry clothes, and check dates first, as the boats run only in the warmer months.