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Parc Jean-Drapeau
Category: Active Life Parks Parks [Edit]
1 circuit Gilles-VilleneuveMontréal, QC H3C 1A9
(514) 872-6120
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
7 reviews for Parc Jean-Drapeau
6 reviews in English
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Review from A b.
Montréal, QC
8/8/2010
Île Ste-Hélène is a naturally occurring island in the middle of the St. Lawrence, hugging the Longueil side of the river. It was enlarged by 25 million tons of fill dirt and rocks excavated from Montreal's metro system. Mayor Jean Drapeau (hence the park name) was the one who lobbied for the World's Fair to come to Montreal (Expo 67), which mainly took place on this island. You can probably read this all in your guidebooks, but nonetheless I still find the history of this time period in Montreal very interesting. Especially when considering the number of massive public works projects that went of successfully in this decade compared to the following decade, where the Olympic building projects went so awfully awry. The island has existed as park ever since 1874, but the modern park is mainly influenced by the time period after the 1967 World's Fair.
It is a wonderful place to spend the day on a long walk or a bike ride, especially on a Saturday or Sunday in the Summer. It may be a bit crowded, but it's worth it. The biodome is a great museum (they tout it as the world's first eco museum), and you don't even have to pay to walk around the outside, marvel at its enormity and its folly (the former panels covering the outside were made of highly flammable acrylic). They have installed a lot of exhibits around the outside on green building and gardening that are very interesting as well. The F1 circuit on neighboring Île Notre Dame (an entirely man made island) is open to bicyclists, which I have never done but sounds super cool. On Saturdays and sometimes Wednesdays through the summer (until mid-August) at 10pm the Fireworks competition explodes on the north portion of the island, where La Ronde (a six flags amusement park) is located. You can see the fireworks for free from the park, but in my experience I have only been able to see the largest fireworks (because the trees and bridge block the smaller ones). If you want to see the smaller ones, you either have to pay at La Ronde or watch from the Old Port. The fireworks competition is awesome, and should not be missed!
Another fun free-ish event on Parc Jean Drapeau is Pinik Electronique every Sunday. Check their webpage to find out where the event is being held because sometimes it changes. It's cheap before 5pm, but you can really hear everything from outside the event's borders. You can just bring your own picnik and enjoy the scenery for free. If you want to dance with others though, it's best to pay and have fun inside their 'walls'. -
Review from Lenny Z.
7/3/2011
This is a cool park to checkout. If you're walking, don't bother with Notre Dame, the second island. If you want to sight see, you can probably run through what's worth seeing in a hour. However, on a nice day, you can certainly spend time laying, wadding in the stream, or strolling through the trees. We also saw what looked like a nice pool. Not sure about admission, since we were not looking to go in.
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Review from Caleb B.
12/3/2008
Music is cool. Live bands are fun. Summer concerts are nice. Once thing I've learned is life is more fun when you raise the stakes. If one wants to watch a concert on a tiny island (easily accessible by the Metro) on the Saint Lawrence where the backdrop is the cityscape of Centre-Ville (Downtown Montreal) then this is your spot. And this spot is legend.
I caught Radiohead here do what they do best in 2003. It was one of the more majestic experiences of my life. This experience was nearly marred by a skanky pre-packaged Quebecois ham sandwich which featured some rotten mayo. Good thing that tragedy didn't kick in until after the concert at the club. I puked about eight times that night at Stereo. It was still an outstanding night.
I want to go back to Parc Jean-Drapeau.
_C$ -
Review from Eli G.
8/6/2008
Simply amazing venue! HUGE outdoor park area, incredibly beautiful, long gorgeous paths that snake around a lake and trees and nature and all that great outside stuff.
I played the last show of the 2006 Warped Tour here. The only downside of that day was that our bus had to park literally a mile from the stage and it was mostly a gravel path. I had to make six trips total to get all my gear to the stage and back.
But it was well worth it, biggest crowd of the tour and one of the most profitable days. There were well over 5,000 kids watching us that day. Hella mega tits!
http://www.youtube.com... -
Review from Anthony K.
Montréal, QC
4/26/2011
Park comprised of Île Ste-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame--check out the remains of Expo 67, as well as the last vestiges of Montreal's past as a garrison city--have a picnic--take in some beautiful views of the city--don't miss the beautifully anachronistic Moorish towers that grace the entrance to the park from the Jacques-Cartier Bridge
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Review from Trisha K.
8/10/2010
This was such a cool find for us on our vacation to Montreal. I was so impressed with the amount of things to do in this park! We brought our skates and made a few trips around the race track, which was way cool. Who knew you could skate or bike or run on the same course as the Formula 1 cars? Going back today for the beach, this time riding our bikes to the island across the bridge, and will go back again for La Ronde, and probably once more for the Biosphere. I'm glad our condo is at the foot of the bridge!
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French (1)
