Last summer, my family and I went to visit our cousins in Montréal, Canada, and in this article I’d love to share my experience with you and talk about some of the best bits, and things I’d recommend if you ever visit.

For the first week we stayed in a cabin in the woods just outside of Montréal, called ‘the big bear’. This was truly amazing as I was thrown straight into the Canadian experience, and got to see lots of natural wildlife like moose and chipmunks which I had never seen before.

This week was very relaxed, we went to a few little supermarkets and swam in the lake a lot.

I think this week was very useful as I got to see what a more rural part of Canada is like before visiting the city, and I would definitely recommend spending a part of your holiday away from the busy city if you have the time, however I still think seeing the city is more important.

For our second week we travelled to the centre of Montréal, where we stayed with our cousins in their apartment. This week was particularly special as we were shown around by locals and therefore  to see the best parts of the beautiful city. Some of my favourite things I did include visiting the famous bagel shop and buying a tote bag, trying 1 dollar pizza (which was genuinely the best I’ve ever had), exploring downtown Montréal and exploring little vintage stores with my cousins.

This week truly opened my mind to a new part of the world, as I have never been to North America before, and I got to experience seeing so many different types of people. For example, in my cousin’s neighbourhood in Montréal there is a large community of Hasidic Jews.

Overall Montréal is a magical diverse city, with endless amounts of things to do. A week truly wasn’t enough to do everything I wanted, and that is why I highly recommend visiting. I will definitely be going back if I have the chance.

Thank you for reading

Lyra Hamilton, the young reporters scheme