Spring has finally arrived, which means trees are budding, flowers are blooming, and bachelor parties are about to invade Montreal. The city’s got it all, from world-class restaurants to gorgeous women to a nightlife scene that is unparalleled north of the border. Montreal is like Canada’s Las Vegas but with more European flair, and it’s been a hotspot for bachelor parties (and general male-centric gatherings) for decades.
Montreal Bachelor Party Hotspot
“What drove Montreal to become this bachelor party hub of North America is that in the 1950’s it was a major port city – you can imagine the amount of sailors who would stop in Montreal, and all of these sailors needed some entertainment before their ship set sail again,” explained Angelo D’Ambra, president of Montreal Nitelife, a company that specializes in planning bachelor parties. “That’s what really drove the brothels and prostitution at that time.”
More recently, Quebec has been offering the cheapest education in North America, which has also brought in waves of students. “We have an influx of international students who are generally single, funded by well-to-do parents from other countries who are here and forced to live alone or with a roommate or two. So, with those sailor roots we have this great variety of people who make up Montreal’s nightlife atmosphere every weekend, which created a very liberal atmosphere in the city – it makes for an ideal bachelor party destination.”
Bachelor parties originated as a final toast amongst male friends over dinner the night before the wedding. D’Ambra said it has evolved quite a bit since then to become an entire weekend of festivities, sometimes away from where the bachelor and his friends reside. “Bachelors want to experience something new other than your typical Saturday night,” he explained. “And they also want to keep things somewhat discreet – it’s good to go where you don’t know every single person.”
In choosing where to go for a memorable bachelor party, Montreal is the most popular of the 11 most north-eastern states, Ontario, and eastern Canada, which equates to about 500 miles or 800 kilometres away from Montreal (at most an eight-hour road trip).
What Happens in Montreal Stays in Montreal
So what makes today’s Montreal such an ideal place for today’s bachelor party? There are a number of reasons. “The women of Quebec are liberal, aesthetically-conscious, and physically fit,” D’Ambra explained. So, in a word, they’re just plain hot. “Montreal’s also got the largest capita per person of adult entertainment and they vary from contact to non-contact, massage parlours, and more.” (Look for an article on Montreal’s adult entertainment scene in the coming weeks.) The legal drinking age is 18, whereas in Ontario it’s 19 and in the U.S. it’s 21. Market prices for premium liquor is lower – a bottle of Grey Goose in Montreal is $225 (in NY it’s $375). “We have strip clubs where the dancers get totally nude on stage and contact is allowed for private dances, as opposed to some clubs in the U.S. where they have to keep their bottoms and tops on,” D’Ambra said. “We’re the culinary capital of Canada with 5300 restaurants, and we’re so popular because there’s a budget for everybody – you can have a weekend getaway for $200 per person all the way up to $900 per person.”
Montreal has been a nightlife hotbed for decades and has got it all – from hoards of sailors looking to blow off some steam to modern-day bachelors celebrating one last hurrah, there’s something for everyone in Canada’s Las Vegas.
CraveOnline will be running a series of bachelor party articles over the next several weeks, so look for them every Week.
Photo credit – Wenn.com
