Bell Centre
Canada's largest indoor arena holds 20,962 people — and on a Canadiens night, the noise travels several city blocks.
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Opened in 1996 to replace the Montreal Forum, Bell Centre is the second largest ice hockey arena in the world (after SKA Arena in St. Petersburg) and consistently ranks as the busiest arena in Canada. It runs year-round: NHL games, major concerts, MMA — in 2012 it was the fifth-busiest venue on earth for non-sporting events alone.
What to look for
- The sheer scale of the seating bowl: 20,962 seats in hockey configuration, all replaced during a $100 million renovation announced in 2015
- Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, the section of De la Gauchetière Street out front slated to become pedestrian-only as part of those same renovations
- The direct walkway connection to Lucien L'Allier commuter rail terminal on the adjacent corner
Lucien L'Allier commuter rail station is physically connected to the arena — the easiest arrival for any event.
Bell Centre is one of 14 sights worth the detour in Montreal, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Montreal pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Montreal
- Circuit Gilles VilleneuveThe track where Gilles Villeneuve beat the world on home soil in 1978 — and it now carries his name.
- Olympic StadiumThe stadium that cost so much, Montreal renamed it "The Big Owe."
- Habitat 67A McGill thesis project that actually got built — 354 prefabricated concrete boxes stacked into homes on the Saint Lawrence for a 1967 World's Fair.
- Notre-Dame BasilicaDeep blue vaults scattered with gold stars, and a 7,000-pipe organ that fills every corner of it.
- Montreal Museum of Fine ArtsCanada's oldest art museum, founded in 1860, now sprawls across five pavilions and draws more visitors than any other art museum in the country.
- Montreal City HallThe balcony where Charles de Gaulle delivered his "Vive le Québec libre" speech in 1967.