Montérégie is the region of Quebec immediately east, south and west of Montreal, extending to the borders of Ontario and New York State. The South Shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Montreal comprises a series of suburbs. Further out, the flat St. Lawrence Valley provides for pleasant, airy farmland and countryside.

• 45.616667-73.4666673 Boucherville Islands National Park — National island park on the St. Lawrence River, located in Boucherville, east of Montreal. Park known for its hiking and cycling trails.
• 45.55-73.31674 Mont-Saint-Bruno National Park — National park covering Mont Saint-Bruno. The park has 5 lakes. Main attractions: hiking trails, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing and equipment rental..

• 46.74305-70.102785 Beauharnois-Salaberry Regional Park — Regional Park along the St. Lawrence Seaway and offering outdoor activities. Thanks to its gradual development over time, this park of 72 km of flat, asphalted and multifunctional trails now connects different urban and rural areas.
• 45.295833-74.0513896 Saint-Timothée Islands Regional Park — Regional island park administered by the city of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. It is located between Lake Saint-François and Lake Saint-Louis.
• 45.975386-73.1737077 Regional Park of Grèves — This park is a Canadian protected area located between the towns of Contrecoeur and Sorel-Tracy. It is managed to ensure the conservation of landscapes while organizing recreational activities. This park offers various outdoor activities, in all seasons. It is an 83-ha park for recreational and tourist activities, with 11 trails for hiking and cross-country skiing.
• 45.047444-73.4379098 Saint-Bernard Regional Park — Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle Regional Park offers various recreational activities in an outdoor center: tubing, hiking, biking, mini putt, disc golf course, etc.
• 45.653333-72.9608339 Les Salines Park — Natural park administered by the city of Saint-Hyacinthe. Main attractions: hiking trails, water games, recreational community hall, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails, picnic area, observation of flora and fauna...
• Escapade Trails — Recreational network of 27 kilometers of marked trails located in the heart of Mont Rigaud, accessible year-round for free. You can go hiking and horseback riding in the summer, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and fatbiking in the winter. Admire the panoramic view and the fauna and flora of Mont Rigaud.

• 45.55222-73.1638910 McGill University Gault Nature Reserve — Owned by McGill University since 1958, this nature reserve is located on Mont Saint-Hilaire, in Mont-Saint-Hilaire. It protects 9,700 hectares of natural environments under forest and mountain cover. This reserve offers a network of hiking and cross-country skiing trails. Trail map: Click here
• 45.535993-73.33098311 Boisé-Taihandier Nature Reserve — Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville municipal park covering 7.2 hectares on the southwest slope of Mont Saint-Bruno.
• 45.546111-73.30277812 Academy of Sacred Hearts Nature Reserve — Nature reserve in Saint-Basile-le-Grand.
• Warbler Nature Reserve — Ecological park in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu covering 26 ha in the Haut-Saint-Jacques / Canadienne sector to create the municipality's first natural park.
• 45.54-73.4313 Tremblay Woods — Woodland administered by the city of Longueuil. This nature reserve covers 267 ha (660 acres) of which 174 ha (430 acres) is part of the City of Longueuil; and the balance is part of the City of Boucherville.

• 45.552222-73.16388914 Mont Saint-Hilaire Nature Center — Nature reserve on Mount Saint-Hilaire.
• 45.866667-73.25277815 Contrecoeur Islands National Wildlife Area — Established in 1981, it is one of eight national wildlife reserves in Quebec. The purpose of this reserve is to protect emergent and submerged seagrass beds, as well as waterfowl nesting sites.
• 45.5437-73.472216 Michel-Chartrand Park — This park is a large nature reserve with trails, ponds and offers various outdoor recreational activities all year round, including cross-country skiing and wildlife observation.
• 45.429504-73.47931217 Saint-Jacques River Parks in Brossard — Recreational parks located on the banks of the Saint-Jacques River in Brossard.

The Montérégie, named after the mountains that are sporadically in the St. Lawrence River Valley, is a sort of "catch-all" tourism region rather than a distinct geographical or cultural area. The region is a mixture of Montreal suburbs and rural farming areas near the edges of Quebec.

Despite this, a few generalizations can be made about the region:

• In the 18th and 19th century, it was a military buffer region. Capturing Montreal was an American objective in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Several battles were fought in the Montérégie, and the ancient forts that remain are interesting tourist attractions.
• As a mixture of suburban and rural areas, it is a swing political district. If you want to know which way the political wind is blowing in Quebec, ask people in the Montérégie.
• While most of the area is economically and culturally integrated with Montreal, the more rural towns were once isolated farming areas with their own traditions. If one digs hard enough, one can still find cultural relics from this era, such as the Brome County Fair.

The majority of the people living in the Montérégie speak French. There is a significant English-speaking population in the counties of Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Roussillon and near the American border. Most people in the western part and near Montreal can speak English, although fluency diminishes the further north and east you go. Traffic signs are in French, but are designed (with pictures and symbols) so that others can understand.

The Kahnawake and Akwesasne Reserves have made efforts to increase the use of the Mohawk language, offering language classes and using it on community radio and in some public events. Most people on the reserves speak English, and French to a lesser extent.

Some people may speak a third language, especially near Montreal, but outside native reserves it is uncommon to hear one spoken on the street, so a working knowledge of French or English will be almost essential to communicate with locals.

Driving through Montérégie, two unusual geographical features will strike you. First, the farmland is divided into long, thin strips, rather than large squares like everywhere else in North America. This is a legacy of Quebec's French colonial past. Farmhouses were built at the edges of these strips, along rows called "rangs". Second, the otherwise completely flat region has isolated mountains popping out of the ground at near regular intervals. This is what gives the region its name ("Mountain region"). One of the prettiest is Mont-Saint-Hilaire; its mixture of mountain, river, forest, and farms make it picturesque, especially when the leaves change colour in October. There are paths to go hiking on the mountain.

There are a few other features of Montérégie are pleasant to visit on a day trip from Montreal. Fort Chambly is a French fort dating from 1711 built to protect against the British. Fort Lennox National Historic Site is a British fort 22 km south of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu that was built in 1819 to protect against the Americans. The Coteau-du-Lac National Historic Site is about 40 km southwest of Montréal on the shores of the St. Lawrence River near Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. It features Canada’s first lock canal and the remains of a fort.

Lac Brome is a pretty lake for watersports, hiking, or shopping in the village of the same name.

Granby Zoo is the closest zoo to Montreal. It is home to nearly 1,500 animals from over 225 different species. If you have seen enough animals, head over to Parc Safari in Hemmingford, an African safari and kids' amusement park.

The International Hot Air Balloon Festival is held in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu every August. It attracts hundreds of balloons.

The Ormstown Fair is an agricultural fair held in mid-June in a small town southeast of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

The Kahnewake Pow-wow is held in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory 16 km south of Montreal on Routes 132 & 138 (off Mercier Bridge) in July. Pow-wows offer a time for Indigenous peoples to get together and participate in visiting, singing, and dancing. It is also a chance for non-Indigenous friends and families to take part in inter-tribal dancing as a Powwow is considered a cultural sharing event for all to learn about Indigenous peoples and share ideas and information.

The main arteries or commercial areas of Montérégie are:

• boulevard Taschereau, between Laprairie and Longueuil;
• along the 30 between Candiac and the A20, notably the Quartier DIX30 and the Promenades Saint-Bruno;
• along the A20 in Boucherville, Sainte-Julie and Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil;
• along the Chambly road in Longueuil and Saint-Hubert;
• in Sainte-Julie, near the A20;
• in Beloeil, McMasterville and Mont-Saint-Hilaire;
• in Chambly;
• in Saint-Hyacinthe, near the A20;
• in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu;
• in Sorel-Tracy;
• in Vaudreuil-Dorion;
• in Hudson and Rigaud;
• in Sallaberry-de-Valleyfield.

Agritourism is well established in Montérégie: market garden and local produce shops, pick-your-own, farm visits, orchards, vineyards, sugar factories (maple groves), sheepfolds, nurseries, honey houses, cheese factories, equestrian centres, stables, kennels, fish farms, community gardens, etc. Agricultural producers are also present at agricultural exhibitions, public markets, agricultural fairs, festivals, roadside kiosks or in public places (e.g. at the entrance to grocery stores), etc. Several municipalities/cities organize a public market that is generally seasonal, sometimes itinerant.

Artists and artisans in the region offer the products of their design via the Internet, their stores, via businesses or distributors, at exhibitions or public events (e.g. festivals, fairs), in public markets, flea markets, during public presentations... Several municipalities and cities organize an annual Christmas market in November and/or December to support artists/artisans...

As maple trees grow in the area, maple syrup is popular and plentiful in March and April. Some maple farms operate as "sucreries" or "cabanes à sucre" (aka sugar shacks), where tourists can see how the maple syrup is collected, and taste some. These are also one of the few places in Quebec where tourists can get a traditional rural meal. (Most locals only eat traditional meals on special occasions such as Christmas Eve, due mostly to its high fat content and association with traditional ways.) Traditional meals include:

• tourtière, a pork and beef pie
• yellow split pea soup
• pancakes
• ham with maple syrup
• maple sugar pie
• "pouding chomeur", a light sweet cake, (literal translation: "pudding for the unemployed")
• taffee ("tire sur neige", maple syrup poured into snow, which freezes onto a popsicle stick)

Fine dining in the Montérégie is some of the best value in North America. Almost every town in the region has one or two good restaurants, usually with lower prices than those of Montreal. Usually, asking a local to point you to the most expensive restaurant in town will get you to the right place.

For a quick lunch, the ever-present "Saint-Hubert" chain of chicken restaurants is surprisingly good.

• Sucrerie de la Montagne (Mountain Sugar Shack), 300 Ch St Georges, Rigaud (Rigaud Mountain), ☏ +1 450-451-5204. Maple syrup farm with a year-round traditional-style restaurant, hayrides, and demonstrations on maple syrup production. 

Montérégie offers many temporary or seasonal accommodation sites:

• campgrounds;
• guest houses or cottages;
• inns;
• motels, hotels;
• tourist residences;
• holiday camps or vacation centers (e.g.: Grèves de Contrecoeur camp, Camp de Grandpré (Otterburn Park), Domaine Pourki (Sainte-Anne-de-Sabrevois), Plein air Fatima (Notre-Dame-de-l'Île Perrot).

Montérégie also offers various convention centers with facilities for group meetings, including in Saint-Hyacinthe, Boucherville, Brossard (e.g.: Quartier DIX30), Longueuil, Sorel-Tracy, Vaudreuil-Dorion, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, etc.

The Montérégie is generally a low-crime area. Almost the whole area is served by the emergency number 911, which you can call to contact police, fire or ambulance services. The biggest danger is probably traffic accidents, especially in winter. There are long stretches of unlit and potentially icy roads; large farming fields on either side of a road can mean blowing snow and slippery patches. Many of the smaller routes with one lane in either direction have a speed limit of 90 km/h. Snow tires are required by law on vehicles during the winter months.

Some seedy bars in the Montérégie are labelled "danseuses". This is a euphemism for a strip club, many of which are actually brothels; steer clear if you want to avoid criminal elements.

Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve, in the southwest corner of Montérégie, extends into Ontario and New York. There are rare occurrences of confrontations with police in this area; police try to patrol for cross-border cigarette and alcohol smuggling and locals insist Quebec police have no authority on the reserve. This should not usually affect tourists, but is something of which to be alert.

• Watercourse levels - In terms of watercourse safety, the Government of Quebec's Public Security displays the results of flood monitoring, particularly for the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River: Click HERE
• Road conditions - The Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (Québec 511) displays various warnings regarding road conditions on its website: Click HERE
• Traffic conditions on the roads - Radio Circulation 730AM continuously announces the traffic conditions on the road network. This information is also available on the site: Click HERE In addition, users regularly communicate with Station 730AM to share observations on the state of traffic on the road network.

• Laurentides
• Lanaudière
• Montréal
• Cantons-de-l'Est
• Centre-du-Québec
• Cornwall-Massena
• Eastern Ontario

Discussion on defining regions for Montérégie is underway. If you know the area, please share your opinion on the talk page.