One of the most stunning churches I have ever seen! Truly well worth the $5 admission price. A definite must see and the light show at night has also been well reviewed (although we never got the chance to attend). Beautiful colors, windows and art, it is truly one of the most spectacular sights in Montreal!

La Basilique Notre Dame de Montreal is not the oldest church in Montreal. The current church on this site was built in the 1800s. It is the oldest parish however started in the 1600s

The Basilica is well worth a visit when you go to Montreal. The outside does seem remensence of Notre Dame in Paris but it wasn't designed that well.

I would advise visiting the church definetely before 4pm as it closes then for the light show at 6.30pm. That time it is $4 to visit

Unfortunately we arrived about 6pm and could only get inside if we paid the $10 for the light show. To be honest I didn't think it was worth the money. You get headphones in either French or English and sit in one of the pews. You are given a row and seat number but it is really hard to see the numbers on the ends of the pews as it is dark.

You watch a projector screen where it shows pictures and a naration of the history of Monetral, they have actors playing out scenes which I found a little borring. If you haven't seen the front of the church yet there is a Wow factor at one point of the show. But it definitely a hollywood production that you would never see in churches in Italy or France.

You do get 15 mins after the show to look around the church and see all the statues etc....

So would definitely visit the church but I would advise you to just pay the $4 during the day

My family visited the Basilica, and at first we were a little reluctant to pay the $4 tour fee for adults, $2 for children, but everyone we talked to indicated we had to see the inside. We're glad that we did.

The interior is enormous with a number of chapels throughout. My youngest daughter was amazed at the amount of gold gilding in the basilica. My youngest son, however, wished there were more lights on during our visit as it was a little dark. The guided tour in English or French provided a history of the basilica and took us to the behind the main altar to the "wedding chapel" where most of the current weddings take place. Even that chapel was large. Before and after the tour, we were able to walk around and view the church on our own.

I would agree this is a must see attraction in Montreal!