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The eighth inland port in my series may be the greatest one of all, considering all factors. It has a fantastic approach, a great location, a substantial harbour, and a world-famous city close to wilderness but also close to great cities like Quebec, Toronto, Boston, and New York.

Montreal is located on an island in the St. Lawrence River. St Lawrence River has its source in Minnesota and is the third longest river in Canada at 4000km long. It goes through the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Eire and Lake Ontario, and continues north along the border to USA. Further up it meets the Ottawa River. Here in the river there are several islands, and Montreal is located on the biggest one. The history goes back to fur trading days of the 17th century and has influenced the look of the city's buildings, whose architecture is a blend of old and new.

Approaching Montreal and the St Lawrence River from the Atlantic is one of the best seaman experiences you can get. There are two possibilities. You can go into the Gulf of St. Lawrence via Cobut Straight, between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Continuing straight ahead you see the island of Anticosti. Here you must turn port to get into the mouth of St. Lawrence River.

Coming from the north you can go into the Straight of Belle Isle, between Labrador and Newfoundland. On the tip of Newfoundland, at the straight, there is a small settlement, St. Anthony, which I had a possibility to visit some years ago. It was great to see the ships in the straight. Coming with a big container ship to the Straight of Corbut, turning down the St Lawrence mouth, and continuing down to Quebec in the evening is spectacular. All the lights are coming on, and the river narrows down. Now from Quebec to the Great Lakes, the average width will be 2km, but in the mouth it is 145m average width, so taking a ship down from Quebec to Montreal on the river is something very special.

Arriving to Montreal you see the big city, and it's a substantial inland port along the river. The port has approximately 100 berths and 5 container terminals, spread along approximately 25km of shoreline. It's easy to get into, you just turn starboard and you have arrived to this fantastic inland port, the city of Montreal, located on the island in the river.

Many years ago my grandmother came this way as an emigrant. She was born in Duluth on Lake Superior, as far as you can go on the lakes, in Minnesota. The St. Lawrence Seaway is a marvellous waterway, and fantastic in its own right. At that time it was a sailing ship going on the St. Lawrence Seaway, connecting the Great Lakes up towards Montreal and further to the Atlantic Ocean. Creating the St. Lawrence Seaway is a great engineering feat. It is ice-free 250 days per year. Today grain is the big thing along with iron ore and coal, which is shipped in ships purpose-built for the Seaway.

Montreal started as a settlement in 1642, one of Canada's oldest cities, celebrating 350 years in 1992. Metropolitan Montreal is the second largest French-speaking metropolis in the world, home to over 4 million people. It takes its name from Mount Royal, a scenic backdrop to the downtown and it's situated on the Island of Montreal. It's the second-most populated city in Canada. It's linked to the south shore by the Jacques Cartier, Champlain and Victoria Bridges. Travelling over the Jacques Cartier Bridge is excellent to do to have a scenic way to see Montreal. And when you go over, you also see the Island of St Helene and Isle Notredame.

It is a busy port for grain, sugar, oil products, machinery and consumer goods. About 40 commercial shipping lines use Montreal. There is a clock tower out in the St. Lawrence River, looking into the old port. It's a tourist attraction and gives a great view over the port and the river. To see the river, port, city, islands, is easily done with a glass-topped sightseeing boat. And if you want to feel the river and the port even more there are floating hotels, which are nice and pleasant.

The best view of Montreal, however is from Mount Royal Park. You have to climb a lot of stairs to get 232 metres up, but from there you can see the whole city, including the famous Olympic stadium with its unique design.

The patron saint of Canada is St. Joseph. A shrine was built for him and the Basilica is visited by 2 million pilgrims each year. The shrine is 263m high up, the highest point in Montreal, with an illuminated cross erected in 1924 to symbolise the wooden cross said to have been erected on that spot in 1642. Montreal is a multicultural city. Two main languages, French and English, are spoken, but many other languages are represented and widely spoken. Other places to visit are the Botanical Garden, Rose Garden and Beaver Lake.

Montreal is one of my favourite ports and cities. There is a lot to do, whatever you fancy. Although I know Montreal well, I intend to come back to spend more time in this great city.

Photo credits: CC BY 4.0 - @sebaso / CC BY-SA 2.0 - Carl Campbell / CC BY-SA 2.0 - Dennis Jarvis / CC BY 2.0 - Dennis Sylvester Hurd