The "Centre de la Nature" is Laval's park. It's HUGE! Here's a rundown :
Pros :
- If you have kids, this is a great place to bring them to. There are so many things they can do and it can make for a great family outing.
- There's a free animal farm with lots of animals to see such as goats, horses, cows, chickens, roosters, pigs, ponies, mules and so forth. They look like they are taken care of well enough and kids and adult both like to see them.
- There's a casse-croute/fast-food joint near the lake. They serve a variety of fast food items such as hot dogs, hamburgers, pogos, fries and so forth. Their menu also has a few more things that clearly caters to kids as well as unprepared parents. :)
- Lake has lots of activities. During the summer, canoes can be rented, during the winter you can go skating on the lake.
- Plenty of places to plop down onto the grass and have a family picnic.
- Lots of trails to be enjoyed and some parts are particularly enjoyable. There's a reason why this place is well known for wedding photos and seeing more than your fair share of brides and grooms walking around.
- Huge play park for kids in front of the Farm. Lots of kids here and it can be pretty chaotic... but that's how kids like it, right? :)
Cons :
- If you're not so much into kids, you may want to avoid some areas during the weekends, there are really A LOT of kids. Some areas may be quiet enough to be enjoyed however if you look well enough.
- While their casse-croute/fast food joint has nothing that truly stands out, kindly note the wait time is pretty bad. 20+ minutes to prepare me a couple of hot dogs, pogos and fries? Sup?
- Parking is 7$. While contributing to the park is nice and all, it's a bit expensive. So, if you're able to park somewhere nearby freely on the residential streets and bring your stuff to the park, you'll save a bit. You are planning to do a lot of walking anyways, right? What's 10 minutes more going to do? read more