Understand
The Montérégie, named after the mountains that sporadically pop out of 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.
In spite of this, a few generalization 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.
