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Montréal, Canada, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
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Top 10 Things To Do in Montréal

Country
Canada
Best months
May · Jun · Sep · Oct
Population
2M
Language
French (English widely spoken)
Budget / day
C$150–270
Quick answer

Give the first day to Vieux-Montréal: the basilica, the archaeology under Pointe-à-Callière, then the Old Port. Day two goes uphill and north: the Kondiaronk lookout in the morning, the Museum of Fine Arts in the afternoon, then the Plateau or Mile End. Day three is the east end: the Botanical Garden and the leaning Olympic tower, or Jean-Talon Market.

Montréal Travel Guide

▶ Video guideOpen the film page (5:36) →

Montréal is a French-speaking island city of about two million, laid out between a small mountain and the St. Lawrence. The old town is seventeenth-century stone, downtown is glass with 33 kilometres of passageways beneath it, and the neighbourhoods north of Sherbrooke are walk-ups with outdoor staircases.

The 10 best things to do in Montréal

Vieux-Montréal and the Notre-Dame Basilica, Montréal, Canada
1

Vieux-Montréal and the Notre-Dame Basilica

Landmark· 110 Notre-Dame St W, Montréal, QC H2Y 1T2

The old town is why the city reads as European rather than North American: cobbled streets, cut-stone warehouses and a working port before it was a promenade. The basilica's interior is the surprise: deep blue with gold leaf and thousands of small lights in the vault, where most nineteenth-century churches went for pale stone.

Time3 hours for the quarter
CostTicketed entry to the basilica
Best atEarly morning
TipSightseeing visits and worship are separate: the basilica is free to enter for mass
↗ Notre-Dame BasilicaMap
Mount Royal Park, Montréal, Canada
2

Mount Royal Park

Park· 1260 Chemin Remembrance, Montréal, QC H3H 1A2

Frederick Law Olmsted, who had already laid out Central Park, designed this one and it opened in 1876. The path everyone takes is a long even gradient of packed gravel that climbs through hardwood to the Kondiaronk belvedere, named for the Wendat chief who brokered the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701.

Time2 to 3 hours
CostFree
Best atLate afternoon for the light on downtown
TipThe 11 bus from Mont-Royal metro climbs most of the way if you would rather not walk up
↗ Les amis de la montagneMap
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montréal, Canada
3

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Museum· 1380 Sherbrooke St W, Montréal, QC H3G 1J5

Canada's largest art museum by gallery space, across five linked pavilions with roughly 45,000 works. The strength is the Quebec and Canadian art, shown chronologically in its own pavilion and the clearest account anywhere of how this province saw itself over three centuries.

Time2 to 3 hours
CostAbout CAD 31 for adults
Best atWeekday mornings
TipThe pavilions are connected by underground passages
↗ Montreal Museum of Fine ArtsMap
Jean-Talon Market, Montréal, Canada
4

Jean-Talon Market

Market· 7070 Ave Henri-Julien, Montréal, QC H2S 3S3

One of the largest public markets in North America, open all year in Little Italy. In summer the aisles are Quebec produce sold by the people who grew it. In winter it contracts to the permanent stalls, which is when the cheesemongers and the maple stall are easiest to talk to.

Time1 to 2 hours
CostFree to walk
Best atSaturday morning in late summer
TipOpen every day
↗ Marchés publics de MontréalMap
Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, Montréal, Canada
5

Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal

Landmark· 3800 Chemin Queen-Mary, Montréal, QC H3V 1H6

Canada's largest church, begun in 1904 by a porter with no money and a conviction that a shrine belonged on this slope. The dome stands 97 metres. The interior is stripped-back modernism rather than gilt, and the votive chapel with its wall of crutches and candles is the part that stays with people.

Time1 to 2 hours
CostFree to enter
Best atLate afternoon for the west-facing view
TipCôte-des-Neiges metro
↗ Tourisme MontréalMap
Pointe-a-Calliere, Montréal, Canada (Wimup)
6

Pointe-à-Callière

Museum· 350 Place Royale, Montréal, QC H2Y 3Y5

The museum is built over the spot where the city was founded in 1642, and the exhibition is the excavation itself: you walk below street level through the first Catholic cemetery and a sewer built over a buried river. The best hour for understanding why Montreal sits exactly here.

Time2 hours
CostAdults CAD 30
Best atTuesday to Friday
TipClosed Mondays outside the summer season
↗ Pointe-à-CallièreMap
The Montréal Tower at Olympic Park, Montréal, Canada
7

The Montréal Tower at Olympic Park

Landmark· 3200 Rue Viau, Montréal, QC H1V 3J3

The stadium was built for the 1976 Games and its tower was finished eleven years late. At 165 metres and a 45-degree lean it is the tallest inclined tower in the world, and a cable car on the outside face carries you to an observatory over the east end, the river and the mountain.

Time1 to 2 hours
CostTicketed for the observatory
Best atClear days, for the distance
TipPair it with the Biodôme or the Botanical Garden: all three sit within a ten-minute walk of Viau and Pie-IX metro stations.
↗ Tourisme MontréalMap
Montréal Botanical Garden, Montréal, Canada
8

Montréal Botanical Garden

Garden· 4101 Sherbrooke St E, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2

Seventy-five hectares holding some 22,000 plant species, and two of its set pieces are among the largest of their kind outside Asia: the Chinese garden and the Japanese garden with its bonsai collection. From September the three cultural gardens light up after dark, which is the best reason to come in autumn.

Time3 hours
CostTicketed
Best atSeptember and October
TipGardens of Light ran 3 September to 1 November in 2026
↗ Espace pour la vieMap
The Lachine Canal by bike, Montréal, Canada
9

The Lachine Canal by bike

Outdoors· Lachine Canal National Historic Site, Montréal, QC

The canal opened in 1825 to get boats past the rapids and became the spine of Canadian industry. The towpath is now a 14.5 kilometre route from the Old Port out to Lake Saint-Louis, and the city changes every kilometre: locks, grain silos, a market on its own basin, then open water.

TimeHalf a day
CostFree
Best atWeekday mornings
TipStop at Atwater Market for lunch about a third of the way out
↗ Tourisme MontréalMap
Mile End and the Plateau on foot, Montréal, Canada
10

Mile End and the Plateau on foot

Neighborhood· Boulevard Saint-Laurent at Rue Saint-Viateur, Montréal, QC

The walk that explains the city better than any museum. Start at the two wood-fired bagel bakeries that have argued since 1919 and 1957, cut past the murals on Saint-Laurent, then drop south where the walk-ups carry the spiral staircases the Plateau is photographed for. About five kilometres.

Time3 hours at a walking pace
CostFree
Best atSaturday afternoon
TipThe MURAL festival leaves new work on Saint-Laurent every June
Map

All 10, mapped

Montréal · 10 spots

Montréal travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Montréal?+
Three. One for Vieux-Montréal and the Old Port, one for Mount Royal, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Plateau, and one for the east end, the Botanical Garden and the Olympic tower. Two works if you skip the east end. Add a fourth if you want Québec City or the Eastern Townships as a day trip.
Do you need to speak French in Montréal?+
No. French is the official language of Québec and you will see it on every sign, but downtown, in Vieux-Montréal and in most restaurants and hotels you can be served in English without friction. Opening with bonjour and asking whether English is fine goes a long way, particularly outside the centre and in the east end.
When is the best time to visit Montréal?+
May and June, or September and October. Summer has the festivals and the terraces but also the crowds and the heat. January and February average below freezing with the deepest snow, which is either the reason to come or the reason not to: Igloofest is built for it, and the underground city makes the cold manageable.
How do you get from the airport into the city?+
The 747 bus runs between Montréal-Trudeau and downtown around the clock and costs CAD 11.25, which is a 24-hour pass for the whole Montreal zone rather than a single ride. A taxi or ride-hail takes 25 to 40 minutes depending on traffic. A REM light-rail branch to the airport is being tested and is expected to open at the end of 2027.
Is Montréal expensive?+
Less than Toronto or New York and more than most of Quebec. Budget roughly 150 to 270 Canadian dollars a day for a mid-range trip. The festivals with free outdoor stages, the mountain and the canal path cost nothing at all.
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Montréal

Ten kitchens, from the country's second-best restaurant to a deli that has cured its own brisket since 1928.
Little Italy

Vin Mon Lapin

Small plates and wine · 150 Rue Saint-Zotique E

A wine bar that took second place nationally on Canada's 100 Best in 2026, the highest any Montreal room has placed. Book the moment the window opens.

↗ WebsiteMap
Little Burgundy

Joe Beef

Québécois · Notre-Dame Ouest

The Little Burgundy restaurant that changed how the rest of the country cooked: rich, unapologetic, Québécois by way of France.

Map
Downtown

Toqué!

Tasting menu · Quartier international

Normand Laprise opened this in 1993 and effectively invented the Quebec terroir restaurant. The benchmark other kitchens here measure against.

Map
Plateau Mont-Royal

Au Pied de Cochon

Québécois · 536 Rue Duluth E

Martin Picard's room in the Plateau, where the cooking is pork, duck and foie gras at a volume that reads as a dare. Loud, hot and never subtle.

Map
Rosemont

Hoogan et Beaufort

Michelin one star · 4095 Rue Molson

A one-star restaurant in a converted rail workshop in the Angus yards. The kitchen works over a wood oven, and the room is concrete and daylight.

Map
Plateau Mont-Royal

L'Express

Bistro · 3927 Rue Saint-Denis

A Paris bistro that happens to be on Saint-Denis, open since 1980 and still busy at midnight. Mirrors, tiles, steak tartare and cornichons on the table.

Map
Outremont

Damas

Syrian · 1209 Ave Van Horne

Syrian cooking done at fine-dining level, and one of the reasons Outremont fills on a weeknight. A room of tiled arches and lanterns.

Map
Villeray

Montréal Plaza

Contemporary · Rue Saint-Hubert

Two chefs who cook seriously and refuse to look like it: plastic dinosaurs on the shelves, and a menu that rewards ordering blind.

Map
Verdun

Beba

Argentine and Italian · Verdun

Two brothers cooking Argentine and Italian food in Verdun, sixth on Canada's 100 Best. A short handwritten menu and a wine list worth the trip south.

Map
Schwartz's DeliPlateau Mont-Royal

Schwartz's Deli

Smoked meat · 3895 Blvd Saint-Laurent

Open since 1928, curing its briskets ten days and slicing by hand at a counter with no space between the tables. There is always a queue and it always moves.

↗ WebsiteMap
Coffee and pastry

Best cafes & bakeries in Montréal

Seven counters, including the two bagel bakeries that never close.
St-Viateur BagelMile End

St-Viateur Bagel

Bagels, open 24 hours · 263 Rue Saint-Viateur O

Opened in 1957 by a Holocaust survivor, and still rolling, boiling in honey water and baking around the clock. Buy them hot by the half dozen.

↗ WebsiteMap
Mile End

Fairmount Bagel

Bagels · 74 Ave Fairmount O

The older of the two: baking since 1919 and at this address since 1949. Same wood oven, sweeter and denser, and a longer list of seeds.

Map
Mile End

Café Olimpico

Espresso bar · Rue Saint-Viateur O

An Italian bar from 1970 that never modernised and never had to. Espresso, cannoli, football on the television and a terrace all summer.

Map
Vieux-Montréal

Crew Collective & Café

Cafe in a 1928 banking hall · Rue Saint-Jacques

The old Royal Bank banking hall, coffered ceilings and brass lamps, now a cafe with a co-working floor. The counter is genuinely good.

Map
Downtown and Plateau

Café Myriade

Specialty coffee · several locations

The roaster that raised the city's coffee standard, now across several addresses. Plain rooms, careful espresso, filter worth ordering black.

Map
Plateau Mont-Royal

Hof Kelsten

Bakery · Boulevard Saint-Laurent

A bakery on Saint-Laurent where the croissants and the babka are the argument and the challah sells out. Jewish baking through French technique.

Map
Mile End

Pastel Rita

Cafe and wine bar · Mile End

Part cafe, part wine bar, part shop, on a Mile End corner. Coffee in the morning, natural wine by evening, and the shelves are for sale.

Map
After dark

Best bars & nightlife in Montréal

Six rooms, from a brewpub that started the province's craft habit to a cocktail bar behind a tailor's door.
Downtown

Cloakroom Bar

Cocktails, no menu · 2175 Rue de la Montagne

No menu and no sign: you sit at the counter behind a bespoke tailor, say what you like, and something gets built for you. The best bartending in the city.

↗ WebsiteMap
Chinatown

Le Mal Nécessaire

Tiki · 1015 Rue Saint-Alexandre

A green pineapple sign in Chinatown and a staircase down to a tiki bar that takes its rum seriously. Drinks arrive in fruit, which undersells them.

↗ WebsiteMap
Little Burgundy

Atwater Cocktail Club

Cocktails · 512 Ave Atwater

Down an alley off Notre-Dame, dark and low-ceilinged, and on North America's 50 Best Bars list. Classic technique, a long list, and it fills after ten on weekends.

Map
Mile End

Dieu du Ciel!

Brewpub · 29 Ave Laurier O

The brewpub that has been on Laurier since 1998 and taught Quebec to drink its own beer. Small, warm and full by nine.

↗ WebsiteMap
Mile End

Casa del Popolo

Live music · Boulevard Saint-Laurent

A vegetarian cafe by day and one of the city's longest-running independent music venues by night, with its sister room across the street.

Map
Plateau Mont-Royal

Big in Japan

Cocktails · Boulevard Saint-Laurent

An unmarked door on Saint-Laurent opening into a long candlelit room. Japanese-leaning cocktails, and no music loud enough to stop a conversation.

Map
Art and history

Best museums & galleries in Montréal

Six collections, two of them built over the ground they explain.
Montreal Museum of Fine ArtsGolden Square Mile

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Fine art · 1380 Sherbrooke St W

Five pavilions and roughly 45,000 works, with the Quebec and Canadian collection the reason to give it a morning.

↗ WebsiteMap
Pointe-à-CallièreVieux-Montréal

Pointe-à-Callière

Archaeology · 350 Place Royale

Archaeology and history on the founding site itself, with the excavation below street level as the permanent exhibition.

↗ WebsiteMap
McCord Stewart MuseumDowntown

McCord Stewart Museum

Social history · 690 Sherbrooke St W

Social history: photography, dress, Indigenous cultures and the Notman archive of nineteenth-century Montreal. Small enough for an afternoon.

↗ WebsiteMap
Musée d'art contemporain de MontréalDowntown

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Contemporary art · Place Ville Marie

Quebec contemporary art, currently in a temporary space while its building is rebuilt. Check what is on before you go.

↗ WebsiteMap
BiosphèreÎle Sainte-Hélène

Biosphère

Environment museum · Parc Jean-Drapeau

Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome, built as the United States pavilion for Expo 67 and now an environment museum. The structure is the exhibit.

↗ WebsiteMap
Château RamezayVieux-Montréal

Château Ramezay

Historic house · Rue Notre-Dame E

The 1705 governor's residence opposite city hall, and the first building in Quebec classified as a historic monument. Period rooms and a garden.

Map
Where to base yourself

Best neighborhoods in Montréal

Five quarters, and what each one is actually like to stay in.
Vieux-MontréalVille-Marie

Vieux-Montréal

Historic core

Stone warehouses, the basilica, the Old Port and most of the boutique hotels. Beautiful, busy, priced accordingly, and quiet after the day trippers leave.

Map
Plateau Mont-RoyalLe Plateau

Plateau Mont-Royal

Residential, restaurants, nightlife

The postcard Montreal of spiral staircases and painted brick. Dense, walkable, and where most visitors wish they had stayed.

Map
Mile EndLe Plateau

Mile End

Creative quarter

North of the Plateau: bagel bakeries, Portuguese and Hasidic communities, record shops and studios. The best coffee radius in Montreal.

Map
Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie

Little Italy and Villeray

Market, cafes, family streets

Jean-Talon Market at the centre, espresso bars on Saint-Laurent, and Villeray beside it, where locals move when the Plateau gets expensive.

Map
Griffintown and Little BurgundyLe Sud-Ouest

Griffintown and Little Burgundy

Canal-side, restaurants

The old industrial strip between downtown and the canal, rebuilt as towers with a restaurant row running through it.

Map
Outside

Best parks & outdoors in Montréal

Five places to spend a clear day, in any season.
Mount Royal ParkMount Royal

Mount Royal Park

City park · 1260 Chemin Remembrance

Olmsted's 1876 park, with the Kondiaronk belvedere over downtown, Beaver Lake behind the chalet and a dozen kilometres of trail.

↗ Les amis de la montagneMap
Parc La FontaineLe Plateau

Parc La Fontaine

Neighbourhood park · Ave du Parc-La Fontaine

The Plateau's back garden: two linked ponds, a bandstand, an outdoor theatre in summer and a skating loop in winter.

Map
Lachine Canal pathLe Sud-Ouest

Lachine Canal path

Cycling and walking · 14.5 km

A flat 14.5 kilometre route from the Old Port to Lachine along a historic site, with locks and open water at the far end. The best long ride here.

↗ Tourisme MontréalMap
Parc Jean-DrapeauÎle Sainte-Hélène

Parc Jean-Drapeau

Island park · 1 Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

Two river islands carrying the Biosphère, the Grand Prix circuit, a beach and the summer festival grounds. The track is open to cyclists off-race.

↗ Parc Jean-DrapeauMap
Parc MaisonneuveRosemont

Parc Maisonneuve

Large park · Rosemont

The open green beside the Botanical Garden, with cross-country ski tracks in winter and enough space to lose the crowds in summer.

Map
Out of town

Best day trips in Montréal

Five trips, four of them under two hours from the island.
Québec CityCapitale-Nationale

Québec City

About 2h30 by car or train

The walled upper town and the only fortified city north of Mexico, two and a half hours away and reachable by rail. Long as a day trip, better as an overnight.

Map
Mont-TremblantLaurentides

Mont-Tremblant

About 1h30 by car

The Laurentians' main resort village, an hour and a half northwest, with skiing in winter and a gondola and trail network the rest of the year.

Map
Estrie

Cantons-de-l'Est

About 1h30 to 2h by car

The Eastern Townships: vineyards, Lake Memphrémagog and an abbey about ninety minutes out. Best in late September when the maples turn.

Map
OttawaOntario

Ottawa

About 2h by car or train

The federal capital, roughly two hours west by rail. Parliament Hill, the National Gallery, and a canal that freezes into a skateway in deep winter.

↗ VIA RailMap
Mont Saint-HilaireMontérégie

Mont Saint-Hilaire

About 40 minutes by car

The closest of the Monteregian hills, forty minutes east, a UNESCO biosphere reserve with old-growth forest and a summit view over the orchards.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Montréal (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
15 January to 7 February 2026

Igloofest

Electronic music outdoors on the Old Port quay, in whatever the weather is doing.

20 February to 7 March 2026

Montréal en Lumière and Nuit Blanche

The winter festival of light, food and stage shows, with a Nuit Blanche that keeps venues open through the night.

22 to 24 May 2026

Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix

Three days at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Hotel prices roughly double that weekend, so book months out or plan around it.

12 to 20 June 2026

Les Francos de Montréal

The largest French-language music festival anywhere, with most of the stages outdoors and free in the Quartier des spectacles.

25 June to 4 July 2026

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal

The biggest jazz festival in the world by attendance, ten days of it, with the outdoor stages downtown free.

31 July to 2 August 2026

Osheaga

Three days of headline pop and rock at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Take the metro, because parking there effectively does not exist.

25 to 30 August 2026

MUTEK

Electronic music and digital art across indoor and outdoor venues. The interesting festival if the summer bill is not for you.

3 September to 1 November 2026

Gardens of Light

The Chinese, Japanese and First Nations gardens lit after dark, evenings only. Weekend slots sell out first.

Getting around

Montréal transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
YUL

Montréal-Trudeau International Airport

The city's only passenger airport, about 20 km west of downtown. The 747 bus runs downtown around the clock, and the fare buys 24 hours of travel rather than a single ride.

↗ Aéroports de Montréal↗ REM airport branchMap
STM

Metro and buses

Four metro lines, 68 stations and the buses that feed them. Day and weekend passes pay for themselves in three rides. It is the only sane way to move in January.

↗ STM fares↗ ARTMMap
Rail

Trains and the REM

VIA Rail runs from Gare Centrale to Ottawa in about two hours and Toronto in five, from a station directly under the office towers. The REM uses the same interchange.

↗ VIA Rail↗ REMMap
Local

BIXI bikes and taxis

The bike share runs around 12,600 bicycles at roughly 1,000 stations, with a smaller winter network. The protected lanes make it a genuine way to cross town.

↗ BIXI MontréalMap
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Montréal, Canada

The classics to order before you leave.
Smoked meat sandwich, Montréal (Wimup travel guide)

Smoked meat sandwich

Brisket cured for about ten days, smoked, steamed and piled on rye with mustard.

Montreal bagel, Montréal (Wimup travel guide)

Montreal bagel

Smaller, sweeter and denser than the New York kind: boiled in honey water, then baked in a wood oven.

Poutine, Montréal (Wimup travel guide)

Poutine

Fries, fresh cheese curds and hot gravy, in that order, so the curds squeak and half melt.

Tourtière, Montréal (Wimup travel guide)

Tourtière

A double-crust meat pie of minced pork spiced with cinnamon and clove.

Pouding chômeur, Montréal (Wimup travel guide)

Pouding chômeur

The Depression-era dessert: plain batter with hot maple syrup poured over before baking, so it separates.

Cretons, Montréal (Wimup travel guide)

Cretons

A coarse pork and onion spread eaten cold on toast at breakfast. The most Québécois thing on any brunch table.

Portuguese grilled chicken, Montréal (Wimup travel guide)

Portuguese grilled chicken

Brought by the Portuguese community around Saint-Laurent: charcoal-grilled with piri-piri, lemon and fries.

Tarte au sucre

Sugar pie: brown sugar or maple syrup set with cream in a pastry shell.

Montréal fact sheet

Montréal at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
Canada
Region
Québec · Île de Montréal, on the St. Lawrence River
Population
2,004,265 on the island (2021 census), 4,291,732 across the metropolitan area
Founded
17 May 1642 as Ville-Marie, by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance
Nickname
La ville aux cent clochers, the city of a hundred steeples
Language
French is the official language of Québec; English is widely spoken downtown and in the west
Currency
Canadian dollar (CAD)
Time zone
UTC-5, UTC-4 on daylight saving
Calling code
+1 514 and 438
Airports
YUL
Power
120V · Type A & B
Emergency
911
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
Metro, buses & BIXI bikes
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • The RÉSO, the indoor network under downtown, runs about 33 kilometres and links metro stations, malls, universities and hotels.
  • Mount Royal Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who had already laid out Central Park, and opened in 1876.
  • The Montréal Tower leans at 45 degrees and stands 165 metres, the tallest inclined tower in the world.
  • Saint Joseph's Oratory is the largest church in Canada, its dome reaches 97 metres, and it draws more than two million visitors a year.
  • Montréal has been a UNESCO City of Design since 2006, one of the first cities named to the Creative Cities Network.

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