I went back to Canada recently with a friend of mine, this time heading to Montreal, Québec. Read about my time in Toronto here. It was great spending a long weekend in Montreal during the fall season. Let’s dive into my travel guide on Montreal.
Stay.
As usual, Airbnb is my go-to for accommodations. If you haven’t tried Airbnb yet, you’re missing out. In fact, take this deal for $40 off your first booking. Thank me later ?. We stayed in this apartment with a beautiful terrace. The apartment wasn’t far from downtown and the neighborhood was pretty quiet.
Play.
Mount Royal Park
Get expansive views of downtown Montreal. It was so beautiful and peaceful walking through this park and seeing all the foliage. We took an Uber to the main trail and walked maybe five minutes to where the panoramic views were.
If you’re up to it, you can hike all the way up by yourself! I’ve heard it can be a long walk though. We didn’t do the hike because we were a bit hungover from the previous night ?. I also heard there’s a lot of mini-trails to get lost in. Fun fact, the person that designed Central Park also designed this park.
Montreal Botanical Garden
Cost to enter: $20 CAD for adults
This is one of the largest botanical gardens in the world, so of course we had to check it out! It’s also designated as a Canadian National Historic Site. The garden might be a bit out of the way depending on where you’re staying (it’s north of town). Since we were staying in the Sainte-Marie neighborhood (near the Gay Village), it wasn’t too far for us.
My favorite garden was the Chinese Garden, which the photos above are from.
Old Montreal
This neighborhood is a MUST when visiting Montreal. I was loving the European vibes with the narrow cobbled streets and horse-drawn carriages. Some places we checked out in Old Montreal were:
Notre-Dame Basilica
A basilica located in Old Montreal. We didn’t go inside because I wasn’t willing to spend the money. It was only $6 CAD, in cash, but churches aren’t my thing ??. However, you can admire the outside architecture at Place d’Armes – a square located across the street.
Old Port of Montreal
Great place to take a stroll from one end to the other. This port has so many attractions, including:
- Zip-lining
- Mini-theme park/obstacle course
- Food trucks
- The beautiful Ferris wheel – La Grande Roue de Montréal
- Bota Bota spa (which I discussed in my previous blog post), and more…
Every season brings something new to do here, but it might be best to come during the warmer months.
Blizzarts
A great bar located in the Mile End. Blizzarts has themed nights, Friday happens to be their hip-hop/rap night. There’s a dance floor and tables that are candlelit. You don’t have to “dress up” to enter this spot.
Admire street art
Montreal is filled with street art all over! There isn’t a set location to find all street art like Wynwood in Miami, or Graffiti Alley in Toronto. However, we found most to be located in the Le Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. More specifically on Saint Laurent Boulevard and in the Mile End neighborhood.
Explore the Underground City
This might sound sketchy, or illusive but I promise it’s a real place ?. Like the Toronto PATH, the Montreal Underground City is an interconnected series of offices, restaurants, shopping centers and more. It’s located in downtown Montreal and a genius idea for those days that are just too cold/hot outside.
Eat.
Dirty Dogs
Get a delicious poutine and/or hot dog here. This spot was so dope! You could have a hot dog topped with mac and cheese, while listening to old, and new, school hip-hop. The bathroom was covered in old magazine cut-outs of wrestling superstars. When ordering poutine, be sure to ask about the sizes.
- What I ordered: P.I.G MAC poutine (petite size). This included: 4-cheese mac & cheese, pulled pork, bbq sauce and caramelized onions on top of the poutine.
I got a petite poutine, which to me still felt like a large! Refer to the photos above to see what I mean.
Grab a bagel… or a few.
Let me start by saying, Montreal’s bagels are definitely different from New York bagels. They’re hand-rolled, sweeter (from the honey), denser and smaller in size. For all these reasons, I really enjoyed the bagels in Montreal. If you love bagels like I do, I think trying Montreal bagels are a MUST.
Fairmount Bagel
The very first bagel bakery in Montreal, this small shop sells an assortment of fresh bagels. I got a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and it was less than $1 CAD – it’s a cash-only place. There was a line outside the bakery when we arrived around 11am on a Saturday. Luckily, the only thing to buy here are bagels, so the line moves quickly. You can get a peek behind the scenes into their wood fired-oven where the bagels are baked.
St-Viateur Bagel
This bagel shop has two locations in the Mile End, and a few other locations around Montreal. Both locations in the Mile End aren’t far from each other, and aren’t far from Fairmount Bagel. So it’s possible to try both and see which is the better bagel bakery. Like Fairmount Bagel, St-Viateur Bagel is cash-only and open 24-hours. I got a cinnamon raisin bagel. The wood-fire oven where they bake the bagels is in plain view when ordering your bagel.
Kem Coba
This is a great place to get delicious soft served ice cream, it’s also right next door to Fairmount Bagel. Although, I doubt someone will eat a bagel and ice cream back-to-back, but who am I to judge ??. We got their soft serve passion fruit and lemon ice cream.
Romados
Outside of bagels and poutine, I heard that you MUST try the Portuguese chicken in Montreal, especially from Romados. The Portuguese chicken here was AMAZING, ya’ll. I can’t speak on the authenticity of it since I haven’t been to Portugal, yet. I can say that the chicken (I got half chicken) was so juicy and tender. Plus, the spicy sauce that came with it was a great addition. They pack the plate to capacity with chicken, salad and fries (or you can get rice).
Eggspectation
A chain restaurant with locations in Canada, the US and more. Montreal is where Eggspectation first opened and offers a range of food for breakfast, brunch and lunch.
- What I ordered: Breakfast poutine (potatoes, bacon, ham, sausage, smothered in gravy and topped with a sunny side up egg) + mimosa
- Cost: $12.95 CAD for breakfast poutine, $8 CAD for mimosa
The breakfast poutine was so filling and you could taste the freshly squeezed orange juice in the mimosa. My friend ordered a coffee, which apparently came with complimentary unlimited refills.
Have you been to Montreal, specifically in the fall? What were your favorite places to eat and play?
