My wife and I have a one day layover in Montreal in early July. We will be arriving mid-day, staying at a hotel near the airport and flying out early the next morning to a fishing lodge in Labrador. I’d appreciate any advice on what to do with such a short window, especially cool neighborhoods to walk around and dinner recommendations that are unique to the city. Unfortunately, we are packing light for a float plane, so our wardrobe will be decidedly trout bum and not suitable for fine dining. Thanks.
Staying near the airport, an immediate option for walking is the parkland along the St. Lawrence river, which includes a bike path that takes you all the way downtown (approx 15 km/9 miles). If you choose that option and walk or bike east, you’ll end up at the end of an old canal (the Lachine Canal), at the start of which is a series of various restaurants. The westmost two are a Dairy Queen, and an Italian restaurant called Andrea. IMHO, Andrea is crap and you would be better off at the Dairy Queen. Further along, however, are a Portuguese restaurant, some other Italian restaurants (I personally like one called Il Fornetto, but the others are good too), including one called Pasta Andrea (there was a family schism that resulted in the two Andrea restaurants btw) and there’s a little Mexican restaurant, El Meson. It’s a very nice area to walk around and Montreal is a very safe city, except for damage that pot-holes can do to a car or bike.
Downtown there’s an area called Old Montreal which, as its name suggests, is older than the rest of the city. In fact it’s where Montreal began and in Old Montreal there’s a really cool museum - Pointe a Calliere (POINTE-À-CALLIÈRE). The essentially cool thing about it is that, during some construction project the workers inadvertently uncovered some of the earliest streets in the city. So it was excavated and a museum was built over it. It’s really fascinating and worthwhile.
As well, downtown, is Montreal’s jewel, Mount Royal. It’s beautiful with lots of walking trails and it was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park in NYC (Montréal: Mount Royal and Frederick Olmstead | Library and Archives Canada Blog).
Awesome, thank you, this is perfect. Can you tell me when people mask up? Is it any time one is outside, or only when indoors, etc? I know July is an eternity away when talking about COVID.
I believe that Quebec has just lifted its mask mandates, however, a lot of people (me including) still mask inside and on public transit.
One other thing is language - don’t be deterred by it in Montreal. Most (probably 90%) are very bilingual and anyone under 40 is very pragmatic about language needs and very cosmopolitan; Montreal’s a very diverse city.
You can also reach downtown by public transit but at that distance it’s a bit inefficient. There is a bus from the airport to downtown (it’s a city bus numbered, believe it or not, the 747).
About a 20 minute walk from the airport, or closer depending on your hotel, there is Dorval, where there is a sort of transit hub. One bus, the 496 east is an express bus that I think takes about 20 to get downtown. The magic part is that you can then take the metro, which is an awesome way to get around.
This is a link to the STM (Societe de Transit de Montreal, or the transit commission). Local (10 to 249) | Société de transport de Montréal
If you take the 496 or 747 downtown you will get off at Lionel Groulx metro station. Immediately south, perhaps a five minute walk, is Notre Dame Street. It’s a rapidly gentrifying area. If you head west you’ll see a more “colourful” area with an interesting mix of diners and cool, urban, hip places. In the opposite direction tends to be more consistently higher end. There’s an Italian place, Gepetto, that I really like.
Further south of Lionel Groulx is the Atwater Market, which is a nice place to spend some time.
Again, thank you. This is awesome information. Fun fact: Olmstead’s son designed Rock Creek Park in my home city, Washington.
Who else saw the title and remembered the song One Night in Bangkok?
I thought of 10cc’s “One Night in Paris”.
I have fond memories of wandering around Old Montreal in the summertime. It’s a beautiful old historic area, and also contains quite a few great restaurants, some of them in historic old buildings.
Do you like sushi? I love this place . . . a bit expensive, quite awesome. Make a reservation if you want to go.
Love sushi, thanks.
Old Montreal is great. Really nice to just wander around. The Pointe a Calliere was a real highlight if you can fit it in. It’s not too big but I really loved the underground archeology exhibit.
This is our first big trip after COVID lockdowns. I’ve never been to Canada, but my wife has, she has Canadian cousins.
This trip was supposed to be for our 20th anniversary, but it looks like it’ll be for our 22nd. I wish I had enough time for the fly fishing lodge and exploring Montreal, but I’ll just have to go back.
Update: I just wanted to say that this information was spot on, we had lunch on arrival day in Old Montreal, but it was Canada Day and the crowds were getting too large for us, so we headed to Lachine and walked around. We had dinner at the Portuguese place and had a great time. On our way back out of Canada, we hope to eat at Il Fornetto, but it looks like we’ll need reservations. Thank you again, and you live in a beautiful city.
You’re very welcome and it’s great to hear that you had a good time. Old Montreal is beautiful but it can get really packed sometimes.
If you’re in Canada again, Quebec City is really worthwhile to check out and Ottawa is a really nice city as well.
Thanks, I’ll be back for sure, I’m just wrapping up a week in a fly fishing lodge in Labrador and we’re already planning our return.