Attractions & Things To Do In Montreal

As the biggest city in Quebec¹, Montreal has so much to offer – from the culture, architecture to festivals, Montreal is a city with so much charm. The seamless blend of old-world and modern sophistication makes Montreal feel like a unique European escape within Canada.

During the end of July², we spent 4 days in Montreal and explored popular tourist attractions, discovered hidden gems and indulged in a lot of delicious food (see Our Favourite Restaurants in Montreal). Here’s our curated list of the best things to do and places to visit while in Montreal which I hope this inspires your next visit to this vibrant city.

Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal)

You can’t visit Montreal without wandering through Old Montreal – this is on everyone’s list for a good reason. This historic district is the oldest part of Montreal, featuring cobblestone pathways and charming architecture that truly showcases the city’s rich history. Strolling along Rue Saint-Paul, you’ll find that many of these old buildings now house restaurants, boutique shops or souvenir stores but the stunning structures remain. Another must see in Old Montreal is Notre-Dame Basilica, the gothic exterior contrasts beautifully with the internal stained glass windows. Entry to Notre-Dame Basilica does cost money but if you do visit at night you will be treated to a great light show.

Downtown Montreal

Just a short walk from Old Montreal is Downtown Montreal, the city’s vibrant business hub. Saint Catherine St in particular hosts the main strip of department stores, retail shops and a diverse range of restaurants. This is a great area to explore to see historic buildings next to contemporary high rises. It is also great to see the use of older architecture as the foundation for some new and some very well known brands. The area really reminded us of Melbourne, Australia.

If you are looking for some great food for lunch, the Time Out Food Court is in this area, with great food choices. In late July, construction temporarily halted traffic on parts of Saint Catherine St. Our time there also coincided with the lively Comedy ha! Festival, adding to the vibrant atmosphere in Downtown Montreal.

Parc Du Bassin-Bonsecours

For a quick escape from the city life, Parc Du Basssin-Bonsecours is also a short walk from Old Montreal offering great views of St Helen’s Island, parts of Montreal Biosphere and the St Lawrence River. Along your walk from Old Montreal to Parc Du Basssin-Bonsecours, you might pass by the Old Port of Montreal, Cirque Du Sole and the magnificent ferris wheel. The area is perfect for a stroll to explore the different sites, enjoy some snacks from food trucks or souvenir shopping at the shipping container shops. For a bit of a thrill, there is a zip line you can try or for slower paced travel there are plenty of seats and shaded spots to take in the scenery and people watch.

Bike Tour

Coming to Montreal, we knew we wanted to see parts of the city as locals would and find the hidden gems. Montreal as a city has over 60km of bike lanes, so there was no better way to explore than on Bikes. We booked The Hidden Gems Tour with Fitz Montreal Bike Tours and was so pleasantly surprised. Departing at 10am, our group of 10 was geared up with a helmet and a bike and followed tour guide Darren to see Plateau Mont-Royal, Mile End, Outremont, Little Italy, Jean Talon farmers’ market, St. Viateur Bagel shop. Darren got to understand why everyone was here and would tailor the stops based on the interests of the individuals so we got a little bit of history around Montreal, the different architecture and the changes through the different areas. We found this to be a great way to experience the city and would highly recommend it.

St Helen’s Island and the Montreal F1 Track

St Helen’s Island is an artificial island built using the rock and rubble that was excavated when building the metro (so our Uber driver told us). It is a small island, accessible by car, bike or even by the metro³. With that in mind, it is very surprising that there is so much nature and things to see and do on St Helen’s Island. Whilst we were here they were setting up of Osheaga Festival and there were parts of the park that was blocked off to pedestrians.

It’s hard to miss the Montreal Biosphere on St Helen’s Island and it is a great photo opportunity. Not far from the biosphere is Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, the 4,361-metre long car-racing track. Over the summer it is a very popular biking track. As big F1 fans, we decided to explore the island and in particular, the F1 track via an e-bike booked through the bixi app.

Casino de Montreal

Whilst on St Helen’s Island, definitely drop by Casino de Montreal and play a hand of blackjack, poker, roulette or slot machine – but of course, gamble responsibly. We stopped by on a Thursday night and we were surprised by how rowdy the place was with a crowd surrounding and dancing to the live band who were great! The Casino also offers self serve non-alcoholic beverages with alcoholic beverages purchasable from the bar.

Mount Royal

Mount Royal is a prominent hill in Montreal, founded by Jacques Cartier, a French explorer who was one of the first people to arrive in the area. Mount Royal birthed the name Montreal – try to sound it out. We started our walk from the Grand Staircase and began the 400 steps up to the peak of Mount Royal. If you’re not a fan of stairs there are alternative hiking tracks, it is also a popular area for cyclists. Once up the top, enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of Montreal city from multiple different vantage points. The views are great during a clear day or if you prefer sunset or sunrise you can enjoy the transition through the city lights to day light. If you are keen to get your steps up further, there are short trails at the top, we walked over to Mount Royal Cross, this is a 30 meter cross that can also be seen from the base of the hill.

Montreal Botanical Garden

Spanning across 75 hectares (185 acres), Montreal Botanical Garden is no walk in the park. There is a lot of walking involved here and for a lover of flora there is many different species to see, particularly in Spring. For us, the Botanical Garden in the summer was only okay and nothing spectacular⁴. There is currently a discount to enter as part of the Garden is undergoing renovations. The Chinese Garden was the biggest standout with pagodas and a feature in the middle of the pond. The Botanical Gardens does host events and shows throughout different days, if that is something you enjoy, check out their website to see what’s going on before going.

Montreal Biodome and Olympic Stadium

A short stroll from the Montreal Botanical Garden will take you to the Montreal Biodome and Olympic Stadium. The Biodome is big and hosts 5 different ecosystems and was a very popular spot for families and children. Just outside the Biodome are the Olympic rings, and the Olympic stadium which whilst we were there was not open. Our visit overlapped with the first week of the Paris Olympics 2024, there were food trucks and music playing creating a lovely ambience, this was a great space to walk around and just take a break.

All in all, coming from Vancouver, we really enjoyed Montreal’s tourist attractions and the abundance of things to do in the city. It truly felt like an escape with so much culture and things happening everywhere. We also journeyed through to Quebec City this trip, stay tuned to read about it. If there is anything we’ve missed and was a highlight for you, we would love to hear from you.

All pictures taken by us on Pixel 5 & Samsung S21.

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1. Montreal is also one of the largest French speaking cities within Canada. Our experience is that knowing some basic French is nice, but not essential as most customer facing servers can speak English conversationally. ↩︎
2. The end of July ( and Summer in general) was a very hot time to be in Montreal with temperatures reaching 30°C (86°F), and with humidity, it felt more like 38°C (100°F). If you plan to visit at this time, be prepared to layer on the sunscreen and carry a water bottle everywhere you go. ↩︎
3. We found Montreal’s public transport to be very easy to utilise, many of the locations we mention are accessible by the metro, bus, uber or bike. This makes it a budget friendly city to explore. ↩︎
4. The google review for Montreal Botanical Gardens shows some very spectacular sculptures which we were hoping to see, unfortunately, this was for an event in 2010 and these sculptures are no longer there. ↩︎