Known for
Cobblestone streets in Old Montreal; a summer calendar full of festivals
Must-see landmarks
Notre-Dame Basilica, Old Port, Mount Royal and Saint Joseph's Oratory
Best time to visit
June to September, when the festival calendar are at their fullest
Days needed
3 to 4 days to cover Old Montreal, downtown and Mount Royal
Montréal's tourist attractions fit into a single day. Place Jacques-Cartier, Notre-Dame Basilica and Old Port of Montreal anchor the walking itinerary below, with 8 more sights, free things to do, upcoming events and visitor FAQs further down.
Place Jacques-Cartier slopes from Old Montreal's former city hall down toward the harbour, its cobblestones lined with cafe terraces, street performers and flower stalls through the summer season. Notre-Dame Basilica is a 9 minute walk south-west.
Notre-Dame Basilica rises over Place d'Armes, built between 1824 and 1829 to designs by James O'Donnell, the first significant example of Gothic Revival architecture in Canada. A ticket covers the sightseeing visit; access for worship stays free. The Old Port is a 5 minute walk south.
The Old Port's promenade opens daily from 06:00 to midnight along the old shipping harbour, its clock tower, science centre and Ferris wheel priced apart from the free path itself. McGill University is a 43 minute walk, or a shorter ride on the metro.
McGill University's downtown campus opens onto Sherbrooke Street at the foot of Mount Royal, chartered in 1821 after a bequest from fur trader James McGill, free to wander past the Arts Building and the Redpath Museum. Christ Church Cathedral is a 14 minute walk east.
Christ Church Cathedral's neo-Gothic nave, designed by British architect Frank Wills and completed in 1859, stands free to enter on Sainte-Catherine Street. Mount Royal's Kondiaronk Lookout is a 42 minute walk uphill through the park's wooded paths, or a shorter ride combining the metro with the 11 bus, which stops at the belvedere.
Kondiaronk Lookout crowns the chalet at the heart of the park Frederick Law Olmsted laid out in 1876, its terrace framing the downtown skyline and the St Lawrence River, open every day of the year.
Oxmo Puccino x Demi Portion plays L'Olympia on 9 November at 20:00.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Minnesota Wild comes to Centre Bell on 10 November at 19:00.
Jazz Sessions au Balcon plays Le Balcon on 10 November at 19:00.
Show du Refuge plays L'Olympia on 12 November at 20:00.
The Jazz Room: un hommage à Frank Sinatra et à Louis Armstrong comes to Le Piccolo on 13 November at 18:00.
José Gaudet - Y'était temps! plays Cabaret du Casino de Montreal on 13 November at 19:30.
Free entrance covers the Old Port's waterfront promenade every day from 06:00 to midnight; only what's built along it, the science centre and the Ferris wheel among them, sells its own tickets.
Access to the Oratory is free for everyone, from the basilica's nave to the gardens and the Way of the Cross outside; the museum and guided tours are the parts that carry a separate charge.
Anyone can walk through McGill's stone gates and grassy quadrangles at no cost, with self-guided route maps available near the Roddick Gates entrance on Sherbrooke Street.
Free to step inside outside of service times, this Anglican cathedral hides pointed arches and quiet stonework behind its Gothic Revival facade, a rare downtown example of the style.
Old Montreal's cobblestone lanes, this sloping square among them, cost nothing to wander, from the old city hall down to the harbour, street performers included.
Mile End's streets, murals and bagel shop windows cost nothing to explore, from the ovens of St-Viateur Bagel to the neighbourhood's independent boutiques and record shops.
Montréal grew from the fortified mission of Ville-Marie, founded by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve on 18 May 1642, into a major bilingual metropolis on the St Lawrence River. French is the language of daily life and English shares the signs downtown, and Old Montreal's stone warehouses sit a few blocks from glass office towers. Below the winter cold, the Underground City links 32 kilometres of malls, offices and metro stations, a network used by around 500,000 people a day since it began in 1962.
Old Montreal keeps the cobblestones, Notre-Dame Basilica and the Old Port along the St Lawrence. Downtown climbs from Sainte-Catherine Street past McGill University to the base of Mount Royal, the wooded hill Frederick Law Olmsted landscaped starting in 1876. North of downtown, the Plateau and Mile End trade grand churches for painted triplexes, murals and bagel ovens, while Little Italy gathers around Jean-Talon Market.
Summer, from June to September, brings the busiest festival calendar and the warmest weather, while winters turn cold enough for outdoor rinks and cross-country trails on Mount Royal. Three to four days cover Old Montreal, downtown and the mountain at an easy pace, with an extra day useful for Mile End, Jean-Talon Market or Saint Joseph's Oratory.
Old Montreal and downtown are flat and walkable, and the STM's metro and bus network, including the 747 airport bus, reaches the rest of the island. Mount Royal's slopes are the one climb of note, with footpaths and the number 11 bus both leading up to Kondiaronk Lookout. Beyond the island, road and rail tie the city into the eastern circuit that gathers many of the top tourist attractions in Canada.