Things to do in Montréal

Some of our favourite activities in the city.

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Allez Up

A collection of bouldering and top rope gyms in Montreal. The Point Saint-Charles location has some of the highest top rope walls in Montreal!

Tags: top rope, bouldering

Locations: Mile End

Atwater Cocktail Club

A cool speak-easy bar down an alleyway in Saint Henri. They offer a wide variety of unique cocktails in addition to the classics. Best bet is to go on a weekday, the line-ups get long on the weekend!

Tags: drinks, speak-easy

Locations: Saint Henri

Boulangerie Pain d’Epi

A simple bakery in Saint Henri, that offers a wide variety of bread, viennoiseries, and pastries. We visit on a near weekly basis.

Tags: bakery, café

Locations: Saint Henri

Café Aunja

A warm, cosy cafe near the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The Persian Fog is highly recommended as is the sholeh zard (rice-based dessert) for a light, sweet treat.

Tags: cafe, brunch, Persian

Locations: Downtown

Café Jardin

A bright, plant filled cafe in Verdun that offers coffee, beverages and vegan meals and snacks. There is a small bulk and health food store in the back of the cafe with lots of local products.

Tags: vegan, cafe, brunch, lunch

Locations: Verdun

Café Saint Henri

A nice cafe with multiple locations in Montreal. We frequently purchase beans from them, and recommend the God Shot beans for at home espresso.

Tags: cafe, roaster

Locations: Saint Henri

Chicha Sanchen

One of our favourite bubble tea places in Montreal, the tea flavour is strong and the bubbles are always perfectly chewy.

Tags: bubble tea

Locations: Chinatown

Crèmerie Dalla Rose

High quality ice cream and gelato in Saint Henri with rotating seasonal flavours.

Tags: ice cream, sorbet

Locations: Saint Henri

Crew Collective and Cafe

A beautiful heritage building in downtown Montreal that has been converted to a cafe and co-working space. It’s a nice place to grab a drink and admire the architecture.

Tags: café

Locations: Downtown

État de choc

An upscale chocolate shop in Little Italy with a wide assortment of chocolate from around the world.

Tags: chocolate

Locations: Little Italy

Greenspot

A semi-famous Québécois restaurant to grab poutine, burgers, hot dogs, and fries. Best enjoyed after a drink or two at the Atwater Cocktail Club down the street.

Tags: late night eats, quick meals, Québécois

Locations: Saint Henri

F1 track Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

When the F1 races aren’t running the track is open to the public. You can drive (slowly!), bike, run, or walk around the track.

Tags: running, biking, driving

Locations: Ile Notre Dame

Île Notre Dame trails

There are numerous trails to explore on the island, including the F1 circuit.

Tags: walking, running, biking

Locations: Ile Notre Dame

Jardin botanique de Montreal

A nice green space to relax away from the city noise. The Chinese and Japanese gardens are favourites of ours, particularly the bonsai trees. There is a service road that surrounds the gardens that visitors can use for running.

Tags: gardens, walking, running

Locations: Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie

Joe Beef

A high end steakhouse located in Saint Henri. Beyond the food, they have one of the best red wines ever (which Chris has been desperately trying to find again).

Tags: steak house, upscale

Locations: Saint Henri

La Banquise

A famous Montreal poutine restaurant that is open 24 hours. They offer massive plates of poutine with a variety of poutine toppings, from the classic gravy and cheese curds to steak and Pogo.

Tags: poutine, Québécois, late night eats

Locations: Le Plateau

La Beignerie

A vegan donut shop that we go to more than we’d like to admit. They have classic flavours like cinnamon sugar and more obscure flavours including passionfruit and Biscoff.

Tags: donuts, ice cream, vegan

Locations: Le Plateau

Lachine Canal

There are multi-use paths that follow the Lachine Canal that can be used to bike, walk, roll, and run. You can follow them down to Old Port or out to the end of the Lachine Canal. If you are looking for a place to exercise we recommend checking out the trails here.

Tags: walking, running, biking

Locations: Saint Henri

La Luncheonette

A cosy restaurant in Saint Henri to enjoy a coffee or quick meal.

Tags: cafe, brunch, lunch

Locations: Saint Henri

Lambert

A Montreal fashion brand that sells vegan leather goods including handbags, wallets, and luggage.

Tags: shopping, purses, vegan

Locations: Le Plateau

Leaves House - McGill

A great place to grab some plant-based coffee drinks and snacks. They also sell cute stickers, magnets, and prints, many of them cat themed.

Tags: cafe, vegan

Locations: Downtown

Maison Birks

A Canadian jewellery store located in a beautiful, historic building in downtown Montreal.

Tags: jewelry, shopping, luxury

Locations: Downtown

Marche Atwater

A food shopping market on the Lachine Canal. There are stalls that offer fresh produce, maple syrup, perseveres, pies, flowers, and seasonal goods like pumpkins, squash, and apple cider.

Tags: shopping, food

Locations: Saint Henri

Marche Jean Talon

A large public market in Little Italy in Montreal. There are numerous stalls to purchase fresh produce, dried goods, and restaurant stalls to grab a meal or snack from.

Tags: shopping, lunch, brunch

Locations: Little Italy

Miette Boulangerie

A minimalist style bakery where you can buy loaves of bread, baguettes, and massive slices of focaccia.

Tags: bakery

Locations: Saint Henri

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

A large fine arts museum in downtown Montreal with contemporary and classical galleries. Including pieces from Québécois, Canadian, and Indigenous artists.

Tags: art, museum, history

Locations: Downtown

Mont Royal

A great place to enjoy a hike, walk, or run along the wide, tree-lined paths that lead up the mountain. On top of Mont Royal you can look out on the downtown cityscape and explore the forests and Beaver Lake. Our engagement photos were photographed up here!

Tags: walking, hiking, running

Locations: Mont Royal

Nota Bene Papeterie

A cute 2-storey stationary shop in downtown Montreal. You can shop for paper, notebooks, pens, and some more uncommon items (like an airplane rolling cart!).

Tags: stationary, shopping

Locations: Downtown

Onigiri Shop

With multiple locations around Montreal, Onigiri Shop provides a place to get a quick, cheap meal. The onigiris are large so one can fill you up!

Tags: onigiri, Japanese, quick meal

Locations: Saint Henri, Mont Royal, The Plateau

Parfums de Parse

We discovered this cafe one night while out on a late night walk. The tea is wonderful and pairs well with the sweet baghlava. They also have board games available to play!

Tags: cafe, Persian, board games, downtown

Locations: Old Port

Restaurant Henri

Attached to Masion Birks, this is an upscale French restaurant, perfect for a celebratory brunch or special occasion.

Tags: upscale, brunch, dinner, lounge, French

Locations: Downtown

Saint Viateur Bagel

Saint Viateaur is famous for their hand made Montreal style bagels. Visit the flagship store on 263 Saint Viateur St. West to pick up a couple dozen, they freeze well.

Tags: bagels

Locations: Le Plateau

Sophie Sucrée

A vegan bakery located in the Plateau is one of Emma’s favourite places in Montreal. If you are craving something sweet the almond croissant is highly recommended, for a more filling savory option the “tuna” (chickpea) salad croissant is a favourite.

Tags: pastries, vegan

Locations: Le Plateau

Tula

A plant based Indian restaurant in Mile End that focuses on using whole foods and creating flavourful dishes. The tasting menu is a great option, you can try a bit of everything, best enjoyed with their chai.

Tags: restaurant, Indian, vegan

Locations: Mile End

Zebulon

Zebulon offers creative and delicious vegan pastries at their new space on Saint Denis. We loved their pastries so much, we ordered them for our wedding dessert!

Tags: pastries, vegan

Locations: Le Plateau