3 days in Montreal
 

Have 2 1/2 days in early August for Montreal; arriving early afternoon and staying at 410 Sherbrooke Street West (a new McGill University dorm).

First time in Montreal. I like art, architecture, gardens, history, and walking. Here are some ideas from guidebooks I have for the time there, let me know if you have additions, deletions, or suggestions for me. I would like casual eating places, good food but not taking up a lot of time or money. I have benefited so much in the past from Forum help and promise a trip report in return.

• Old Montreal walking -- inside visit to Notre Dame Basilica, Rue St.-Paul as pretty walking street, Chateau Romezay Historic Site, Governor's Garden which has a courtyard cafe
• Old Port of Montreal -- would a boat tour be good here?
• Museum of Fine Arts
• Montreal Archaeology and History Museum
• McCord Museum of Canadian History (which seems to be close to where I am staying)
• Parc du Mount Royal
• Jardin Botanique (possibly Biodome also)
• Jean Talon Market
• Chinatown (walk through)
• Chateau Ramezay Historic Site

Probably this is way too much for the time I have? Thank you!

I had more or less the same amount of time as you in Montreal about 4 years ago, and looking at my photos, as well as quite a lot of just wondering about, on my first full day I did a self guided walking tour of the old town and saw the Chateau Ramazey [loved it, and the staff were very sweet about my french!], went to a dim sum restaurant for lunch and visited the "Vieux Montreal" exhibition. The next day I toured the Basilica and then took the subway up to the Olympic park and walked to the Botanical gardens which are truly superb and a highlight of my trip. In the evening I found a bar serving excellent sushi and then went to an excellent concert in the concert hall followed by a great walking round the beautiful buildings of the old town which are lit up at night. So as you can see I only did about ½ half of what you have in mind but what I did I enjoyed and would like to go back

Thank you for your answer. Somehow the guide book description of Chauteau Ramazey just appealed to me so glad to hear your confirmation.
Forgot to add that I have ticket for Cirque de Soiel for my last night so very excited about that.

I guess we will both just have to plan a second trip there to see more!

Your list looks fine if a bit busy. I don't consider Montreal a 'museum' type city, more of a 'walk or bike around interesting neighborhoods' city. For fun inexpensive dining, stroll up to the Plateau area where St Denis meets Duluth. Lots of interesting BYOB restaurants on Duluth and nearby, many have nice back yard patios.

Hi CLBTravel,

Yes, Montreal is a city known for interesting neighbourhoods but there are some quite good museums and you’ve picked some interesting ones to check out; the Château Ramezay and Pointe à Callière I especially like. You might not be able to do it all, but it’s good to have a nice idea base of things to do like you have set up—the Botanical Gardens and Jean Talon Market are somewhat separate from the others and although I like both, if time is limited, I’d probably cut off one of those two. Your plan looks sound to me, a Montrealer.

Best wishes

Daniel

In 2019, we spent six nights and five full days in Montréal. Loved it. Below is my trip report with tons of photos. It should give you some good ideas I hope. We loved L'Express for dinner (old school French), as well as others. Have fun. Montréal is a great city.

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/montreal-quebec-2019/

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5532bf9f42.jpg
L’Oratoire St-Joseph

Hear, hear. i would definitely like to return - so much more to see!

Thank you for trip report, Maitaitom! I thought I had searched for Montreal trip reports but somehow missed yours. Right now I am hovering between excitement and worry (covid cases really up where I live). Hopefully will be my first big trip since Sept. 2019.

A few places we ate and enjoyed. La Banquise for my first poutine, the classic was delicious. English breakfast at Lawrence. Stash Cafe in Old Montreal, reasonable Polish food, great on a cold, drizzly evening. Also coffee at Olive et Gourmando a short walk from Norte Dame. The sesame bagels at St. Viateur we’re tasty, we were walking by and recognized the name.

If you do make it the Jean Talon market, which we really enjoyed walking around, there is a stand called Delices de la Mer which served excellent fried cod. L’express was ok, we liked the late hours which made it convenient on our arrival evening. Lots of good food in Montreal and I have a long list of places to go to on our next visit that we didn’t make it to, as there’s only so much one can eat.

Jean-Talon is a serious market with produce from the farms and barns of the St .Lawrence valley, often with origins clearly marked. Busy places for a meal with larger dining rooms in the vicinity. That neighbourhood is also traditionally Italian so worth a stroll to count all the churches. Only drawback: It's a fair Metro ride to get there. Very busy on the weekends, which can add to the fun.
Speaking of the Metro, it is essential for tourists since Montreal attractions are spread out. Home page map, which also links into info on fares:

https://www.stm.info/en/info/networks/metro

This is a good suggested walking tour for Jean Talon and Little Italy.
https://www.mtl.org/en/explore/neigh...y-and-villeray

There are also walking tours for other neighborhoods on this tourist office website. In general, this website is a great resource.

Of the places you mentioned in your post as things you'd like to see, I would skip the Biodome.
I also think the McCord Museum is less interesting than the Chateau Ramezay or the archeological museum if you have to eliminate one, but all three are good.

The Biosphere in the Parc Jean Drapeau, is another interesting place to visit, but you already have a long list
https://www.mtl.org/en/explore/neigh...c-jean-drapeau

Great reading thank you..........I'm off to research Jean Talon Market.

To make the most of your time,use the subways and buses operated by the Societe de Transport Montreal -- STM. The subway in particular will speed you from site to site, which are spread around the sprawling city.

https://www.stm.info/en

The link should open a function that can plan your trips from one place to another.

Thank you, Southam! I am back from trip and you were exactly right; the subway was essential to getting around and very efficient. I was even able to easily get from my hotel to airport using subway and then the airport express bus, which was also covered by my subway pass. Only disappointment was how quickly the 2 1/2 days disappeared and how much I did not get to see. Definitely want to return to Montreal.

Will start posting my trip report for both Quebec City and Montreal today.

<<Will start posting my trip report for both Quebec City and Montreal today.>>

great. I'll be looking out for it, to pick up some tips for my next visit.

And I agree about the subway - i perhaps didn't use it as much as I could but for getting up to the Botanical gardens it was essential.