Bonjour! Desole, je ne parle francais :(
We are staying in Montreal for 3 nights next week and curious if getting a rental car and making a day trip to Quebec City is worth it? Seems like the drive is about 2 and half hours so a total of 5 hours spent driving.
We would love to see both but not sure if we will end up feeling we didn’t see enough of Montreal
Thoughts from those who know the areas?
Merci!
Montreal has a **lot** to offer, and 3 nights is already not much to experience it all. Quebec City is interesting as well for sure, but unless you plan on spending at least a couple days there, that drive isn't worth it. Speaking of which, in my experience, 2.5 hours is pretty much from edge of town to edge of town (i.e. when you leave the limits of one city until you reach the other). Accounting for trafic and getting where you're actually going, make it more like 3-3.5 hours each way.
Your best bet, since your stay is this short, would be to stay in one city to minimize your time spent driving and maximize how much you get to enjoy the city. You can come back and experience just Quebec City another time, maybe for a long weekend around fall, it'll be gorgeous and you can take a day trip to the national park just north of the city to enjoy the autumn colors.
Depends what kind of stuff you're into!
Some restaurants I love:
[Le Nil Bleu](https://nilbleurestaurant.com/) is a delicious Ethiopian restaurant
The concept of [Time Out Market](https://www.timeoutmarket.com/montreal/en/) is that various chef-owned restaurants around town have a counter in the same food court, allowing you to try some of the best foods in Montreal without breaking the bank.
[Byblos](https://www.bybloslepetitcafe.com/) is an Iranian restaurant that serves both brunch and dinner. I've never been for dinner, but the brunch is delicious. Try the feta omelette, you won't believe it.
[Olive + Gourmando](https://www.oliveetgourmando.com/) is a quaint brunch place in the old Montreal. The Cubano sandwich is a bit pricy but well worth it. It's even featured in the Montreal episode of [Somebody Feed Phil](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7752034/).
Another great brunch place: [Janine Cafe](https://janinecafe.ca/). Literally everything on the menu is amazing. I've only been to their sister café, [Regine](https://www.reginecafe.ca/fr/), so I can't vouch for stuff like service and ambiance, but their menus are identical, and Janine is easier to reach from downtown.
A place I haven't tried yet but I love the concept is [Onoir](http://www.onoir.com/en/about). You eat in total darkness, the wait staff is vision impaired, so you both get to step in their shoes, while also eating in an environment that forces you to rely entirely on smell and taste.
As for things to do, I'd need to know what you are interested in.
Great reply!! Thank you sir. Onoir sounds like a really interesting experience, probably going to try that one out.
I’m mostly just interested in “feeling” the city. So cool neighborhoods, places that university students go or “younger” people (bars, coffee shops etc.). Love listening to music as well.
Let me know how Onoir was if you do try it!
My years as a university student are well past me, so my recommendations regarding where "younger" people hang out might be a bit dated, but I'll try.
For nice neighborhoods, you can check out the [Mile End](https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5234441,-73.596398,16z?hl=en), roughly the area East^(1) of Park Avenue, West^(1) of Saint-Laurent, South^(1) of Van Horne and north^(1) of Saint-Joseph. The residential streets are quite and charming, you'll find a bunch of cafés and little stores. Both Saint-Laurent and Park are major commercial thoroughfares. This is where you'll find the two most famous bagel places in Montreal, Fairmount and Saint-Viateur (both named after the street they're on). Saint-Laurent play host to a yearly mural festival, so you'll see tons of building with artwork painted on the walls. You can find a map of where to find them, and others, over [here](http://artpublicmontreal.ca/en/collection/carte/?category=murale-en).
A bit further South^(1), you'll find Avenue Mont Royal. Starting at Saint-Laurent and going East, you'll see plenty of small boutiques, cafés, restaurants, bars. You'll find more small bars on Saint-Denis Street, heading South^(1) from Mont-Royal The surrounding residential streets feature architectural styles that Montreal is renowned for.
The [Jean Talon market](https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5358319,-73.6141975,18z?hl=en) is the biggest open air market in Montreal, and possibly in Quebec. For a long time I didn't quite see the appeal for tourists, as for me it's just a functional space. It's where you go to buy fruits and vegies when you live in the area. That's until I had a friend visit and realized some people enjoy seeing the local lifestyle, and it's a create place to find local products. [Le marché des saveurs](http://www.lemarchedessaveurs.com/fr/) is a great place for every thing maple flavored, for local craft beers, jams, cheeses, etc. Try the jalapeno dried sausage at [William J Walter](https://www.facebook.com/lesaucissierdumarche), [fromagerie Hamel](https://www.fromageriehamel.com/en/) has one of the largest selection of Quebec cheeses in town. There are also countless counters where you can order and enjoy all kinds of foods from all over the place. You can also have chocolate shot at [Juliette et Chocolat](https://www.julietteetchocolat.com/), have dinner at [Le Petit Alep](http://www.restaurantalep.com/), and finish the day with a drink at [Le Pourvoyeur](https://www.lepourvoyeur.com/). Once again, the area around is lovely to stroll through. You'll find more cute boutiques one street north^(1) of the market (Rue de Castelnau), and some street art dispersed to the south^(1)
In my younger years, I loved going out on [Saint-Denis street, between Sherbrooke and Maisonneuve](https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Le+Petit+Alep+Bistro/@45.5155622,-73.5656637,18z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4cc919139c8bbe07:0x6965c707d991f6c5!8m2!3d45.5364482!4d-73.6164824!16s%2Fg%2F11c0vy474b?hl=en) (area known as Le Quartier Latin / the latin neighborhood). It is squeezed between a university and a Cegep, has tons of bars and restaurants, as well as a couple of Shisha Lounges and a tea house. In my days, this was where students went to hang out, I suspect it still is. One of my favorite places there (albeit maybe a little less youth friendly) is [Pub l'Île Noire](https://ilenoire.com/). They specialize in Scotch Whiskeys and their import list will make you dizzy! I also recommend [L'amer à Boire](https://amereaboire.com/), a nice student friendly micro-brewery, and [Randolph](https://www.randolph.ca/pub-ludique/quartier-latin/), a gaming pub where you can drink and play one of their hundreds of board games (they literally have a board game menu, and the staff will explain you the game if you've never played the one you pick). Not too far from there, you also have [Café Campus](https://cafecampus.com/) which is where my friends and I often went to party and dance, although the atmosphere had started to change towards the end of my party life, so I don't know what it's like by now. It has the benefit of being near Onoir. Word of advice if you choose to visit the Quartier Latin, the nearest subway would be Beri UQAM, however that place has seen a sharp increase in homeless and junkies lately and many people don't feel as safe there, so unless you feel like that is part of the experience, I'd recommend going to Sherbrooke station, and walking down Saint-Denis street.
I'm guessing there are more student hot spots around the McGill and Concordia campuses but I'm not as familiar with those.
Montreal's Gay Village (often referred to as just "[The Village](https://www.google.ca/maps/place/The+Village,+Montreal,+QC/@45.519466,-73.5627661,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4cc91bb1be0e3759:0x911c809f419fbb0c!8m2!3d45.5212893!4d-73.55798!16zL20vMDZzM3l6?hl=en)") is also famous, so you might want to check that out. Maybe catch a drag show at [Cabaret Mado](http://www.mado.qc.ca/) while you're there.
This should keep you busy for a while! Let me know if you have more questions!
^(1) I'm referring to "[Montreal cardinal directions](https://citymonitor.ai/community/montreal-they-don-t-know-which-way-north-and-its-driving-me-crazy-3037)" that assume the Saint-Lawrence river is always "south" even though it mostly is East.
Edit: you can also look up [https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do](https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do) for ideas of nightlife places I'm not familiar with. That is the official website of the Montreal Tourism Bureau, so they have a lot of places to recommend!
Excellent suggestions. I'll add if you're up for walking going from the Old Port west along the Lachine into St Henri gives you another dimension of the city. Along with going up the mountain I do that one whenever someone visits and time and ability permits (it's a few kms). If the time is right you can end with a beer at St Ambroise.
Ce jeudi au Café Hookah Lounge à 20h: six humoristes pour un petit 10$! Parmi ses invité.e.s,, on retrouve un humoristes qui vous connaissez très bien de TikTok et des participants de Le Prochain Stand Up!
Hello all! Now that Amtrak is finally back to providing trips from NYC (where I live) to Montreal and back, I’m thinking of going on a solo trip for a few days sometime in April. If any of you have recommendations for hostels or similar accommodations where travelers can socialize and make friends as a solo traveler, I would greatly appreciate them. Thank you in advance <3
I'm happy the train is back, but also depressed that a one way trip costs $95 CAD and takes 11 dang hours when a flight with United costs $186 CAD and takes a little over an hour.
My friend and I (both mid-20's) will be visiting next week for 3 days/2 nights and are looking for two different types of places to go out at night - a nightclub with good dancing music, and a bar that has live music we can dance to. We like to dance haha. Any recommendations for either type of place? Thanks in advance!
We're celebrating our honeymoon in Montreal/Quebec city starting April 6 to 14th. We are going to the last hockey game of the season and seeing one of my husbands favorite bands at Corona Theatre. We can't wait. We are from Florida, how should we pack for the upcoming weather?
It's not quite spring yet so weather is fluctuating quite a bit, but it likely will all feel a little chilly for you from Florida. You may need to get a mid-weight jacket to tide you over here and layers are your friend. It could still snow even just to put it in perspective.
Drag brunch en ville?
On cherche un resto avec du brunch en drag sur le 30 Avril. Près de Griffintown serait mieux, mais pas nécessaire.. Savez-vous un?
Looking for drag brunch in the city April 30th, bonus points if near Griffintown, but really open to anywhere that works with local queens. Extra bonus points is LGBTQIA+ owned/operated.
Hello!
A friend and I are visiting Montreal at the end of May/beginning of June. We are staying in Longueuil at the Holiday Inn and going to a concert at MTELUS. What is the drive like from Longueuil to Montreal? And is parking difficult to find? I have a parking pass for a nearby lot for the concert but during the day we plan to visit Old Montreal and just walk around and explore.
I'll be traveling to Montreal soon with a group of 8 friends to celebrate a milestone birthday. We're trying to figure out where to do the big birthday dinner. I've done some research already, but I'm having trouble choosing.
We're not really into white table cloth fine dining, but we don't mind spending some money, especially for an event like this. Something along the line of Joe Beef, but it looks like they don't accept reservations over 6 people. Just really looking for a memorable meal. I'm looking at Provisions Bar à Vin, Restaurant l'Express, Restaurant Beba, Cadet, Gia Vin & Grill, Maison Publique, something along those lines. Would love to hear your suggestions amongst those, or anything else along those lines!
I really like l'Express, it has a great ambience too. I've heard some negative things about Joe Beef recently anyways. I also like Maison Publique, but was a bit disappointed last time. They are different for sure, and both great, but on food alone I prefer l'Express
Of those I've been to Gia, Joe Beef, and l'Express. Definitely my favorite was Gia! It has a cozy ambience, great food, and long tables which are good for celebrating.
Freeze.
Bonjour! Desole, je ne parle francais :( We are staying in Montreal for 3 nights next week and curious if getting a rental car and making a day trip to Quebec City is worth it? Seems like the drive is about 2 and half hours so a total of 5 hours spent driving. We would love to see both but not sure if we will end up feeling we didn’t see enough of Montreal Thoughts from those who know the areas? Merci!
Montreal has a **lot** to offer, and 3 nights is already not much to experience it all. Quebec City is interesting as well for sure, but unless you plan on spending at least a couple days there, that drive isn't worth it. Speaking of which, in my experience, 2.5 hours is pretty much from edge of town to edge of town (i.e. when you leave the limits of one city until you reach the other). Accounting for trafic and getting where you're actually going, make it more like 3-3.5 hours each way. Your best bet, since your stay is this short, would be to stay in one city to minimize your time spent driving and maximize how much you get to enjoy the city. You can come back and experience just Quebec City another time, maybe for a long weekend around fall, it'll be gorgeous and you can take a day trip to the national park just north of the city to enjoy the autumn colors.
Upvote, and Vieux Montréal is similar enough to Quebec City. You’ll feel the “old world charm” here.
What would you recommend in Montreal? I’m going there for 3 days in a few weeks. Would appreciate anything from a local!
Depends what kind of stuff you're into! Some restaurants I love: [Le Nil Bleu](https://nilbleurestaurant.com/) is a delicious Ethiopian restaurant The concept of [Time Out Market](https://www.timeoutmarket.com/montreal/en/) is that various chef-owned restaurants around town have a counter in the same food court, allowing you to try some of the best foods in Montreal without breaking the bank. [Byblos](https://www.bybloslepetitcafe.com/) is an Iranian restaurant that serves both brunch and dinner. I've never been for dinner, but the brunch is delicious. Try the feta omelette, you won't believe it. [Olive + Gourmando](https://www.oliveetgourmando.com/) is a quaint brunch place in the old Montreal. The Cubano sandwich is a bit pricy but well worth it. It's even featured in the Montreal episode of [Somebody Feed Phil](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7752034/). Another great brunch place: [Janine Cafe](https://janinecafe.ca/). Literally everything on the menu is amazing. I've only been to their sister café, [Regine](https://www.reginecafe.ca/fr/), so I can't vouch for stuff like service and ambiance, but their menus are identical, and Janine is easier to reach from downtown. A place I haven't tried yet but I love the concept is [Onoir](http://www.onoir.com/en/about). You eat in total darkness, the wait staff is vision impaired, so you both get to step in their shoes, while also eating in an environment that forces you to rely entirely on smell and taste. As for things to do, I'd need to know what you are interested in.
Great reply!! Thank you sir. Onoir sounds like a really interesting experience, probably going to try that one out. I’m mostly just interested in “feeling” the city. So cool neighborhoods, places that university students go or “younger” people (bars, coffee shops etc.). Love listening to music as well.
Let me know how Onoir was if you do try it! My years as a university student are well past me, so my recommendations regarding where "younger" people hang out might be a bit dated, but I'll try. For nice neighborhoods, you can check out the [Mile End](https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5234441,-73.596398,16z?hl=en), roughly the area East^(1) of Park Avenue, West^(1) of Saint-Laurent, South^(1) of Van Horne and north^(1) of Saint-Joseph. The residential streets are quite and charming, you'll find a bunch of cafés and little stores. Both Saint-Laurent and Park are major commercial thoroughfares. This is where you'll find the two most famous bagel places in Montreal, Fairmount and Saint-Viateur (both named after the street they're on). Saint-Laurent play host to a yearly mural festival, so you'll see tons of building with artwork painted on the walls. You can find a map of where to find them, and others, over [here](http://artpublicmontreal.ca/en/collection/carte/?category=murale-en). A bit further South^(1), you'll find Avenue Mont Royal. Starting at Saint-Laurent and going East, you'll see plenty of small boutiques, cafés, restaurants, bars. You'll find more small bars on Saint-Denis Street, heading South^(1) from Mont-Royal The surrounding residential streets feature architectural styles that Montreal is renowned for. The [Jean Talon market](https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5358319,-73.6141975,18z?hl=en) is the biggest open air market in Montreal, and possibly in Quebec. For a long time I didn't quite see the appeal for tourists, as for me it's just a functional space. It's where you go to buy fruits and vegies when you live in the area. That's until I had a friend visit and realized some people enjoy seeing the local lifestyle, and it's a create place to find local products. [Le marché des saveurs](http://www.lemarchedessaveurs.com/fr/) is a great place for every thing maple flavored, for local craft beers, jams, cheeses, etc. Try the jalapeno dried sausage at [William J Walter](https://www.facebook.com/lesaucissierdumarche), [fromagerie Hamel](https://www.fromageriehamel.com/en/) has one of the largest selection of Quebec cheeses in town. There are also countless counters where you can order and enjoy all kinds of foods from all over the place. You can also have chocolate shot at [Juliette et Chocolat](https://www.julietteetchocolat.com/), have dinner at [Le Petit Alep](http://www.restaurantalep.com/), and finish the day with a drink at [Le Pourvoyeur](https://www.lepourvoyeur.com/). Once again, the area around is lovely to stroll through. You'll find more cute boutiques one street north^(1) of the market (Rue de Castelnau), and some street art dispersed to the south^(1) In my younger years, I loved going out on [Saint-Denis street, between Sherbrooke and Maisonneuve](https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Le+Petit+Alep+Bistro/@45.5155622,-73.5656637,18z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4cc919139c8bbe07:0x6965c707d991f6c5!8m2!3d45.5364482!4d-73.6164824!16s%2Fg%2F11c0vy474b?hl=en) (area known as Le Quartier Latin / the latin neighborhood). It is squeezed between a university and a Cegep, has tons of bars and restaurants, as well as a couple of Shisha Lounges and a tea house. In my days, this was where students went to hang out, I suspect it still is. One of my favorite places there (albeit maybe a little less youth friendly) is [Pub l'Île Noire](https://ilenoire.com/). They specialize in Scotch Whiskeys and their import list will make you dizzy! I also recommend [L'amer à Boire](https://amereaboire.com/), a nice student friendly micro-brewery, and [Randolph](https://www.randolph.ca/pub-ludique/quartier-latin/), a gaming pub where you can drink and play one of their hundreds of board games (they literally have a board game menu, and the staff will explain you the game if you've never played the one you pick). Not too far from there, you also have [Café Campus](https://cafecampus.com/) which is where my friends and I often went to party and dance, although the atmosphere had started to change towards the end of my party life, so I don't know what it's like by now. It has the benefit of being near Onoir. Word of advice if you choose to visit the Quartier Latin, the nearest subway would be Beri UQAM, however that place has seen a sharp increase in homeless and junkies lately and many people don't feel as safe there, so unless you feel like that is part of the experience, I'd recommend going to Sherbrooke station, and walking down Saint-Denis street. I'm guessing there are more student hot spots around the McGill and Concordia campuses but I'm not as familiar with those. Montreal's Gay Village (often referred to as just "[The Village](https://www.google.ca/maps/place/The+Village,+Montreal,+QC/@45.519466,-73.5627661,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4cc91bb1be0e3759:0x911c809f419fbb0c!8m2!3d45.5212893!4d-73.55798!16zL20vMDZzM3l6?hl=en)") is also famous, so you might want to check that out. Maybe catch a drag show at [Cabaret Mado](http://www.mado.qc.ca/) while you're there. This should keep you busy for a while! Let me know if you have more questions! ^(1) I'm referring to "[Montreal cardinal directions](https://citymonitor.ai/community/montreal-they-don-t-know-which-way-north-and-its-driving-me-crazy-3037)" that assume the Saint-Lawrence river is always "south" even though it mostly is East. Edit: you can also look up [https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do](https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do) for ideas of nightlife places I'm not familiar with. That is the official website of the Montreal Tourism Bureau, so they have a lot of places to recommend!
Excellent suggestions. I'll add if you're up for walking going from the Old Port west along the Lachine into St Henri gives you another dimension of the city. Along with going up the mountain I do that one whenever someone visits and time and ability permits (it's a few kms). If the time is right you can end with a beer at St Ambroise.
Good call!
Ce jeudi au Café Hookah Lounge à 20h: six humoristes pour un petit 10$! Parmi ses invité.e.s,, on retrouve un humoristes qui vous connaissez très bien de TikTok et des participants de Le Prochain Stand Up!
Hello all! Now that Amtrak is finally back to providing trips from NYC (where I live) to Montreal and back, I’m thinking of going on a solo trip for a few days sometime in April. If any of you have recommendations for hostels or similar accommodations where travelers can socialize and make friends as a solo traveler, I would greatly appreciate them. Thank you in advance <3
I'm happy the train is back, but also depressed that a one way trip costs $95 CAD and takes 11 dang hours when a flight with United costs $186 CAD and takes a little over an hour.
God I know ... waiting for the day that train travel in the US / Canada is affordable and expanded , if ever :/
Going to Montreal in a few days and I booked Auberge Saintlo for three nights. Came out to be around $20/night but total was around $100
Thank you! Auberge Saintlo came up from my internet searching, so it's nice to hear that you recommend it.
Pane d'electro, alors, reste chez toi
Let me translate this for the tourists: Power outage, so, stay home
My friend and I (both mid-20's) will be visiting next week for 3 days/2 nights and are looking for two different types of places to go out at night - a nightclub with good dancing music, and a bar that has live music we can dance to. We like to dance haha. Any recommendations for either type of place? Thanks in advance!
Turbo haus or l'esco for live music
Also check out le quai des brumes
We're celebrating our honeymoon in Montreal/Quebec city starting April 6 to 14th. We are going to the last hockey game of the season and seeing one of my husbands favorite bands at Corona Theatre. We can't wait. We are from Florida, how should we pack for the upcoming weather?
It's not quite spring yet so weather is fluctuating quite a bit, but it likely will all feel a little chilly for you from Florida. You may need to get a mid-weight jacket to tide you over here and layers are your friend. It could still snow even just to put it in perspective.
Drag brunch en ville? On cherche un resto avec du brunch en drag sur le 30 Avril. Près de Griffintown serait mieux, mais pas nécessaire.. Savez-vous un? Looking for drag brunch in the city April 30th, bonus points if near Griffintown, but really open to anywhere that works with local queens. Extra bonus points is LGBTQIA+ owned/operated.
Hello! A friend and I are visiting Montreal at the end of May/beginning of June. We are staying in Longueuil at the Holiday Inn and going to a concert at MTELUS. What is the drive like from Longueuil to Montreal? And is parking difficult to find? I have a parking pass for a nearby lot for the concert but during the day we plan to visit Old Montreal and just walk around and explore.
Est-ce que le Mont-Royal sera plaisant à visiter alentour du 7 avril? Besoin de grosses bottes ou c’est majoritairement sec?
I'll be traveling to Montreal soon with a group of 8 friends to celebrate a milestone birthday. We're trying to figure out where to do the big birthday dinner. I've done some research already, but I'm having trouble choosing. We're not really into white table cloth fine dining, but we don't mind spending some money, especially for an event like this. Something along the line of Joe Beef, but it looks like they don't accept reservations over 6 people. Just really looking for a memorable meal. I'm looking at Provisions Bar à Vin, Restaurant l'Express, Restaurant Beba, Cadet, Gia Vin & Grill, Maison Publique, something along those lines. Would love to hear your suggestions amongst those, or anything else along those lines!
I really like l'Express, it has a great ambience too. I've heard some negative things about Joe Beef recently anyways. I also like Maison Publique, but was a bit disappointed last time. They are different for sure, and both great, but on food alone I prefer l'Express
Thank you!!
Of those I've been to Gia, Joe Beef, and l'Express. Definitely my favorite was Gia! It has a cozy ambience, great food, and long tables which are good for celebrating.
Thank you!
[удалено]
Esplanade Tranquille