Montreal offers more outings than any other city in Quebec: festivals almost every weekend, major performance venues, museums, public markets, parks and neighbourhoods to explore on foot. This guide brings together our best ideas for outings in Montreal, sorted by category, with the listing of each place and upcoming events.
Good to know
The metro serves most of the major venues and saves you the headache of parking downtown. In summer, the Quartier des spectacles hosts many free shows; in winter, the city can also be explored through its underground network and its festivals.
Our favourites
Pointe-à-Callière, Old Montreal. Built on the site where the city was founded, the museum projects a multimedia show above the remains and leads visitors on an underground archaeological circuit.
Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, downtown. Nearly 47,000 works, from Antiquity to the present day, from Rembrandt and Rodin to Indigenous, Québécois and Canadian art, by way of design.
Marché Jean-Talon, Petite-Patrie. Fruit, vegetables and flowers from the growers, and shops selling spices, oils, cheeses and local products that have drawn crowds for decades.
Mount Royal Park, Montreal. Trails, stairways and lookouts for a change of scenery in the middle of the city, to observe plants and birds and reach the Mount Royal cross.
Biodôme, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Five ecosystems of the Americas under one roof, to explore like a nature walk in any season.
