11 fun things to do in Montreal – in just one day!

Montreal is a city that’s vibrant and charming, with a friendly neighbourhood feel, despite being Canada’s second largest city. With so many things to do in Montreal, you could stay for a week or more, but at the end of our RV trip from Toronto we only had a day to explore what the city could offer. Dropping Monty the RV (our recreational vehicle, named after our final destination) back at the Cruise Canada depot, we headed into the city, to enjoy our final day exploring Montreal.

In one short day, we fell in love with the charming bilingual Montrealers, discovered the city’s history and ate our way through Montreal’s lively food scene. Of course we didn’t see everything, but here are 11 fun things that we enjoyed in Montreal.

1. Vieux Montreal – wander around the old quarter

Like most visitors to Montreal, we started our day in the old quarter of Vieux Montreal, wandering along Rue Saint-Paul, where funky clothing boutiques mixed with stylish cafés. Meandering through cobbled pedestrian streets, we reached the tourist hub of Place Jaques Cartier, an open square that looks towards the port on one side and the Town Hall on the other.

2. Chateau Ramezay in Montreal

Spotting an open gateway at the side of the square, we ducked through explore and found a haven of calm in the Governor’s garden behind Chateau Ramezay. The walled garden was laid out as an 18th century style potager, with flowers, vegetables and medicinal herbs, in formal beds enclosed by box hedges.

The garden here today is only a small part of the garden that once surrounded this grand house and would have been used as a source of food and healing, as well as genteel relaxation by the first colonists of ‘New France’.

After soaking up the peaceful atmosphere, we visited the house of Chateau Ramezay, which was built in 1705 by the Governor of Montreal. Despite being one of the oldest and most historic buildings in the city, the the house fell into disrepair at the end of the 19th century and was only rescued from demolition by the efforts of an antiquarian society.

We very much enjoyed our visit to the house with its beautiful panelled rooms and interesting displays that told the story of Montreal’s colonial past.

If you go: Chateau Ramezay: 280 Rue Notre-Dame Est, Montréal.

3. Explore the Montreal neighbourhoods

From Vieux Montreal, the Boulevard Saint Laurent took us north through some of Montreal’s most interesting neighbourhoods, such as Plateau and Mile End which were home to the Jewish, Portuguese and Greek communities. While many of the old residents have moved out, you’ll still find the ethnic flavour in some of the city’s best loved food institutions.

Now there’s a hip and trendy feel as the neighbourhoods have become gentrified, with cool bars and cafés catering for creative types working for the software and video game companies that have replaced the garment industry.

You may also enjoy: Delicious Canadian food – 40 food experiences to make you fall in love with Canada!

4. Eat Bagels – Montreal style!

Bagels are big in the Jewish neighbourhood with the specialist bakeries of Fairmount and St-Viateur found within a few blocks of each other. There’s a friendly rivalry with New York over whose bagels are best, although they are quite different to the Montreal bagels, which are baked in a wood fired oven with a sweet maple glaze and more compact texture than their puffy cousins from NYC.

We stopped by both bakeries where I can confirm that the warm-from-the-oven bagels are equally delicious, although for visitors I’d favour St-Viator which has a larger shop where you can easily see the bakers at work and the bagels piled high, making it easier to take photos.

5. Brunch with a Jewish flavour

We stopped for brunch at Beauty’s (93 Mont-Royal West), a classic Jewish diner with blue banquettes and an open kitchen, where they serve smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, as well as sandwiches, pancakes and salads.

The restaurant opened in 1942 and is now run by the third generation of the Sckolnick family, with grandfather Hymie who is in his 90s still coming in each day to keep an eye on things. Definitely one of our top 10 Canada moments.

In the same neighbourhood is Schwartz’s Deli (3895 Boulevard St-Laurent), another Montreal food institution known for their smoked meat sandwiches. At lunchtime the queues stretch down the street, but there are no frills here – you’ll get a mountain of tender smoked salt beef that’s barely contained by the soft fresh white bread and garnished only by a squirt of mustard.

6. The Montreal street art scene

Coming from Bristol where we have murals by some incredibly talented street artists, I had to stop for a look at some of the street art in Montreal. Every year they hold the Mural festival when a parking lot off Boulevard Saint-Laurent is taken over by music and artists creating new works from high up on their cherry-pickers.

The festival started as a way to encourage regeneration in the area and provide a showcase for some of Montreal’s talented urban artists.

Founder André Bathalon told me “our goal is to bring people to the area and they take from it what they want. They might enjoy the mural on the wall but if they want to learn more about the artists, the techniques or particular styles, they can also do that – it’s accessible 24-7 and its free.”

Street art festivals in Montreal

In the area we saw work by local artist Roadsworth whose large scale pieces cover roads and pavements, and Italian Pixel Pancho whose mural was one of the key pieces from this year’s festival. It reminded me so much of the building size pieces that are created in South Bristol for our Upfest festival.

Check in at the MURAL offices (3527a Boulevard Saint-Laurent) to pick up a map of the street art locations. Book a 2 hour street art tour with Spade & Palacio or find some of the best urban artists on show at Station 16 Gallery. There’s also the Under Pressure festival in August which has been going for 20 years and focusses on graffiti artists.

7. Jean-Talon Market – colourful fruit and veg

Heading a little further north on Boulevard St Laurent, we reached the Little Italy neighbourhood and the Jean-Talon Market. This is the largest fruit and veg market in the city.

The market is a riot of colour, especially in summer when the freshest local produce is on display. This is a shopping paradise for foodies and chefs. It’s all beautifully presented with each heirloom tomato, rosy radish and even humble potato polished to perfection.

The punnets of strawberries and soft fruit looked so sweet and tempting! I enjoyed chatting to producers of specialist products like the ice cider that’s made in Quebec. Since the climate here is too cold for vines, the first French settlers planted apple orchards instead, pressing apple juice and making cider.

Like ice wine, the fruit is picked after a frost to intensify the flavours and made into a sweet cider with a concentrated flavour. This cider is perfect served with blue cheese or foie gras. Of course, thinking of my Christmas menus, I had to buy a bottle to bring home!

If you go: Jean-Talon Market: 7070 Avenue Henri-Julien, Montréal. There is parking but it’s oversubscribed so best to take the metro to Jean-Talon stop.

8. Montreal’s food truck scene

The late afternoon found us returning to the Entertainment District of Montreal. The Just for Laughs comedy festival was joining forces with the BouffonsMTL food truck festival.

Food trailers were arranged around an open courtyard and featured many of Montreal’s top restaurants. They offer street-food versions of their signature dishes at affordable prices.

Montreal restaurateur Jorge da Silva works with Michelin star chef Carles Abellan. He told me how he liked to bring his most popular dishes, such as the Catalan-style paella to the festival. It’s a way of meeting food lovers and reaching out to a new clientele.

“Montrealers are so proud of their cuisine, when I travel everyone knows Montreal for the food. You have your food institutions but you also have your star chefs. They are competing but all offering something different and in a nice environment, so that’s where the friendship comes in with all of us.”

BouffonsMTL Food Truck festival

We enjoyed a dish of the paella, yellow with saffron and packed with juicy prawns and mussels. After we enjoyed an ice cream from Monsieur Cremeaux, owned by TV chef Martin Juneau.

I’d have loved to have tried the signature dish of foie gras poutine from the Au Pied de Cochon van. But, by that time I just had no more space to eat another mouthful.

The BouffonsMTL takes place in July but there are many food festivals in Montreal. Look out for the Montreal a la table restaurant week. First Fridays at the Olympic Village is where food trucks gather on the first Friday of each month.

You’ll also find lots of different food trucks at individual locations around the city during the summer months. Read more about all our foodie experiences from this trip.

9. Maple Syrup in Montreal

Québec province produces over 90% of the maple in Canada. So, this was top of my list to bring home from Montreal as a souvenir of the trip. I’ll pour it over my pancakes for that authentic Canadian breakfast.

We found a great range of maple syrup and other maple products at Delices Erable & Cie 84, rue St-Paul Est in Vieux Montreal.

I loved that they allow you to taste everything on sale, with maple fudge, ice cream and cakes at the take out counter or to eat in their cafe. There are also excellent maple products at Marché Bonsecours.

This domed heritage building is full of stores selling unique gifts and crafts from Québec. It’s essential destination for the stylish shopper in Montreal.

10. Eat out in Little Burgundy, Montreal

As evening approached we followed a whim and a recommendation, jumping in a cab for a 10 minute ride to the Little Burgundy District. This is of the trendy up and coming neighbourhoods we’d read about.

The place we’d been recommended, Joe Beef, was shut. We spotted a taco bar across the road called El Gordo (2518 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest ) and loved the casual but buzzy atmosphere. It featured a pared back industrial decor, perked up with colourful glasses and Mexican murals.

They have an Italian restaurant and pizzeria next door called Geppetto’s which also looked super-popular. Here’s what we ate: A flavoursome gazpacho with tomato and watermelon and a tasty and colourful avocado and tomato salad. Also a plate of 3 tacos, washed down with a mojito and beer.

11. Cité Mémoire illuminations at night

Using the metro to return to Vieux Montreal, we took one last wander around the old city where many of the buildings were lit up at night. At Place d’Armes, the Notre-Dame Basilica was beautifully illuminated. Details were picked out in turquoise and midnight blue and a street musician strumming a guitar in the warm night air.

The City Hall that we had seen earlier opposite Chateau Ramezay was bathed in pink. Nearby we noticed a film of rebellious beavers being projected onto the old stone walls of a building in Place Jacques Cartier.

It seems that the ghosts of the past come back to haunt corners of Old Montreal as part of the Cité Mémoire project. Dream-like tableaux are projected onto the buildings near where the stories happened.

Download the free Montreal en Histories app for a guided walking tour of all the different sites around Vieux Montreal. There’s free WiFi provided too at information points along the route.

Where to stay in Montreal

For our last night in Montreal at the end of our Canada RV trip we stayed at the Le Centre Sheraton Montreal Hotel. It’s located in the heart of downtown Montreal on a busy avenue in the business district.

Our room gave us a morning view over the Montreal skyline towards Mont Royal, the park that offers panoramic views over the city.

The hotel is large (825 rooms) with comfortable, modern bedrooms. It’s ideal for business or leisure travellers who like staying at an international hotel with a wide range of services and amenities. The hotel was a 30 minute walk or 10 minute cab ride from the waterfront and heart of Vieux Montreal.

As is the norm in Canadian Hotel there is an additional charge for breakfast unless you book a Club bedroom. In this case you have access to the Club Lounge where complimentary buffet breakfast is served. There’s also snacks and drinks throughout the day.

If you go: Le Centre Sheraton Montreal Hotel, 1201 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West, Montreal

I hope that I’ve tempted you to visit Montreal, which was certainly one of the highlights of our RV trip. There’s so much to see here that I’m sure you will find whatever makes your perfect day in Montreal.

Read More about Canada’s cities

Vancouver – Three wonderful reasons to visit Vancouver
Calgary – Enjoy 24 hours in Calgary, Alberta
Toronto – Exploring Toronto’s Waterfront and Islands

Information for Visiting Montreal

You can find more information to plan your visit to Montreal on the Tourism Montreal Website, the Quebec Original Website and also on the Explore Canada Website covering all the things to see and do in Canada.

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My visit to Montreal was part of the Explore Canada Road Trip, a project* with Travelator Media and Explore Canada. Our RV (Recreational Vehicle) for the two week Explore Canada Road Trip was provided* by Cruise Canada.

* More info on my policies page

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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