Earlier this month, we went on our annual girls’ trip where we pick a different city to explore each year. We took a Quebec City trip a few years back and had the most amazing experience so Montreal has been on our list ever since. One of the draws was the French-speaking component, so it feels like Europe but is only a short direct flight from Charlotte.
Highlights from our trip and what we’d recommend to eat, see, and do are below!
Montreal – Eat!
We tried all the food and drink spots in Montreal — they have a robust food scene! I’ll detail out what we liked, below:
Where we ate:
Tuck Shop
This is an intimate neighborhood spot and is all-around fantastic. The food was well-done and the service was lovely. You can tell they make an effort to provide a wonderful experience!
Jacopo
We forever searched for a restaurant that could offer this patio experience and it was all that we hoped! This is in a really cute area of Old Montreal and central to lots of places to explore.
Oncle Lee
A contemporary Chinese restaurant by Chef Anderson Lee. The menu goes outside the bounds to play with flavours, techniques, and traditions of his heritage.
Marcus
Marcus is at the fabulous Four Seasons Montreal. It is an open concept brasserie with glass walls that open in the summer time to a lovely terrace. We had the best lunch here — the decor was one set of eye candy after another and so was the food! Even the bathroom was the most gorgeous shell-colored art-deco dream! Bonus: you can shop in Holt Renfrew, accessible from inside the Four Seasons, right after lunch!
Leméac
Lemeac is widely known in circles as one of the classic French bistros to visit in Montreal. It had a lively and warm atmosphere with creative and flavorful food. Enjoyed this one!
For Next Time
These are places that were on our list that we didn’t get to, or only part of our group visited (but came recommended!)
Montreal – See & Do
If you have visited a few spots in Canada before, Montreal was larger than Quebec but had much more charm than Toronto. We loved exploring all the different areas.
What we loved:
Walking Tour of Old Montreal
We purchased a 2 hour private walking tour of Old Montreal on Viator. I love doing this in any city — you can cover so much ground in a short time and learn as you go!
Exploring on l’Avenue du Mont-Royal
This is a pedestrian-only zone which makes it perfect for exploring! A great place to shop and eat, Mont-Royal Avenue is full of fashion boutiques, bookstores, wine and cheese shops, bakeries and restaurants.
Exploring the Golden Square Mile
After we left lunch at Marcus, we explored the Golden Square Mile area, home to some of the best shopping in Montreal. The Golden Square Mile is also known to many as the Museum Quarter because of its cultural destinations. It’s home to the McCord Stewart Museum, the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts and the Redpath Museum, as well as many private galleries.
Aura @ Notre-Dame Basilica
Aura is an immersive, multimedia experience in the most gorgeous setting — the Notre-Dame Basilica. The show lasts about a half hour so it’s easy to tack on pre- or post-dinner. It’s stunning — intricately tailored to the contours of the magnificent cathedral and synchronized to music. This was a standout for us! AND it was capped off by a double-rainbow at the end!
Street art tour of St. Laurent
St. Laurent Boulevard is something of a living museum. Enormous murals stretch across the buildings at every intersection, and each June, the walls get a makeover, with artists from around the world converging on the city to redecorate this famous street.
In addition to St. Laurent, there is art everywhere you look in the city!
Montreal – Stay
There were nine of us on this trip, and we like to stay together in a house or condo. This was the place we rented. The house was not the greatest place I’ve ever stayed in, but worked perfectly for what we needed — updated, with lots of beds and baths, and in a great location! It was on the Rue St. Denis in the neighborhood of Plateau Mont-Royal. It felt sort of like the Greenwich Village of Montreal with lots of little restaurants and bars, trendy with unique architecture, good coffee and food, and little shops.
Hope everyone has a great rest of their week!
xx—BB
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