12 Best Things to Do in Montreal
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Montreal’s classic sights split into cobblestone Old Montreal, the mountain that names the city, and a downtown-and-market side that’s easy to underrate. These 12 picks cover all three, plus the ones worth planning tickets around ahead of time. Book Old Montreal or downtown lodging early if your dates land near the Jazz Festival or the Formula 1 weekend, both push rates up citywide.
12 things to do, at a glance
| Pick | Type | Price | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Montreal & the Old Port | Historic district | Free to wander | Half a day |
| Notre-Dame Basilica | Gothic Revival church | ~$16 day / ~$33.50 AURA show | 30-45min |
| Mount Royal & Kondiaronk Belvedere | City park & lookout | Free | 1-2h |
| St. Joseph’s Oratory | Canada’s largest church | Free shrine, ~$4-5 museum | 1h |
| Pointe-à-Callière | Archaeology museum | ~$29, closed Mon | 1.5h |
| RÉSO underground city | Underground network | Free to walk | Open-ended |
| Montreal Museum of Fine Arts | Art museum | ~$31, free under 25 | 2h |
| Plateau & Mile End bagel crawl | Neighborhood + food | Bagels a few dollars each | Half a day |
| Jean-Talon Market | Open-air market | Free to browse | 1h |
| Atwater Market | Art Deco market | Free to browse | 1h |
| Space for Life | Botanical Garden & Biodôme | Combo ~$55-65 | Half a day |
| Bonsecours Market & La Grande Roue | Historic market & Old Port wheel | Free market / ~$29.50 wheel | 1-2h |
Old Montreal, Notre-Dame, and the Old Port
Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal) costs nothing to wander, cobblestone streets around Rue Saint-Paul and Place Jacques-Cartier, 17th- and 18th-century buildings on the riverfront. Inside, the Notre-Dame Basilica’s deep blue and gold Gothic Revival interior depicts the city’s own founding, not a biblical scene, a daytime visit runs about $16 and the evening AURA light show about $33.50. The Old Port waterfront handles skating in winter and open-air activities in summer, and La Grande Roue, the observation wheel there, runs about $29.50 for a view over the whole district.
Mount Royal and St. Joseph’s Oratory
Mount Royal, the Olmsted-designed park that names the city (Frederick Law Olmsted also designed Central Park), has the free Kondiaronk Belvedere lookout for the classic skyline view. On the mountain’s north side, St. Joseph’s Oratory, Canada’s largest church, has a free shrine and a small museum around $4-5, open roughly 6am to 9pm.
Pointe-à-Callière and the Museum of Fine Arts
Pointe-à-Callière, built directly over the spot where Montreal was founded in 1642, runs about $29 and closes Mondays. Downtown, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts runs about $31 and is free for anyone 25 and under, worth an afternoon even for a casual visitor.
The Plateau, Mile End, and a bagel crawl
Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile End cost nothing to explore on foot, row houses, spiral staircases, and murals. This is bagel country: Fairmount Bagel (1919) and St-Viateur Bagel (1957) sit a block apart, wood-fired and boiled in honey water, a decades-old friendly rivalry worth trying both sides of.
Jean-Talon Market, Atwater Market, and Bonsecours Market
Jean-Talon Market in Little Italy is one of the largest open-air markets in North America, and the Art Deco, canal-side Atwater Market is worth a wander even without buying anything. Back in Old Montreal, the 1847 Bonsecours Market, easy to spot by its silver dome, sits free to enter next to the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours “Sailors’ Church,” the oldest chapel in the city.
Space for Life, east end
Space for Life covers four nature museums next to Olympic Park: the Botanical Garden, one of the world’s great gardens with dedicated Chinese and Japanese sections, the Biodôme’s four ecosystems of the Americas, plus the Insectarium and Planétarium. A combo pass runs roughly $55-65. One correction worth knowing before you go: the Olympic Park tower’s observation deck next door is closed for renovation until around spring 2027, it isn’t part of a Space for Life visit either way.
Three days covers the essentials on this list comfortably, see our 3-day Montreal itinerary for the order that makes the most sense, or our hidden gems guide for what’s worth adding once the classics are checked off.
One concrete tip: the STM metro ($3.75/ride) reaches every pick on this list except the Space for Life cluster, which is a short bus connection from the metro, no car needed for any of it.