7 Hidden Gems in Montreal
Heads up: some links here are affiliate links. Book or buy through them and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to things we would actually use.
Once Old Montreal and Mount Royal are checked off, the city still has real, quieter spots that most first-timers skip simply because a 3-day itinerary doesn’t leave room for them. These seven don’t require inventing a story, they’re genuinely part of the city, just outside the routes most guides send you down first.
7 hidden gems, at a glance
| Gem | Type | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Mount Royal Cemetery | Historic cemetery | North side of Mount Royal |
| Sentier des Crêtes | Lesser-known trail | Mount Royal, away from the main path |
| Griffintown | Canal-side neighborhood | Southwest of downtown |
| The Village | LGBTQ+ neighborhood | East of downtown |
| Atwater Market | Art Deco market | Canal-side, near Griffintown |
| Lachine Canal | Waterway walk and cycle path | Old Port to Lachine |
| Little Italy’s side streets | Neighborhood beyond the market | Around Jean-Talon Market |
Mount Royal Cemetery, the quiet side of the mountain
Most visitors climb Mount Royal for the Kondiaronk Belvedere and turn back. Mount Royal Cemetery, a Protestant cemetery dating to 1852 on the mountain’s north side, is a genuinely peaceful walk through mature trees and 19th-century monuments, distinct from the larger Catholic Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery next door, easy to mix the two up. Neither charges admission, and both are open to the public for walking.
Sentier des Crêtes, Mount Royal’s other trail
Beyond the paved path most visitors take straight to the Belvedere, Sentier des Crêtes winds through the park’s forested sections, a quieter way to reach the same mountain without the crowds funneling toward the lookout. It’s still free and still inside the park boundary, just a different route in.
Griffintown and Atwater Market
Griffintown, a canal-side neighborhood that’s gentrified into a genuine dining and nightlife district, sits a short walk from the Art Deco Atwater Market, a quieter, less-touristed alternative to Jean-Talon for produce and prepared food. Neither shows up on a typical first-timer’s list, both reward an unplanned afternoon.
The Village, Montreal’s LGBTQ+ neighborhood
East of downtown, The Village turns into a pedestrian strip through summer, cafes and shops without the crowds of Sainte-Catherine Street further west. It’s a genuine neighborhood rather than a tourist stop, worth a walk-through rather than a checklist item.
The Lachine Canal, a waterway walk without the Old Port crowds
The Lachine Canal, a National Historic Site linking the Old Port to Lachine, runs a paved walking and cycling path past converted industrial buildings and canal-side cafes, a quieter version of the waterfront scene than the Old Port itself gets on a warm weekend. Rent a Bixi bike to cover more of it than a walk allows.
Little Italy beyond Jean-Talon Market’s stalls
Most visitors treat Jean-Talon Market as the whole destination and leave. The surrounding Little Italy streets, cafes and small grocers that supply the market rather than sell to tourists, are worth the extra twenty minutes once you’re already there.
For the full first-timer list before adding any of these, see our 12 best things to do , and for the trail specifics behind Mount Royal’s quieter side, our hiking areas guide has the distances.
One concrete tip: Griffintown and Atwater Market sit close enough together that a single afternoon covers both without any extra planning, pair them with a walk along the Lachine Canal in between.