6 Best Photo Spots Near Montreal
A Montreal-based trip gives you two very different kinds of photos: the city’s Old World architecture and skyline views, then a completely different look once you’re out on the day trips. Here are the spots worth the extra minute to set up a shot properly.
In the city
Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal) is the obvious start, cobblestone streets, Place Jacques-Cartier, and the Notre-Dame Basilica’s blue and gold interior, a striking contrast against the plain grey stone outside. Mount Royal’s free Kondiaronk Belvedere lookout is the classic Montreal skyline shot, best at sunrise or sunset when the light is low across downtown. The Bonsecours Market’s silver dome catches good light along the Old Port waterfront, and the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood’s row houses and spiral staircases photograph well any time of day.
Quebec City (~3 hours by car or VIA Rail)
Old Québec, the actual UNESCO World Heritage Site of this pairing, is built for photographs, ramparts, narrow stone streets, and the Château Frontenac anchoring the skyline above the St Lawrence. Since this is honestly an overnight-better day trip, staying over buys you the golden-hour light on the Château that a same-day round trip usually misses.
Eastern Townships (~1-2 hours SE)
Fall foliage season, late September into October, is the reason to bring a camera here specifically, Lake Memphremagog and the hills around Magog turn color together, and the wine route gives you vineyard rows as foreground interest.
Laurentians / Mont-Tremblant (~1.5 hours N)
Lac Tremblant against the ski village is the signature shot, one look in winter with snow on the peaks, a completely different one in summer with the lake reflecting the hills.
Montérégie / Mont-Saint-Hilaire (~40-45 minutes)
Orchards in bloom in spring or heavy with fruit in early fall, with the mountain itself as a backdrop, the closest day trip on this list and an easy one to fit around a city-focused itinerary.
Timing your shots
Light matters more here than gear. Sunrise or sunset for the Mount Royal skyline shot, golden hour for the Château Frontenac if you’re staying over in Quebec City, and the two or three weeks of peak fall foliage in the Townships and Laurentians if color is the point of the trip. Spring adds one more option most visitors miss entirely, a sugar shack (cabane à sucre) scene, steam rising off the boiling sap, only available late February through April.
Read more: our day-trips guide has the travel time and booking details for every stop listed here.