Montreal: Things to Do From a Base
If Montreal is your base rather than your whole trip, the question isn’t “what’s there to do in the city” so much as “how fast can the city core be covered before the real activities start.” Here’s both halves.
In the city: the fast version
Old Montreal and Notre-Dame Basilica. Cobblestone streets, free to wander, and the basilica’s deep blue and gold interior, which tells the story of the city’s founding rather than a biblical scene. Daytime entry runs about $16; the evening AURA light show is about $33.50.
Mount Royal. Olmsted’s park (the same designer behind Central Park) around the mountain the city is named for. The Kondiaronk Belvedere lookout is free and gives you the full skyline. St. Joseph’s Oratory, Canada’s largest church, is nearby.
Downtown and the RÉSO. Sainte-Catherine Street for shopping, the Museum of Fine Arts (about $31, free for anyone 25 and under), and the RÉSO underground city, a genuine winter lifeline that links metro stations, malls, and hotels for roughly 33 kilometres.
A food stop. The four names worth building a stop around are La Banquise for poutine, Fairmount Bagel and St-Viateur Bagel for the decades-old Mile End rivalry, and Schwartz’s Deli for smoked meat, serving the same recipe since 1928.
On your day trips: the actual point
Walk Old Québec’s walls. Quebec City, about 3 hours away by car or VIA Rail, holds the UNESCO World Heritage Site Montreal itself doesn’t have. Walking the walled city and seeing the Château Frontenac is the activity; be honest that this one works better as an overnight than a rushed day trip.
Ski or hike Mont-Tremblant. About 90 minutes north in the Laurentians, the mountain runs skiing in winter and hiking and lake activities the rest of the year.
Taste your way through the Eastern Townships. One to two hours southeast, this is genuine wine-route country, with Magog on Lake Memphremagog and the villages of Bromont and Sutton. Fall foliage is the best season for it.
Visit a wildlife park. Parc Omega, about 2 hours west near Montebello, is the wildlife-park activity on this list, with the Fairmont Château Montebello available if you want to stay over.
Pick apples or tour a cidery. Montérégie and Mont-Saint-Hilaire, only 40-45 minutes out, are the closest true day trip and the easiest to fit into a single afternoon, best in early fall.
Time a sugar shack feast. Cabane à sucre maple feasts are strictly a late-February-through-April activity, 45-60 minutes out. Outside that window, skip it and pick something else on this list instead.
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For the logistics behind each of these, including VIA Rail timing and which trips need a car, see our 8 day trips guide , or jump straight to a full plan in our 3-day itinerary .