Let’s talk about my recent girls’ trip to Montreal.

I’ve wanted to go to Montreal in Quebec, Canada for so many years, and I finally got to go this past weekend. This was not my first time in Canada though. In fact, Dave, Brady and I visited Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia on a little family trip back in 2019, and we loved our time there.

Today, I’m going to give you the highlights from my girls’ trip to Montreal. And I’m also going to give you some travel tips, in case you ever want to visit this beautiful and sprawling city with a French flair. (And you can check out my video about my trip here too.)

But first, some backstory …

So why have I always wanted to visit Montreal? It all started back when I was working my first job after college at Epcot, part of Walt Disney World Resort. If my work bestie and I needed a break from our desks in the back offices of Epcot, we would head into the park and take in an attraction. My favorite thing to do to clear my head was watch the 360 Canada video in the Canada pavilion of Epcot. During that video, narrated by Martin Short at the time (I believe it’s been totally updated since I’ve seen it), I was completely in awe of the scenes from Old Montreal, the cobblestone streets, the French flair and the charm. That put it into my head that one day I wanted to visit Montreal. And then, at 40 years-old, I finally traveled there.

I went to Montreal with three girlfriends, and this was my third annual weekend trip with the same group of ladies. Judy (a high school friend) lives in Orlando, Florida; Shannon (a college friend) lives in Tampa, Florida; and Yolanda (a college friend) lives in St. Pete, Florida. We meet once a year in late August, and I’m so glad we’ve now done three great weekend trips together.

We went to Nashville two years ago, we went to Charleston last year, and this year, we decided to do an extra night and head north to Montreal. No one in our group had spent any time there, and we were all ready for something different from our hot-summer-southern adventures during the first two years.

And these are the details from our three-night, long-weekend girls’ trip to Montreal.

Highlights from a girls’ trip to Montreal, Canada

My favorite thing about this trip was getting to spend time with my Florida friends, who I’ve known for more than 20 years. We all have very different jobs and lives in separate cities, and yet we can come together like this and travel the world as a small group, fitting in plenty of conversation, interspersed with exploring. That’s a pretty cool thing. Now, let’s get to the girls’ trip to Montreal highlights …

Taking the 400+ steps up to the Mont Royal lookout in the city center

If you’re going to Montreal, you should definitely climb up to the Mont Royal lookout. You can access the steps that lead up to the lookout via the city center (off of Rue Peel), and that’s what we did. We stayed in the city center and were able to make it to this entrance in less than 10 minutes from our hotel.

It probably took about 15 minutes or so to climb up to the top via the stairs, and it was a lovely walk, with handrails for safety and plenty of little vistas through the trees. Once you’re at the top, you can see the skyline of Montreal, the St. Lawrence River, as well as views of the Parc du Mont Royal around you.

It’s totally free to do this active adventure too. If you have more time, you can walk plenty of paths around the park, but we went straight up, explored the top and then went back down. I think we all agreed we like to start the day with some physical activity, and this walk served as exploring, exercise and an excellent way to get our first full day in Montreal started.

(Here’s my top, here are my leggings, here are my sunglasses, and here are my shoes.)

Travel tip: By the way, there is a cafe and there are restrooms at the top of the lookout. We found that there were a lot of people up there mid-morning, so it was hard to enjoy the view without getting in the way of people taking photos (and I bet it would have been much nicer if we went a bit earlier). Also, an angry bee followed me around the entire time we were up there. There seemed to be a lot of bees in Montreal, and they often sought me out. Nonetheless, I loved this activity.

Enjoying leisure lunches at beautiful French restaurants around the city

You know you’re on vacation when you sit down for a nearly two-hour lunch, order a glass of wine with your meal and can’t stop looking around at the architecture and design of the restaurant you’re in. I will say that we found some really tasty food in Montreal, and our lunches were so good, in gorgeous settings.

We made reservations for lunch one day, and we walked into a restaurant on another day, and both places were quite busy with close-together tables, a bustling wait-staff and lots of French chatter. We found that there was always an English description on the French menu, and we found that our servers always spoke English, in addition to French. 

At times during our Montreal trip, I felt like I was in Europe. And I definitely felt that way during both of our long-leisure lunches. The first full day, we ate at Lameac in the Mile End neighborhood (a recommendation from the concierge at our hotel), and the second day we ate at Brasserie 701 in Old Montreal, directly next to the Notre Dame (a Google find by one of my friends). 

I almost never order soup, certainly not in August, but one of my favorite things I ate on this trip was soup as part of a pre-fix menu during lunch at Lameac. It was delightful. And it felt like vacation soup, if soup could be a vacation. Do you know what I mean?

Travel tip: In Montreal, the waiters have no problem separating the checks for each person, and you pay directly from a little hand-held credit card machine at your table. Yes, you need to tip, and because your server is usually hovering when you fill out the tip, be ready with your gratuity decision.

Walking around and exploring charming (and busy) Old Montreal

I loved Old Montreal, because it’s the quintessential Montreal vibe that I was expecting and hoping for. Old Montreal is down near the port and water, and you can see cruise ships coming in. We went to Old Montreal during the day and during the evening too. It was so cute at night when the lights were on and people were packing the tables outside at cafes. 

(Here’s a similar version of my dress, and here’s a similar version of my sandals.)

Old Montreal was pretty crowded with tourists on a sunny Saturday, and there was some major construction going on in the roads, which made some of our walks a bit dicey. But overall, this felt like a very special area. 

I went back to Old Montreal on the final day with my friend, Judy, when it was just the two of us left, and we walked all the way down to the water and saw lots of fun family tourist attractions like a theme park, a market, a ropes course and even a pop-up Cirque du Soleil show. I sort’ve wish we had seen this stuff sooner in the trip and had done more of it. But nonetheless, our time in Old Montreal was excellent. 

Travel tip: Wear comfortable walking shoes, because it’s pretty hard to walk in heels on the brick and cobblestone streets of Old Montreal.

Using the “feet amenities” offered to guests in our hotel spa

This was a surprise and delight! One of my girlfriends knew someone who had stayed at our same hotel, the Four Seasons Montreal (speaking of which, we got an excellent deal, where you stayed two nights and got a third free, so it made it much more affordable to stay at this luxury property), and we were told you could use the amenities at the spa for free as a hotel guest.

On our first full day, we stopped by the spa and were introduced to the “foot experience” available there in the relaxation lounge. I’d never done anything like this, and I loved it, and we did it twice during the weekend.

During this experience, you walk around on rocks in a hot pool of water, then you walk around on rocks in a cold pool of water (which was tough to last for a full minute, but we did it). You repeat that process until you’re ready to get out, then you walk across some dry rocks on a path. It made my feet feel truly amazing from the temperature fluctuations and massaging sensation from the rocks.

We had fun chatting (quietly) and soaking up the foot love in the spa, as well as sipping on spa water, wearing robes and feeling pampered. 

I’d heard that Montreal is known for some of its water spas, I feel like we got a taste of that within our own hotel. Big fan of this. Also a big fan of the fancy French perfume we could sample in the spa …

Travel tip: Nobody at our hotel told us we had access to the spa, so we had to ask. It’s always worth asking when you stay somewhere if there’s anything special you get as a guest.

Some places in Montreal we enjoyed and I’d recommend to you 

Other than the places mentioned above, here are some honorable mentions …

Time Out Market Montreal (in city center): We went to Time Out Market Montreal on our first afternoon, and it was a bit hard to find within the Centre Eaton de Montreal shopping mall, but it was worth the search. This massive marketplace is a selection of the city’s restaurants in one place. I had some delicious sushi and a glass of wine here, as a snack. It was really cool, and we loved it. This mall is in the city center, and there’s a lot of well-known chain stores within the mall and around the mall. 

Amea Cafe (in city center): The concierge at our hotel told us about Amea Cafe, and it was a short walk away from where we were staying. While it was also hard to find this spot (the sign from the street is small), we were so impressed by this unique coffee shop and cafe on the bottom floor of an office building. The decor was cool, the bathroom was covered in colorful murals, and the fancy coffees and breakfast items were perfect. 

Bar George (in city center): I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful bar, Bar George. It was one of the coolest bars I’ve ever gone in. It’s in an old mansion, previously owned by a bank executive, Sir George. The drinks were excellent, the vibe was trendy, and the setting was so good. We all loved this place, and it was totally worth stopping by for a couple of beverages before we went to dinner in Old Montreal.

Modavie (in Old Montreal): I think this was everyone’s favorite French dinner. Modavie was lovely, and there was live music too, which is always a positive in my book. The food was excellent, the service was good, and it felt like this was a perfect dining experience for us. 

(Here’s my jumpsuit.)

Jellyfish (in Old Montreal): This is an expensive and trendy place, featuring delicious seafood with an Asian flare. I left Jellyfish still hungry after our meal, but everything was quite fresh, tasty and unique, especially the scallop carpaccio, which was totally new to me. Also, I loved the outfits of the wait-staff and the decor of the restaurant. It felt like a big-city restaurant for sure.

Iberica (in city center): This is a solid tapas-style place. This was the least-crowded dinner we had, and it was really good. I liked the more casual atmosphere of Iberica, and it reminded me a bit of places you’d see in San Francisco.

And those are some of the highlights!

My thoughts on my girls’ trip to Montreal

I’ve thought quite a bit about how I enjoyed Montreal, and I’m going to put it into words for you now …

Basically, because I’ve wanted to go to Montreal for so long, I’m pretty sure I glamorized it in my mind. I think I was envisioning that I was traveling to Europe and would be immersed in a beautiful French city during this three-night stay. And while yes, Montreal is a French city, it’s also just a regular big city too. The Old Montreal area is the historical area with cobblestone streets and incredible architecture and sites, but that’s only a small part of Montreal — the rest is a normal city. I think I was a bit disappointed at times, because so much of what we did felt like it could have been in any big city — even though the things we did were great and I enjoyed them. 

(Here’s a similar version of my dress.)

But perspective is everything, because had I not been picturing the 360 Canada video from Epcot, I probably would have been much more pleased with what we saw and explored. In fact, even looking back at my pictures, I’m remembering how lovely so much of where we were was.

Also, I think we were the least prepared for this trip (as a group) than we have been for trips in the past. We had a basic idea of what we wanted to do and we had three dinner reservations, but we really played it by ear each day. We all arrived Thursday afternoon, had all day Friday, all day Saturday, and then two of us flew out mid-day on Sunday (so we got an extra brunch in Old Montreal), and two of the other ladies flew out first thing on Sunday. Time-wise, I think a long weekend of three nights was sufficient. But looking back, I wish we had fit in one more structured tourist thing, like going inside the Notre Dame or visiting the Montreal Botanical Gardens, or doing a tea, etc. We stayed busy during this trip, we were hardly in our rooms, and we did our best to see as much of Montreal as we could. Still, I left there thinking I wish our trip had had one more big element somewhere.

I’m so glad I’ve finally explored Montreal. I loved walking through Old Montreal at night under the lights, I loved eating fine food and drinking good drinks in beautiful places, and I loved spending time with my dear Florida friends. But, this wasn’t my favorite of our girls’ trips, overall. It felt more carefree and fun in Nashville and Charleston, even if Montreal had some amazing moments.

I’m grateful I was able to make this trip happen, and I loved catching up with my friends in a new setting. We don’t know where we’re going next year, but I’m thinking it will be totally different from what we’ve done so far.

Enough about me, let’s get to some more travel tips for you!

Other travel tips I picked up during my girls’ trip to Montreal

The airport is pretty organized and has TSA Pre for outgoing flights. We were only about 15 minutes from our hotel in the city center. However, when we flew out, it took a long time to get through the customs and security checkpoints, even though I went through TSA Pre. I’d leave plenty of time before your departure from Montreal. But the arrivals part was fairly quick.

Pretty much everyone speaks English. Nearly everyone we encountered spoke English and French. There were a couple times we had to use Google translate for menu items and street signs, but otherwise, it was very easy to get around without any French. Also, people were friendly. 

There are a lot of sales taxes in Montreal. When we visited Montreal, the Canadian dollar was trading at about 75 percent of the American dollar, and that was good. But, there seemed to be a ton of extra taxes on things in Montreal, including at restaurants. I would remember that when you eat somewhere or make a purchase — there will always be extra fees added on.

There’s not a lot of airflow in restaurants and stores in Montreal. Every time we’d walk into a restaurant, I’d be ready for the rush of cold air you feel in the U.S. when you walk inside. And well, that doesn’t happen in Montreal. It didn’t seem like there was a lot of airflow or any temperature control indoors. Sometimes, the inside felt the same temperature as the outside. That was weird for us. You don’t need jackets inside, that’s for sure.

Montreal is really big, and you’ll definitely need to get around via car/cab/Uber. We used Ubers multiple times a day on our three-night trip. While our hotel was in the city center, we kept wanting to check out other areas that were about 2-miles away or more. I think we stayed in the right place, because it was very central. We didn’t see the whole city, but we saw a lot. Ubers were very easy to get, and they were reasonably priced too.

There are some incredible bathrooms in Montreal, and some are unisex. If you saw my Instagram stories from my trip, you saw some of the gorgeous bathrooms we went into. This was a thing, and I love a good bathroom.

The food in Montreal is excellent. If you go, be ready to eat a lot of it. We ate delicious breakfasts, lunches and dinners during our three-night girls’ trip to Montreal. I loved trying new things, and I was pleased with almost everything I ate. Some highlights include the tomato soup I had as an appetizer, the poutine I shared with the girls and some pesto gnocchi I enjoyed for dinner one night too. Also, one of my friends eats a gluten-free diet, and every place was very accommodating. It was a non-issue for her, which she was happy about.

You need reservations for meals at nicer places. We made our dinner reservations about a week in advance of our trip, and the more popular places were pretty full. While we were able to modify our reservations once we arrived (we had made them all for 7 p.m., and moved them all back to 8 p.m. or later once we were there). We used OpenTable for this. As mentioned earlier, the servers do not mind splitting checks, and we did that everywhere we went.

Montreal is warm in August. Although we expected cooler temperatures in Montreal, it felt warm. We were hot walking around during the daytime, even though the temperatures were just below 80 degrees. It was supposed to be in the 50s at night, and yet, we hardly needed jackets. We had all brought leather jackets that we never needed to pull out. I was super surprised by how warm it felt, even though the temperatures looked a little lower. We only had a bit of rain, and we were fine in short sleeves much of the time.

Montreal is a fairly clean city. At one point, my girlfriend and I were chatting that we had barely seen any litter. We did see some on Sunday morning, but as a whole, it felt like Montreal was clean, and it didn’t really smell when we were walking the streets. It felt fairly safe, but we didn’t do a ton of walking longer distances at nights either.

The shopping is just okay. There are a ton of stores, but most of them seemed super high end. I didn’t love the shopping around Montreal (at least what we saw of it). But we did have fun searching through some vintage shops in the Mile End neighborhood. I only bought two tank tops from a Canadian brand while there, and that was fine with me.

If you’re in the mood for an urban adventure with a French twist, I’d put Montreal on your list. We had an action-packed long weekend, and I’m really happy I’ve finally visited this Canadian city.

And that’s the post! Thanks for reading about my girls’ trip to Montreal, I hope you enjoyed it.

Other posts you may like

• Highlights from a girls’ weekend in Charleston, South Carolina
• One amazing girls’ weekend in Nashville
• Our first family trip to Maine: Highlights from visiting Portland, Freeport and Bar Harbor
• What we loved about visiting Vancouver in the summer: Our Vancouver trip highlights

Questions of the day for you

Have you ever been to Montreal?

What’s one place you’ve always wanted to visit?