24 Hours in Montreal

You start underground and end on a hill. Pointe-à-Callière opens at 10 a.m. on weekdays and sits on the spot where Montreal began, so the old town makes sense after it. Walk Rue Saint-Paul to Place Jacques-Cartier, then take the orange line two stops from Champ-de-Mars to Sherbrooke for lunch at Schwartz's on Saint-Laurent Boulevard. From there it is a short walk to Parc Jeanne-Mance and the stairs up Mount Royal. The lookout terrace in front of the Mount Royal Chalet is free and is the one view of the whole city.

Come down the north side into Mile End for bagels, walk east through the Plateau for poutine, and ride the orange line from Mont-Royal straight to Place-d'Armes for AURA inside Notre-Dame Basilica. That is the only thing to book. The ticketing page lists sessions at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. and they sell by time slot. The next morning, Atwater Market opens at 9 a.m. beside Lionel-Groulx, which is also a 747 stop for the ride back.

Where the plan bends: Pointe-à-Callière is closed on Mondays, so on a Monday swap in a daytime basilica visit, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., for $11.40 (£8.50; C$16) plus tax. In heavy snow or rain, skip the climb and spend the afternoon in the Underground City and the Plateau shops instead. If you want a second Quebec night, Quebec City is the natural pairing.

Stay in Ville-Marie, the borough that holds both downtown and Old Montreal. We priced the cheapest 3-star-or-better double with a guest rating of 8 or more on Kayak for Friday nights, taxes included.

• Downtown, near Place-des-Arts and Sainte-Catherine Street: the cheapest option on both dates was Le Roberval, a 3-star rated 8.1, at $65 (£49) on January 15, 2027 and $148 (£111) on June 11, 2027. Downtown puts you on the green and orange lines and close to the 747's René-Lévesque stops.
• Old Montreal: pricier but on the route. In January, Le Westin Montreal was $150 (£112) and Hotel Saint-Sulpice, beside the basilica, was $166 (£124). You can walk back from AURA.
• Golden Square Mile: quieter streets below the mountain, with 3-star suite hotels such as Le Cantlie Suites, handy for the climb up Mount Royal.

The STM 747 leaves from door 28 in the international arrivals area. Route 1 runs to Lionel-Groulx, the René-Lévesque Boulevard hotels and Berri-UQAM; Route 2 runs to Lionel-Groulx only. STM's own estimate is 20 to 35 minutes depending on traffic, so leave more time at rush hour. The fare is $8 (£6; C$11.25) by exact change on the bus, in the Chrono app or from the airport machines, and it works as a 24-hour pass. Since January 26, 2026, Route 1's downtown terminus has moved to René-Lévesque at Berri because of construction.

A taxi from YUL to downtown is a fixed fare set by the airport: $35 (£26; C$49) from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and $40 (£30; C$57) overnight. Trains from the US arrive at Central Station, downtown and on the orange line's doorstep at Bonaventure.

Montreal's food is cheap, specific and mostly eaten at a counter. Five things to fit in:

• Smoked meat at Schwartz's, 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard. A sandwich on rye with mustard, ordered by fat level. Lunch has the shorter line.
• Sesame bagels at St-Viateur Bagel, 263 Rue Saint-Viateur Ouest in Mile End, open 6 a.m. to midnight daily. Buy them warm by the dozen and eat one on the sidewalk.
• Poutine at La Banquise, 994 Rue Rachel Est, open 24 hours: fries, cheese curds and gravy, with a long menu of toppings.
• Breakfast at Atwater Market, Avenue Greene, open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and to 5 p.m. weekends. Bakeries, cheese and maple products for the flight home.
• A late drink on Saint-Laurent Boulevard between Sherbrooke and Mont-Royal Avenue, where the Plateau's bars stay open late.

None of these publishes prices online, so we have not printed any. For more cities where the food is the trip, see the best food cities for 24 hours.

Keep Old Montreal, Schwartz's and the evening. Take the 747 to Berri-UQAM, walk to Place Jacques-Cartier and Rue Saint-Paul, eat at Schwartz's, and end at AURA. Drop Mount Royal and Mile End; the climb and the walk down take three hours. The 747 pass covers every ride in between, and for a short stop the taxi's fixed fare makes the return easy to budget.

Per person, using the official fares:

• Two 747 fares, in and out, each also a 24-hour pass: $16 (£12; C$22)
• Pointe-à-Callière: $21 (£16; C$30), taxes included
• AURA at Notre-Dame Basilica: $26 (£19.70; C$37), plus Quebec sales tax

That is $64 (£48; C$90) before food and the tax on AURA. Add the January hotel and the total is about $129 (£96) per room; with the June rate it is about $212 (£159). The hotel price is for two people, so a couple pays the transport and tickets twice.

From the US, YUL has nonstop flights from Newark, Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Washington Dulles, Atlanta, Miami and Dallas/Fort Worth, per the airport's route table on Wikipedia. New York flights use LaGuardia rather than JFK. From the UK, there are nonstops from Heathrow all year, and seasonal flights from Gatwick and Edinburgh.

Amtrak's Adirondack runs daily from Moynihan Train Hall, but Amtrak lists it at about 10 hours, so it is a scenic trip rather than a quick hop; we list no rail option. For a closer one-nighter from New York, see the best overnight trips from NYC and 24 hours in Boston.

Entry: US citizens need no eTA. Canada's border agency recommends a valid passport, and NEXUS members can use the card. British citizens flying in need an eTA, which the Government of Canada sells for $5 (£3.70; C$7) on its own site; apply there, not through a third party.

Winter is the cheap season and the reason the January hotel price is so low; it is also properly cold, with early dark and snow on the mountain path. Late spring and early fall are the easiest months for the walking in this plan. Summer brings festivals in the Quartier des Spectacles and the highest hotel prices. The page's climate table has the monthly numbers. Our guide to planning a 24-hour trip covers timing the flights.

Airport to center

35 min from Montreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport: STM 747 express bus to downtown (Lionel-Groulx metro, Rene-Levesque Boulevard hotels, Berri-UQAM); the fare is a 24-hour pass for the whole network, $8 (£6; C$11.25)

One night, Friday

$65 (£49) on January 15, 2027 · $148 (£111) on June 11, 2027 (Downtown (Ville-Marie): Le Roberval, 3-star, guest rating 8.1, was cheapest on both dates)

Day ticket

STM 24-hour pass, All modes A (the 747 airport fare is the same pass): $8 (£6; C$11.25)

24 hours, per person

$77 (£58): half the average room, the airport ride both ways and a day ticket (entries extra)

Nonstop from the US

EWR, ORD, LAX, SFO, BOS, IAD, ATL, MIA, DFW

Nonstop from the UK

LHR, LGW, EDI

Hotel prices: Cheapest 3-star-or-better double, 1 night (Friday), 2 adults, nightly total including all taxes and fees, guest rating 8+, Kayak (kayak.com, USD) with the Downtown, Downtown Montreal, Old Montreal, Golden Square Mile and Quartier des Spectacles neighborhood filters, checked 2026-10-21.

Best months for walking around by our weather score: May, August, September. Daytime highs and lows, rain days (1 mm or more) and sunshine hours are 2016–2025 averages for Montreal (Open-Meteo historical weather archive).

Montreal Mile End Food Tour with Bagel, Poutine and 7 Tastings

Meets at the Rialto Theatre, 5723 Av. du Parc, and ends at Kem CoBa on Av. Fairmount; Mile End is a metro or taxi ride from Old Montreal. Gratuities are included.

3 hours

4.9★★★★★★★★★★(3,140 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Old Montreal Walking Tour | Small Group (Max 10) | by MTL Detours

Meets outside Marche Saint Laurent on Place d'Armes and ends at Bonsecours Market; it passes Notre-Dame Basilica without going in. A small treat is included, tips are optional and there is no hotel pickup.

2 hours

4.9★★★★★★★★★★(2,649 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Old Montreal Ghost Walking Tour

Starts at 8:00 pm at Place Royale, opposite the Pointe-a-Calliere museum, and ends near Bonsecours Market; gratuities are included.

1.5 hours

4.6★★★★★★★★★★(859 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.