Home Walking tours by city Montreal
Self-Guided Walking Tours in Montreal
Montreal is an island city built around a small mountain, and it has 33 kilometres of connected underground walkway beneath downtown because winter here reaches −25°C.
Those two facts define walking here. In summer, the city is one of the best in North America on foot — the exterior staircases of the Plateau, the Mile End bagel bakeries, the mountain in the middle. In winter, the RÉSO underground city means you can cross most of downtown without a coat, which is a genuinely strange and useful thing.
Takes about a minute. Montreal is already filled in — choose your time, pace and interests and the route is planned around them.
What to build a Montreal walking tour around
Mount Royal
Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also did Central Park. By city bylaw no building may be taller than the summit, which is why the skyline stops where it does.
Old Montreal
Cobbled streets and the Notre-Dame Basilica, whose interior is deep blue with 24-karat gold stars. The neighbourhood was nearly demolished for a motorway in the 1960s.
The Plateau's exterior staircases
Wrought-iron stairs on the outside of the buildings, a consequence of building codes and a tax on interior floor area. They are miserable in ice and iconic in summer.
Mile End
Two rival wood-fired bagel bakeries, St-Viateur and Fairmount, both open 24 hours, four streets apart, and the argument between them is a genuine local institution.
The Underground City (RÉSO)
33 km of tunnels connecting metro stations, malls, universities and offices — built out from Place Ville Marie in 1962 onward.
Jean-Talon Market
One of the largest open-air markets in North America, in Little Italy, open year-round.
Three routes worth walking in Montreal
Old Montreal and the Old Port
Notre-Dame Basilica, Place Jacques-Cartier, the cobbled Rue Saint-Paul and the waterfront — about 2 km, and the most European stretch of the city.
The Plateau and Mile End
The staircases, the murals on Saint-Laurent, both bagel bakeries and Parc La Fontaine — the neighbourhood walk that defines Montreal.
Mount Royal
Up the Olmsted path or the 300 steps to the chalet lookout, with the whole island and the river below.
Practical notes for walking Montreal
- Terrain and surfaces
- Flat downtown and in the Plateau; the mountain is a genuine 200-metre climb. Winter ice is serious from December to March, and the Plateau's outdoor staircases become hazardous.
- Best time to walk
- May to September, with festivals nearly continuously through the summer. Winter is beautiful and severe in equal measure.
- Driving here
- Drivable, though downtown is under permanent construction. Drive for the Laurentians, the Eastern Townships and the Route des Vins.
- Size
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada — population about 1.8 million.
Neighbourhoods worth a route of their own
Not just walking
The same route planner covers Montreal on foot, at a run, by bike, by car and with wheelchair-accessible routing that avoids steps and kerbs rather than simply relabelling the walking route. Pick the way you are getting around and the stops, distances and timings are planned for it.
Start one now for Montreal: driving tour · wheelchair-accessible route · cycling tour
Or read more: self-guided driving tours · accessible tours · audio tours
Questions about walking Montreal
Is Montreal walkable in winter?
Downtown, yes — the RÉSO underground network connects 33 km of walkway, ten metro stations and much of the core. Above ground in January it is a different proposition, and the Plateau's staircases ice badly.
What is the best neighbourhood to walk in Montreal?
The Plateau and Mile End, for the exterior staircases, the murals along Saint-Laurent and the bagel bakeries. Old Montreal is more beautiful and considerably more touristed.
What is a self-guided walking tour?
A route you walk on your own schedule, with the commentary delivered to your phone instead of by a guide. There is no meeting point and no group — you start when you want, stop as long as you like at anything that interests you, and skip anything that does not.
How is this different from a guided walking tour?
A guided tour runs to someone else's schedule and someone else's route, and it covers what the guide covers. This builds the route around the time you actually have, the pace you want to walk at and the things you said you were interested in — and it will wait as long as you like at any stop.
Can I do a driving tour instead of walking?
Yes. Walking, running, cycling, driving and wheelchair-accessible routing are all supported, and each uses routing built for that mode — a driving tour follows roads and sensible parking, a walking tour uses paths and crossings.
Other cities
- Self-guided walking tours in Quebec City
- Self-guided walking tours in Mexico City
- Self-guided walking tours in Buenos Aires
- All 43 city guides
A 24-hour pass is $6.95 and covers unlimited tours. Joining someone else’s tour is free.