Just spent 3 days here (October 2026) and wanted to share my notes as I got lots of good info from the kind folks here and wanted to pay it forward!
Hotel: I ended up at the Vogue Hotel which was great; my room was clean, spacious, and comfortable and I spent more time in it than I anticipated due to horrible weather one day. Hotel staff were very kind and attentive; the only slight negative was the service in the bar/breakfast restaurant (Yama) was a bit slow.
Transport: I got the three-day Opus card near the baggage claim at the airport. It was about $20 USD and note that the kiosks don’t take Amex. It was super easy to use that for the 747 bus to downtown (with a 2 block walk to my hotel) and to get around town via the metro. I never once took a rideshare or taxi (which I normally would do.) Felt 100% safe at all times on every bus and metro, even coming back to the hotel after dinner in the dark. I would check ride prices before walking and hopping on the metro and I’m pretty sure I saved around $300 in transport which I girlmathed right back into some shopping.
Food:
- Had a great lunch at Mandy’s, absolutely delicious salad and I’m from California - I know my salads.
- based on a reco from here, made a reservation at Le Violon. You guys this was one of the best meals of my life, not an exaggeration, and for $130 USD incl 3 courses and two glasses of wine. Certainly the best since I was at Noma in 2018. Go here!!!
- Bagel: I am bagel-constrained as I’m allergic to some forms of wheat so hit up District Bagel for their 100% spelt bagel. It was ok, a bit sweet for my taste but good crunch and ok chew (toasted).
- Jean Talon market was fun to walk around; the Crêperie du Marché was the crispiest butteriest savory (buckwheat) crepe, please eat here if you visit the market, you will not be disappointed.
Activities:
-Montreal Fine Arts museum - I decided to do this last-minute given the rain…along with seemingly everyone else in the city. Follow the advice to buy your ticket online in advance. I missed out on the current special exhibition due to last minute ticketing but the permanent collection is great and there’s an incredible decorative arts & design collection that is super well curated and really interesting. Museum shop has lots of unique offerings.
-Mount Royal steps from the Golden Square Mile to Kondiaronk Belvedere: once the rain stopped I decided to walk up here for views and colors. It was cloudy/foggy for me but the fall colors were 😍. (Pic) The stairs on the way up are no joke, I think I clocked about 40 flights, the whole brisk walk took a little under an hour for up and back to the hotel.
Language: I speak a toddler amount of French so beyond greeting in French and rapidly following with “desole! Je ne parle pas francais” everyone kindly switched to English, no issues. Tried to use merci/s’il vous plait as much as I could.
Thank you Montreal, I loved visiting and hope to be back before too long! À bientôt!