Why you have to Visit Old Montreal.
I have a complicated relationship with Old Montreal. There are parts of Old Montreal that feature the absolute worst of mass tourism: tacky stores and restaurants, trashy tourists, shitty fast-food joints and traffic (both pedestrian and automobile). I lived most of my life in Montreal and Old Montreal is a place I mostly avoided.
But Old Montreal also contains Montreal’s oldest streets and buildings, its most famous squares and the most beautiful church in Canada (Notre Dame Basilica). It also features quite a bit of nature away from the crowds with attractive vantage points on the Saint Lawrence river. And some of the best parts of Old Montreal aren’t swamped with trashy tourists and tacky stores – they’re actually relatively quiet.
I’m going to tell you what to see in Old Montreal below, with a map so that you get the best of the area.
But a few tips first:
1.Some visitors coming to Old Montreal insist on taking a boat cruise on the Saint Lawrence river. Don’t do that. If you want to see Montreal from the river, instead take a return trip on the ferry across the river to Longueil.
2. The best time to see Old Montreal is very early in the day before the mass tourism kicks in. Mornings also give you the best light. With the proper light and less people, you might even fall in love with Old Montreal.
3. Besides the main sites that I’ll list below, Old Montreal is a good place to explore by bike and you can continue from Old Montreal to Ile Ste Helene or down the Lachine Canal. I get into more detail on that at the bottom of this post.
An Old Montreal Walking Tour Itinerary
There are many different routes you can take but I like this one because it starts/ends near metro stations plus it includes a few sights that won’t be obvious to a lot of people.
Square Victoria 
The square was created in 1813 and was a hay market. Today it is a beautiful green square surrounded by modern highrises (it’s a popular park during weekdays when office workers come to take some air or eat their lunch). There’s a statue dedicated to Queen Victoria but the most interesting feature is the entrance of the metro station which was gifted to Montreal in 1967 from the city of Paris. It’s a touch of Paris in Montreal and the most iconic metro station entrance in the city.
Rue Saint Jacques 
This street was the center of Montreal’s financial district. It started in 1818 when the Bank of Montreal opened its head office here. Following that, many other banks and insurance companies built their Canadian head offices on Saint Jacques (if you keep your eyes peeled you’ll even see the Molson Bank building, built by the Molson brewery family. It’s now part of the Bank of Montreal).
The whole street is full of grand buildings, mostly financial but also a few very high-end hotels which catered to a wealthy clientele.
Rue Saint Jacques (St. James Street to many) is one of Montreal’s most beautiful and iconic streets.
Place D’Armes 
Rue Saint Jacques will bring you to Place D’Armes, the 2nd oldest square in Montreal (dating back to 1803. The oldest square is Place Royale which you’ll see a little later).
The highlight here is Notre Dame Basilica (built 1824 – 1829) which is the most popular tourist site in Montreal. It costs $16 (regular price) but is worth it. A gorgeous church.
The Square is full of attractions. In the center is a statue dedicated to Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612 – 1676) who was a French military officer and, in 1642, the founder of Ville-Marie (the name used before the city was named “Montreal”). He would become the first governor of Montreal. Around the square are some beautiful buildings: the Aldred building (built in 1931 in art deco style, resembles New York’s Empire State building), the New York Life building (built in 1888, the oldest skyscraper in Canada), and the Bank of Montreal head office (constructed in 1847, replacing the original built in 1818).
Place Royale 
From Place D’Armes, you’ll turn right on St Sulpice (going around the corner of Notre Dame Basilica) and make another right on Rue Saint Paul. Continue a block, it will bring you to Place Royale.
Place Royale was the first square in Montreal and a small fort was built here (Ville Marie, founded in 1642). It was later a market.
If you’re interested in history and architecture, the Pointe-à-Callière museum is right across the street and it includes archaeological ruins which link underground to Place Royale. The Pointe-à-Callière museum also has a café and good views over the whole port area which stretches in front of you. Note: I’ve written about the Pointe-à-Callière museum in this post on Montreal Museums. I’m honestly not a fan and I find it very expensive. But if you are interesting in archaeology you might feel different about it.
Rue Saint Paul 
From Place Royale, follow Rue de La Commune for a few blocks before cutting up to Rue Saint Paul.
Rue Saint Paul is Montreal’s oldest street and was the major thoroughfare leading from the fort (Ville Marie). For a long time it was Old Montreal’s main street and the center of Montreal’s fur trade.
Today it is a mecca for tourists: full of outdoor restaurants and tacky tourist stores. It’s kitschy tourism at its worst*.
*Saint Paul gets more interesting a bit further east, just after Place Jacques Cartier. I’ll cover that soon.
Place Jacques Cartier 
Rue Saint Paul leads to Place Jacques Cartier. It is a lively and pretty square where there’s always something going on: street performers, sketch artists etc. There are restaurants on either side and which make the square a good place to enjoy a beer and watch the world go by.
The square (it’s not really a square, it’s more like a wide pedestrian passage) has plenty of history. In 1803 it was decided that a public space would be placed here. In 1847, the column that you see at the top of Place Jacques Cartier was installed – it is dedicated to Horatio Nelson (a British general) following his death at the Battle of Trafalgar. It was only later, in 1847, that the square was renamed after Jacques Cartier, the first European to discover the Montreal area.
Place Jacques Cartier is the unofficial entrance to the Old Port – when you’ve finished exploring the square, go downhill towards the port.
Old Port 
The Old Port is a nice place to walk around and look out over the waters of the St. Lawrence. As I mentioned up top, if looking for a river experience I really recommend just taking the ferry across to Ile Saint Helene and Longueil…and then just coming back the same way. You´ll see the ferry terminal when you come down from Place Jacques Cartier.
The Old Port has become very commercial and you’ll find all kinds of family-type entertainment options: a zipline, a huge ferris wheel, a Pirat-themed climbing thing for kids, the Science Center, a Virtual Reality center…there’s more. You’ll also find lots of food trucks selling a mix of things, tacky tourist stores aplenty…
If you have time, you can walk around and see views of the river and ships moored at the piers. The Old Port has changed a lot in the last few years unfortunately.
Rue Saint Paul (East) 
Head back to Rue Saint Paul, heading for the distinct domes of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel and Bonsecours Market. This is the pretty part of Rue Saint Paul with fewer tourists than the western section of the street.
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel is one of the oldest churches in Montreal (this version was built in 1771 after the original burned down). It became a pilgrimage site for sailors praying for safe voyages, you’ll see an angel on the roof.
Next to it is the large Bonsecours Market (completed in 1847) which was the main public market in Montreal. Today it is a different kind of market, with artisan souvenirs, art, cafés and restaurants. It’s a nice place to visit, especially in the winter when it can be -20C outside.
Rue Notre Dame 
Coming up the few blocks from Rue Saint Paul, you´ll see the massive Montreal City Hall, the seat of the local government (completed in 1878). The building was modelled after the city hall in the French city of Tours.
Across the street is the Chateau Ramezay (completed in 1705). Today it is a history museum featuring all kinds of items from Montreal’s past.
Continuing along Notre Dame you’ll pass the top of Place Jacques Cartier (previously described). You’ll see lots of grand historic buildings, both private buildings and government offices (including the huge Quebec Court of Appeal). Following the street, it will lead you back to Place D’Armes and Notre-Dame Basilica.
Montreal Convention Center 
At Place D’Armes you’re back in the heart of Old Montreal. If you walk just a few blocks over on St. Jacques, and then down the hill (on Saint Francois Xavier or Saint Pierre), you are in a modern section of Old Montreal with sparkling new highrises and modern architecture.
The Montreal Convention Center epitomizes that with its colourful panels. There’s always something going on here (when we passed it was Comiccon). The Convention center is also close to the Place D’Armes metro station which will take you wherever you need to go.
Summing up Old Montreal
I mentioned up top that there are parts of Old Montreal I hate: the worst are Rue St. Paul (crowds and tacky tourist restaurants and stores) and the Old Port (now basically a low-budget amusement park).
But there are parts I think are great: Rue St. Jacques and Rue Notre Dame have some magnificent buildings. Rue St. Paul to the east of Place Jacques Cartier has pretty cobblestoned streets and the Bonsecours market. And – just outside the historic part of Old Montreal – Square Victoria and Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle feature beautiful modern architecture.
Old Montreal is also the access point to some wonderful bike paths. Some of my best memories of Montreal (I lived here over 25 years) were taking the bike path through Old Montreal to the islands, the south shore and the Lachine canal. Go to the Velo Quebec website for general info. You can also use their interactive map of Montreal area bike paths (resize it and you’ll see the bike paths leading from Old Montreal). Montreal is known as one of the best bike-friendly cities in North America and you can see a lot of beauty following the bike paths from Old Montreal. There’s a bike rental place called Ca Roule right at the Old Port where you can rent a bike for the day or take a bike tour. Either way, getting on a bike in Montreal is something really worth doing.
Related: A Local’s guide to Montreal
Related: A Walking tour of Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal
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