48 hours in Montreal is the perfect weekend trip from Chicago! A short flight allowed us to maximize our time in this idyllic French Canadian city. Before visiting, I had no idea that Montreal was an island. We visited the first weekend of May. The weather was better than expected. It was high 50s/low 60s for most of our trip.
If you are like me, you probably think of Old Montreal. Old Montreal feels like you are in another country, but honestly it is such a small part of what Montreal has to offer. We did choose to stay in the Old Montreal area. I’m a loyal Hilton gal and the Embassy Suites was the perfect place. It was so walkable in Old Montreal and really close to public transit. Plus, you get a free, actually good, breakfast and free happy hour with every stay.
Our itinerary was equal parts planned and relaxing. Given I was under the weather it was the perfect combo. Now, let’s get into our 48 hours in Montreal.
Day 1
After dropping our bags at the hotel, we set out to find lunch. We found a cute spot, Olive et Gourmando. They don’t take reservations and there was a line out the door, but it moved pretty quickly. I ordered the grilled cheese and my mom ordered the chicken melt. We both loved our dishes.
After lunch, we took a car over to Mont Royal. Mont Royal is a mountain just west of the downtown of Montreal. Luckily, you can get up and down via car as it is a pretty intense incline/climb. Our driver dropped us off right near the Mont Royal Chalet which gave us access to the Kondiaronk Belvedere, a large viewing terrace. This spot gave some incredible views. We did decided to take the stairs down and walked a little bit before grabbing a car to head back to our hotel.
After enjoying happy hour at our hotel, we made our way to dinner at Vieux-Port Steakhouse. We had made a reservation prior to our trip given the ratings and menu, but the unexpected star of the show was their patio. We enjoyed their crab cake, lobster bisque and bacon wrapped filet. Everything was so delicious.
Day 2
We took our morning very leisurely and enjoyed the complimentary hotel breakfast. We made our way up to the Little Italy neighborhood via public transportation. The metro was very easy to use and navigate. We were heading up to the area to do the Spade & Palacio Beyond the Market Non-Touristy Food Tour. I personally love to do a tour in a new city. Food tours even more. This one did not disappoint.
The tour itself was nearly 3 hours long and our tour guide, Rod, was amazing. I’m still thinking about some of the dishes that we tried and hoping to find a few in Chicago. The tour spanned both the neighborhood and we sampled a few items within the Jean Talon Market. I cannot recommend it enough that I actually wrote a whole detailed post about the experience here.
After the tour, we did a little relaxing, freshened up, and enjoyed the complimentary hotel happy hour. After the happy hour, we headed to dinner at Tzatzi-qui. Also, located in the Old Montreal area, this Greek restaurant was so quaint and delicious. We split the spanakopita and chicken skewers. It was delicious.
After dinner, we made our way over the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. We had heard from our tour guide that they did an incredible light show, Aura. They were not lying. This experiences was one of the coolest and most unique shows I have experienced. I really believe that this is a cannot miss.
Day 3
As we approached the final day of our 48 hours in Montreal, we wanted to explore the Montreal Botanical Garden. After enjoying our complimentary breakfast and checking out, we made our way over the garden via the Metro. The garden is located right next to the Olympic Village which for the Olympic nerd in me was a highlight to just see it.
I was unsure what to expect within the gardens, but I was blown away. I really enjoyed the Chinese and Japanese gardens. Quite a bit of the gardens were in bloom in early May, but there were some parts that were not there yet. We spent a few hours walking throughout and a full post on the gardens can be found here.
After we finished walking through the gardens, we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags. The Montreal airport has a USA terminal so you can go through customs before you hop on your flight which is definitely a perk. Based on our tickets, we had access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. I was quite unimpressed with this lounge. Not only did we have to wait 30 minutes to even get in, it felt cramped and out of date. Luckily, we had a nice easy flight home to round out the trip.
48 hours in Montreal was really the right amount of time to get a nice taste of the city. I’m looking forward to exploring more of Canada in the coming hears. You can check out my Montreal posts here and my travel guides here.
Xoxo
Janelle
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