On the way to Peru, my younger brother Brandon and I had a long stopover in Montréal, the largest city in the French part of Canada and the second-largest in all of Canada after Toronto. As you might have gathered from this blog, I love exploring new places, and I think that a long stopover is a great way to do just that. Despite not having much time, a long stopover gives you a taste of the place and then you can always return later, if you liked it there. So whenever there’s an option to do a long stopover on the way to somewhere else, I always take it.
This time around, there was an option to have a 23-hour stopover in Montréal en route to Lima, so my brother and I decided to do it!
After a long, but comfortable eight-hour flight with Air Canada to Toronto with great in-flight food (first time ever, I think!), three hours of waiting and another one-hour flight, we finally arrived in Montréal at 5.15 PM on June 11th, ready for two half days of city explorations! We caught a bus to the city center and easily found our hostel, Auberge L’Apero, which was just what we needed for the one night as it was cheap and central.
We had a quick refreshing shower and then headed out into the city. We didn’t have long until sunset, so we decided to do a short hike to the top of Mount Royal at 233 meters to watch the sun set over the city. It proved to be the perfect decision, as the evening was beautiful and we got up there just in time to see the sunset and also have a look around before it got too dark.
We walked to the top of the mountain and around it trying to locate a large cemetery that Brandon had heard was interesting to see.
Unfortunately, we found out that the graves were located quite far from the mountain and we wouldn’t be able to make it there in time as the sun was already setting.
Instead, we went to another viewpoint, where we got the surprise of a lifetime, as the place was swarming with raccoons! I don’t think I’ve ever seen raccoons before, so that was a really cool experience! They were all over the bins, trying to fish out food waste to eat. They were adorable and I so wanted to take one home (also, they look like cats!).
Afterwards, we headed back down the mountain while enjoying the view of the lit-up skyline on the dark sky. Montréal truly is beautiful.
I fell asleep instantly when my head hit the pillow, and slept the whole night through to the early morning, where it was time to get up and ready for the day to come. We had seven hours left to explore Montréal before having to head to the airport!
But as we found out, the city center of Montréal is easily seen, as there aren’t really any tourist attractions in the city, maybe apart from Mount Royal. I’m sure there’s a lot to see and do around Montréal, but we didn’t have time to venture out of the city center, unfortunately.
The biggest attraction in the center must be the Notre-Dame Basilica, which we headed to first. The basilica was built in 1829 in the decorative Gothic Revival style with details in blues, reds, purples, silver and gold. The interior of the church is just as beautiful as the exterior, with hundreds of wooden carvings and colourful religious statues and stained glass windows. It’s a feast for the eyes.
Although I usually never pay to go in anywhere (I always think it’s overpriced!), we decided to pay the 6 CAD to enter the basilica, as we’d heard it was worth the money. And it totally was! It’s one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen, no kidding! That church deserves more attention than it gets.
The basilica is located in the historic district of Old Montréal, the oldest part of the city, where some still-standing buildings date back to the era of New France (1534–1763 AD). The district has a very authentic colonial feel to it, where history can be felt, making it a pleasure to walk through.
We walked through the district into the De la Gauchetiére Street, where the city’s Chinatown is located. It’s not the biggest or finest Chinatown I’ve seen, but it did have a cozy feel to it.
Brandon really wanted to see the scene of the Heavy Montréal festival, although the festival wasn’t until the end of July. So we jumped on the metro and headed to Saint Helen’s Island, where the festival was going to be held. We saw some construction work going on, so he was sure it was preparations for the festival.
The island also offered a great view of the city skyline across the bay, so we got to see the skyline view from two spots!
When we got back to the city center, we still had some time to kill before going to the airport, so we ate some lunch and then decided to head there for a stress-free day. I was glad that we did, as the bus took an hour instead of half an hour which it did the day before! But we still got there in good time and had a few hours to relax and use the wifi in the airport before flying off to Peru, where our next adventure was about to begin.
Info on a stopover in Montréal
GET FROM THE AIRPORT TO THE CITY: Getting from the airport to the city center is easy, apart from the fact that you have to buy the ticket inside the airport and NOT on the bus – and it’s not located near the bus. There are ticket vending machines in the airport arrival hall, but they are hard to spot, so ask for help if you can’t find them! The bus station at the airport is easy to find, as there are signs pointing to it. The bus number is 747. We got off at the Lionel-Groulx metro station in the city center and then caught a metro to our hostel. The metro system is extremely easy and there are maps at every station to help you find your way!
24-HOUR PASS: If you’re there for less than 24 hours, buy the 24-hour pass for 10 CAD. It allows you to travel freely on busses and metros in Montréal and to and from the airport.
WHERE TO STAY: If you like cheap and central (but simple), Auberge L’Apero might be the hostel for you, but there are plenty of other options as well.
Have a great time and don’t forget to hike up to Mount Royal and visit the Notre-Dame Basilica!
WANT MORE INFO?: Download a city guide for Montréal with GPSmyCity here!
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