MONTREAL TRAVEL GUIDE

Back in April, Bernie and I made the 5 hour drive from Toronto to Montreal for my birthday weekend. We rented a car from Enterprise Car Rentals on Friday and headed out later that evening. It cost just about the same to drive as to travel by air or by train. We loved the fact that  driving gave us the flexibility to leave and return whenever we wanted to. With our busy work schedules, we only had the weekend to spend in Montreal so we wanted to make the most out of it.

I am excited to be sharing our trip with you guys as well as giving tips and ideas for those interested in visiting Montreal for a weekend getaway. It was a rainy weekend so we didn’t get to explore as much as we had hoped, but we will be sharing with you what we did and some of our other favourite things to do in the city.

We’ll be posting a VLOG in the coming days so be sure to subscribe to our Youtube channel so that you don’t miss out on any travel VLOG uploads.

Getting To Montreal

We live in Toronto, so making the 4 hour drive to Montreal was not a big deal. Although we chose to drive, if you live in Toronto, you also have the option of catching a train or flying directly from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport or Toronto Pearson Airport. I had work on Friday and on Monday so we were unable to find flight or train times that fit out plans so we chose to drive instead.

If you are thinking of driving, I should warn you just how boring the drive is. It is basically a straight road that you are driving down for the full 5 hours with not much in terms of scenery to keep you entertained. Luckily, I was driving with my best friend (Hubby :p ) so the time flew by.

Where To Stay

We chose to stay in an air bnb during our visit to Montreal. We rented a beautiful studio apartment close to lots of cute shops and restaurants.  We got to Montreal pretty late on Friday and our host was gracious enough to leave her home open for us so that we could get in however late we arrived.

The apartment was great! It was clean, well decorated and had all the amenities you could ask for in an air bnb.

Things To Do

We visited Montreal on a rainy weekend, so we didn’t get to explore as much as we had hoped. But here are some of the things that we did and more things that we hope to do during our next visit.

• Visit Notre Dame Basilica
• Walk Around Old Montreal
• Go Up The Mount Royal
• Take a Food Tour
• Eat Poutine
• Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
• La Ronde Amusement Park
• Montreal Botanical Gardens

What to eat

Some resturants in Montreal have a bring your own wine policy which is pretty cool. It is just what it sounds like. You bring your favourite wine, and your waiter serves you from your own bottle throughout the night. Unfortunately, we did not realize this so Bae had to make a quick dash to the liquor store while we waited for our food to arrive. I have been obsessed with Sangria lately, and we found this lovely sangria wine that we had with our dinner. It was divine.

Barbounya

A rustic-chic spot that offers Turkish inspired cuisine. It was the perfect for brunch. The food was incredible and very filling.

Coco Loco

A cute brunch spot with great views of the city. The food was good although I found the service poor and the food slow. When Bernie asked for a cup of tea, he got luke warm water in the kettle. When he asked if he could get hot water, the waiters response was that its as hot as its going to get. Who wants to drink lukewarm tea? Bleh! Although it had a nice vibe, I probably won’t be going back there again.

Maison Phayathai

A very cute upscale Thai Restaurant hidden in the streets of Montreal. In fact, its so well hidden that we basically walked passed it, before turning around to see the sign above the door. The food was great and the service was excellent.

Montreal is an eclectic and diverse city packed full of charm. We loved every minute of our trip and cannot wait to go back and explore some more.

Have you been to Montreal? What are your favorite things to do in the city? Leave a comment and let us know.

-xoxo Amara

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