Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in you sail. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

Canada was always on my bucket list; it is a vast country with many different cultures, ideas and food. Neighboring the United States to the North, it is a pretty easy trip, especially for those of us here on the East Coast who can just take a quick under five hour car drive to get to the closest city which is Montreal, Quebec. Montreal was more than I had imagine, and in the short two day stay we had there we packed it full of art, gardens, sunsets, food and more. Oh yes, the food itself deserves its own separate post, ( I mean the ice cream alone OMG ) so definitely stay tuned for that one coming soon.

What intrigued me is that Montreal or rather Quebec it self is like a miniature Europe. With Montreal being the second-largest primarily French speaking city in the world after Paris it is like suddenly you are transported to France. Also about 59% of the population is also bilingual in English and French.Public transportation seems extremely easy and bikes are everywhere. Like Europe, people bike a lot in Montreal and I was temped to get on a bike myself but quickly dispersed those thoughts as I might of flown over the handlebars with my luck. 😀

So what can you do in two days? Well I know it seems like a short amount of time, but we managed to cram a bunch into those days and I have been wanting to share ever since we went. Visiting places like the Jardin Botanique was one of the highlights of the trip and that was just one of a few. You can definitely enjoy Montreal in two days although next time I hope to go for at least a week! 😀 So keep on reading and Ill share my top Montreal finds with you!

This Montreal travel guide shows you how you can explore Montreal when you don’t have tons of time. I hope you will enjoy it and please leave me any comments of your own Montreal adventures and things you want to do.

1. Jardin Botanique | 4101 Rue Sherbrooke E, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2, Canada

This is more than what it seems, it encompasses 185 acres of land and has many things to do within it including an insectarium, planetarium, biodome & the botanical gardens. The Biodome is closed for renovations until next summer which was sad but we still managed to see a whole bunch. The gardens are kept beautifully, the park is incredibly walkable and it was actually super interesting to see the trees and bugs even though I would collapse if those bugs were actually alive in front of me haha!

Looking out at the beautiful view

Family Shot in the garden

2. Mont Royal | 1260 Remembrance Rd, Montreal, QC H3H 1A2, Canada

If you go to Montreal, you must check this place out. We went in the evening to catch the sunset and it was breathtaking. In each little overlook there platforms, and/or hammocks to relax while to take in the view of the city. If we hadn’t been so tired from a full day of walking we probably would have stayed longer. Seeing the twinkling lights, the red and yellows hues of the sky was the perfect thing before we scurried off to have ice cream before calling it a night. GO VISIT

Sunset was beautiful

The twinkling lights and the sun setting

3. Street Art Scene | Everywhere we walked

I was amazed by how much street art there was everywhere in Montreal. In our many walks we came across so many different kinds of art in the alleys, the public seating areas, on buildings and more. I paid close attention to my surroundings when we were walking so I managed to pick up on the ones I took ppictures of, but I am sure there is so much more!

Found this around the corner from a food shop

Walking down the street to get ice cream

Downtown Montreal

On the sidewalk, this was one of a few I saw

In an alley we passed

In a public seating area

Walking around the downtown, old Montreal area

4. Old Montreal | Ville-Marie, Montreal

I am so glad we got a chance to walk around Old Montreal a bit, explore and eat. There were some fun things we stumbled on. We parked in Ville Notre Dame and then walked over to see the Basilica of Notre Dame which was majestic. Although we didn’t get to go inside the view from the outside was incredible. We kept walking to get to Old Montreal and along the way we saw art, stumbled upon a Virgil Abloh exhibition called “The Cutting Room Floor” which is running until July 29th, bought some Canadian maple syrup, and ate some incredible Italian food ( more on this later). There is definitely a lot more to do in this area including a visit to the Old Port if you can fit it in.

Stumbled upon this placard about one of the oldest hospitals in Montreal!

Snoopy Jamming is life goals 🙂

Walking these old streets

Basilica Notre Dame in all its glory

Roosevelt taking it all in!

Virgil Abloh Exhibition: “The Cutting Room Floor”

Old Montreal

Tips:

• Bring good, sturdy walking shoes- we walked almost everywhere and good shoes come in handy
• Be prepared to spend less if coming from the United States, the exchange rate is pretty good!
• There were a lot of Airbnb’s in Montreal, we picked one that was kind of close to everything
• Be mindful of street parking and read all the signs, sometimes it is okay to park and sometimes its not depending if they are doing street cleaning ( we learned this the hard way 🙂 )

Hope you enjoyed this snippet into Montreal and stay tuned for my Montreal Food post!

Travel often,

Life as a Maven