A road trip from Ottawa to Montreal in winter can be a fabulous antidote to the post-holiday blues. You can even do it in a day, if you’re pressed for time.
What’s that, I hear you say? Montreal is too far for a day trip, especially in the winter? Not if you leave early in the morning. And if you don’t want to drive a four-hour round trip, you can easily leave the driving to others.
Cover photo of Old Montreal in winter © Tourisme Montreal, Matthieu Dupuis. Used with permission.
Getting from Ottawa to Montreal
VIA Rail (train) and Orleans Express (bus) both offer multiple trips between Ottawa and Montreal daily. Depending how much of an early bird or a nighthawk you are, you could get to Montreal in time for a late breakfast and stay long enough for an early dinner. Of course, you could also stay overnight. At the end of this post, I have a few tips for that.
Sure, VIA Rail has had its share of problems recently. However, I’ve been a fan of trains for as long as I can remember, and I’m hopeful that the delays and communications issues that VIA’s gone through lately are just a temporary blip. Honestly, when it’s running normally, the train is a very relaxing way to get to Montreal. Certainly, for my money, it’s more relaxing that driving into downtown Montreal via the Décarie Expressway, which is known as the “Scary Décarie” in my household.
Of course, if you do choose to drive, it’s about a two-hour trip door to door in good weather. Just hop on Highway 417 heading eastbound and keep going until you see signs for downtown Montreal. (The highway will change names and become Autoroute 40 once you cross the Ontario–Quebec border.)
So, now that I have addressed your doubts about the feasibility of getting back and forth to Montreal in winter easily, what can you do while you’re in Quebec’s largest city?
Montreal museums
To stay warm and cozy, drop into a museum. One of my favourites is the McCord Stewart Museum (690 Sherbrooke Street West), which documents the history of Montreal. I’ve seen some great temporary exhibitions there, including one about Montreal’s history of fashion manufacturing. On a more sombre note is the museum’s permanent exhibition, Indigenous Voices of Today: Knowledge, Trauma, Resilience, which features about 100 artifacts along with more than 80 stories shared—via text and videos—by members of 11 Indigenous nations in Quebec.
Just down the road, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1380 Sherbrooke Street West) regularly offers a range of intriguing temporary exhibitions that complement the permanent collection. Check out the Stephan Crétier and Stéphany Maillery Wing for the Arts of One World, where ancient and traditional artworks are exhibited alongside contemporary pieces to create an interesting dialogue. Also of note is the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace, a large gallery featuring both Old Masters and modern works.
Montreal is also home to a range of other museums well worth visiting, including the Canadian Centre for Architecture (1920 Baile Street), the Montreal Holocaust Museum (5151 Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road), the Pointe-à-Callière archaeology complex (350 Place Royale) and the Montreal Science Centre (2 de la Commune Street West).
Discounts and Barbies
For a deal on most of these attractions and many others, you can purchase the Passeport MTL. Currently available for $95 plus taxes and good until March 31, 2023, it gives you free admission to five attractions of your choice and discounts on others.
And for something completely different, there’s the huge, free Barbie Expo, an exhibition in a downtown mall featuring about 1,000 of the namesake dolls (Les Cours Mont-Royal, 1455 Peel Street).
Outdoors in Montreal in winter: Skiing, snowshoeing and a spa
Prefer to be outdoors? You could explore the mountain that dominates downtown Montreal. Les amis de la montagne offer all sorts of activities on Mont Royal, including cross-country skiing lessons, guided snowshoeing outings and winter birdwatching walks. In some cases, you can rent equipment, too.
If that sounds too strenuous, perhaps an unusual Nordic-style spa is in order. Bota Bota (at the foot of McGill Street) offers a circuit of saunas, hot tubs and cold pools, as well as spa treatments, on a boat moored on the St. Lawrence River. Trust me—soaking in a hot tub on the deck on a frosty day while admiring the Old Montreal skyline is an unforgettable experience.
P.S.: If you like these types of wellness retreats, check out my big post about Nordic spas in Quebec.
Montreal restaurants, markets and food shops
Of course, no visit to Montreal would be complete without food. Truly, there are far too many restaurants, markets and food shops to even begin to cover them here, so I’ll offer just one recommendation: le Marché des Saveurs du Québec (280 Place du Marché du Nord). It’s the place to go for cheeses and packaged foods from every corner of the province, ranging from the sublime to the quirky. (Marinated sea asparagus, anyone?)
It’s right across the street from the Jean-Talon Market, an excellent farmers’ market that will be a bit quieter than usual in winter but is still worth a visit.
For lots of other ideas, check the MTL à Table website. MTL à Table is a fall event that offers discounts on table d’hôte meals all over the city, but the site is a useful resource for finding a great place to eat in Montreal in winter.
Oh, yeah: The Habs
Long-time readers know that what I know about sports would fit on the head of a very small pin. However, even I’m savvy enough to know better than to suggest a Senators fan pay good money to see the Montreal Canadiens in action at the Centre Bell (1225 Saint-Antoine West). But, I venture timidly, not all Ottawa Road Trips readers are Sens fans. Or perhaps you are, and you’d just like to suss out the Sens’ archrivals on their home turf. If you plan ahead, you might even catch the Sens and the Habs facing off against each other.
Montréal en lumière and Nuit blanche
Every year, Montreal thumbs its nose at the snow and cold with a three-week festival called Montréal en lumière. The event features everything from outdoor artworks made of lights to skating, food trucks, ice slides, a Ferris wheel and concerts. It also includes an all-night free arts extravaganza called Nuit blanche. In 2023, Montréal en lumière will take place from February 16 to March 5, with Nuit blanche on Saturday, February 25. Here’s my post about my adventures at a previous Nuit blanche. It’s a fantastic way to enjoy Montreal in winter!
Montreal hotels
As you can see, a single day may not be enough time for your Montreal sightseeing trip. Fortunately, the city is packed with great places to stay.
Hotels near the train station
If you’re arriving by train, the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth is right above your head—just take a short escalator from the train station (Gare Centrale) and you’re there. Part of the same chain as Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier, it has the same posh vibe. Don’t expect a castle-like exterior; the Queen E looks a bit like a 1950s office block from the outside. Inside, though, it’s quite glam. You can splurge on Saturday afternoon tea or Sunday brunch (among other meals) in the hotel restaurant, Rosélys, or pick up something casual in the small food hall, Marché Artisans.
Almost as convenient is the Hôtel Bonaventure Montreal, just a block from the train station. You don’t have to walk outside to get there; just follow the signs from the station to take the underground path system (le RÉSO) to the hotel. The Hotel Bonaventure opened its doors in 1967, when Montreal was awash in Expo ’67 excitement. Don’t miss the heated outdoor rooftop pool, which is open year round, and the hanging basket chairs in the lobby. (In summer, the rooftop garden is lovely, too.)
Hotels in Old Montreal
If you’d like to stay among the centuries-old buildings of Old Montreal in winter, waking up to a landscape of snowy cobblestoned streets, I have two recommendations. The Hôtel Place d’Armes has a primo location a stone’s throw from Notre-Dame Basilica, and the Brasserie 701 French restaurant is both gorgeous and excellent. (The hotel also has the Japanese-style Kyo Bar, which I haven’t tried yet.)
On the other side of Notre-Dame, the Hôtel Saint-Sulpice is a sleek modern hotel with all mod cons; ask for one of the rooms at the back, which overlook the courtyard garden and the basilica.
A short-term rental apartment in Mile End
For a moderately priced small apartment in a residential neighbourhood, I recommend the Parc Avenue Lofts in the lively Mile End neighbourhood. The flat is within walking distance of both St-Viateur Bagel (6 minutes) and Fairmount Bagel (15 minutes), so you can spend a couple of happy mornings comparing and contrasting yummy baked goods.
I stayed with my two sisters in apartment P1-103, which has a bedroom with two double beds and a sofa bed in the living room. There’s also a compact kitchenette. The big windows look right out onto Parc Avenue, which can feel a bit like a fishbowl. And at 33 square metres, the unit is a bit cozy for three. But it had everything we needed for a fun weekend away.
Search for a Montreal hotel or short-term rental
Of course, that’s just scratching the surface of the range of accommodations available in Quebec’s largest city. To do your own search, use the map below.
Disclosure: I’ve received free or discounted stays in these properties for review purposes. All opinions are my own. Also, this section contains affiliate links, meaning if you book a place to stay using a hotel link above or the map below, I’ll receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. (Thank you for supporting Ottawa Road Trips!)
Looking for more tips on things to see and do in Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais, northern New York state and beyond? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your Weekend Getaway Guide.
As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.