Help me park in Montreal

July 26, 2016 10:09 AM

My SO and I are driving to Montreal this weekend. It will be the first time I'm in the city with a car for an extended period of time and I'm not sure what to do with it.

We are staying in an AirBnB place on St Laurent near St Viateur in the Mile End area. We will be driving from Toronto on Friday morning and staying for four nights. I don't expect to use the car much when we're there. Mostly we will be walking and taking transit around. My host has told me that there's lots of free parking available on nearby side streets you just have to "figure out the signs and timing which isn't hard" but I have heard otherwise and am well aware of Montreal's street parking reputation as being notoriously difficult to navigate. I'm assuming there isn't anywhere I can simply leave my car on the street for the weekend. Either for free or by paying. Or is there? I'm not really fond of the idea of going out to my car several times a day to move it or to top up a meter. What would be available to me in terms of parking it in a lot somewhere and just paying a flat daily fee? Does that exist at any of the metro stations? Are there city run or private lots around?

posted by Fred Wesley to Travel & Transportation around Montreal, QC (12 answers total)

For the weekend, you can definitely just leave the car on most residential streets the whole time. For weekdays, most residential streets have free alternate day parking, where you can park on the left side on say Mon/Wed/Fri and on the right side on Tue/Thu or some other breakdown. So you have to move your car once a day.

As your host said, read the signs.

Note that this is how many neighbourhoods work, I'm not specifically familiar with Mile End.
posted by 256 at 10:25 AM on July 26, 2016

Oh and brush up on your French days of the week and your 24 hour clock, as that's how all the signs will be marked. Also, your French months, as many streets will have one set of signs for the winter and one for the summer.
posted by 256 at 10:26 AM on July 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

Hey, this info popped up on a Volleyball Invitational site!
Looks informative!
posted by calgirl at 10:33 AM on July 26, 2016

Look at the reviews if parking is mentioned as a concern. If it's not, you're likely ok. Their metro trail system is great, which may reduce the number of times you need to move your car, though yes, mind your signs ;)
posted by childofTethys at 10:46 AM on July 26, 2016

There aren't a lot of lots up there. There is free street parking though you'll likely have to circle a bit, especially on the weekend when people leave their cars put. Be careful not to park in a section that is for residents only. They are marked but it is true that reading the signs can be challenging. Once you find a spot on the weekend you shouldn't have to move your car until Monday at the earliest.

There are lots downtown where you could park and leave your car, and there's an underground lot under the Parc theatre. The city also lists a lot at 270 Arena St Louis between Bernard and St. Viateur at $12/day. I found that info here.
posted by Cuke at 11:22 AM on July 26, 2016

The Place des Arts has an indoor parking lot - $17/day.

However, my experience is that street parking is available, you just have to circle a bit. Some of the parking is based on neighborhood permits, some not. The main thing is that you need to know your days of the week in French!
posted by jasper411 at 11:54 AM on July 26, 2016

Seconding Place des Arts. I've used it in the past. Let the guys at the gate know you intend to leave it there for X days. It's the easiest way if you don't want to go hunting.

Note: No rights on red on the island of Montreal.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:04 PM on July 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I found street parking difficult when I was there last summer staying at an AirBnB in Mile End as well. There was a lot of construction going on that made it tricky. I parked off-street in one of the city lots, though I did have to pay on a daily basis, as i was there on weekdays, visiting the pay station in the morning to reup. Their mobile pay app wasn't working when I was there but it may be now, which may help:

City parking website

Google map of offstreet city parking - looks like some lots have free weekend parking as another person mentioned!
posted by NikitaNikita at 1:08 PM on July 26, 2016

Hello, I'm Lundi, lundi pierreux and the French days of the week go: Monday - lundi, Tuesday - mardi, Wednesday - mercredi, Thursday - jeudi, Friday - vendredi, Saturday - samedi, Sunday - dimanche.

Months should be easy to figure out, they go janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre. The only ones that really differ from English are juin - June, juillet - July and August - août.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 4:48 PM on July 26, 2016

Oh, and weekend could be written "fin(s) de semaine" and "jours fériés" means holidays (there aren't any holidays until September)
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 4:54 PM on July 26, 2016

Find a lot to park in and don't just "read the signs" to park on the street. Even if your French is perfect, the sign placement and timing rules are near-incomprehensible, and getting caught in their tricksy ways can cost hundreds of dollars. Ugh.
posted by Edna Million at 7:56 PM on July 26, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks for all the info everyone. That city lot between St Viateur and Bernard looks like a great option and is really close to where we're staying. Even better if its free on the weekends.
posted by Fred Wesley at 11:08 AM on July 28, 2016