Seeking suggestions for last minute fun in Montreal!
September 29, 2024 4:29 PM Subscribe
On a whim I bought a concert ticket for next week!
Flying in Sunday, leaving Thursday, which gives me three days to do a bit of exploring. Hotel is in close walking distance to the Place Des Arts.
Suggestions welcomed for antique and vintage eclectic shopping, fun artsy boutiques, book and stationery shops, artsy clothing shops, and comfort food type cozy restaurants or cafes.
Don’t like high end fine dining, cannot eat any type of seafood or shellfish, and will not be renting a car.
Can read French and speak it a little (very little!).
I don’t know Montreal at all and am squeezed for time to research so I’m very grateful for any hive mind suggestions!
Flying in Sunday, leaving Thursday, which gives me three days to do a bit of exploring. Hotel is in close walking distance to the Place Des Arts.
Suggestions welcomed for antique and vintage eclectic shopping, fun artsy boutiques, book and stationery shops, artsy clothing shops, and comfort food type cozy restaurants or cafes.
Don’t like high end fine dining, cannot eat any type of seafood or shellfish, and will not be renting a car.
Can read French and speak it a little (very little!).
I don’t know Montreal at all and am squeezed for time to research so I’m very grateful for any hive mind suggestions!
Best answer: Leaning into the "eclectic" side of eclectic vintage shopping, you want Eva B on St-Laurent / Ontario, which is walking distance from where you're staying.
If you take the metro (orange line) up to Mont-Royal station, you can walk along Avenue Mont-Royal, which is a fun commercial street with lots of vintage shops, cafés, and cute boutiques. (Artpop is a great gifty shop, although it's TINY so don't necessarily go too far out of your way!) The whole street is closed to cars as well until mid-October, so it's a really lovely place to walk.
From Ave. Mont-Royal you could also walk north along Boul. St-Laurent, which will take you through the Mile-End neighborhood and past a few higher-end vintage shops of the not-cheap-but-well-curated type, like Empire Exchange, Citizen Vintage, and Annex. Nearby is also Au Papier Japonais (Japanese stationery store). Lots of fun clothing shops in that area generally.
My favorite stationery store in the city is actually not too far from your hotel, so might be worth a visit — Nota Bene. Such a cool shop!
Do you like Chinese food? Lan Zho Noodles is great Chinese comfort food, near your hotel — hand-pulled noodles. Café Parvis is another nice casual dining spot not far from you — the interior is very pretty, with high ceilings and lots of plants, so it feels fancier than it is.
Don't worry overly much about your French — most likely everyone in the shops in those areas will understand English just fine. But a "Bonjour!" and "Merci!" and anything else you can manage would be very appreciated!
Have fun! You're visiting at a great time of year, fall is beautiful in Montréal.
posted by mekily at 5:20 PM on September 29
If you take the metro (orange line) up to Mont-Royal station, you can walk along Avenue Mont-Royal, which is a fun commercial street with lots of vintage shops, cafés, and cute boutiques. (Artpop is a great gifty shop, although it's TINY so don't necessarily go too far out of your way!) The whole street is closed to cars as well until mid-October, so it's a really lovely place to walk.
From Ave. Mont-Royal you could also walk north along Boul. St-Laurent, which will take you through the Mile-End neighborhood and past a few higher-end vintage shops of the not-cheap-but-well-curated type, like Empire Exchange, Citizen Vintage, and Annex. Nearby is also Au Papier Japonais (Japanese stationery store). Lots of fun clothing shops in that area generally.
My favorite stationery store in the city is actually not too far from your hotel, so might be worth a visit — Nota Bene. Such a cool shop!
Do you like Chinese food? Lan Zho Noodles is great Chinese comfort food, near your hotel — hand-pulled noodles. Café Parvis is another nice casual dining spot not far from you — the interior is very pretty, with high ceilings and lots of plants, so it feels fancier than it is.
Don't worry overly much about your French — most likely everyone in the shops in those areas will understand English just fine. But a "Bonjour!" and "Merci!" and anything else you can manage would be very appreciated!
Have fun! You're visiting at a great time of year, fall is beautiful in Montréal.
posted by mekily at 5:20 PM on September 29
CultMTL has daily listings of what's going on, not limited to weekends, also listings of various categories of restaurants. Time Out has a listing of the best coffee spots.
Alas, most of Mont-Royal Avenue isn't closed to cars now. Only the section between Saint-Laurent and Saint-Denis is pedestrianized till October 14. But it's still a great walking street for blocks and blocks, and a lot of the transverse streets are also good for walking. Trees are turning colour now too. Don't ignore the back alleys, if they beckon.
Oh, and ignore any of the hype about the Underground City. It's really just a maze of malls and passages and occasional metro stations. There's no inherent excitement to it.
posted by zadcat at 7:02 PM on September 29 [1 favorite]
Alas, most of Mont-Royal Avenue isn't closed to cars now. Only the section between Saint-Laurent and Saint-Denis is pedestrianized till October 14. But it's still a great walking street for blocks and blocks, and a lot of the transverse streets are also good for walking. Trees are turning colour now too. Don't ignore the back alleys, if they beckon.
Oh, and ignore any of the hype about the Underground City. It's really just a maze of malls and passages and occasional metro stations. There's no inherent excitement to it.
posted by zadcat at 7:02 PM on September 29 [1 favorite]
Go to Cafe L'Express, French bistro extraordinaire, for late night (or any time) dining, and feel like you've stepped into a time warp. Fabulous food, also.
I go there every time I'm in Montreal. Usually more than once.
posted by Gadarene at 7:53 PM on September 29
I go there every time I'm in Montreal. Usually more than once.
posted by Gadarene at 7:53 PM on September 29
I said " hello" when I came into restaurants and shops.... never had an issue
posted by brujita at 9:19 PM on September 29
posted by brujita at 9:19 PM on September 29
Best answer: If you use instagram, a woman I follow named @abbyontheinternet just posted about her long weekend trip to Montreal and highlighted a bunch of great clothing shops, restaurants (pizza bagels, burgers), and things to do. It is all saved in a highlight on her page. I think you would like her recommendations!
posted by hepta at 6:27 AM on September 30
posted by hepta at 6:27 AM on September 30
And I would add, unless your visit turns out rainy, or unless you have a mobility problem: go over to the Cartier monument on Park Avenue and start walking up the Olmsted Trail. It's going to be lovely on the mountain this time of year, it's not steep, there will be other people walking, running, cycling but there's space for everybody. When you get near the top you can choose whether to walk over to Beaver Lake or to the Kondiaronk lookout for the view. Or both! Then you can walk back down the trail, or take the various signposted shortcuts to downtown Montreal, or hop the 11 bus back down to Park Avenue or along to the heart of the Plateau.
posted by zadcat at 8:47 AM on September 30
posted by zadcat at 8:47 AM on September 30
Byblos Le Petit Cafe is a tiny cozy Persian restaurant; many years later I still think wistfully of breakfast there.
Of the two famous bagel spots, I loved Fairmount (open 24 hours!) and found St-Viateur less enchanting, despite it having more options in basically every dimension.
posted by elanid at 10:26 AM on September 30
Of the two famous bagel spots, I loved Fairmount (open 24 hours!) and found St-Viateur less enchanting, despite it having more options in basically every dimension.
posted by elanid at 10:26 AM on September 30
« Older Should I buy a car that hasn't been driven for 3... | Fence post footings: Remove or move on? Newer »
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
For vintage eclectic shopping, you gotta check out Eva B on Saint Laurent, which is actually not too far from where you'll be.
For comfort food restaurants I would stroll down Duluth avenue and just pick something (the Khyber Pass was really good). For a great neighborhood bar, try Else's on Coloniale.
If you have the time to go to Mile End, definitely check out the Drawn and Quarterly bookstore, which specializes in local graphic novels. There's also a place you can get great Spanakopita called Phyllo Bar Melina. For comfort food in montreal Portuguese chicken is always a win.
In the Gay village there's a really funky coffee shop called La graine brûlée. Not too far there is another artsy coffee shop called Sfouf.
posted by winterportage at 5:14 PM on September 29