Discovering Montreal: Tips for Winter Travel

Intro

It was almost my birthday at the very end of January, and now I I had planned a winter trip to Montreal in Canada, where I would meet my mom, and she would be able to see the snow for the first time. I mean, she already saw it in the floor on time, and saw some flurries falling in New York City a couple of years back, but this was supposed to be the real deal this time around.

I was going to go into Canada first, one day earlier than her, just in case I could not make it on time, like one of the times I tried to go to Montreal (all the flights were cancelled on that weekend). I was also hopping to practice my French, and get to go to again to Quebec City, and for the first time to the capital Ottawa, although we would see those two destinations in the next blog. For now let me narrate the experience into Montreal, Canada.

From New York to Montreal

Montreal is relatively close to New York City, just 1 hour flight away, and I had been in this city multiple times now, but never in the deep winter. I was definitely excited to see how this would affect plans, but I was really looking for a snowstorm, so my mom would be able to see it. For now, I was in LaGuardia International Airport getting on my little plane to Montreal. When we departed on this Delta flight, I was able to see the New York skyline. It was going to be 5 days in the north.

I will never get tired of seeing this skyline.

For the entire flight, seeing the white layer of snow on the ground was fascinating. Reminded me of the time I went to Montreal during Thanksgiving, and it was snowing really hard. And also the time I went to Oslo, Norway, and that I documented in this blog.

Getting there and seeing snow on the runway was a little bit impressive. The accident that happened a few days later in Toronto, also from Delta and on a similar weather conditions made me rethink about taking these winter short trips.

Immigration took 2 seconds, and then went to take the bus into the city from the airport. It was really cold, but manageable. Coming from New York City helped a lot, but on the next day, my mom was coming from Tropical Cartagena, Colombia. I was really hoping that she would not suffer too much with this weather. The hotel I chose just for tonight was Suites Labelle, close to The Village, and that would allow me just to save some money in a good accommodation, before getting the better room for my mom to sleep in.

This first night I explored a little bit of Rue St Catherine, and all it has to offer, especially during the winter. I was surprised it had a skating rink for example. It was snowing hard, so I just was able to get so far, but made it to A&W Canada where I had a nice burger.

The next day it was time to switch hotels, and I really was glad I did. Nothing against Suites Labelle, but Hyatt Place Montreal – Downtown was just the perfect location for both of us. I actually switched last minute before the trip, because I wanted to continue going to the gym during this trip, in preparation to a future trip I will be uploading here as well. This hotel also has great views, a pool, a sauna, and many other amenities, like direct access to Starbucks, and a grocery store. It was really a great stay. For all my stays in other Hyatt hotels click here (not sponsored).

The view was amazing. I was able to see the Place Émilie-Gamelin just below, the downtown, and the Mont Royal. The Berri-UQAM subway station was also literally next to us.

The pool was heated, and there was a nice sauna next to it. The gym was also huge and full of many equipment, unusual for a hotel gym. Of course I went to the pool during our stay.

It got really snowy later once again, and it was time to get my mom that was travelling from Colombia, stopping in Miami and then continuing to Montreal in a long journey, on an American Airlines flight.

I took the Metro to the closest station to the airport, and then took the bus there. The Metro is clean and reliable. Almost reminded me of an European city, although many would argue Montreal is the most European city in the Americas.

La Banquise

It was 2 days later, and after going for a day to Quebec City (blog coming after this one), it was time to explore Montreal for real. A visit to this time cannot be done without visiting La Banquise, for the best poutine you’d ever have. I usually get La T-Rex, but most of the many options are really good. You cannot get poutine like this in Epcot.

I could not eat the whole thing, although my mom was able to lol. We took it to go, but there was so much good food in this city, that it was going to be difficult to go though all of the leftovers.

Mont Royal

I always come back too to Mont Royal. The tallest hill in Montreal, where its name come from, has the best views. And although, the last time I came here, I e-biked all the way up and down, now we had to take an Uber the closest we could to the lookout. Unfortunately for my mom, the Uber could only drop you off to the parking lot, which it is still 20 min away walking from the Kondiaronk Belvedere, where you could see the best views of the city.

We were expecting a clear path on the way up to the lookout, but no, everything was slippery and covered in snow! It was still very beautiful and kind of fun to do all of this with my mom.

We got up there, and the views were just amazing.

Here and there we had to go into the Mount Royal Chalet to take breaks from the cold and the wind, and the cafeteria was amazing to get the necessary warm coffee and chocolate. So much snow everywhere. It is kind of funny that in NYC they remove the snow as soon as it snows, but here it is like, whatever dude, just let it accumulate. That is another thing I noticed, and it is that in Montreal, on the sidewalks they just add a fine rock material (that can get very muddy), I guess to improve the traction and prevent slippery floors. In NYC if you do not clean your sidewalk you could get fined or even sued if someone falls.

Anyways, back to Montreal, it was time to get back down, and I was able to capture a northern cardinal. It looked so surreal. It looked directly to me and then flew away. The mountain was full of people doing hikes, skiing, and doing many other winter sports. We were expecting an empty hill but it was actually crowded.

As in every winter, the sunset was coming really early, but all the colors reflected on the white layers of snow were so beautiful. The sunset will continue for a long time, since for some reason time stood still for a long time.

Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal

One place not too far from there, but that was closed every time I would come to Montreal, was the Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal. We took an Uber there, and were drop off on top. The views from this temple were also amazing.

We got in from the side, and the church has many levels, but there are some elevators too.

The main atrium is really beautiful.

And definitely what impressed me the most was the clear view of the horizon.

Vieux Montreal

That night before heading back to the hotel, we Ubered to the Old Montreal to get some Queues de Castor. The whole neighborhood looked deserted. No one was around, and since it was so cold and could not find the place, we almost went back to the hotel. Although, the Christmas decorations still up at the end of January was a nice touch.

We finally made it to the Queues de Castor, and I had been craving something sweet for a while, and here we found it. I will definitely try these again when back in Canada. Love them. And yes, they get super messy, but they have a spot to wash your hands.

We came back to the hotel full and tired of a long day exploring in the cold. But the next day, after getting ready, and getting some coffee from the Starbucks located on the first floor of the hotel, we decided to continue exploring the Old Montreal. It was also my birthday! So we just went first to the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal.

This building is just so beautiful inside. A masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture, was built between 1824 and 1829, with the main building completed in 1829 and the towers finished later, in 1841 and 1843. The blue colors are just amazing.

From there, and in the middle of a very cold day, we went to Restaurant Méchant Boeuf, not too far. The restaurant was empty in the middle of the day, but the food still was very good. I started with a salad, that had some nice bacon giving it a very nice crispy texture.

And for the main course I went safe with the steak frites. Again, it was really good, cooked to perfection.

For dessert, we shared the Crème brûlée, a little bit sweet, but is not that the point?

Vieux-Port de Montréal

My birthday was not over, so we walked from there to La Grande Roue de Montréal, located in the Vieux-Port de Montréal. My mom did not want to go up with me, so I just went by myself, and really enjoyed a nice ride with beautiful views all around.

Everything was so white lol. Even the water was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow. This is so different from all the times I have come here in the summer.

Apparently some kind of festival was to happen and I was a little curious about it.

From Montreal to New York

The next day we went to Ottawa, which you will see in the next blog post, and then the day after, we went to the airport to say bye to Canada. Everything was so white, and I was hoping they would not delay or cancel our flight.

We boarded the small plane and we had to wait on it to be de-iced. The process was kind of amusing, but I was so tired I missed part of it. The flight was already delayed, but we made it to New York City. Did the immigration process, and off we went home to leave our suitcases. Canada was now in the past, and yes, my mom was able to see the snow falling and A LOT on the ground. A really nice experience.

To finish the day, we went to Times Square as tourists (even though I live here) and then to Bryant Park, where we were able to see the still up Winter Village. We had a nice time in Montreal, but in the next blog post I will cover our day trips to Quebec City and Ottawa from Montreal, so stay tuned!