A cultural guide to Montreal

Montreal has long served as Canada’s largest artistic haven: Combining the cultural cachet of Paris and the hip vibes of Brooklyn, it tends to attract indie writers, musicians, artists, and multimedia start-ups. This influx of innovators has transformed the 17th-century city—you only have to stroll through the city’s historic Old Port and mingle with its trend-savvy, fashion-forward locals to see.  

Art & architecture

With its continuously expanding gallery, music, and culinary scenes, Québec’s largest city stays exciting because it’s constantly finding and refining itself. But despite all the change, the city retains a few key consistent glories, including the Corinthian-pillared Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal and the regal French Gothic-styled Notre-Dame Basilica (where Québécois Celine Dion got married). An immersive audio-video spectacle is held nightly in the latter, a choral light show amplified by the 7,000-pipe organ.  

Food & drink

French Canadian fare is one of the best-kept culinary secrets in the world. Decades before farm-to-table found favor, many of Montreal’s restaurants were sourcing direct from neighboring pastures. One of them was Downtown’s Bar George, housed in a 140-year-old former private club that once hosted the likes of Pierre Trudeau and Princess Margaret. Start with the locally distilled lavender gin, followed by classic plates, such as mushroom confit and butler’s steak.  

Coffee and pastries in Montreal are just as sacred as its holy street names (hence the nickname “City of Saints”). Order café au lait and a kale, egg, and brie breakfast sandwich at Crew Collective & Café, housed in the ornate former Bank of Canada building; or get a coffee and croissant to go from FousDesserts, then sip your way through Mont Royal Park—the perfect place to burn a few calories, with its 256-step staircase.   

Music

While most will point you to the city’s huge festivals (Osheaga for indie bands, MUTEK for electro and the eclectic POP Montréal International Music Festival), there’s so much more going on in smaller venues. Artists including Björk and Iggy Pop have graced the stages of the Phi Centre, a towering presence in Old Montreal that occupies four converted heritage buildings; its acoustically superior space immerses audiences in melt-in-your-ear sound quality. Or, book into one of the city’s oldest performance venues, The Gesù amphitheater, which dates back to 1865 and has a revolving stage, or one of the newest, Ursa—a hybrid café/cabaret/music venue in Mile End, opened by Canadian singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright.  

The ticket

The Montreal International Jazz Festival, known as the largest in the world, is held each June. It has embraced the greats throughout its 44 years—from Nina Simone and Joni Mitchell to Oscar Peterson and Erykah Badu. And comedy lovers flock to the Just For Laughs Festival in July; save by booking ahead.