This blog is long overdue but I wanted to share what we did in Montreal with kids! We went over my girls’ fall break and had such a great time. Let’s dive in!
The details:
We flew out of Denver on Air Canada directly to Montreal. From there, we took an uber to our hotel, the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. We got a junior suite which had a king bed in a separate bedroom and queen bed pull-out couch for our kids. It was a great location and we were able to walk to quite a few things from here. By the time we landed it was dark and dinner time, so we asked our concierge about good places to eat that were within walking distance of our hotel. He recommended Time Out Market which was a large food hall just a few blocks away. We loved it so much, we went there twice!
Our first dinner had to consist of some good wine, poutine, and pepperoni pizza for my youngest, Winnie. I recommend Time Out Market because there are so many food options which is great if you have picky kids! From pizza, to sandwiches, to Vietnamese, to steak and frites, you’ll find something for everyone. After dinner we let our kids check out the arcade and then headed back to our room for the night.
Day 2 in Montreal with kids:
For our first full day, we booked a food tour through Secret Food Tours. Our guide, Simon was awesome. It was a three-hour walking tour and included a ton of stops. They do switch up the stops based on the season but we went to six. First up was Guillaume and this one was my favorite because it’s a boulangerie. We were served the white chocolate and vanilla brioche that was out of this world. Then we went to Drogheria Fine, a literal hole in the wall joint that had the best gnocchi I have EVER had!
Stop three was Barros Luco for empanadas but I forgot to get a good photo of our actual food. And if you’re vegetarian like us, don’t fear – they had plain cheese empanadas. Next we went to St-Viateur Bagel (also called La Maison du bagel) for you guessed it – bagels. Montreal bagels are different than American ones. They are wood-fired, denser and sweeter. Then we hit up Poutineville for poutine. (If you are unfamiliar with it, it’s basically fries and cheese curds doused in gravy.) Lastly, we hit up Caffe Grazie Mille for espresso and cannoli. Since this was our last stop, we also did a little shopping and bought some Canadian Maple Syrup. Our guide recommended buying this kind in a can, telling us that is what true Canadians prefer.
After we finished up our food tour, we walked St. Catherine Street to check out the shops. The kids were pretty wiped out after so many hours of walking, so we then went back to our room to rest for an hour before our next stop.
Barbie Expo:
After taking a quick break to relax at the hotel, we were ready to head out to the Barbie Expo. I grew up playing Barbies and my girls love them as much as I do.
First off – admission is free!! All of the barbie outfits are custom made. (Many made by designers like Vera Wang, Christian Dior, Christian Louboutin, Ralph Lauren, the list goes on and on.) They even have a life-sized Barbie box you can pose in for a cute photo-op!
Day 3 in Montreal with kids:
The third day was pretty dreary weather-wise. (Keep in mind we went in October and the weather in Montreal over Fall break feels like the Pacific Northwest that time of year.) So we wanted to do something fun that was indoors since we had been in and out of rain so much. So, we headed off to the Biodome.
Montreal Biodome:
The biodome is a unique indoor nature museum located in Olympic Park. It was originally constructed as a velodrome for the 1976 Summer Olympics then transformed into the Biodome and opened to the public in 1992 . As part of the Espace pour la Vie (Space for Life) museum complex (which includes the Montreal Insectarium, Botanical Garden, and Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium,) the Biodome offers an immersive experience through five meticulously recreated ecosystems of the Americas.
Insectarium:
After we walked the main biodome, we headed across the street to the insectarium. There is one large room with cases upon cases of different insects. And then there is a part that reminded me of the Butterfly Pavilion where you can see a ton of butterflies and insects in their natural habitat in the Grand Vivarium.
I will admit, I was worried my high school French wouldn’t be enough to get us through Montreal. But everywhere we went, people spoke English fluently. Of course we tried to be polite and would always start our questions or food orders with, “Bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?” That way the locals knew we were at least attempting before launching straight into English. I think they could also tell we were American just by seeing us walk up, so sometimes they’d immediately speak English anyhow. So don’t get in your head about knowing French to get by! As it is anywhere you go where English isn’t the main language, be polite, and try your best. That’s all the locals are looking for!
After we hit up Montreal, we took a quick flight over to Boston for the rest of our trip. I’ll be writing up all the fun things to do in Boston with kids shortly. Until then, I hope this gave you some fun ideas on things to do with kids in Montreal. I have a ton of our trips documented if you want to see where else we have been, but if you want to dive into our Disney cruise to Alaska, read here. Or if you want to see my travel essentials when going abroad, read here. Or if you want to read about our trips to more tropical places check out my Hawaii and Costa Rica blogs. As always, thanks for stopping by!
