Montreal is a safe city for tourists, including solo travelers, as it is one of Canada’s major cities and is known for its attractions and activities. However, as of early 2023, Canada and Montreal are considered safe to visit due to the country ranking 10th on the Global Peace Index. There are no significant travel advisories for Montreal, but it is advisable to consult official government resources like the U.S. Montrealers agree on the main attractions and activities, and tourists should take normal travel safety precautions, such as keeping an eye on their surroundings, being polite and respectful of others, and staying informed about the country’s safety status.
The province of Québec prides itself on being one of the safest destinations anywhere in the world, and now is the time to take full advantage of the city’s safety. Driving conditions are poor, so visitors should leave plenty of space between themselves and the car in front of them if they have to drive despite weather conditions. The overall risk is low, and visitors should exercise a high degree of caution and avoid non-essential travel. Environment Canada issues alerts when severe weather threatens, notifying those in affected areas to take steps to protect themselves.
Overall, Montreal is generally considered a safe city for travelers, including solo travelers, as it is one of Canada’s major cities and is known for its attractions and activities. However, tourists should be aware of the potential risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and take necessary precautions to ensure their safety.
📹 Montreal – The Don’ts of Visiting Montreal
Are you heading to Montreal and not sure what to expect? Well we have the do’s and don’ts of visiting Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Is now a good time to visit Montreal?
Montreal is best visited in April and May, September to November, due to pleasant weather and good hotel availability. The Underground City provides respite from cold weather, but summer travelers should book early due to major events. The city offers various tourist experiences each season, with top events happening each month. Spring from March to June is the best time to visit Montreal, with snow melting in April, sidewalks reappearing, and temperatures fluctuating between 40 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit (4 and 26 degrees Celsius). The city’s weather is also suitable for exploring the city’s heated passageways.
Is Toronto or Montreal safer?
Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is known for its low Crime Severity Index compared to other large cities like Montreal and Calgary. The city is known for its diverse demographics, making it a welcoming and inclusive place for people from all walks of life. Families can find a safe environment in neighborhoods like North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke, which offer excellent schools, parks, and community centers.
Young professionals and students prefer neighborhoods like Downtown, Queen West, and the Annex, known for trendy restaurants, bars, and nightlife, which remain safe and secure despite the bustling atmosphere. Hamilton, with a CSI well below the national average, is an excellent city for those seeking a safe and secure place to call home.
Is Montreal friendly to American tourists?
Montréal is a vibrant city known for its French heritage, culture, and language, which is celebrated by its bilingual population. The city’s unique skyline blends 19th-century Beaux-Arts structures with 21st-century contemporary gems, and historic stone houses are now home to funky fusion restaurants. The street is filled with native French speakers and rainbow banners, while traditional French and Italian pastries are sold next door.
The city’s top attractions include world-class museums and bustling outdoor marketplaces. Vieux-Montréal, an ancient cobblestone street, offers a chance to explore historic cathedrals and enjoy a cappuccino at one of the traditional French cafes along Rue Saint Paul. High-end shopping can be found at Greene Avenue and Westmount Square, while hiking up Mount Royal Park for a boat ride.
The lively nightlife scene in Montréal, particularly on Saint-Laurent Boulevard between Mile End and the Plateau, continues until the early hours of the morning. The people of Montréal are proud of their French heritage, culture, and language, and are welcoming to non-French-speaking visitors. The city’s unique skyline and vibrant nightlife scene make it an ideal destination for those looking to explore the city’s rich cultural heritage.
Is it safe to fly right now?
Experts suggest that flying is a safer mode of travel than driving or train due to the inherent safety features in air traffic control and the aircraft itself, resulting in extremely rare serious flight problems.
Is it safe to travel to Canada at this time?
Canada’s Level 1 guidelines outline normal exercise precautions.
Is Montreal safe to visit now?
Montreal is considered one of the safest countries in the world due to its low crime rate and minimal violent crime compared to other Canadian cities. To ensure safety, it is advised to trust instincts and avoid leaving valuables unattended. The risk of muggings or terrorism is minimal. Montreal is perfect for solo travel, as the streets remain secure throughout the day, providing a sense of ease for female travelers as long as standard safety precautions are observed.
What to know when traveling to Montreal, Canada?
Montreal is a bilingual city known for its vibrant summer atmosphere, prohibition of alcohol in public areas, two taxes, and the practice of tipping in Canada. It is also known for its green spaces and its culinary offerings. Montreal is a cosmopolitan city with people from various cultures, including Asia, Europe, and Latin America. To make the most of your stay in Montreal, it is essential to be well-prepared to cross the borders and enjoy the vibrant culture. Before packing your bags, be sure to know the essentials such as the French part of Canada, the two taxes, and the importance of tipping in Canada.
Is it safe to visit Russia?
The US government advises US citizens to avoid travel to Russia due to the destabilization caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In October 2022, the Russian government declared martial law in several border areas with Ukraine, including Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Rostov, and Krasnodar. Consultations at the US Embassy Moscow and Consulate General Vladivostok are suspended, and all consular services should be contacted at the Embassy Moscow.
Is Montreal one of the safest cities in the world?
Montréal has been named the world’s second safest city in 2024, according to Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection’s annual list. The rankings are based on data from The Economist, GeoSure Global, and Numbeo. Montréal is also ranked as North America’s top city for well-being, ranking at No. 1 in North America and No. 11 worldwide. Additionally, Montréal has been ranked as the top student city in North America by QS Best Student Cities 2025, marking its eighth consecutive top spot in Canada. Montréal’s safety, well-being, and education make it a top choice for students and professionals alike.
Which is better, Montreal or Québec City?
Quebec and Montreal are two popular destinations in Eastern Canada, with Quebec being larger and more urban, offering a variety of fine-dining options, boutique shopping, and cosmopolitan museums. However, Quebec is smaller and quainter, making it an ideal choice for those interested in exploring historical sites and old cobbled streets.
Quebec is known for its charming, cobbled streets, such as Old Town Edinburgh with a French Provence infusion. It features upmarket souvenir stores, charmingly-traditional restaurants, and stone houses with colorful shutters. Some areas of Montreal have retained some old-world charm, such as Old Montreal, which has gorgeous boulevards that resemble 17th-century Europe.
On the other hand, Montreal has a slight edge in trendy neighbourhoods due to their sheer diversity. Mile End offers an artsy vibe, while Mont Royal Avenue is a laid-back neighborhood filled with colorful French townhouses, stylish cafes, and charming street markets. Verdun is a chic neighbourhood dedicated to eating and drinking, with craft breweries, cocktail bars, and fine-dining restaurants.
To get a taste of each district, one can arrange for a tailored cycle route using the city’s 400 miles of cycling routes. While most action in Quebec centers around the old town, there are still several neighborhoods known for their arty, bohemian feel, such as Montcalm, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and Saint-Roch.
Should I go to Montreal if I don’t speak French?
Montreal is a city where French is the official language, but it is appreciated to speak French as a visitor. It is not necessary to know every language of all places you visit, but it is friendly to practice French vocabulary. Montrealers may switch to English to make your life easier. Tip at least 15 on your total bill after tax, unless the service was atrocious. Servers are paid less than the minimum wage, so tips are expected. The drinking age in Montreal is 18 years old, with the lowest in Canada at 21. You may be asked to show your ID when buying alcohol at the dépanneur or SAQ (government liquor and wine store).
📹 Tourist Scams in Montreal
Heading to Montreal and not sure what to expect? There are so many great sights, restaurants, and activities around the city that …
Born and raised Montrealer here! All your tips are totally true! I would add one general “trap” is that tourists always fall into Old Montreal. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very pretty. But real Montrealers don’t hang out there. It’s a nice place to see quickly and then branch out to the real Montreal afterwards 🙂
Montrealer here!! I agree with everything Wolter says! I say stay away from the gift shops in old Montreal! Overpriced and tacky. Plus they sell a lot of “native” stuff that aren’t made by indigenous people nor does it profit the people. Go to Kahnawake, a Mohawk reserve right outside of Montreal if you want to buy and support the local indigenous community
If you use bank machines, make sure that you go to a popular bank and use their machine (because any fees they charge will be a lot cheaper). Some bars and convenience stores have “private” bank machines that don’t belong to a famous Canadian bank, and these private bank machines often charge outrageously high banking fees.
Just a note about the hors-drawn carriages. They have ceased operations by December 31, 2019. The current administration which was first elected in 2017 passed a bylaw prohibiting horse-drawn carriages for entertainment or transportation purposes. The bylaw was upheld by the Superior Court in September 2020 and again by the Court of Appeals in November 2022.
As a true local… why wait in line at Schwartz for smoked meat?? Walk across the street to The MAIN… less fancy, less rushy and the smoked meat (brisket) is just as good!! Or as an option, head over to REUBEN’s (the new downtown location)… shorter line, just as good. If you’re travelling to the Western part of the Island… go to Pete’s Smoked Meat! ps: if you really need to bring some Quebec Maple Syrup home with you – forget the over-priced Maple Leaf-shaped bottle in the souvenir shops… walk into any supermarket and pick up a CAN of Maple Syrup (2 for the price of the bottle) and you’ll have protection from it breaking in your luggage! Enjoy your travels in Montreal…
Montreal rocks – we have been going up from Connecticut every summer since 1999, and now go 3-4 times per year. Always fun! A comment on this article – the horse drawn carriages he shows here are now banned, and have been since the beginning of 2020. While part of me misses seeing them, it’s definitely better for the horses.
One thing to keep in mind with using public transit while traveling is how good you are at navigating — I get anxious trying to use public transit in areas I’m not familiar with as I’ve ended up on buses or trams that head way out of town and then I’m kind of stuck. So yes, you can save a lot of money using public transit, but you have to have some sort of navigational ability so you don’t wind up clear across town from where you wanted to be! That is one benefit of taxis or rideshares as you are definitely getting from Point A to Point B without having to really think about it. Then again, with buses in particular, you get a nice leisurely way to see a lot of an area without paying a lot of money for it. All depends on your comfort level with navigation.
I was in old town Montreal in September and had a craving for a soft serve ice cream cone. I saw a sign for cones at one of the Maple syrup places and bought one there. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, but my chocolate/vanilla twist cone was flavored with Maple Syrup! It was delicious and unusually smooth and creamy. Would recommend.
You are correct about the debit card. I never understood why people had to get the cash of the country before or during the trip, just use a bank machine people! Also i cannot tell you about how much i love the city of Montreal, this coming from a New Yorker who has resided in Panama for the last fifteen years. Montreal is the best city in North America, at least to me.
I’ve been living here over a year now and had my brother over to visit, and one thing I did notice was the touristy maple syrup when he was shopping for gifts. I mean I bought some magnets and other rubbish for the fridge in there for a laugh but I stopped at the syrup. One other thing I noticed as an Irish man who likes a good pub, is you will get hammered on the import prices for some beers from Ireland or the UK, even if they’re only brewed down the road. So you’re better off sticking with the local beers. Could be the difference between 8 dollars and 12. I do love this city though.
Great article! Id recommend people get a one-month bixi pass if thsyre gonna be here for a few days. Its only 20$ for unlimited rides and it’s really worth it, especially if youre gonna be out late when the metro stops running. Plus there are so many beautiful bike commutes like Parc de Dieppe/Expo 67, the Ice Control Structure Bridge, Jean-Drapeau park, etc. The underground city isnt a tourist trap, it’s just boring. Its convenient if you need to run errands or if the weather is bad but yeah, just a tourist trap. The best thing you could do is get a bottle of wine and some takeout and go to a park for a picnic (Laurier park is my go-to) Have fun in Montreal!!
Place Jacques-Cartier in old Montreal was quite a different place in the late 70s, early 80s. Appart from the two cobblestone streets on each side, the central part was mainly grass. Musicians and street artists livened the place up many a summer night. Most were Montrealers, and the tourists got a real taste of our “joie de vivre.” Police would look the other way on beer drinking and weed, as long as no one was rowdy. Montreal has much changed since then. Maple Syrup is bought in a can.
Although a different Canadian city, what gets me is all the maple syrup sold in tourist shops in Vancouver. Maple syrup is not produced anywhere near Vancouver. The farthest west that it is produced is a line from extreme southeast Manitoba down past Minnesota to Missouri. I understand that the maple leaf is a symbol of the entire country. But still. Now maple syrup in Montreal makes 100% sense given that 70% of all maple syrup is produced in Quebec.
Fairmount and St. Viateur bagels are equally famous, authentic, and old, and offer an equally interesting experience as you can see the bagels being made. I’d argue St. Viateur is more fun because you can see the whole process from the cutting and rolling of the dough, the dipping in honeyed water, and the baking in the wood oven. One touristy thing I always do in cities if they have them is the open bus tours. They are s corny but it’s actually really fun and informative to be driven around a city and get an overview while the history and historical sites and neighbourhoods are being narrated. Another cool thing is the small boat ride on the Lachine Canal from neat the Atwater market to the Old Port, it’s a beautiful trip, and you learn a lot about the history of the canal, the city that grew up. around and partly because of it, and its importance to the growth of the early colonies and later the economic growth of Canada as a whole.
Great article as always Wolter! To piggy back off what you were sharing, Ubers have gotten recently so overpriced here in Montreal (with fees and taxes); And taxi’s tend to “get lost” a lot in Montreal… The Underground city is very much something you can skip. Also the horse carriage are soon going to be banned in Montreal thankfully.
Great, loved it Wolter. There’s an art to knowing what is a tourist trap and what isn’t. It depends! The Eiffel Tower and the Sound of Music tour are NOT tourist traps! They are unique and worth visiting- as opposed to overpriced things you can experience elsewhere and better- maybe the definition of a tourist trap !! Lol thanks much. Happy travels in 23!!
I’m from Montreal and pretty much everything you said are not traps or scams…maybe except the maple syrup thing. Everything else is pretty much you pay for an attraction or meal at a touristy place or a service like the taxi. Basically here you there’s almost no chance to be picked pocketed or someone asking you for signatures on something or trying to tie a dumb bracelet to your hand or fake taxi charging you 4x the price…
I’m from Montreal and I say to you: listen to Mark! His advice is spot on! Another piece of advice, from a true Montrealer: the truest Montreal experience does not happen in touristy Old Montreal, it happens in the Plateau Mont-Royal and the Mile-End. And remember: every minute spent waiting in line to visit a tourist trap is a minute not spent walking around the cozy and walkable streets of Montreal to discover the REAL VIBE of the city! Last piece of advice: don’t come to Montreal from November to March. Our winters are a murky, frigid, sludgy, depressing, miserable ordeal. Come from June to August. Our summers are glorious and festive!
Excellent article on my hometown. Keep up the great work. I do have a few points or suggestions: A) Maple syrup sold in grocery stores can be purchased in cans, which makes for easier transport. Also, big props for calling a convenience store a “dep”, you’re talking like a local! B) If the line for Schwartz is too long, simply cross the street to The Main deli. Just as good, almost equally surly wait staff, and very rarely a lineup. C) Lineups for St-Viateur or Fairmont typically move quite quickly, and if you’re in that area, it’s not too far to walk to get to Lester’s, which is one of the best delis in the city and their smoked meat is exceptional. D) If you plan to use cash, definitely avoid money exchange places; most of the major North American banks use the Cirrus or Plus networks, which will link directly to your account at home and save you additional fees. The unbranded ATMs in corner stores and restaurants without bank branding will charge an additional fee on top of the network exchange fee, which puts them on par with the money exchange places. Look for ATMs with branding from the major banks (TD, BMO, RBC, BNC, Scotiabank, CIBC, and Laurentian), they generally won’t charge the extra fee if your home bank is on the same network. That said, Montreal shops, restaurants, and taxis LOVE their card machines, so cash is more of an option (the original St-Viateur and Fairmont bagel locations are CASH ONLY though). E) Agree on the “underground city” being overrated, but what is worth venturing beneath the streets is the metro.
For the airport to downtown trip, i wouldn’t suggest the bus unless your accommodation is close to the drop off point. As for the metro, this isn’t europe, don’t drag your luggage into a wagon full of people because you’ll just piss people off more than anything else. A taxi is fine as the risk for scams is relatively low compared to european airports.
Next time you are in town, have a look at the Verdun borrough! It’s Wellington Street is pedestrian from June to October and it’s restaurants are awesome. The area also has a nice beach and a park that follows the River up to the rapids (where you can have a try at whitewater surfing) and a natural reserve!
I found a few times…Parking Hotels dinning cost the highest In old Montreal & The plateau You want to get out of the Area And Subway into downtown Try Verdun for food And cafe They have nice beaches and boardwalks near the water Bagel St-Lo is one of my favs Going the other way north along the water front Cabotins Apportez votre vin is a good spot for fine dining. You can also get maple syrup in open markets like the one at Jean Talon market From the person that owns the farm Light And dark syrup Montreal has alot to offer so do some home work on what to see End of may / sept is a good time to go
as a life long Quebecer and Montrealer.. 90% agree with your list. except for Smokemeat…and bagles!! Schwartz!! 500% worth it.. they are a 15/10.. most other places are 6-10 as for the bagles… even montrealers still fight over them… Fairmount or St Viateur!! gotta try both and make up your own mind!!
Old Montreal city taxes get businesses to hike up prices . Must say Smoked meat and Cheese cakes now are hard to find besides Dunn’s and Schwartz. Bus pass can be bought for 1 week also . That Ferris wheel is expensive. My cousin had a horse working in Old Montreal, he wasn’t mistreated . But to be honest our gvts put more CARE on their RCMP horses and CARE Where they put the carriage horses is Mkntreal’s shame way more than the owners . Like every industry some may not care either, but did anyone ask where the horses can get water from businesses. One year couldn’t get for me child who got sick on the streets to clean it up . Goes both ways.
Not about Montréal, but Southern Québec in general and not REALY a tourist trap : “cabanes à sucre” or sugar shacks : restaurants where you get a traditionnal québécois meal with a lot of pork and a lot of maple syrup. Don’t go there ere if you are either : – diabetic; – vegan / vegetarian; – jewish – muslim If you do, it’ll be the most expensive coleslaw of your life.
In the Old Montreal, you have the Old Parliement of Canada . Montreal was the Capital of Canada but a group og more than 2,000 anglophones and electect conservatives burnt down the parliement because of a franch legislation ..get educated and learn the history of canada in the old Montreal with the app cité Memoire ou the Museum of archeology and history, Pointe a callieres