Disclosure: These experiences were provided by Tourisme Montréal as a gift.

It’s around noon on a sunny Saturday. We’re lounging in the living room giggling at our dog Xander play with a laser toy that’s really meant for cats while we dab water on the frozen bagels we smuggled from Montréal. And by smuggled, we mean nervously admitted to US customs we had a stack of bagels in our luggage and weren’t sure if they were contraband. Guess we aren’t ready for a life of international crime, but maybe our next trip we’ll try bringing something crazy back like wine or jam.

Bagels weren’t the only thing we enjoyed from our latest travels! We recently went to Montréal for Pride, or as they say, “Fierté” and fell in love with the city, its bagels, and its art. Neither of us had been to Montréal before so we were lucky to have time to enjoy Pride and get to know the city for a couple extra days. There’s so much to do there - tons of art, amazing food, and really picturesque views. We knew French was a big part of Quebequois culture, but we were shocked at just how much French was a part of day-to-day life! Thankfully, our French skills were enough to get by. We would speak in English, they spoke in French, and everyone seemed to understand what was going on (as far as we know lol).

Anyway, if you are going to Montréal soon, or don’t know what to do while you’re there for Pride next year, we have some recommendations just for you ;)

Getting there

So we made the questionable decision to take a red eye from LAX to Montréal. It can be such a dilemma flying east and choosing between (a) destroying a night’s sleep with a red eye or (b) losing an entire day between travel time and the time difference. We chose (a). And we always seem to do that. And then we nap hard as soon as we land.

Well for this trip, we got smart about arriving to the airport early. LAX has had some abnormally awful traffic recently to the point that now it consistently takes like 30 mins to get from the airport entrance to actually getting out of the Lyft. While the traffic has been exceptionally bad recently, the security line at Terminal 6 was practically non-existent #blessedbethefruit. We sped through and did what we could to fuel up before boarding. In this case, that meant sparkling rosé and banana pancakes (duh).

Air Canada scooped us into the plane and we were off! 1 action/adventure movie and 10 rounds of Polytopia later we landed in Montréal. That was about 7am local time (also known as 4am LA time :cry:). We scuttled down the jet bridge, carry-ons in tote. We breathed a sigh of relief that we didn’t check any bags so we can go straight to the hotel for that nap. We grabbed a ride from the airport with an adorable Montréaler who told us all about the construction woes of the summer and described the local building regulations that mandate no skyscrapers exceed the height of the city’s namesake mountain, Mont Royal. Half an hour later, we pulled up to the side of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, our new home.

Where we stayed

In case we were at all second-guessing whether this was the right hotel to stay at, we quickly found out this was THE hotel to stay at. It’s where John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote and recorded “Give Peace a Chance” during a bed-in to promote peace during the Vietnam War. It’s ALSO where Justin Trudeau was staying for Pride. ‘Nuff said.

The lobby of the hotel had a vibrancy to it that blurred the lines between urban market and art gallery. We checked in and were so excited to be staying in a room that included access to the top floor’s amenities. If you’re thinking about it, it’s well-worth the premium. The view alone from the 21st floor will take your breath away. Now, imagine lounging to that view with a chlorophyll water in hand, a double espresso on the way, and a plate of buttery pastries and fresh berries in front of you. Ya - it’s so worth it. After checking in, we spent a minute in the lounge before heading down to our room.

We took one of the 8 elevators down two floors. Broad windows overlooking the green dome of a 125-year-old basilica welcomed us to our new little oasis for the next 4 days. With Le Labo toiletries peppered throughout the bathroom and a Nespresso machine for our post-nap zombie selves, we knew it was time for that well-deserved red eye nap. We drew the curtains, set our alarms, and sank into the delicate embrace of our new king-size bed.

The Food

We woke from our nap and there was one thing on our minds, food! And so began our culinary tour of Montréal. With just 4 days in a city bursting at the seams with food options, we can’t say we even got close to exploring everything, but we did enjoy some incredible spots in our short trip. Here’s a rundown of some of the best:

Josephine: Apparently this pothos paradise stepped into a long-vacant spot that used to be a local favorite. We started off with Aperol Spritzes and shoshito peppers. Cristian got a light summer pasta and Corey ordered the sardines - 4 fish delicately seasoned and masterfully plated. The airy feel to the restaurant set a nice tone for the day’s activities and many meals to come.

Les Enfants Terribles: Such a good decision for dinner with a view. This sky-high restaurant is perched on the 44th floor of a nondescript building downtown. We sat outside and went with a prix fixe menu. The travel day left us pretty hungry so we were not messing around: 2 cocktails, 2 salads, and 2 mac and cheeses. These two hungry hippos ate enough for a family of 4 and we’re not mad about it.

Maggie Oakes: Ask for Fanny! Our server, Fanny, was the absolute best. She hooked us up with a duck poutine for brunch that made us question our existence. Throw in a glass of champagne and an iced americano, and you’ve got heaven in a restaurant. The front of the restaurant faced cobblestone pedestrian streets and the hotel behind Maggie Oakes was insanely gorgeous too- definitely worth checking out after a bite and a glass of bubbly.

Jatoba: Hold the door. This stunning restaurant nailed it in every way. This was one of the pricier places we ate at for sure. The Sanaka cocktail was aromatic and delicious, the sashimi was fresh, the asparagus was richly dressed, and the duck fried rice silled you up. There was a buttery corn dish that reminded us of street-style corn you’ll find all over LA. And we had this delicious maitake mushroom dish called Kinoko that was out of this world. Packed with umami flavor from the mushroom and the crunch of tempura, this veggie dish was the ideal big dish for the non-meat eaters in any group.

Dominion Square Tavern: Hold onto your fedora because you’re traveling through time and space for this downtown tavern. The 1920’s style of Dominion Square Tavern was serving cozy with a side of Canadian hospitality. The yellow light, generous gin fizz, and hearty food could keep you here all night. In fact, it did. It was that moment when you look at each other after a long day and say, let’s just call it a night and stay here a little longer. The devilled eggs were massive and a great way to start. The bangers and mash tasted like real pub food from a cozy British pub. Needless to say, we really enjoyed this place.

SSENCE Café: An unsuspecting spot for a coffee, but at the top of this designer boutique is a stunning, architectural space. With poured concrete everywhere you look, the views were striking from any angle and the light from above brightened what could have been an overly severe space. We soaked in the beauty of the cafe, enjoyed a caffeine boost, and hit the roads of Old Montréal again.

Hinnawi Brother Bagels: We stepped away from the fancy sit down restaurants of downtown for a bite of something very familiar to us, the bagel. We spent a good deal of our 20s living in the East Village of New York City, so when we read that Montréalers claimed to have a better bagel than NYC, we had to check it out. Our last day, we stopped by Hinnawi Brothers to make our own judgement call. There were marked differences between the two cities’ bagels for sure – the density, size of the hole, and flavor were all different. Montréal bagels are thinner, have a larger hole in the middle, and have a sweet kind of flavor. Apparently, that comes from using honey-sweetened water in the boiling process. Overall, we loved the bagels enough to leave the country with a half-dozen in our carry-on. And we’re following the advice we got at Hinnawi of dabbing water on the frozen bagel before toasting it for extra crunch. We will say, however, it wasn’t a fair match up with NYC. There’s an emotional connection to the New York City bagel that we can’t get over, but anyone visiting Montréal needs to try it for themselves to make that call.

Must Do Activities

Explore the city’s public street art

Montréal is the land of murals. We explored the city’s gay village by foot on a tour with Beyond The Village to get to know some of these murals and couldn’t believe the sheer volume of street art we saw. It’s on giant brick walls. It’s on the side of homes. It’s suspended over streets and planted in pocket gardens. It seemed like you could find artistic expression wherever you looked in this city and there was a lot of pride about that. Our favorite had to be this little block on the main road of the Gay Village with an open art exhibit. Walls of art about 8 feet tall on a gravel plot created the feeling of being in a modern art museum… but on a busy city street.

Connect with the city’s music

We were on our way to the Thierry Mugler exhibit at the Beaux Arts Museum. It was just before entering the exhibit that we looked up and noticed a captivating homage to Leonard Cohen – a colossal 21-story mural framed by the sturdy white columns of the museum’s glass atrium. We had no idea the revolutionary singer/songwriter was a Montréaler but what a cool way to find out! Kudos to whoever designed that moment of celebrating Montréal’s street art from the glass walls of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Another artistic surprise popped up on the last day of our trip in our very own hotel, an exhibit on the first floor of the Fairmont celebrating 50 years since John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s bed-in on the 17th floor! While they were at the hotel, they wrote and recorded the song “Give Peace a Chance” that would become the defacto anthem for the anti-war movement of the 60s. We were so moved to learn that and also to see how committed Montréal is to celebrating its artistic history. The city’s connection and respect for artistry in its many forms was awesome to experience and should be a focus for anyone visiting Montréal.

FIERTÉ / PRIDE

Last but certainly not least, Montréal knows how to throw a Pride weekend!! We were in and out of the pride festival grounds over the course of the weekend. Margaret Cho had us clutching our pearls and gasping for air(in a good way) and Ciara had us bopping the night away. The parade was a beautiful display of color and inclusion. And the moment of silence at 2:30pm during the parade lent some weight to an otherwise joyful celebration. The tone of the celebrations felt right, honoring those fallen before us while also relishing in the inalienable rights of queer people in Canada and beyond. To cap the weekend off, Sunday ended with a massive T dance (if you don’t know, now you do).

All in all, Montréal showed us a city filled with pride: pride for its history and for its LGBTQ+ community. We were moved to see the country’s prime minister march in the parade and the awesome turn out of 300,000 people lined up to watch. Four days really should feel like a long trip to visit a city, but it didn’t feel like long enough. Montréal had so much going on and so many coffee shops, cute alleys, and restaurants to explore that we didn’t even get to. We loved the trip and would seriously encourage anyone considering a visit to Montréal to get in touch with the sweet folks at Tourisme Montréal and Destination Canada who made this all happen for us and would love to help you plan your visit too.

À bientôt!

Corey & Cristian