A Visit To Montreal and Old Quebec City At Christmas
Christmas in Canada
This year my Mom was celebrating her 65th birthday in December and I wanted to plan a special Mother Daughter Birthday trip for her that was all things “Hallmark Christmas Movie.” I had heard and read about Montreal for years and had always wanted to go.
Mom and I are both big foodies and I knew that the local restaurant scene, combined with the holiday cheer, would be right up our alley.
This is a comprehensive list of all things I planned for our trip based off recommendations from friends who had been. I also used this book I found on Amazon that was super helpful as well as internet research.
I will link and outline everything we did in the next few paragraphs. Our trip did not feel overwhelming or too packed, though I should mention that Montreal and Old Quebec City is a trip that does require a lot of walking.
A lot of areas have cobblestone streets, which I find are more difficult to walk on. The streets are also narrow so you have to use caution.
Additionally because they are narrow, they are not plowed very well. Keep this all in mind if you have or plan to travel with someone who has mobility issues.
We did use Uber and there are many public transportation options available as well.
French is the main language spoken in the Quebec province where Montreal is located. That being said, the people were more than happy to speak English.
The only trouble I had with French was with some of the Uber drivers.
Flying To Montreal
We live in Chicago and fly out of O’Hare airport. I was easily able to find many affordable flights to Montreal from O’Hare.
Flights from O’Hare to Montreal gate to gate are under 2 hours which was very nice. Since this was a special occasion, I splurged on first class tickets which is usually a nice treat.
In retrospect, however, I would not splurge on this again for this flight. The flight is so short you barely have time to enjoy the amenities.
Most of the planes you will be on are only 70 seats so you are on and off fairly quickly as well. The one perk of flying first class on Air Canada was access to the Maple Leaf Lounge in the Montreal airport while waiting for the flight home.
You get access with first class for free and there was an open bar and delicious food. This lounge is located near gate 73.
The other great thing about flying from Montreal to the USA is that you clear customs in the Montreal airport. Therefore you do not have to go through customs once you land in Chicago.
It was also much faster to clear in Montreal.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the Saint Sulpice Hotel in the Old Montreal/Old Port Area of Montreal. It was a lovely, cozy boutique hotel.
If you want the full Christmas experience, I recommend staying here or at another hotel in this area. The streets are old, like being in Europe.
It’s decorated so nicely for Christmas and you can easily walk to shops and restaurants.
This hotel staff was amazing. I relied a lot on the concierge from the hotel to arrange car services to and from the airport, although you can easily use Uber or a cab.
It was nice to have the car service to and from the airport and not have to worry about a language barrier or my phone working. I have Verizon, though, and my phone worked fine with no extra charges.
The car service was around $150 for a very nice and large Lincoln SUV with a very nice driver. I just emailed back and forth with the concierge.
The concierge also arranged for a bottle of champagne and some treats in the room for when we arrived. This was at an extra cost but it was very nice to arrive to these treats.
Reminder that the Canada dollars are more than what they translate to in American dollars.
Our Room Details
We had a one bedroom suite. It was very cozy and large.
The bedroom had a queen bed and the living room area had a queen murphy bed. There was a couch and desk, nice views of the courtyard, and we had a small kitchenette with a stove, fridge, toaster, kettle, plates, cups, pans, sink, and microwave.
There was a Nespresso with pods and you could get more pods from the desk. The bathroom had high end soaps and creams and shampoo and conditioner and a lovely soaking tub.
You can drink the water in the sink, but each room had water carafes you could fill on every floor with the ice machine and ice cold filtered water attached to the ice machine.
First Night Restaurant
The first night I booked a dinner at Modavie which was about 2 blocks from our hotel. They have live music upstairs and downstairs.
The food was fantastic and it was a great atmosphere. We had French onion soup, an essential poutine, mussels, and gnocchi.
Live music was great and the atmosphere and dress was casual. We wore jeans and sweaters. I Highly recommend it.
First Day Food Walking Tour
For our first full day I booked a food walking tour with Secret Food Tours. I thought this was a good way to get introduced to the city and its food scene and it was.
I booked this through Trip Advisor because of the convenience of cancelling and what not. It was cold but we were moving and going into enough places to get and stay warm.
I did the private tour and even though it was more expensive, I felt it was faster and had less time in the cold. There are cheaper group tours with the same company.
We loved our guide and all the food we tried. It was a great way to see and learn some history.
Our guide was awesome and comfortable to be with. The fee includes all your food but does not include tip, so be sure to plan to tip.
Dinner Night Two
We had done the food tour all day and were tired and chilled, but not in a terrible way. We didn’t want to go far so we went to this restaurant next to our hotel called Mignon.
This place was known for Steak Frites and also had a Negroni lounge in the basement. We LOVE this place.
Montreal is known for steak frites and this place was the best. We shared a burrata app and a steak frites dinner.
We also really enjoyed the Negroni choices. The basement is the Negroni lounge and you can eat there as well.
There was a loud DJ in the basement so if you want it quieter, eat upstairs.
Mind you, everyone in Montreal eats fairly late so eating dinner at 9 pm is not uncommon. If you go earlier, don’t be surprised or cautious if the place is empty.
Day Three At The Markets
Our third day, the second full day, we did the markets. There is a huge open air food market called Marche Jean Talon in the Little Italy part of Montreal.
We took an Uber there from our hotel. You can walk around, eat, buy snacks etc.
It is partially indoors so you won’t be too cold. Again, everyone was French speaking but was happy to speak English.
Plan to spend about 2 hours here. There is also an outdoor area with Christmas trees for sale that you should visit for the smells.
Le Grand Marché de Noël
There are several Christmas Markets in Montreal. You can find a complete list of them at this link.
We did the Grand Marche Noel which was fun and festive. We spent about an hour here.
It is small and easy to get food and drink. There was also a live band.
It was very fun and festive, but we were cold at this point and ready to head back.
We did enjoy ourselves before that and had some boozy coffee and hot cocoa. There was lots of little vendors to shop at and try foods.
Aura at Notre Dame Basilica
After the Christmas Market we warmed up at our hotel and then next door to our hotel was the Notre Dame Basilica. They have a show in the church in the evenings called Aura we had tickets for.
You can visit the church in the day but this Aura show was spectacular. They have all the statues and art illuminated and you can see these all 15 minutes before show time.
The Aura show is a laser and orchestral music show where they animate the whole church. It was something I have never seen before and I highly recommend it.
The show was 25 minutes and after the show we went back to our hotel and enjoyed wine and meats and cheeses we bought at the Jean Talon Market.
Bus Tour to Old Quebec City
Old Quebec City is the place where you see pictures of a European-like city. It was all decked out in Christmas splendor with tons of shops and European Christmas Markets.
Parts of Montreal, like where our hotel was, look European but other parts are modern. Old Quebec City is like being in France.
It is a 3 hour drive from Montreal. You can rent a car or take a bus tour.
You can also take a train, which I have no info on, but will be doing next time.
The tour we booked was great, but next time I will take the train and stay overnight one or two nights in Old Quebec. I booked this tour through Trip Advisor.
What I liked about this tour is that they picked us up at our hotel. They pick you up in a smaller van and bring you to the tour bus that has a bathroom.
You ride for about 90 minutes then stop at McDonalds for the bathroom and can get food. They give you a lot of history on the ride and it was fun to look out the window and see the countryside.
We learned a lot.
Then when you get there you meet with a guide for only 40 minutes and then you have about 3.5 hours to explore on your own.
After that the bus picks you up again and takes you to a waterfall in the area that is very easily walkable and then takes you home. I won’t go into super details about Old Quebec, you can look them all up on the internet.
We personally had enough time there to be immersed in all the food and local Christmas feelings. I would like to spend a night or two there next time.
This tour definitely had us feeling Christmasy in a short time if you do not have a lot of days.
Where we ate in Old Quebec
We grabbed Aperol Spritz at D’orsay and loved it. It was nice to regroup after being on the bus.
This was on the upper part of Old Quebec. We also shopped the Christmas Market up there.
It was very crowded and touristy but pretty. You take the Funiculaire up and you can also take this down or use stairs. On the lower level we visited this great cozy pub with a fireplace and homemade French Onion Soup.
Other Places We Loved
We loved this small local chain of coffee and gift shops in Montreal called La Petite Dep. They all had great food and pastry, coffee, wine, and locally made gifts to shop for and peruse.
There was one across the street from our hotel. Definitely look for it when you are there.
We also loved Noel Eternal Gift Shop which was also walkable from our hotel. We were OBSESSED with this gift shop between our hotel and Modavie, Le Magasin General.
The Best Trip
We loved this trip. There are so many things to see and eat, we didnét even begin to experience it all.
I would say that this itinerary I came up with was a great way to experience it all and really feel like we did a lot without being overwhelmed.
We arrived Wednesday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. If you are interested in the book I used I will link it to my Amazon affiliate shop.
*Note that because it’s an affiliate link, Amazon does pay me a small commission if you make a purchase through the link, but it costs you no extra.*
Now here are all the links from our trip in one place:
- Saint Sulpice Hotel
- Air Canada
- Modavie – Restaurant Night One
- Mignon – Restaurant Night Two
- Walking Food Tour of Montreal
- Marche Jean Talon – Farmers Market
- Noel Eternal Christmas Shop
- Le Petit Dep – Favorite Coffee and Gift Shop
- Bus Tour of Old Quebec
- Pub D’Orsay in Upper Old Quebec – where we had great Aperol spritz
- Pub Antoinne in Lower Old Quebec with the fireplace and French Onion Soup
- Great Gift Shop Near Our Hotel
- Montreal Christmas Markets
- Aura at Notre Dame Basilica
- Great Chinese we ordered Uber eats to our hotel
If you’re looking for more great travel recommendations, check out my Foodie’s Guide to the Northwoods.