The Very Best of Old Montreal: A Tour from Place D‘Armes to the Old Port

Travel back in time to the cobblestone streets travelled by early French missionaries, fur traders, and British conquerors on this walking tour in le Vieux Montréal (Old Montreal).

Starting beside a statue of the city‘s founder, Paul de Chomedy, you‘ll get a quick overview of the historical Place d‘Armes square, with its striking Bank of Montréal, famous Notre-Dame Basilica, and old Saint-Sulpice Seminary. We‘ll walk the narrow cobbled stone streets of Old Montréal to discover its old courthouses, some favourite local eateries, and Chateau Ramezay, once occupied by the French, British and (briefly) the Americans. You‘ll see Montréal‘s first church, Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, stroll across the popular Place Jacques-Cartier square, and take in the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History (Pointe-à-Callière). You‘ll pass the first hospital opened by the Grey Nuns of Montréal and, after walking along the animated Old Port promenade, reach the end of the tour at the Old Clock Tower. Along the way, you‘ll hear about the technological, industrial, and maritime activities that take place at the port, and see the Montréal Science Centre.

On this 90-minute Montréal tour, you‘ll also:

• Hear about the influence that Catholic missionaries had in the New World
• Take in Canada‘s most famous church and one of its most visited monuments, the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal
• See the impressive Marché Bonsecours, a retail market space that‘s housed the Parliament of the United Province of Canada, City Hall, and the headquarters of the city‘s Housing and Planning Department
• Find out about the wharf used for the fur trade in the 1600s and grain exports in the 1950s, which is now a recreational and tourist area
• Stroll down one of the most picturesque streets in Old Montréal, Rue Saint-Amable, and along Saint-Paul Street, lined with century-old buildings that now house modern hotels, restaurants, and retail stores

By the end of the tour, you‘ll have a better understanding of Montréal‘s colonial history, and how it became an international destination where some of the world‘s most exciting annual events are held.