Montreal: Beyond the Basilica Non-Touristy Walking Tour

About this tour

If there’s one district that is beautiful year-round, it’s Old Montréal. We start our Montréal walking tour by skipping the line at the ornately decorated Notre Dame Basilica before wandering the elegant streets of Vieux-Montréal.

We’ll be popping into some historic and architecturally impressive gems to get an understanding of the district with a local before heading out and leaving the tourist crowds behind. This tour does a lot of in and out so it’s great for year-round conditions.

We stroll through a segment of our interior or underground city as a part of our tour. It’s the largest indoor network on the planet and lets us make our way to Chinatown for a quick snack as we get the skinny on the area.

Then it’s off to our old Red Light District, turned entertainment Mecca to see where the biggest festivals take place. This is the cultural heart of the country. We pop into a whacky often missed institution for a visit.

Up Saint-Laurent Boulevard, we check out half a dozen impressive works of art from Montréal’s MURAL Festival in the borough that is home to the highest concentration of artists in Canada.

With a coffee from a local third-wave shop in hand, we walk the hip parts of the lower Main before leaving you with a custom list of recommendations. This route is a great way to see a lot in a small amount of time.

From classics and historic to modern and funky hoods this is an excellent intro to our city. If you want to experience the city like a local, then this walking tour is the way to go.