Shop Atwater Market for a canal-side picnic

On July 1 Montreal has its Moving Day, when many leases end and around 200,000 people move at once, so streets fill with vans, trucks and loaded bikes. If you arrive or leave around that date, expect traffic and slow pick-ups, and give yourself extra time for airport or station transfers. Book accommodation and…

Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, above Central Station on René-Lévesque Boulevard, is where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their 1969 bed-in in Room 1742. The suite was redesigned in 2017 with archive footage and virtual reality headsets, and the hotel still lists a John Lennon and Yoko Ono Suite. Even if you stay…

From May to October, Piknic Électronik fills Sunday afternoons at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen's Island with DJs on two stages, the main stage and the Boisé stage. Take the Métro to Jean-Drapeau station and walk, since the site is a short stroll away. Bring snacks, because outside alcohol is not allowed, and check…

Every June since 2013 the free MURAL festival turns Saint-Laurent Boulevard into an open-air gallery, with new murals by Canadian and international artists plus concerts, installations and street performances. Walk the stretch between Sherbrooke Street and Mont-Royal Avenue to see works go up and take photos. Exact…

Casa del Popolo and La Sala Rossa face each other on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, a long-running stage for emerging artists plus a room with programming most nights. Casa has a café and gallery attached, and the Sala Rossa side serves snacks and drinks, so you can eat before the show. Look up the listing for the night you…

Upstairs Jazz Bar and Grill on MacKay Street downtown programs live jazz in the evenings, usually with an early and a late set, and posts the week's lineup on its own site. The mix goes from jam sessions to Cuban jazz tributes and trios. It is also listed among Montreal's venues for music with dinner, so you can eat…

Puces POP is a series of flea-market-style fairs for local designers and handmade goods, run by the team behind POP Montréal. Booths sell clothing, jewellery, screen prints, body care and home accessories, so it suits souvenir hunting that is not mass-produced. Editions happen at set times of the year, so look up the…

Dieppe Park sits on a point at the eastern tip of Cité du Havre, with open views of the Old Port, the downtown skyline and the Jacques Cartier Bridge. It is open daily from 6 am to midnight and is popular with photographers. Go at sunrise for quiet, or on summer evenings when the lawns fill up. It is also a known spot…