10 Things to Do on a Girls’ Getaway to Montreal

My favorite person in the world to travel with is Tim. He pushes me beyond my comfort zone with adventures like caving beneath Budapest, snorkeling in freezing cold water in Iceland, and snowmobiling across frozen seas. But sometimes it’s nice to have a girls getaway and do some of the things (shopping!) that are just more fun with girlfriends. So I asked my sister-in-law, Heather, if she wanted to join me for a girls’ getaway to Montreal. Here’s just a preview of the great things on offer for girls that just wanna have fun in Montreal:

Getting a cooking lesson at l’Atelier & Saveurs

1. Take a cooking class

We donned aprons for a lunchtime cooking class at l’Atelier & Saveurs in Old Montreal. The hour long class involved about 30 minutes of interactive cooking time and 30 minutes to enjoy the labors of food love.

Bagels don’t get any fresher than this!

2. Eat your way through Montreal

Private guide Nadia, who knows an impressive amount of fun facts about Montreal, takes guests on intimate foodie tours of the city. From the butteriest bakeries to freshest bagels, we ate our way through Montreal with Nadia’s guidance.

Apples at the Jean Talon Market

3. Montreal by moped

Dyad offers tours of Montreal on mopeds and after a quick driving course (hangs head in shame that I didn’t pass), we were off to hear the secrets of the city from a native. Our guide, David, pointed out the best bars and restaurants and took us for a visit to the Jean Talon market.

4. Relax at a spa

We were scheduled to try out the water circuit at Scandinave Les Bains Vieux, but bad weather in Chicago delayed Heather and we were bummed we missed our spa appointment. But we made up for it with in-room facials and use of the sauna at our hotel, Omni Mont Royal.

My sister-in-law and I trying on fascinators in a boutique in Old Montreal

5. Shop until you drop

The cobbled streets of Old Montreal are filled with trendy boutiques offering up Canada’s latest fashions. We had a ton of fun trying on fascinators and attempting a self portrait in the shop’s picture mirror.

Melvis and the Jive Cats

6. Get your jive on

We joined the hipsters at the vintage Rialto Theater and cheered them on as they tore up the dance floor to the Rockabilly Jive tunes of Melvis and the Jive Cats.

Heather having a good time playing the spoons

7. Learn to play the spoons

Terrasse Nelligan in Old Montreal opens its rooftop bar and restaurant each April 1st and hosts a fantastic Sugar Shack dinner. The live entertainment had us joining the band as we learned to play the spoons.

8. Get cultured

Montreal has tons of museums and the Museum Pass is a great way to discover them! We enjoyed the Contemporary Museum of Art, which had quite a few interesting pieces. We’ll be talking about a piece that involved a group of 10 people who said “Well-cooome to the sit-uuu-AY-tion” in unison and moved about a stark white room for a long time to come.

9. Dine in the trendiest restaurants

Montreal has an incredible international food scene! From the mixed tangine and mint tea at North African La Khaima to the fusion style of La Fabrique, we ate with Montreal’s in-crowd.

What should we taste?

10. Go maple syrup tasting

Licking four different kinds of maple syrup off a spoon? Definitely something you can only do in front of your girlfriends without shame! Pop into Maple Delights in Old Montreal for a tasting and learn about the different grades of maple syrup. Then have a maple ice cream (or maple fudge…or maybe maple candies…or…Hey, girlfriends never judge).

There is so much to do on a girls’ getaway to Montreal. We really only scratched the surface of the plethora of activities and festivals that make Montreal such a happening city.

Thank you to Tourisme Montreal and Omni Mont Royal for hosting us for our girls’ getaway to Montreal! As always, all opinions are entirely my own. Though I do blame Heather for being a bad influence on my decisions to drink and eat endlessly.