The Essential 101 Non-Touristy Walking Tour by Spade & Palacio
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Montreal, Canada
- 2 hours 45 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Travel from historic Old Montreal to the borough of Plateau Mont-Royal on this walking tour of the city. Visit the ornately decorated Basilica then wander the streets of Vieux-Montréal while learning about the city’s history and checking out its street art. Plus, make stops in the entertainment district and Chinatown.
- Get a comprehensive look of Montreal; perfect for first-time visitors
- Wear comfortable shoes; a moderate amount of walking is involved
- Receive recommendations for the remainder of your stay
- Beverages, snacks, and a food tasting are included
What's Included
- Beverages
- Food tasting
- Snacks
- Local guide
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (if option not selected)
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Monument to Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve512 Pl. d'Armes, Montréal, QC H2Y 2W2, Canada
We meet next to engraving « 1642 « on the Maisonneuve Monument middle of Place d'Armes Square, directly across the Notre-Dame Basilica. Tour starts on time and we can't wait for latecomers. Please show up 10 minutes before the tour starts. If you are late, you might not be able to join the group.
End point
- Dispatch Coffee4021 Boul. Saint-Laurent, Montréal, QC H2W 1Y4, Canada
We end in the Plateau district. We'll leave you with a list of recommendations and point out places if you want to grab a bite or a drink!
Itinerary
1
Maisonneuve Monument
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Notre-Dame Basilica
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Old Montreal
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Underground City
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Chinatown
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
6
Saint Laurent Boulevard
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
Eva B
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
8
Plateau Mont-Royal
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
9
Place d'Armes
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- A moderate amount of walking is involved, please be ready for that and to be wearing comfortable shoes.
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Minimum age is 5 years
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 829 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Melanie Renoud was terrific
We heard and understood every word!
A+ recommendation! Complete essentials and even more details!
The tour was extremely interesting and Mel, our tour guide had a great way about sharing her knowledge with a nice sense of humor.
Tour group was small, as I like and prefer. The guide was informative, great knowledge, and very approachable. Very animated too. Quite happy with the experience. I will recommend to others. Amelia was wonderful.
Very fun experience, and got to learn not just history but about some murals as well and a little taste of the city! Thank you
This was a great tour to provide context to the city of Montreal and the diversity it has to offer. Amelie was knowledgeable of the history and culture of this city as a great tour guide. The small group format was an exceptional way to see a diverse side of the city. There were unique surprises around the route.
Chris was a terrific guide. We enjoyed it immensely. Stops for snacks and bevis were a plus. Recommend!
Great guide very informative, saw some different sites and more unusual sides to the city. Lots of walking but at a good pace.
Melanie was an amazing guide who both knew so much history and was also an incredible storyteller. Great tour with the cathedral, underground, downtown Montreal, chinatown and le plateau- would definitely recommend.
Gabriella was an excellent you guide with interesting stories about Montreal’s history and knowledge about the different areas of the city. The snack stop & later coffee stop were a bonus! We thoroughly enjoyed our tour & highly recommend this tour.
This tour was not what we expected. Definitely more about the neighborhoods and history of Montreal than seeing the sights. Do not take this tour if you want an introduction to Montreal. However our guide was great, interesting and informative. There is a lot of walking far distances in the tour FYI. We were left near Mount Royal and our guide said the only way to the top from the end of our tour was to walk up the mountain. You can actually take bus #11 for free and there are many stops on the north side of the park.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Hi! Definitely not your basic tour. It’s all in the description which we wish you would have read but happy you enjoyed regardless! This is an excellent introduction to Montreal from pretty to gritty and from historic to hip. Starting in old Montréal , going through Chinatown, the old red light district and ending in the funky plateau. This is the best tour to understand the city and in under a few hours and should be done at the beginning of your trip. For a basic hop on hop off sightseeing tour check out the hop on hop off bus ! We’re more about humans scale experiences than bus tours.
Thanks for joining us and sharing !
Rufus, our tour guide, was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about Montreal. I really appreciated that, as I was hoping to gain some interesting background and history about this beautiful city—and I certainly did. We saw and experienced several different aspects of Montreal, which made the tour both informative and enjoyable. The tour was also just the right length of time. I highly recommend it!
Wonderful Tour. Melanie was a wonderful ambassador to the city. She spoke like someone with the inside scoop who truly loves the city she's in. Everything was a highlight and a delight. The pace was perfect and the variety of sights, explanations, and experiences was ideal.
It is a wonderful walking tour that includes great insight into the Basilica and the Montreal Underground. It felt like a locals tour and it was. Our tour guide Mel was terrific.
This was a wonderful, thoughtfully designed, and well-paced introduction to Montreal! Our tour guide, Rufus, is a gem!! He is passionate about his native city and shared a vast amount of information in an incredibly accessible and entertaining way! We appreciated the small size of the group.
A great way to see the real Montreal. A little bit of everything. Gabriella was amazing. She knew her Montreal. She took us to many districts and out of the way streets you wouldn’t visit normally. I really got a feel for the rich cultures, amazing history, glorious green spaces/parks, and restaurants. Thank you Gabriella!!👏
Gabriela was extremely personable and knowledgeable. Would highly recommend for first time visitors who want an overview of Montreal.
Excellent tour for first-time visitors to the city. Small group and our guide was super friendly and knowledgeable
Loved our walk with Jesse today. He brings alive the beginnings of the city and shares so many insights into Montreal's growth over several hundred years. This was a fun and engaging way to cross a section of Montreal we wouldn't have seen.
Hands down - one of the best walking tours we’ve ever booked! Chris showed us sites, murals, and behind the scene spots we definitely would not have seen on our own. He even kept our teens’ attention (which is no small feat!) with his stories, historical facts, and not staying in one location too long. We stopped twice to have a delicious dim sum and refreshing peach tea!! Awesome experience!
Fred was our guide and she was wonderful! She was very enthusiastic and animated throughout the tour, sharing about the history of the city and taking us around Montreal. She was very nice and kept a good pace. I didn’t realize this tour price included admission to notre dame (we had ten min to walk around and take pictures) and a bao from Chinatown and tea from plateau Mont Royal. We walked a lot but also got to see a lot of Montreal. This tour was well worth the price and we’d recommend this tour to others.
The tour guide, Mel, did an excellent job showing us around the city as we viewed a lot of cool art and sites. Great tour if you want to see other parts of Montreal besides just old Montreal.
We enjoyed the tour and learning more about Montreal. China town boa was excellent and loved visiting Notre Dame and the underground city but did not enjoy all stops after.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Aww sorry to hear this. At the same time it’s all in the description. A bit of classics and history and pretty but THEN current, cultural and gritty. That’s the whole point of the tour. Where you lost interest is where we leave all the tourist groups behind. You’d be better off on an only Old Montréal tour or a hop on hop off bus next time. Was a pleasure to host you regardless. Hope the recommendations list didn’t scare you! They’re all in local neighborhoods 😉
We learned about Montreal history and architecture through this fast paced, informative tour which was geared to go beyond the beaten track of the usual tourist stops. Our guide Jesse was FANTASTIC – so knowledgeable, personal, and just a pleasure to spend a few hours with – can’t recommend this tour, and especially if you get Jesse, enough – thanks, Jesse!!!!
Outstanding walking tour of Montreal which gave us insights into some local cultural history we would not otherwise have encountered. David, our guide, was exceptional in his narrative storytelling and explanations and we enjoyed ability to weave in what goes on in everyday life with how things were previously so we felt as if we got to understand Montreal just enough to go offf on our own and have the context we wanted. The arrival point was easy to find and centrally located and the walking and length were not overwhelming for two adults (there were some kids 11-12 year old) on the tour too and they were engaged and seemed to do just fine as well. The group size (10) was quite nice as well.
Wonderful tour of non touristy spots around the city. We learned a lot about different neighborhoods and the history of Montreal and how it affects the residents.
Small group of 8 was perfect and pace of learning, walking and sites explained and seen was exactly what we wanted as the kick off of our time in Montreal Christopher is a consummate professional and his insights, humor and knowledge made the tour very enjoyable, as well as helpful for the remaining time in this beautiful city. We highly recommend this tour and the owner's cheat sheet (request this early on!) and if possible, go with Christopher.
Great tour with Gabriella! We took this tour on our first day in Montreal and had a great experience learning our way around the city and seeing major highlights.
This tour was such a great experience. Our tour guide Emilie was so knowledgeable and presented a balanced perspective of Montreal's history with authority and humour. It was a pleasure to learn with her! I loved the green alley she showed us.
Martin was a wonderful tour guide who knew his history and where to take us for the best experience possible .
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Heya!
Thanks for the review!
Gabriella was great. She is funny, engaging and above all else, she is very knowledgeable. Her pace is reasonable. She was able to answer every question presented to her. I took 4 Montréal tours, I wish she had lead every tour.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
She’s great! Glad you enjoyed the outing with Spade & Palacio. We’re lucky to collaborate with the best 11 guides in the city hands down. You sharing this means a lot being the small company we are.
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per personWas $54.82(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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