Best time to visit Montreal

Canada · North America

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Montreal

Tap a month for its page

Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Go in May–Jul — these months score within a whisker of each other; 19C max, 10 rainy days. Aug is the next best.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

Car hire

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Things to do in Montreal

Habitat 67 This visually striking residential building was created by architect Moshe Safdie for…
Notre-Dame Basilica Probably the city's most spectacular church, a gem of Victorian Gothic.
St. Joseph's Oratory The largest church in Canada, it has an impressive neo-Renaissance exterior and a…
Parc du Mont-Royal North of avenue des Pins, between avenue du Parc and chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges.
Just For Laughs Festival Comedy festival with three main components: indoor paid shows…
The Underground City Throughout the downtown area.
Montreal Biosphère The former United States pavilion from Expo 67…

Tours and tickets in Montreal

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Montreal, Montreal/Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal/Downtown, Montreal/Old Montreal, Montreal/Parc Jean-Drapeau), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	-5°	10d	78%	4.8h	avoid	bitter cold: -5C daily max
Feb	-3°	8d	76%	6.2h	avoid	bitter cold: -3C daily max
Mar	3°	10d	71%	7.3h	avoid	bitter cold: 3C daily max
Apr	11°	11d	67%	7.8h	ok	11C max, 11 rainy days
May	19°	10d	64%	9.8h	sweet spot	19C max, 10 rainy days
Jun	24°	11d	68%	10.9h	sweet spot	24C max, 11 rainy days
Jul	27°	7d	70%	11.9h	sweet spot busy	busier than usual
Aug	25°	9d	73%	11.0h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Sep	21°	6d	74%	9.4h	good	21C max, 6 rainy days
Oct	15°	10d	75%	6.9h	ok	15C max, 10 rainy days
Nov	5°	11d	75%	5.0h	avoid	bitter cold: 5C daily max
Dec	-1°	9d	76%	4.3h	avoid	bitter cold: -1C daily max

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at Old Montreal, 15 km from the airport (YUL): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in July and August; quietest from November to February.

Then and now

Montreal's October days now average 14.7°C, 2.4°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 4 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	-5.7°	-2.9°	2.8°	11.6°	18.1°	22.7°	25.9°	24.1°	19.3°	12.3°	5.2°	-2.4°
2017–26	-4.7°	-2.6°	3.3°	11.2°	18.7°	24.2°	26.9°	25.3°	21.4°	14.7°	5.4°	-1.0°
Change	+1.0°	+0.2°	+0.5°	-0.4°	+0.6°	+1.4°	+1.0°	+1.2°	+2.1°	+2.4°	+0.2°	+1.4°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Montreal is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Canadian dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Everything for Canada: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Visa and Mastercard are taken almost everywhere and many Canadians rarely use cash; Interac is the local debit network. At petrol pumps, pay inside if your card has no chip and PIN.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Tipping — Customary though not required: 12–18% in restaurants and bars. Check the bill for a service charge already added.

Getting around Montreal

Buy single trips ($3.75), a 24-hour pass ($11.25), a 3-day pass ($21.75) or a weekend pass ($17) from the machines or ticket agents in any metro station, on an OPUS card ($6) or an occasional card; buses also take the exact fare in cash. The 747 airport bus takes those three passes: buy one from the machines in the international arrivals area, or pay $11.25 in the Chrono app or in exact coins on board.

Apps — Rides: Lyft, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Messenger, Text messages (SMS), WhatsApp.

Montreal has historically been divided into east and west by boulevard Saint-Laurent, with the west side traditionally being Anglophone and the east side traditionally being Francophone. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Montreal, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (21)

Montreal in pictures

Notre Dame de Montréal Basilica 12 — i

Louis-Philippe Hébert, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hôtel de Ville de Montréal en hiver — i

СССР, CC BY-SA 2.5 ca, via Wikimedia Commons

Hôtel de Ville de Montréal, juin 2024 — i

Pierre5018, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Le Stade Olympique de Montréal Nuit Arriere Edit 1 — i

Acarpentier ; this edited version by Sting, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Montreal is like

Montreal (French: Montréal) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec. While Quebec City is the political capital, Montreal is the cultural and economic centre, and the main entry point to the province. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: Many notable historical buildings and churches are located in Montreal, the vast majority of which are in old Montréal. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: In Montreal/Parc Jean-Drapeau, you will find the Casino de Montréal and the La Ronde, a Six Flags family amusement park. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: YMQ IATA is used as the metropolitan area airport code for all airports and rail station. Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport (YUL IATA) (☏ +1 514-633-3333 /. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: For emergencies call 9-1-1. Although Montreal is Canada's second largest city, it shares Canada's low violent crime rates making it relatively safe. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Montreal, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Montreal

Also in Canada

Nearby

Kind of place

Montreal is in Canada, North America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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