Neighborhood 48H guide
Old Montréal: Where to Stay & What to Do in 48 Hours
Notre-Dame Basilica and the city’s birthplace.
The 17th-to-19th-century core of the city: cobbled streets, Notre-Dame Basilica on Place d’Armes, and the Pointe-à-Callière archaeology museum on the site where Montréal was founded in 1642.
Photo gallery
Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Jeangagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Why stay here
History, restaurants and the waterfront on foot, with Place-d’Armes metro.
Who it's for: First-timers and romantics.
Pros
- Historic streets
- Walkable
- Boutique hotels
Cons
- Touristy
- Cobbles
- Pricey
48H in Old Montréal
Notre-Dame Basilica and the city’s birthplace.
09:00 – Notre-Dame Basilica
See the blue-and-gold interior.
11:00 – Pointe-à-Callière
Archaeology beneath the old city.
20:00 – AURA
Evening light show at the basilica.
Named recommendations
Real places with links to their official site or a Maps place page. We do not invent hours, prices, or ratings.
See / do
See / do
Notre-Dame Basilica
Place d’Armes
Gothic Revival basilica with a carved blue-and-gold interior; daytime visits and the evening AURA show.
Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →See / do
Pointe-à-Callière
350 place Royale
Archaeology and history museum built over the city’s founding site; closed Mondays outside summer.
Photo: Jeangagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →
Where to stay
Specific named properties—not vague city-wide searches. Expedia stays use tracked Creator links; others open the hotel's official site.
Roam48 may earn a commission when you book a stay through Expedia or Vrbo links on this page, at no extra cost to you. All commercial stay links use rel="sponsored nofollow".
Hotel · Expedia
Hotel Nelligan
Rue Saint-Paul Ouest
Boutique hotel in linked heritage buildings with a rooftop terrace.
Check rates on Expedia →Hotel · Expedia
Le Petit Hôtel
Rue Saint-Paul Ouest
Small hotel on Rue Saint-Paul with breakfast included.
Check rates on Expedia →
Vacation rentals
Prefer an apartment or whole home in this neighborhood? Browse Vrbo listings for Old Montréal.
In Montréal, short-term rentals of a host’s principal residence are allowed only from June 10 to September 10, and the host needs a city permit plus a CITQ registration number from Quebec, which must appear on the listing; most other whole-home rentals for 31 days or less are not permitted. Before booking on Vrbo, check that the listing shows a valid CITQ number.
Browse vacation rentals in Old Montréal on Vrbo →Other ways to spend 48 hours in Montréal
- Old Port & Place Jacques-Cartier — The waterfront, the big wheel and Place Jacques-Cartier.
- Downtown — Sainte-Catherine Street, the Underground City and the cathedral.
- Golden Square Mile — The Museum of Fine Arts, the McCord and Mount Royal.
- Quartier des Spectacles — Place des Arts, festivals and the symphony.
- Quartier Latin & the Village — Students, cinema and the Village on Sainte-Catherine Est.
- Plateau Mont-Royal — Staircases, Parc La Fontaine and Schwartz’s.
- Griffintown & the Lachine Canal — Canal-side cycling and Atwater Market.