Montreal Travel Tips for the LGBTQ Community
While British Columbia is a great home for many members of the LGBTQ community, the rest of Canada offers great travel destinations. Montreal is certainly near the top of the list when it comes to Canadian cities that are friendly and inviting for the LGBTQ community. The city is full of culture, history, nightlife, and everything else that contributes to a great vacation. With that said, we wanted to share a few tips for places to go and things to do to help make the most of any trip to Montreal.
Experience Gay Village
You know it’s a good idea to visit a city when they literally call the LGBTQ community within that city “the Gay Village.” The area of Montreal around rue Saint Catherine Est has been queer-friendly since the 1970s. This is where you’ll find a huge concentration of bars and businesses that are queer-owned. Most of the shops and businesses are located along rue Sainte-Catherine, stretching from rue Berri to rue Papineau. Be sure to stop by La Graine Brûlée, a quirky coffee shop with an outdoor patio, and Tendresse, one of the city’s top vegan restaurants. This stretch is also great for people-watching, especially on warm summer evenings.
When we visited Montrael we spent a lot of time walking before realizing the rental bikes have stands throughout the city including the ‘gay village.’ You rent a bike, but only pay for the time you’re actually riding it, locking it back into a stand when you want to stop into a shop or cafe.
And while you’re on your bikes, be sure to explore the many green alleyways in Montreal - areas of the city which residents have turned into community garden spaces.
Best Places to Stay
It’s easy to find amazing hotels to stay in Montreal, both inside and outside the Gay Village. For starters, there is the Queen Elizabeth, which is where John Lennon and Yoko Ono famously held their 1969 "bed-in." Located downtown, the hotel received a modern transformation in 2017. A few blocks away is the W Montreal, which is a longtime favorite of the LGBTQ+ community. Similar to the Queen Elizabeth, this hotel got a much-needed makeover in 2015. Finally, there is the Hotel William Gray, which has 121 rooms, all of which have been repurposed in unique ways after the hotel was created by combining multiple historic buildings.
The Nightlife
If you’re going to travel from B.C. to Montreal, you have to take in some of the nightlife. After all, Montreal comes alive once the sun goes down. Luckily, the Gay Village is packed with options. One of the best places is Complexe Sky, which is one of Canada’s largest nightclubs and features an incredible rooftop terrace. If you plan on making it a late night, the dance floor at Club Unity is always packed until 3 a.m. Another great after-hours option is Stereo, a club that’s well-known for its house beats and next-level sound system.
Nightlife Alternatives
It’s okay to admit that you can’t stay out dancing until 3 a.m. every night. For a low-key night, try the Notre Dame des Quilles bar, which often hosts queer trivia and open-mic nights. Similarly, the Montreal Improve has a weekly queer-friendly comedy night if you think you’re in need of a good laugh. Of course, if you’re too tired to go anywhere, that’s not the end of the world either. Thanks to the large selection of online casinos in Quebec, you can play slots and casino games from your hotel room or in a charming cafe. As long as you have a good Internet connection, you can enjoy your downtime with some fun games while resting up for exploring all that Montreal has to offer the next day.
Unexpected Attractions
In addition to being LGBTQ-friendly and offering amazing dining and nightlife options, Montreal has a few tricks up its sleeve for folks who have never been there before. Don’t be afraid to step outside the Gay Village and see some of the other unique attractions in the city. For instance, if you love food and farmer’s markets, the Marché Jean-Talon is the place to go, especially to find warmth during the cold winter months. Meanwhile, fans of architecture should walk off the beaten path and find the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s sculpture garden, which is one of Montreal’s hidden gems. It’s relatively small but has a lot of eccentric architecture. Finally, the Twilight Sculpture Garden is an old vacant lot that’s been turned into a vibrant home of metal sculptures for a surprisingly captivating outdoor art museum.
