Montreal is known for going through four proper seasons, including hot & humid summers, cold & harsh winters, and a lovely & colorful autumn season. Definitely one of the most pleasant seasons to explore the city is autumn, so we put together this guide on The Best Places to See Fall Colors in Montreal to help find some great spots from which you can enjoy the colorful scenery. Although the exact timing of the peak colours does change from year to year, it’s usually one of the last places in Quebec to reach its autumn color peak, making it a great opportunity to see some beautiful fall foliage if you’ve missed out on the earlier colours elsewhere in the province. In this guide, we will primarily focus on central areas in and around the island of Montreal that are easily reached from the city center.
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Introduction – Timing the Peak Colors in Montreal
Montreal tends to be one of the last places in the province of Quebec to see autumn colors, due in particular to both its warmer climate and low-lying elevation. The peak color period in the city tends to occur around mid-October. But even if you miss the “peak” period, there’s no need to worry, each region typically has a good two-to-three-week window of colorful foliage, with the “peak” period falling somewhere in the middle.
If you want to get outside the city and experience the beautiful colors surrounded by nature, be sure to check out our page on Best Parks and Trails To See The Fall Foliage And Autumn Colours Near Montreal. To help you plan your next autumn excursion, this Quebec tourism page produces a map (you will have to scroll down a bit to see the map) that is updated weekly and highlights when specific areas in the regions are hitting their peak fall colours. Come autumn, you will likely notice that Montreal is one of the last (if not the last) areas to reach peak autumn colors.
Mount Royal Park
The park is the city’s most famous, in part because it is home to the mountain that the city of Montreal is named after, but also because it offers the best views of the city from the Kondiaronk Belvedere. The Belvedere is located which is accessible directly from downtown after a long climb along a twisting staircase. You can reach the staircase at the end of Peel Street and walk along this path.
But to get the best of what the fall season has to offer, you will have to make your way inside the park and walk some of its beautiful trails. Mount Royal Park is home to over 10 km of trails, so you can easily spend half a day here wandering around the park.
One of our favorite spots in the park is Beaver Lake, located near its southwestern tip. The area is particularly photogenic in the morning when the water is still and reflects the surrounding trees like a mirror.
Old Montreal (Old Port)
Montreal’s Old Port is a touristic hotspot throughout the year and a prime destination for anyone wanting to enjoy a good time in the city. Although it’s not typically associated with a place to enjoy the fall foliage, what little trees are there (compared to other areas on this list) make the surrounding old-world environment that much more pleasing.
Two areas are particularly pleasing to stroll around to enjoy the autumn foliage: the Old Port Boardwalk that stretches nearly the entire length of the Old Port (roughly 2 km in length), and the area around the Montreal Ferris Wheel (La Grande Roue de Montréal).
One peculiar aspect of the trees surrounding the Ferris Wheel is that they turn bright red come autumn and tend to do so earlier than other trees in the city. These trees typically reach their peak colours a week or two before most of the other tree species in the area.
Parc Jean-Drapeau
A short distance from the Old Port is Parc Jean Drapeau, Montreal’s third-largest park which comprises two islands (Saint Helen’s Island and Notre Dame Island) in the Saint Lawrence River. The islands were the site of the Expo 67 World’s Fair and today are filled with beautiful forested walking paths (several kilometres worth), an amusement park (Six Flags La Ronde), the Montreal Casino, F1’s Gille Villeneuve race track (which you can walk or bike throughout most of the year), and beautifully manicured gardens such as the Floralies Gardens.
You’ll also find notable for the remnants of Expo 67, most of which are still in use, though few are still standing. The American and French pavilions are the best preserved, functioning today as the Biosphere and Casino respectively. The park is easily reachable from the Old Port by subway or ferry (from the ferry terminal), or if you don’t mind a little exercise, via a short 15-minute bike ride.
Lachine Canal
The Lachine Canal is a lovely waterway that connects the Old Port to the southwest borough of Lachine. It was originally designed for ships to bypass the rapids in the St-Lawrence River, but today it is mostly used for recreation and is paralleled by beautiful bike and pedestrian paths. Our favorite way to experience the canal is by bike as the bike trail from the old port to the southwestern end of the canal runs for about 13 km.
Although we already covered one extremity of the Lachine Canal, the Old Port, the other extremity is also particularly scenic, just beyond the Lachine Lock, along the Promenade Père-Marquette, which runs parallel to an older, narrower section of the Lachine Canal.
Parc René Lévesque
If you reach the Lachine end of the Lachine Canal, then you are just a short hop from Parc René Lévesque, a beautiful park located between a jetty between the Saint Lawrence River and the end of the Lachine Canal. The park features a bicycle path, a walking path, an arboretum, and a sculpture garden consisting of twenty-two sculptures by Quebec artists in the park.
The trails that loop around the park are about 4 km in length in total, which most people should be able to walk around in about an hour at a leisurely pace. The best way to reach the park is either by bike (via the Lachine Canal) or by car (there’s a large car park at the park entrance).
Parc Angrignon
A worthy detour from the Lachine Canal is to Angrignon Park, an urban park in the Southwest borough of Lasalle. It is one of the city’s largest occupying a total area of 97 hectares and includes a 1.1 kilometre-long central lake, in addition to several small ponds, and streams. The park is crisscrossed by several kilometres of walking trails.
If you are coming from the Lachine Canal it’s a short 5-minute ride to reach the park, otherwise, it’s easily reached by car (there are two large car parks) or subway (Angrignon Metro Sation).
The Montréal Botanical Garden
Montreal’s Botanical Gardens are definitely beautiful any time of year. But what makes them particularly enticing come autumn is not just the colourful foliage, but also the nighttime colours you can experience during its annual fall lantern festival, which typically runs from early September until late October.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our The Best Places to See Fall Colors in Montreal and that it will prove useful for planning your trip.
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Want to Discover Some Hiking Trails Around Montreal?
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Best National Parks for Hiking Near Montreal
Best Hiking Trails in the Near Mont Tremblant
Best Hiking Trails in the Eastern Townships
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
Travel Insurance
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e-Sim cards
Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide. With Airalo eSIMs, travellers can get connected the moment they land at their destination and avoid nasty data roaming charges
eSIMS are a sustainable alternative to single-use SIM cards – they are 100% digital, require less energy to produce and be re-used rather than disposed of.
Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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