How to Get to Montreal

Most visitors fly into Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) in Dorval, about 20 km west of downtown. Plenty of others come by train from Toronto, Ottawa or New York, all arriving at Gare Centrale in the heart of downtown.

From the airport

• 747 bus: the STM express runs 24 hours a day from outside the arrivals level, stopping at Lionel-Groulx metro, then along René-Lévesque Boulevard through downtown to Berri-UQAM station. Allow 45 minutes to over an hour depending on traffic. Buy a pass from the machines in the arrivals hall. The driver takes coins only, not notes or cards.
• Taxi: official taxis charge a flat fare to downtown. Ride-hailing apps work too, from their own pick-up zone.
• The REM: the new automated light rail will eventually run from the airport to Gare Centrale in around 25 minutes, but the airport branch is the last piece of the network and isn't expected before 2027. Until then, don't count on it.

By train

VIA Rail runs the corridor between Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto several times a day, now mostly on its newer Siemens-built Venture trains. Toronto to Montreal takes about five hours, Ottawa about two, and Quebec City a little over three. Delays in the corridor have been common in recent years, so leave a margin before any flight. From New York, Amtrak's Adirondack runs daily from Penn Station up the Hudson Valley and along Lake Champlain. It's a slow trip of around eleven hours, including the border check, but the autumn scenery is the reason people take it.

By bus and car

Long-distance buses, including Orléans Express to Quebec City, use the Gare d'autocars on Rue Berri, next to Berri-UQAM metro. By car, the main routes in are Highway 20 and 40 from Quebec City and Toronto, and Interstate 87 from New York, which becomes Autoroute 15 after the border.

Getting around the city

The STM network, four metro lines plus buses, and the REM share a fare system. A rechargeable OPUS card, or passes loaded onto an occasional-use card, work on all of them. The 24-hour and three-day passes include the 747, so buy one at the airport and you're sorted. Bixi bikes are at their most useful from spring to autumn (a smaller network now stays open in winter), and downtown is easy on foot, with the underground city for bad weather.

Driving in town

Avoid it. Summer is road-works season, parking signs stack four rules on one pole, and turning right on a red light is banned on the island of Montreal. A car earns its keep only for the drive to Quebec City or into the countryside. For a base close to the metro, see our where to stay guide.