Tourist Scams in Montreal

Heading to Montreal and not sure what to expect? There are so many great sights, restaurants, and activities around the city that you can keep yourself busy for days, however when you go around you may want to watch out for some of the Tourist Traps that tourists fall for when they go to Montreal. Here we try to help you learn about some of the more popular tourist traps in Montreal and some are very much worth visiting!
Filmed in Montreal, Canada
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#touristtraps #scams #montreal
Copyright Mark Wolters 2023

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[simonrancourt]

The advice for maple syrup also applies to maple leaf cookies. You'll pay a lot more at a souvenir shop than at the grocery store for the same cookies.

[LauraDBM]

Born and raised Montrealer here! All your tips are totally true! I would add one general "trap" is that tourists always fall into Old Montreal. Don't get me wrong, it's very pretty. But real Montrealers don't hang out there. It's a nice place to see quickly and then branch out to the real Montreal afterwards :)

[skterboy]

Regarding the Metro, you can easily get a 3-day pass for $21 CAD and you get unlimited access to public transportation for those three days. I was there this past weekend and it was totally worth it!

[gimmedavidb]

If you use bank machines, make sure that you go to a popular bank and use their machine (because any fees they charge will be a lot cheaper). Some bars and convenience stores have "private" bank machines that don't belong to a famous Canadian bank, and these private bank machines often charge outrageously high banking fees.

[jotravel]

Montreal tour guide here just want to rectify something: horse drawn carriages are now illegal here so no longer a problem ❤️

[mlu]

Just a note about the hors-drawn carriages. They have ceased operations by December 31, 2019. The current administration which was first elected in 2017 passed a bylaw prohibiting horse-drawn carriages for entertainment or transportation purposes. The bylaw was upheld by the Superior Court in September 2020 and again by the Court of Appeals in November 2022.

[simonrancourt]

The "underground city" is also usefull in summer, when it's very hot - yes, it gets hot in the summer, upwards of 40°C (105°F) with the humudity factor.

The shoping malls are air conditionned but the Métro is not. The Métro is well ventilated, so it's not too bad.

[PrimeTimeTravelers]

Montreal is on our bucket list. We hope to get there sometime in the next 2-4 years. Thank you for the tips, they are always helpful.

Passe un bon weekend!!

[lechoix]

As a true local... why wait in line at Schwartz for smoked meat?? Walk across the street to The MAIN... less fancy, less rushy and the smoked meat (brisket) is just as good!! Or as an option, head over to REUBEN's (the new downtown location)... shorter line, just as good. If you're travelling to the Western part of the Island... go to Pete's Smoked Meat! 
ps: if you really need to bring some Quebec Maple Syrup home with you - forget the over-priced Maple Leaf-shaped bottle in the souvenir shops... walk into any supermarket and pick up a CAN of Maple Syrup (2 for the price of the bottle) and you'll have protection from it breaking in your luggage! Enjoy your travels in Montreal...

[vickenator]

One thing to keep in mind with using public transit while traveling is how good you are at navigating -- I get anxious trying to use public transit in areas I'm not familiar with as I've ended up on buses or trams that head way out of town and then I'm kind of stuck. So yes, you can save a lot of money using public transit, but you have to have some sort of navigational ability so you don't wind up clear across town from where you wanted to be! That is one benefit of taxis or rideshares as you are definitely getting from Point A to Point B without having to really think about it. Then again, with buses in particular, you get a nice leisurely way to see a lot of an area without paying a lot of money for it. All depends on your comfort level with navigation.

[PatricenotPatrick]

Mark, the lil maple leaf bottle is for looking cute on my Texas mantle as a souvenir, not for my eggos 😂 no regrets! 🍁

[Sprocket]

I live in Montreal and appreciate the snark about the "underground city", as I too call it an underground mall.

[bikesarebest]

Great video! Id recommend people get a one-month bixi pass if thsyre gonna be here for a few days. Its only 20$ for unlimited rides and it's really worth it, especially if youre gonna be out late when the metro stops running.
Plus there are so many beautiful bike commutes like Parc de Dieppe/Expo 67, the Ice Control Structure Bridge, Jean-Drapeau park, etc.
The underground city isnt a tourist trap, it's just boring. Its convenient if you need to run errands or if the weather is bad but yeah, just a tourist trap.
The best thing you could do is get a bottle of wine and some takeout and go to a park for a picnic (Laurier park is my go-to)
Have fun in Montreal!!

[jeanbolduc]

i hope your video about Toronto is about CN tower the worst tourist trap and Niagara falls ....

[simonrancourt]

One more "tourist trap" in Montréal : going to a Montréal Canadien hockey game at Bell Centre. Tickets cost an arm and expect to pay through the nose for a beer and a hot dog.

[charlesmcdermott]

I have never used taxis or Uber in Montreal. The Metro and buses are good and frequent. You are absolutely on point about the food. I have never had a bad meal in this wonderful city.

[fredklein]

A big tourist trap restaurant was Carlos & Pepe's inauthentic Mexican food. Mercifully, it has closed forever.

[TheMadagenais]

If the line at Schwartz is too long, go across the street to the Main Deli. Same quality, even better on some days, but without the aggravation

[seaboirs]

Great video as always Wolter! To piggy back off what you were sharing, Ubers have gotten recently so overpriced here in Montreal (with fees and taxes); And taxi's tend to "get lost" a lot in Montreal... The Underground city is very much something you can skip. Also the horse carriage are soon going to be banned in Montreal thankfully.

[adamr]

Fairmount and St. Viateur bagels are equally famous, authentic, and old, and offer an equally interesting experience as you can see the bagels being made. I'd argue St. Viateur is more fun because you can see the whole process from the cutting and rolling of the dough, the dipping in honeyed water, and the baking in the wood oven.

One touristy thing I always do in cities if they have them is the open bus tours. They are s corny but it's actually really fun and informative to be driven around a city and get an overview while the history and historical sites and neighbourhoods are being narrated.

Another cool thing is the small boat ride on the Lachine Canal from neat the Atwater market to the Old Port, it's a beautiful trip, and you learn a lot about the history of the canal, the city that grew up. around and partly because of it, and its importance to the growth of the early colonies and later the economic growth of Canada as a whole.