OPUS and the fares. A single ride is C$3.75 and a 3-day pass C$21.75, loaded onto a C$6 OPUS card or a cheaper disposable Occasionnelle from any station machine; a ride includes transfers for two hours. New turnstiles that take a tapped bank card are being installed over about a year, so buy a fare first.
The 747 from the airport. The bus from Trudeau runs around the clock, every 10 to 20 minutes, to Lionel-Groulx and downtown in 45 to 70 minutes. The C$11.25 fare is a 24-hour pass for the whole zone A network; pay at the airport machines or in the Chrono app, since the driver takes exact coins only.
The Underground City. The RÉSO is about 30 kilometers of corridors joining the downtown metro stations, the malls, the food courts and the Place des Arts. It is how the city crosses the street in January. Stay near Peel, McGill or Place-des-Arts and you reach breakfast, a museum and dinner without a coat.
French first. Say bonjour, then ask in English if you need to. A bière en fût is a draft beer, a table d’hôte the set menu, l’addition the bill.
BIXI and Mount Royal. The city’s bikes cost C$1.60 to unlock and 21 cents a minute, more on an electric one. A smaller network of studded-tire bikes runs through the winter in the central boroughs; the Lachine Canal path is the ride. For the mountain, walk up from Rachel on the Olmsted path in about 40 minutes or take bus 11 to the chalet; the Kondiaronk lookout is the sunset spot, 8:30 p.m. in June.
Bagels, smoked meat and the market. St-Viateur bakes from 6 a.m. to midnight and the line moves fast; Fairmount is three blocks south. Schwartz’s on Saint-Laurent is shortest mid-afternoon; order medium. Jean-Talon market runs 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., until 5 p.m. on Sundays, and the counters are lunch.
The festival summer and the bill. The Jazz Festival takes late June into early July, Just for Laughs follows, and the Grand Prix weekend in June fills every room; hotels double and sell out, so book months ahead or come in September. Prices show before tax: GST and QST add about 15 percent, and the tip is another 15 to 20 percent on the card machine.
On the day. Load the pass before you leave the airport and keep the card where you can reach it at the gate. In winter put the walks before 3 p.m. while the light holds and the dinners inside the RÉSO. On a day of 5°F (-15°C), ask Waystop for a rain plan, a second version of the day with the indoor stops first.