Hi friends, welcome back to the conclusion of our long weekend in Montreal! I saved the best for last, especially if you are reading this on a drab winter day. The following morning was a Monday, so Jon headed into his office and I grabbed coffee from La Finca and headed to the Montreal Botanical Garden. Montreal has a great public transportation system, so I decided to give it a try. I was a little nervous because I was by myself without WIFI/internet and had never used the metro before, but it was easy to figure out. I screenshotted a picture of the directions (like Mapquest directions back in the day) and hoped for the best.
There was construction outside the metro station I got off at, and I couldn’t use my phone to figure out the way to go, so I ended up going the wrong way and walked through the Olympic Park to get to the gardens. I took a twenty minute detour, but I made it eventually! I laughed walking back from the garden to the metro because it would’ve been only a five minute walk in the opposite direction to get there. It’s hard being directionally challenged in a new place, at least in NYC I have the skyscrapers for an easy reference point.
The Montreal Botanical Garden is one of the largest in the world and showcases over 22,000 species of plants. I started in the green house and I thought it was really pretty! I went at a magical time where I had it mostly to myself for about 75% of the time. Then the field trip kids came in and were running around, touching plants, and filling the green house with giggles.
I loved that the green house had this peaceful waterfall.
This house like building was also a cool feature in the desert room.
I headed outside next, and I was unimpressed with the rose garden. They seemed too far apart from each other.
The Chinese Garden was very cool, the pavilion is under construction, but it didn’t take away from the experience. You can still see gorgeous views from other spots in the area.
The Alpine Garden was next, and I thought this was beautiful and it smelled amazing!
My favorite part of the garden was the Flowery Brook and Lilacs garden filled with gorgeous, blooming peonies. As you can imagine it was extremely difficult for me to limit the amount of pictures I included in this post.
The Shrub garden.
This might be my favorite picture of the day.
I really enjoyed this botanical garden and I highly recommend checking it out! It’s only about a twenty-minute drive, or thirty-minute metro ride from downtown Montreal. I spent about two hours here, but could’ve easily spent longer.
I checked into the new hotel near Jon’s office, the Sheraton, and it was very nice! It seems the popular place to stay for business. If you’re traveling for vacation, I wouldn’t recommend staying here because it’s further away from the Old Town and Port. For dinner we grabbed yummy poke bowls from Le Poke Station and had a chill last night.
I flew back to NYC the following morning and I couldn’t believe how empty the Montreal airport was! There was no line at security and I was from my Uber to the gate in about ten minutes. There was a Starbucks across from my gate, so I grabbed coffee and waited to board. I ended the trip with a free upgrade to first class and a seamless flight. I had a great time visiting Montreal and hope you enjoyed this little series!
That’s the most variety I’ve ever seen in a botanic gardens! I think I have to agree with your favorite photo of the day, that’s such a great reflection. Sounds like a great little trip, and now I have some things to do for whenever I make it to Montreal!
It really seemed like the garden went on forever and I appreciated all the different themes and varieties. My battery almost died I took so many pictures. It’s a nice place to visit, there’s a lot to do in a few days.
what an incredible garden!
It was so beautiful!
A cold miserable day here, so, a splash of colour was much appreciated!! 🙂
I’m so glad! It’s been pretty gloomy here this winter.
Haha, me too! 😉 Yup, g;loomy and cold here too 🙁
Fabulous gardens
It was really stunning 🙂
Free upgrade to First Class! You’re going to have a good year, Lyssy 🙂 I’ve only been to a few botanical gardens. For me, it’s one of those experiences where you don’t realize how good it’s going to be until you’re past the entry gate and fully immersed. Longwood Gardens (outside of Philadelphia) is my favorite of the ones I’ve seen. You walk for miles to see its various gardens, similar to what you show in Montreal. They have a concert season, and of course, dress up the gardens with lights during the year-end holidays. Easy drive from NYC!
It was a smaller and older plane, but it was still nice to be upgraded. The gardens are a nice place to unplug and get some fresh air. I’ll have to visit the Longwood Gardens, everyone raves about it!
I enjoyed your Montreal series, and I loved the botanical garden tour. Your photos are just spectacular, and I didn’t think you had too may. What a great trip.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed this series. I think I had about 100 pictures before I started narrowing down. My camera almost ran out of battery at the gardens haha.
I love exploring botanical gardens and find them so photogenic that I fully understand you not being able to limit the number of photos you took. This garden looks lovely with so many blooming flowers, the peonies are gorgeous. What a nice ending to your trip flying back first class.
It was hard to take a bad picture there, especially with the peonies blooming. The plane was small and not fancy, but it was still nice to be upgraded. Poor Jon’s flight got cancelled and they ended up ubering and walking over the border and then ubering to a rental car pickup.
Loved these pictures. We toured the botanical gardens in San Francisco in Sept. (It turns out that it is one of the most popular places to go on a first date). I never get tired of them.
Thank you! I’ll have to visit those one day! I never get tired of them either.
That botanical garden looks amazing! I love peonies so much and the photos you got are just lovely. That sounds like a perfect ending to your trip.
I was so happy they peonies were blooming while I was there, I love them too! It was the perfect way to end the trip 🙂
A beautiful garden full of bright flowers is welcome anytime, but on a dreary January day, it is such a bright spot. Glad you had a good visit and flight home Lyssy. Did you try any poutine when you were there? Happy Tuesday. Allan
I agree, it’s nice to have some color in January. We didn’t end up getting poutine, but we really wanted to. Next time!
When you do, try Chez Tousignaut https://cheztousignant.com/. They also offer Montreal style hot dogs. Go on a Saturday (they open at 11:30) and visit the nearby Jean Talon Market https://www.marchespublics-mtl.com/marches/jean-talon/. Cheers
Thank you! That looks amazing. I’ll have to go next time.Jon is headed back up next week, but they usually have him on a pretty tight schedule.
Wow, this botanical garden looks so beautiful! I am impressed at how many flowers and plants there are there!
It was a stunning garden with so much variety! They did a great job designing it.
The botanical garden definitely brightened my day as it’s cold and gloomy here.
I’m so glad it brightened your day!
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The Montreal Botanical Garden is indeed a great place to visit, located near the Olympic Park there is something to keep you busy all day. With a remaining energy I even walked to the Maisonneuve Market that you can see from the top of the Olympic tower. As for the Garden, it is vast and organized in several different spaces as you show it, which avoids boredom. When I visited, the Chinese garden featured paper figurines representing fishermen.
You’re right, there is a lot to do in that area! The science museum looked pretty neat too. That market would’ve been cool to visit afterwards. They did a great job organizing the garden, it felt like it could go on forever.
Amazing! Strolling among the various flower beds and landscapes was like visiting three or four continents in only two hours. This botanical garden is extremely well done.
You’re right! They did a great job organizing the gardens and had so many different varieties. It was the perfect day there!
Beautiful photos 💐 maybe I should add this to my bucket list!
Thank you! It’s a great garden to add to your bucket list 🙂
What beautiful photos as always – and the sun is making me reeeeeally miss summer as it’s snowing here again for the third time this winter!
Thank you!! Oh man!! We haven’t really had any snow but it’s been so gloomy and bleh. I’m ready for spring!
Even though I’ve been three times to Montreal, I have never taken the time to visit the Botanical Garden…. Your great post and beautiful pictures now absolutely convinced me to go there next time I visit! The Chinese garden especially looks stunning!
You’ll have to visit next time, they are simply stunning! It’s the perfect, relaxing activity.
The Montreal Botanical Garden looks beautiful. How lovely to have it mostly all to yourself, before the kids took over.
It was such a treat! I’m glad they weren’t running around the peonies haha
omg beautiful photos and beautiful garden. I love this very much