Where to experience the retro side of Montréal

1. How to design your own architectural tour

Pick exactly the memory lane you want to stroll along. If none of Montréal’s great guided tours hits exactly your area of interest, choose your own adventure: 

🍸 Walk through the Quartier des Spectacles for a taste of Montréal’s past as Sin City North during the American prohibition era of the ‘30s

🎰 Head to Parc Jean-Drapeau and tour the pavilions of Expo 67, including the Casino de Montréal

📸 Get a unique eyeful of architecture with a stroll in Cité-du-Havre for a peek at Habitat 67

2. Your guide to exploring underground

Montréal’s metro system was built in time for the 1967 Expo, and many of the stations have remnants of that pop coloured, retro-tiled interior décor past. There are incredible pieces of original art that were commissioned by big names in the local art scene, plus it’s a great way to access the famous Underground City. Don’t miss the art at these stations:

• Champ-de-Mars: Famous for Marcelle Ferron’s expansive stained-glass windows
• Place-des-Arts: Featuring stained glass by Frédéric Back and distinctive zig-zag brickwork
• Mont-Royal: Known for Charles Daudelin’s textured aluminum bands on the walls
• Crémazie: Showcasing large murals by Georges Lauda, Paul Pannier and Gérard Cordeau
• Lionel-Groulx: Home to Joseph Rifesser’s Tree of Life, a large wooden sculpture representing global harmony

3. Where to find the best vintage clothes

Vintage shopping is a veritable art form in Montréal, where locals truly live the lifestyle of reuse, restyle, recycle. There are big charity shop chains like Village des Valeurs and Renaissance that are fun to comb through, but you might prefer the highly edited collections in vintage boutiques. Here’s a list of shops to get you started:

• Seconde: Impeccably curated, trend-aware vintage workwear with timeless silhouettes
• Inédit.e: Vault-condition vintage, couture vibes, sustainable luxury under $100
• Take Three: Feminine looks, casual vintage with textures, local designers
• Ribotti Vintage: Museum-level designer vintage, edgy selection, exceptional bags and accessories
• Marché Floh: Retro hip-hop, athleticwear classics, jerseys, hoodies, oversized street style
• ReUpMTL: Hypebeast staples, logo-heavy streetwear, rare designers, premium menswear
• Club 777 Vintage: Y2K skater-girl streetwear, sequins, lots of logos
• CRTBLNCHSHP: High-fashion vintage consignment, luxury bags, gender-inclusive designer finds
• Le Ninety: ’90s-focused, band tees, sportswear, with a cult following
• Palmo Goods: Normcore workwear, military classics, chore jackets, minimalist menswear

4. Where to experience the playful side of history

Step where some of hockey’s most important historical moments happened by visiting the Montréal Forum, now an arcade, bowling alley and movie theatre but previously home to the Montréal Canadiens until 1996. You can sit in some of the old arena seats, still preserved in place! 

5. Find all the best bowling in Montréal

Not far from the Olympic Stadium, Le Darling is an alley that revives the 1960s retro vibes of the sport with its 24 refurbished lanes. 

In the Rosemont-Villeray area, Bowling G Plus is a happening place on weeknights and weekends. 

More low-key, Notre-Dame des Quilles is a small friendly pub nearby on Beaubien that has two small bowling lanes. 

Located on the East side of Montréal, BoulZeye, Pub & Attractions, has not only 16 bowling lanes, but also arcade and escape games, and a bistro-pub.

6. Where to play your hand at an arcade

It’s official: there’s a revival of pinball halls and arcades all over the city.

• North Star Pinball on St. Lawrence Boulevard has great microbrasserie brews, snacks and a proud collection of beautifully restored pinball machines.
• Arcade MTL on Saint-Denis Street is a gaming mecca, with thematic drinks like the Donkey Kong (vodka, banana liqueur, bitters, brandy and fruit juices) and a ton of retro games like Pac-Man and the Street Fighter II.
• Time Out Market Montréal has a cute arcade so you can catch a couple of plays between courses.
• PLAYBOX Centre has a game for everyone, from internationally renowned crane games to arcade games, skill games and VR attractions.
• Super Super at DIX30 in Brossard is another super lively, family-friendly option.
• The Rec Room at Royalmount invites you to duke it out in VR games and more before munching burgers or nachos.
• ARcade by Moment Factory gaming experience at the Casino de Montréal is a fusion of multimedia and video game technology combining motion-detection, projection technologies and videogame mechanics to play on life-size arcade games
• Cobra is a Little Italy bar that invites you to pair your craft cocktails with a few rounds of play.

7. Yes, Montréal has old-school barbershops

Revive the lifestyle of a gentleman (or at least a hipster) at one of Montréal’s renowned barbershops, where pomade and straight razors will leave you shipshape and sharp. Maison Privée is an expert place to start. 

8. Find places to swing dance (and more) 

Make like Kevin Bacon and set those feet loose! Swing dance is alive and swingin’ in Montréal dance clubs like these:

• Cat’s Corner, which offers regular intro classes for beginners and in the summer, brings its swing outdoors with open air classes in Atwater Market or along the Lachine Canal
• Studio 88 Swing offers swing classes as well as Latin and other social dances for all levels
• Studio Jive, in the heart of the Plateau, revives the 1950s full and proper
• Wheel Club presents a variety of retro dance nights every month

9. Discover Montréal’s deep burlesque roots

Burlesque has had a wonderfully rich history in Montréal since the days of the American prohibition, which brought lots of attention and rowdy good times to Montréal, especially in the area now known as the Quartier des Spectacles. Revel in that heritage at Cabaret Cléopâtre, a remaining bastion of that burlesque era, or enjoy a night out at the Wiggle Room. You can also get your fill at the annual Montréal Burlesque Festival. 

10. Where to strap on your roller skates in Montréal

Roller skate your way down memory lane, why don’t ya? Montréal Roller Derby is a spectator sport full of thrills, spills, chills and incredible skill — and it’ll leave you on the edge of your seat. Follow them on socials to know when you can buy tickets. Here are places to strap on your own wheels for a go:

🛼 Roller Disco Montréal

🛼 Rolling Tribes 

🛼 Montréal Roll-O-Rama
🛼 Skatespace

11. Because sometimes grownups just want to play games too

Go nuts at one of Montréal’s grownup play zones, whether it’s Putting Edge (helloooo, glow in the dark mini golf), Boulzeye (arcade meets bowling alley meets escape rooms meets laser tag!) or Action 500 (everything from paintball to go-karting).

12. Buy yourself a piece of musical history

The Montréal music scene is legendary, so it only makes sense that it translates to a healthy music-collecting scene too. Explore some of the many vinyl shops:

• L’Échange
• Sonorama
• La fin du vinyle
• Aux 33 Tours
• Café Got Soul
• Le 180 g

13. Places to play boardgames in Montréal

Picture yourself in a basement rec room (or in a scene from Stranger Things) and get your board game on at Randolph, Le Colonel Moutarde or Le Joker. Just book a spot, show up with friends and pick one of the hundreds of games onsite for a high spirited night. (Oh, didn’t we mention there are drinks?)

14. Here’s where to find vintage souvenirs

There are so many little pockets of vintage furniture and décor shopping in Montréal, including Amherst Street in the Village and along Notre-Dame Street in the Quartiers du Canal. Some one-off shops with beautifully curated collections of mid-century modern pieces include:

• Style Labo: industrial chic statement pieces and rare finds from Europe and Canada
• Morceau: carefully curated vintage shop with a focus on mid-century and 1970s décor
• Bien Beau: wide-ranging retro finds for the home, with a focus on small collectibles
• Spazio: a veritable emporium of period accoutrements for the home, from original 1930s door handles to 1950s medical cabinets 

15. Go here to taste classic Montréal flavours 

If your ideal meal is something out of Grease, then pick one of the burgers off this list! Or just head straight to Gibeau Orange Julep, where the next-level casse-croûte delights are served out of a giant orange. Plus, every Wednesday night in the warm-weather months, the parking lot fills with vintage cars — the perfect retro vibes photo opp.