Things to do in Montréal this January 2026
Winter The city
Montréal makes the new year truly bright this January, with illuminated skating rinks, the playful light art of Lumino, warming winter meals — and plenty of hot chocolate too. Take a stroll or cross-country ski in snow-covered parks, then relax and recharge at Montréal’s museums, galleries, theatres, music venues or a spa. A brand-new year, and so much new and exciting stuff to do.
Welcome to Montréal!
To enjoy the best the city has to offer during your stay in January, please don't think of yourself as a tourist, but as one of us. Whether you're here for a few days, a few weeks or a few years, we're counting on you to enjoy Montréal in a spirit of respect, responsibility and celebration!
January events and happenings
Winter and the promise of a whole new year shine bright in Montréal throughout the month and across the city. Downtown, the Esplanade Tranquille proves itself to be much more than a typical skating rink: expect lighting displays, live music, performances, storytelling and sports activities, along with ice skating for all ages and levels. Rent skates or bring your own, learn a few moves from instructors, and go “dancing” on DJ nights!
At the rink and throughout the Quartiers des spectacles, experience illuminated artwork, activities and more. This year’s Lumino outdoor exhibition, running all month long and beyond, features illuminated interactive art that makes us all feel like kids again.
Stroll along the glittering boardwalk in the Old Port of Montréal. And while you’re in the neighbourhood, dance under the stars and in the snow at one of Montréal's favourite winter festivals: Igloofest. Prepare to dance under the stars in your best parka from January 15 to February 7.
Wintry activities, attractions and tours
We hope you make yourself at home in Montréal’s incredible hotels — there’s an accommodation option for everyone, from landmark hotels to family friendly hotels and boutique hotels galore.
The easiest way to visit dozens of Montréal attractions, museums and more at a discount is by getting your own key to the city: Passeport MTL, whose special winter edition will help you experience the best of the season.
In Old Montréal, walk the cobblestone streets to the St. Lawrence River and visit the iconic Notre-Dame Basilica — see the gorgeous multimedia AURA Experience, a wonderful way to feel the grandeur of this landmark.
Downtown holds one of the city’s most lovely churches, the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, where you can admire the beautiful stained glass during services or during the regular organ concerts.
In the Old Port of Montréal, after shooting a selfie at the glimmering BONJOUR structure, see views of the city and the river from Montréal’s Grand Quay, where you’ll find a cruise ship dock, marine history displays, green spaces and the Port of Montréal Tower. Nearby, treat yourself to bird’s-eye views on the four-season Grande Roue de Montréal Observation Wheel.
Stroll to the Esplanade Place Ville Marie to take a pic of the massive, glimmering art installation The Ring, or take a break for entertainment, a bit of skating and a snack at Esplanade Tranquille at the corner of Clark and Sainte-Catherine Street.
One of the best ways to discover the city is with expert guides on Montréal tours: don your winter gear and set your own agenda with private walking tours at your own pace. See the city like a local with MTL Detours, take a day trip outside the city with N-Tours or call upon the experts at Guidatours. For an unparalleled taste of the city, savour one of the expert two- or three-hour walking tours given by Local Montréal Food Tours — they range from Mile End to Old Montréal.
If you’re wondering why Montréal has so many colourful murals, hear more about them and their artists on a street art tour with Spade & Palacio, including the most recent murals from the 2025 MURAL Festival. For an electric bike tour of the murals, look to Fitz Montréal — their tours cover anything from downtown Montréal to Jean-Talon Market. To enjoy Montréal after dark (weather permitting), head out on the Montréal by Night Loop on GrayLine’s double decker bus! Enjoy the ambiance and watch as the city’s most vibrant districts come to life after dusk.
You can also devise your own self-guided art tour (or follow one of their expertly curated ones) thanks to Art Public Montréal, a fountain of information on Montréal’s hundreds of public artworks that are viewable for free year-round. Explore their selection of podcasts, too, for the inside scoop.
January food and drink
You’ll find so many festivities to start the year off in style in this guide to New Year celebrations. To fill up on fresh produce and local goods in keeping with your New Year’s resolutions, explore the city’s beautiful public markets, including Jean-Talon Market in Little Italy and Atwater Market in Saint-Henri. Montréal’s smallest market, the Public Market of Lachine in the southwest, offers a great selection of products year-round.
If you aren’t quite finished celebrating, look no further than the Boulevard Saint-Laurent location of Le Petit Dep, which is stretching its festivities into the New Year with its Christmas Tavern decked out in candlelight, twinkling tinsel and trees.
Le vin dans les voiles is a natural, organic and biodynamic wine agency based in Montréal that offers fascinating wine tasting and educational events. Peruse the calendar here. The workshops happen in French, but hey — wine is a universal language!
Indulge in more incredible food at Montréal’s variety of restaurants, where there’s always something new and exciting to nosh on. Discover Montréal’s newest restaurants and buvettes, and don’t miss a classic Montréal brunch, whether you’re looking for elegance or comfort food.
For some crowdsourced favourites, try Montréalers’ top lunch spots, from Old Montréal and downtown to Villeray or the Southwest. Get a taste of long-time Quebec classics like smoked meat, poutine and Montréal bagels and keep on ticking the boxes on your must-eat list with these other musts for foodies in Montréal.
Explore superb restaurants and cafés along Beaubien Street in the Rosemont-La-Petit-Patrie neighbourhood. Downtown, explore the wide variety of excellent meals at gourmet food halls including Time Out Market, Marché Artisans, Le Cathcart and Le Central — or venture out to the de la Savane metro station to explore Le Fou Fou in the tawny Royalmount mall.
Get your caffeine fix at Montréal’s indie coffee shops — and why not snag some fresh-baked doughnuts to go with it! Add more sweetness to your life at Montréal’s best bakeries and pastry shops, best chocolate shops and candy shops.
Eat plant-based with our ultimate guide to vegan eating in Montréal or join the debate over who makes the best pizza in Montréal — or the best tacos. Warm up with authentic Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho.
By night, discover the city’s 34 top cocktail bars, inventive Montréal microbreweries and late-night eats. Or mix Montréalesque cocktails at home with gin, vodka, rum and more specialty spirits from these Montréal specialty alcohol and spirit makers — great gift ideas too for the amateur mixologists on your list.
Get an incredible bird’s eye view on Quartier des Spectacles from within the clear heated domes on the terrasse of Bivouac, where you can taste the best of the terroir, or of Old Montréal and beyond from the domes on Terrasse William Gray.
The new year is also an excellent month to have dinner and see a show at the Casino de Montréal: live music and cabaret shows will entertain you and your date while you enjoy incredible seafood and more on the grill at Le Montréal, a gourmet buffet at Pavillon 67, and quick delicious eats at L’Instant. Bon appétit!
January sports and relaxation
Catch the action as the WWE comes to the Bell Centre for the Friday Night Smackdown on January 23 and Saturday Night’s Main Event on January 24.
Cheer on the Montréal Canadiens as the NHL season continues with lots of nail-biting matches happening on home turf at the Bell Centre. See the whole month’s schedule here! If you can’t make the games in person, watch all the soccer, football, basketball, MMA and more at Montréal’s sports bars.
Located downtown, Grand Chelem Baseball Centre invites you to step up to the plate, whether you’re an elite player or a casual hitter, of any age. Grand Chelem also offers baseball and softball training for all levels.
Wanna play? Head to the Centre Eaton de Montréal where the 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, while Royalmount has a very fun arcade at The Rec Room, next to the Cineplex cinema, where you can duke it out in VR games and more before munching burgers or nachos (with accompanying cocktails, for parents) at the onsite eateries. Head to the Casino de Montréal to play on life-size arcade games at their ARcade by Moment Factory gaming experience: a fusion of multimedia and video game technology in two play areas that pits teams against each other in six interactive games. Each game combines motion-detection, projection technologies and videogame mechanics. Montréal loves exploring the retro side of play with its selection of arcades.
Montréal Bowling is the perfect spot downtown to play a few rounds of bowling, play some pool, watch some sports, play some arcade games and grab some great snacks and cocktails.
Get swinging with a foray into the circus arts (since Montréal is a bona fide capital of circus) at the Montréal Circus Academy, where you can learn flying trapeze, pole fitness, exotic pole dance, aerial silks, aerial hammock, straps, handstands, flexibility and more.
If you’re feeling more artsy, Art Chaos is a fantastic family- or group-friendly activity in Mile End, where you can paint crazy creations on rapidly spinning canvases, for a truly interactive experience.
Even when Montréal feels like a living snow globe, bundle up and head outside to Montréal’s parks for some gorgeous strolls, hikes or snowshoeing. Among the many free things to do this season, see incredible city views from Mount Royal Park: explore the park and make your way to the lookout, or bus or drive up to Beaver Lake for a leisurely ice skating session. Stroll around Parc La Fontaine, go to Saint-Michel neighbourhood’s Parc Frédéric-Back, or cross the river to Parc Jean-Drapeau for a riverside trek and a different view of the city. While there, visit the Espace pour la vie Biosphère too, for environment-focused exhibitions and more.
Speaking of Espace pour la vie spaces, enjoy the Jardin botanique botanical garden and its sprawling tropical greenhouse environments, a great wintertime escape. Experience several wild ecosystems at the Biodôme (there are penguins, otters, monkeys and more), explore the mysteries of the universe at the Planétarium, and learn about the thousands of butterflies, moths and other insects at the Insectarium.
The West Island’s Ecomuseum Zoo is a wonderful place to glimpse local wildlife in their natural outdoor habitats — and you can even have breakfast with some of them throughout the month of January.
For some fresh-air winter sports, there are great ice skating options in city parks throughout the city, and even indoors at Atrium Le 1000 downtown, decorated for the season and playing tunes as you skate.
For the ultimate relaxation session after a day of trekking or skating (or just because you deserve it), visit Bota Bota, spa sur l’eau, a unique spa in a moored boat on the St. Lawrence River in the Old Port, and other world-class spas like Scandinave Spa Vieux-Montréal, Avie Spa & Coiffure, Rainspa and Strøm Nordic Spa. Find more spas here.
New year (new deals!) shopping
Shop for a new-year-new-you wardrobe in Old Montréal’s boutiques, downtown along Sainte-Catherine Street and in the Underground City malls. Discover the latest styles at Downtown’s Centre Eaton de Montréal and Place Montréal Trust, including Uniqlo, Nike, Aritzia, Decathlon and many more boutiques (and remember to ask for a VIP Visitor Card at Guest Services for exclusive discounts only for tourists).
Keep your eye out for items made by Montréal designers, relaxing self-care staples and plenty of sparkly goods from the coolest Montréal jewellery stores.
Find foodstuffs from local artisans as well as imported delicacies at Montréal’s public markets, and shop local and eco-friendly at the most fabulous vintage boutiques in the city. Pick out the perfect new reads in Montréal’s bookstores, and dive into a wide world of music at Montréal’s excellent vinyl stores.
Forgot to pick up souvenirs? Fear not, YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport has got you covered. The focus on local goods in both the domestic and the international zones range from food to goods, including scarves and bags from M0851, yoga gear from Lolë and novels by local authors. Start your foray at Découvrir Montréal.
Onstage this January
Montréal’s cultural calendar is packed this season, with entertainment for everyone on the city’s many stages. Among the world-class theatre, dance, opera, circus and more gracing the city’s stages throughout January, catch the Québécois musical theatre hit Pub Royal, in original French, at the Place des Arts’s Théâtre Maisonneuve until January 3. This rousing stage production from La Tribu and Les 7 Doigts features the unforgettable music of Les Cowboys Fringnants, as well as a cast of seven actor-singers, seven dancers and six circus artists who combine talents to wow audiences in the craziest, high-flying bar in all of Québec.
On January 11, celebrate Chinese New Year with a performance arts extravaganza at Théâtre Maisonneuve: Feng Hua Xue Yue will fill your entertainment cup with music, acrobatics, dance and more.
And don’t miss Playing Shylock at the Segal Centre, starring Saul Rubinek, of Frasier fame. He returns to the stage for this fierce, funny and deeply human new work that explores the fault lines between art, identity and accountability. It runs from January 18 to February 8.
TO GET AROUND TOWN
To get where you’re going hassle-free, public transportation is the way to go. The STM has special offers on fares and a handy tool to plan your trip quickly and efficiently. You can also download the Transit and Chrono apps for up-to-the minute bus schedules.
Montréal makes the new year truly bright this January
January art and exhibitions
The cold season is in full effect in museums and galleries around town, so get the full low-down in our seasonal exhibition overview.
At PHI, take in Manuel Mathieu: Unity in Darkness, an art exhibition that interrogates the invisible forces that shape our world and affect our individual and collective lives, and Keiken: Sensory Oversoul, in its North American debut: this show features two major immersive and participatory installation works that will undoubtedly blow your mind. Both exhibitions run throughout the month.
Visit the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts to enjoy the Kent Monkman exhibition titled History is Painted by the Victors, among others. Through his subversive lens, this major Canadian artist and member of ocêkwi sîpiy (Fisher River Cree Nation) revisits history painting to challenge colonial narratives and offer new perspectives on the past and our present. His iconic and monumental paintings are full of humour, poignant commentary, and simply not to be missed.
At the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in Place Ville Marie, catch the current exhibition In Praise of the Missing Image throughout the month. Part of the 19th edition of the MOMENTA Biennale d’art contemporain, it’s a group show that focuses on what escapes visibility, silences and gaps in individual and collective memory.
Go to Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex in Old Montréal for their current show: Sherlock Holmes is an immersive exhibition that combines history, literature and investigation. Journey back to 19th century London where you’ll explore the author’s sources of inspiration and follow the trail of the master of deduction amid life-size settings.
You’ll also be near the kid-friendly Montréal Science Centre, where you can explore interactive exhibitions that investigate the scientific world, like the permanent exhibition Human: a voyage to the very heart of human evolution through a fully interactive and highly energetic environment.
The McCord Stewart Museum bridges past and present in its exhibitions, which throughout January includes Africa Fashion: a travelling exhibition from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and one of the largest ever exhibitions dedicated to the creative energy of designers from across the African continent, from the 1960s to today. There’s also On the Menu – Montréal: A Restaurant Story: witness the evolution of Montréal’s restaurant scene in all its forms since the 1960s.
Visit MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises, a cutting-edge museum dedicated to the voices of Montrealers presiding over the corner of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Rue Sainte-Catherine. Throughout the month you can catch Detours – Urban Experiences, an immersive exhibition that takes you into the world of Montrealers with singular backgrounds.
At the Montréal Planétarium, tickets to any of the shows gets you access to Rouge 2100: A Martian Adventure, an exhibition running throughout the month that offers a journey in five chapters and as many rooms, where we realistically imagine the first steps of a rare humans in 2100 on the fascinating red planet. In January, also catch Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon, a show celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s mythic album. Don’t miss this opportunity to see an acclaimed show, where the album’s score entwines with breathtaking images of the solar system and striking visual effects.
Travel back in time as you tour the rooms of Château Ramezay and visit the historical site of Château Dufresne near the Olympic Stadium. The Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal explores the history of medical care and its relationship to do-gooding with its temporary exhibition Medicine and Charity: Hotels-Dieu from the Middle Ages to New France. Stained glass windows, sculptures, paintings, furniture, tapestries, everyday objects related to patient care, and archives will allow visitors to discover the extraordinary richness of French hospital heritage, as well as that of Quebec.
Not far from the city, climb aboard railway cars, learn about the history of the railroad and explore miniature railways at the Exporail the Canadian Railway Museum.
Discover the vivid history and present of Québec ceramics at the Musée des métiers d’arts du Québec, ad Canadian arts and crafts at large at La Guilde in the Golden Square Mile. And for another slice of Québec history, visit Montréal’s stunning churches and sacred sites.
Experience a massive immersive art experience in surround-sound and laser light at OASIS Immersion, where Root for Nature extrapolates on biodiversity in all its splendour.
Speaking of immersive experiences, the Fabulous FAB Exhibition is an all-around trippy space spanning three floors in the Centre Eaton de Montréal, where you can experience no less than 20 extraordinary worlds. See it to believe it.
And don’t forget Montréal’s plethora of small, independent art galleries, from Bradley Ertaskiran to Hugues Charbonneau, Galerie B-312, SBC Gallery and Ellephant downtown, Oboro and MAI in the Plateau, Centre Clark and Dazibao in Mile End, Galerie d’Outremont in Outremont and many, many others in every neighbourhood.
Onscreen in January
Film buffs will get a kick out of the live classical music concert accompanying a screening of the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, when the FILMharmonique Orchestra and Choir take you on a thrilling journey back to Middle-Earth. On January 9 to 11 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. On January 23, there’s also Symphonic Tales of British Cinema at Maison Symphonique de Montréal: experience timeless Shakespearean tragedies, the world of Harry Potter through John Williams’s evocative theme, the romance of Jane Austen and the high-stakes world of James Bond, all in musical form.
You won’t want to miss the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in Quebec, from January 14 to 17 at Salle Pierre-Mercure. The festival showcases short and medium-length films created by daring adventurers in the heart of wild and remote places — captivating tales that blend sporting feats with human stories featuring cycling, skiing, climbing, mountaineering, kayaking and more.
The Montréal Science Centre’s IMAX cinema puts nature on the giant screen in all its glory — this month you can see the incredible T. REX 3D: Greatest of all Tyrants throughout January, where you can discover the most gripping and scientifically accurate portrait ever made of this titan and its formidable carnivorous cousins.
See independent features, family films, documentaries and more at Montréal’s indie cinemas including Cinéma Moderne, Cinéma du Parc, Cinéma du Musée at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, and the iconic Cinémathèque québécoise in the Quartier des Spectacles (the city’s entertainment district).
Explore the city through cinema in these Hollywood movies made in Montréal.
Live music in January
We’ve got the perfect overview of Montréal’s big, can’t-miss concerts of 2026so you can plan your highlights of the year.
Classical lovers have a world of choice at Place des Arts this month, with concerts ranging from a New Year’s day homage to Vienna to a futuristic piano concert on January 8 to a few nights of fusion with The Orchestra According to Duke Ellington and Rachaninov, among other concerts. There’s lots of great jazz on the schedule for January, as well as lot of great discoveries throughout the month at the 5 à 7 musicaux.
At the Bell Centre this month, Heavy MTL presents GHOST on their Skeletour World Tour on January 30.
You’ll find all sorts of fun music shows at MTELUS, including Kompromat on January 10, Snow Stripper on January 16, RSKO on January 17 and Médine on January 24.
At Théâtre Fairmount in Mile End, catch EsDeeKid on January 30, and lots of other shows during the month.
The world’s best EDM artists come to New City Gas to get you moving, including Maddix on January 23. See the full programming here.
At the SAT this month, don’t miss the awesome Dômesicle winter 2026 series, all happening in the semi-circular Satosphere. See the full programming here.
Want to experience music and entertainment in a sparkling, velvet-clad theatre? Look no further than Caf’Conc. Find the programming here.
Groove to live soul, disco, jazz, funk, salsa, Cuban music Fridays and more at Le Balcon, where you can have dinner with a show, go dancing, and enjoy a gospel brunch on weekends.
Hear live jazz nightly at Montréal’s amazing jazz and blues clubs, like Diese Onze and Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill. And go out dancing late into the night at Montréal’s dance clubs.
Indie venues Casa del Popolo and Sala Rossa have chock-a-block full monthly programs featuring both local and visiting bands, which you can find here. Look here for the many live events at hole-in-the-wall Barfly. Same for Bar Le Ritz PDB, where there’s a show nearly every night. Explore the lineups at Le Ministère and Turbo Haüs, and follow L’Escogriffe on Facebook to stay on top of all their upcoming shows. L’Hémisphère Gauche, up in Little Italy, is packed with music lovers for their nightly shows, as is Quai des Brumes on the Plateau — it never takes a night of.
Isa Tousignant
Isa Tousignant is an editor and storyteller with a curiosity that runs deeper than most. She has chatted life philosophies with celebrity chefs, gemologists, arena rockers and furries. (All were transformative.) Her favourite things include discovering new flavours and celebrating the creativity that defines her hometown, Montréal.