Your guide to dating in Montreal

Is there a better way to kick off a relationship than enjoying some of the city’s best sushi in a stunning castle setting? One of the best new sushi spots we discovered this summer, Château Maneki—a delicious sushi kitchen tucked inside an iconic pastel-coloured castle with an outdoor terrasse—now has an indoor dining room, speakeasy and a brand new menu. Time to add this magical pink castle to your list.

Whether you’re looking for a romantic date spot, or simply one of the best cups of coffee in town, this Old Montreal gem tucked inside one of the city’s most stunning historic buildings will take your breath away. 

Picture glamorous vaulted coffered ceilings, lofty archways, romantic staircases, brass chandeliers and burnished gold touches everywhere. And an entrance that feels like you're walking into a 12,000-square-foot neoclassical cathedral. 

Caviar and blinis get romance going in our hearts at every turn. If you’re the same, this stylish joint on Laurier Ouest is your destination for a hit of date-night class. Everything from the cocktail list to the décor feels polished and sophisticated, but the food isn’t just style—it’s heart-warming homey substance too. Share a plate of garlicky escargots or their miso-kissed green veg plate (just check your teeth after in the mirror before smoochie time).

In case the name didn’t give it away, this one is for the wine lovers. An essential spot on the Montreal nightlife map, this organic-forward bar has exploded in popularity since opening its doors in the summer of 2019. Its thoughtfully crafted lists include some local selections from Québec and Ontario among other wines primarily imported from Central Europe, all served in a 70-seat space that’s perfect for a casual yet classy date spot. Keep in mind that they don’t take reservations, so have a plan B in place if you plan to go during the weekend (hint: check out what the best wine bars in Montreal are right now).

Whether you head to Cafe Parvis for a quick drink with a Tinder date or are planning for a full meal with your significant other, this charming café offers a cozy ambiance perfect for intimate conversations. If you fancy dating in the daylight—or need an idea for where to go after a successful night out—they’re open for breakfast and lunch throughout the week and brunch during the weekend, when the menu extends beyond pastries and enfrijoladas. It’s simple: Dine during dinner and share one of their tasty gourmet pizzas and a bottle of red with your date. If you’re looking to have a couple drinks and spend a little one-on-one time under dimmed lights, you can’t go wrong here or at their neighbour Furco.

It’s dark. It’s trendy. Its cocktail list is extensive, its neon décor abundant. This place is great bet to take first dates when you haven’t nailed down exactly what the other person is into yet (and its proximity to Chinatown restaurants is an added bonus). Take a seat either by the bar or at one of their stunted tables and hash out that first-date conversation over a tequila-infused cocktail while the DJ plays in the corner. 

Get high on love at this restaurant overlooking the city from the 46th floor of Place Ville-Marie, where the menu is small but hides lovely surprises like aged duck with foie gras, razor clams prepared with shmaltz, and a Japanese twist on sticky toffee pudding for dessert. It’s a great place for a casual sundown date with nicely polished edges. 

For any and all fans of bygone eras, Le 4e Mur is an experience that you aren’t likely to forget. It’s one of the best speakeasys in Montreal that blends a Sherlockian aesthetic with the 1920s charm of Midnight in Paris, complete with a secret entranceway that leads down into what feels like the set of your childhood Clue board game. Once seated, choose to participate in a game of ‘whodunnit?’, as your drinks’ menu doubles as a murder mystery game. The cocktail list is creative, and depending on your choice, you may be in for a smoky surprise.

Ready to hit the tropics? Snowbird Tiki Bar has been artfully furnished with the finest authentic vintage tiki decor, making any thoughts of Montreal’s brutal winters wash away upon entering. From plastic palm trees to 1960s-style princess wicker chairs, strands of glowing lights hung above the bar to a massive retro painting of Elvis, Snowbird is the perfect place for a playful date and a fruity sharing cocktail, and of course, showing off some killer dance moves.

In the mood for some live music, a couple of beers, and a good time? Casa del Popolo is likely your ideal date spot. A low-key bar that brings musical talent to its stage on any given night, we recommend checking their event calendar to stay up-to-date with their schedule to make sure that the music will be up you and your date’s alleys. During the summertime, wander out back and take a seat on their outdoor terrasse – it’s cozy and romantic if it’s not too crowded, and can make for a great first date.

Go head to head on Street Fighter II while downing a classic beer at Cobra, a chilled-out Little Italy dive bar that screams Y2K with its maximalist décor of neons and poster art. There are cheesy action movies playing on old TVs in the background to set a rec room tone that will definitely relax you, if this is one of your first dates together, plus lots of theme karaoke nights—karaoCreed, kataoQueb and Swiftieoke, for example—if you want to belt it out.

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Head to Quartier des Spectacles where you’ll find fou r lanes on the new refrigerated hill, and two additional hills in Place Émilie-Gamelin for snowskating and snow scootering.After hitting the three hills and six runs, warm up in L’Après-glisse—a cozy chalet where snacks and hot drinks will be served by Café Tranquille.

Why buy your date a bouquet of flowers when you could bring them to the Botanical Garden instead? Just kidding, still buy the bouquet? This curated outdoor space features displays upon stunning displays of Mother Nature’s finest work all year-round. If you’re looking truly enjoy each other’s company while being peacefully surrounded by over 22,000 plant species in more than 20 themed gardens, there’s not a more romantic spot than the Botanical Garden. You know what they say: Sometimes you’ve just got to stop and smell the roses.

Get a real feel for the Plateau at this sprawling green installation in the neighbourhood’s centre. It’s got a pond, tennis courts if you’re sporty, a dog park to gawk at cuteness and all sorts of gentle elevations that provide perfect private picnic nooks. In winter you can skate hand-in-hand on the pond to the sound of pretty music; in the summer, try and time your date to catch one of the free performances at the open-air theatre. It’ll be a date to remember.

Head to Little Italy with your special someone for a day at Jean-Talon Market. Pick up a few things for dinner amidst the stalls of fresh fruit and veggies or wander the endless aisles of flowers and houseplants tended to by friendly merchants. Montreal’s oldest market is open year-round and is always a great place to grab a bite to eat with its countless understated gastronomic gems studded throughout the marketplace. Make it romantic by feeding one another samples from the fresh fruit stalls.

Are you an active couple up for a mountainous run, or want to take in a scenic view of the city from the mountain’s plateau? How about a calming walk around Beaver Lake, which has some of the best ice skating in Montreal during winter? Parc Mont-Royal offers all of that and more. A vast outdoor space in the middle of the city, it’s the perfect temporary escape from the hustle and bustle of downtown. Keep in mind that on Sundays during the spring and summer,  Montreal’s infamous Tam-Tams take place—expect a lot of impromptu musicians to congregate around the George-Étienne Cartier monument and drum all day long.

A date spent wandering around Atwater Market makes for a morning or afternoon well spent. A market filled with gourmet cheese and chocolate shops, bakeries, butchers, local produce vendors, and restaurants throughout the week in the summer, it’s a bustling place to spend a date. Grab a coffee and Portuguese nata tart at Brulerie Aux Quatre Vents before wandering the stalls of fruits and veggies at any time of year. During the summertime, pop in at Havres aux Glaces for a refreshing ice cream cone and lounge at one of the picnic tables. Once you’ve tried enough of the good grub, talk a long stroll along the Lachine Canal to walk it off.

Grab your picnic blanket and fill a basket with some fresh fruit, cheese, a couple of sandwiches, and a bottle of red, and you’ve got yourself a stellar evening ahead of you. Lachine Canal is one of the best spots in the city for a romantic picnic, with plenty of green space along the water to snuggle up for the day with your special someone. Of course, a picnic is best enjoyed during the spring and summer months; there’s nothing better than lying in the sun with the breeze off blowing off the canal to bring you and your date some cool relief. Plus, this makes for one cost-effective date—that is, of course, if you don’t spring for a swan boat ride ($30 for an hour) available near Atwater Market.

Twice the size of the The Rink at Rockefeller Center, the refrigerated ice rink at the Esplanade Tranquille—located at the intersection of Sainte-Catherine Street West and Clark Street—is 1,500 m2 of winter fun. Take your date for a whirl! Expect 70s vibes on Saturday nights thanks to all the musical disco hits (hello, Donna Summer!), and classical vibes (Mozart and more) on Wednesday afternoons. 

MURAL, an international public art festival, turns Saint-Laurent Boulevard into an open-air museum for a week in June, celebrating creativity and urban art. Local and global artists unite to display their talents in innovative ways, offering a vibrant showcase of visual arts and creativity.

Ping Pong Club on Saint-Laurent Boulevard and Bernard Street pulls in hefty crowds on Friday and Saturday nights in part because of its finger foods and creative cocktails, but mostly because of its ping pong tables and assortment of other games. It’s a good place to devote a night to rather than simply stopping by; iit can be easy to get sucked into a table tennis tournament with your most competitive friends and, without realizing it, pass the hours away. If you’re in the mood to move, drink and win all in one night, this is the place to go.

Whether you’ve both recently gotten over a fight or you’re simply looking for a more extreme activity to do together, consider heading to Rage for an adrenaline-inducing (and certainly memorable) date night. The premise is simple: Take out your rage by throwing axes at a wall. After all, nothing screams ‘romance’ more than whipping heavy, dangerous weapons across a room at full force, right? We can hear the wedding bells already.

Sometimes there isn’t anything better than monkeying around, literally. AllezUp is known around Montreal as being one of the best indoor rock-climbing gyms in the city, making it a perfect spot to bring a partner for a sporty date. Whether you’re both beginners or skilled climbing veterans, this gym has various walls designed specifically for different skill sets. Gear up and head on over—they’re open until midnight every weeknight! It’s among the best gyms in town that (while not the only one) offers some action before the, ahem, action.

What better way to see if you’re destined to make it as a couple than by putting your teamwork skills to the test in an escape room? Pick which kind of location you want to try to escape from, from the Prison to a Lost Temple to a Laboratory and tons more. We recommend doing this as a double date idea, as it’s a case of ‘the more the merrier’ with this activity!

This summertime adventure park in the Old Port has a bit of a touristy twang, but it’s still a hell of a good time for anyone at any age. Strap yourself in and swing aaalllll the way over Île Bonsecours, with a bird’s eye view on all the Old Port frolickers below. The only downside is that it’s over before you know it—so use it as a high-adrenaline kick-off. Follow-up with some of the street food stalls along the waterfront or head to a bar in nearby Old Montréal.

Feel the wind on your face as you propel yourself into a nose-dive… in an air tunnel. This indoor skydive place is worth the time it might take you to get to Laval, if only for the rush. It’s a great way to test your mettle—maybe more third-date than first, unless you’re both really all-in types! The endorphins afterwards make for a high that’s great lived à deux.

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Get the full-on amusement park experience at La Ronde, complete with candy floss and chocolate-smothered Beaver Tails. It’s all thrills and spills at this fun fair, a mere metro ride away from central Montréal, with rides that are both cute and quirky and straight-up terrifying. Try to time your visit for a fireworks night, to get the best view in the house. But be warned, the chills start with the price of entry—it ain’t cheap.

Whether it’s basket weaving, pottery, woodworking, sewing or natural cosmetics, there’s a class for that at this bright and airy workshop on St. Lawrence Boulevard in Little Italy. The 3-hour format of some of the group classes is a great way to get to know somebody in a casual atmosphere, plus even if you don’t fully click, you’re guaranteed to get something out of the date. Like your own self-made chopping block. Not too shabby.

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There are dazzling lights and fairy-tale-like winter wonderlands around almost every corner—many of which are part of Luminothérapie: original and interactive winter experiences in the form of large light-and-sound installations designed specifically for public spaces. Don't miss the all-new interactive experience on the Esplanade Tranquille rink.

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Time to crawl the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal, our ground zero for some of the best attractions and activities.