I didn't expect to write as much as I did, but this is a trip report on our trip to Montreal last week. Hopefully this is helpful to someone. Feel free to ask me anything.

Arriving at the airport (YUL)

• Traveling in and out of YUL is a breeze. I was prompted by my airline to download the ArriveCAN app to make the entry procedure smoother, which I did. However, there was an error with the app, so I could not complete the pre-arrival paperwork. No worry, there was a separate line for those that did not use ArriveCAN, and it was short and quick.
• I had planned to take the 747 bus to our downtown hotel (we did not rent a car - more on that below), which runs 24/7 and costs $11CAD. The others in my party overruled me, and we caught an Uber. With three people, we broke even on the Uber ride vs. the bus. If you're traveling with less than three people, I would suggest the bus.
• Be careful with ride jumpers at the Uber pick-up zone. I saw two different people get into cars they did not order, and a guy almost got into ours. I had never seen this happen at this rate before.
• Very important: When flying back to the US, you will go through customs in the Montreal airport. We may have caught them at a slow time, but this only added about 5 minutes to the normal security procedure. Keep this in mind when planning your arrival time to the airport at the end of your trip.

Language

• All signage in Montreal is in French.
• Everyone we interfaced with was bilingual. I speak very rudimentary French, and when I would speak to a server or host at a restaurant, they usually switched to English (either my French is terrible or they were being nice).
• I didn't get any attitude from anyone when they spoke English with me. They probably appreciated that I attempted French.
• If you don't speak French, I think you'll probably be ok; everyone was friendly and accommodating. However, I think it's always a good idea to make an attempt to be a good visitor and at least know a few French phrases.

Getting around the city

• You do not need a car. I will preface this by saying I like to avoid car rental on city visits as much as possible. In Montreal, it is quite easy to do without one. I will also mention that we averaged 10 miles per day of walking, so I am probably not the typical traveler.
• The Metro (subway) was surprisingly clean and safe. We saw a few homeless folks in the stations, but no psychotic episodes were seen in the stations or the cars. It was a much nicer experience than most American public transit systems. We purchased the week pass and broke even halfway through the trip.
• They have a bikeshare program called Bixi, with stations everywhere. We only got to use it twice, due to less than ideal weather conditions. I can't recommend Bixi highly enough. The bikes were plentiful, in good condition and are a relatively cheap option for recreation or transportation. Be sure to download the app ahead of time and enter your credit card prior to arriving at the station. We had a few difficulties entering our info and they didn't take Apple Pay. Please note that Bixi does not offer helmets. I'm a pretty confident cyclist, but still let a bit uneasy without a helmet (it's only required by law for e-bikes in Montreal), even with the great bike infrastructure.
• Bike infrastructure is amazing - lots of separated bike lanes and multi-use paths to explore. Automobile drivers are more deferential to cyclists than in most U.S. cities. It's a great city for cycling.
• We had originally planned to visit Quebec City on this trip (I wish we had!). There is a 3-hour train ride on VIA (similar to Amtrak) with reasonably priced tickets. Quebec City is even more walkable than Montreal, so I think you could do Montreal + QC easily without a car.

Activities

• There were a few things on our list that we did not get to do that I wanted to hit, like Notre-Dame Basilica (ran out of time), Museum of Fine Arts (ran out of time), Botanical Garden (nothing was in bloom outside and the greenhouses were closed for repairs - should be fantastic in May or June), Olympic Stadium tour (closed)
• Parc du Mont-Royal. We spent several hours walking up and around the mountain. There are some great viewpoints at the top and lots of trails. Be prepared for elevation change!
• St. Joseph's Oratory is free to visit. Lots of stairs. Very cool Art Deco interior, which is surprising because the exterior is Renaissance Revival (per Wikipedia).
• Old Montreal. This is fun to walk around. Looks a lot like an old European city.
• Jean-Talon Market. Small farmer's market with lots of beautiful fruit and vegetables, cheese/meat counters and eateries.
• Biodome: I enjoyed this mostly for the fact that it was a pretty cool repurposing of the Olympic velodrome (1976 Olympics) and it offered us a warm place to go on a colder day. I thought the exhibits were a bit underwhelming, though. The capybaras were cool. This is right next to the Olympic stadium and other Olympic venues from 1976 and they are architectural marvels, so it was worth the trip to me to see all of that.

Food
This is the primary focus of my travel. I admit I am a bit of a slave to YouTube travel videos and food blogs like Eater; so if you're the same, you may see a lot of overlap. These are in order of when I visited. These are not all recommendations; I mostly loved all the food I had in Montreal, but also want to be honest and report the places that fell a bit short.

• La Capital Tacos (Chinatown): Fantastic tacos. Get the carnitas tacos and margarita. Chips and guac were quite good as well.
• Le Toledo: Bakery w/ several locations. The Gateau Basque changed my life. Coffee was outstanding. Most coffee shops don't have drip coffee (if they do, it will be called cafe filtre - filtered coffee. I usually ordered Americanos or cortados)
• Modavie: Located in Old Montreal. This was my birthday dinner, and it was pretty standard for a steak/fish/chicken place in that area. A tad overpriced, but we were all happy with the quality of the food and drinks.
• Cafe Olimpico (several locations): Coffee shop that has a pretty good tiramisu and cheesecake (different texture from a NY style cheesecake and less sweet).
• The Coldroom: speakeasy in Old Montreal. I'm jaded, I guess, so they speakeasy concept is cute but kind of gets an eyeball from me. This place had character and drinks were ok. I'd probably skip this if I visited again.
• Olive + Gourmando: Good pastries!
• La Banquise: Kind of touristy poutine joint. I liked my dish quite a bit. Get the regular size unless you've skipped eating for the past three days. The blonde beer was outstanding.
• Cafe Neve: You'll like this if you're a coffee snob like me. In the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood
• Pub St-Pierre: Overpriced mediocre pub food in Old Montreal. Skip.
• Zab Cafe: Close to Little Italy. The best Americano I had on the trip.
• 49th Parallel/Lucky Donuts: Downtown. We went here 4 times, mostly because we love the donuts and the croissant sandwich.
• St-Viateur Bagel: All the travel shows tell you to go here. Be sure to have Canadian cash on hand. The bagels are delicious! I had one of the sandwiches, the Traditional with smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers.
• Au Kouign-Amann: Bakery that specializes in kouign amanns (pronounced queen ah-mahn) that they make in huge cakes. You can buy by the slice. Very good, but not the best I've had.
• Pub Brewsky: in Old Montreal. I wanted to hate this place because of the name, but the beers were outstanding. I had the dark Czech lager and one of the IPAs.
• Wolf & Workman: Old Montreal. Good english-style pub with good food and cozy atmosphere. I really liked this place.
• Crew Collective & Cafe: Coffee shop in old bank building. Coffee was better than expected; you really go for the setting.
• Dandy: Brunch spot. Limited menu and pricey. I liked what I had, but not enough to rave about.
• Hanzo Izakaya: Old Montreal. We went in thinking it was a ramen place (they had one ramen dish), but it was definitely mostly izakaya, Very solid choice. I recommend the umeboshi cucumber and agedashi tofu. We had a full late lunch that day, so didn't eat too much here,
• Bosso (Time Out Market): Located in a mall. Get the porchetta sandwich. This was the most surprisingly delicious sandwich of the trip
• La Finca: Good breakfast sandwiches and pastries
• Dieu du Ciel: Brewery in Mile End. Really good Czech lager.
• Allo Mon Coco: Breakfast spot with huge portions. Meh.
• Janine Cafe: Brunch spot in Verdun. Really good - everyone loved their dishes.
• Memento: Brewpub along Lachine Canal. Cool little spot in a very walkable area. They had a good wine and beer list. I usually get beer, but opted for a glass of wine here.
• McKiernan: Had high hopes for this place, but was a little disappointed in my sirloin. It was served very rare (they didn't ask how I'd like it). I would give this another try maybe. Great service and atmosphere.