How to throw a Montréal-style bachelor party
Leisure activities Gastronomy Pub, microbrewerie Bars and pubs Leisure activities, nature and relaxation
Montréal has long been the go-to destination for bachelor parties, largely because of the city’s near limitless options for exciting activities, entertainment, sports competitions, group tours, great steakhouses, pubs and bars, and nightlife overall. And since throwing a bachelor party is a bit like going into battle – it takes a lot of strategizing, creates bonds that last forever and losing is not an option – we’ve devised a bachelor party plan of attack that will put your experience in the win column.
Action-packed sports and adventure activities
It’s always best to work up a bit of excitement with high-energy activities and/or skills competitions before heading out on the town, and Montréal is ideally equipped to get the bachelor party ball rolling.
- Action 500 go-karting and paintball: For those who enjoy the stink of burning rubber in their nostrils, Action 500 boasts powerful electric, adult go-karts (up to 55 km/h) at the largest indoor amusement centre in Montréal (two go-kart tracks, four paintball fields, six escape games and an arcade zone to boot).
- Laser Game Evolution: Laser tag battles that take place in three dark and winding, trap-filled labyrinths made up of partitions, mirrored areas and obstacles of all kinds, all overlooked by mezzanines and walkways. You can also get your inner cowboy on by shooting two-handed.
- Ministry of Cricket & Other Homeless Sports: It’s comprised of three indoor, dividable turf fields spread out over 14,000 square feet. The Ministry of Cricket specializes in extreme archery, bubble soccer, dodgeball, Nerf battles and even quidditch, and is also home to more conventional sports like flag football, ultimate frisbee, batting cages, ball hockey and soccer.
- Rage axe throwing: Your inner lumberjack can blow off a little steam at Rage, one of Montréal’s best-equipped axe-throwing ranges. Provided are instructors and a chance to try at least three different types of axes.
- Combat d’Archers: At 10,000 square feet of war zones, Combat d’Archers is Montréal’s largest combat complex. It features archery and combat archery, bazooka ball (essentially Nerf guns taken to a whole other level), karting, axe throwing, a demolition room, a VR arena and more.
- Montréal Bungee: Dive into a good time headfirst at Montréal Bungee in the Old Port, Canada’s highest urban bungee jump. It possesses an exhilarating 64-metre drop from an aerial platform with amazing views of downtown.
- MTL Zipline: Also on the airborne adventure must-do list is MTL Zipline, the first urban zipline circuit in Canada. The ziplines fly over Bonsecours Island and provide one-of-a-kind views of the Old Port and the St. Lawrence River.
- Army Globe Battlefield Paintball and Airsoft: Featuring two- and three-storey buildings, a close-quarters battle (CQB) area and breaching rooms, the Army Globe Battlefield in the neighbourhood of Lasalle boasts the largest indoor paintball and airsoft facility in Montréal.
- Grand Chelem baseball and softball centre: Knock it out of the park at Grand Chelem (Grand Slam, in English), the city’s first ball centre. For your enjoyment are baseball and softball batting cages, a ball school and a restaurant/bar.
- BoulZeye Pub & Attractions: Can’t decide what you want to do? Then do it all at BoulZeye, home to the largest multilevel laser tag arena in Québec, an arcade zone, 16 bowling lanes with movie screens, four escape game rooms and a bistro-pub.
St. Lawrence River activities, cool tours and other fun stuff
From hops, to haunts to hole-in-ones, there are a whole raft of activities ranging from the relaxing to the adrenaline-pumping to get your bachelor party’s mojo going. Speaking of rafting…
- Rafting Montréal: Get your gang’s feet wet (and everything else) in white-water fun with Rafting Montréal. Look forward to heart-racing excursions (rafting, jet boating, river boarding and tandem rafting) on the Lachine Rapids just outside of downtown.
- Saute-Moutons Jet Boating: Ride the wildest stretches of the Lachine Rapids with a one-hour excursion aboard a screaming jet boat. And if high-speed, 360-degree spins and sharp turns are more your style, spin boating is on the wet menu as well. Don’t forget your bathing suit.
- Croisières AML river cruises: More water fun on the St. Lawrence River can be had with Croisières AML (AML Cruises), which floats a range of sightseeing, brunch and dinner cruises, some with live, onboard entertainment.
- Golf Saint-Raphaël: Swingers take note: the semi-private Golf Saint-Raphaël club maintains two international-calibre, 18-hole courses in a bucolic setting just 40 minutes from downtown Montréal.
- Golf Château-Bromont: For its part, Golf Château-Bromont, just 45 minutes away at the foot of a mountain in the Eastern Townships, is ranked 45th in Canada by ScoreGolf and was host of the PGA Tour Americas for two consecutive years.
- Les Forges de Montréal: If you want to get hammering (and we’re not talking tequila shots), Les Forges de Montréal offers traditional blacksmithing courses for private groups at their authentic workshop in an awesome-looking, 19th-century industrial building.
- Bains Ninkasi: Beer and baths — seriously, what could be better? Bains Ninkasi offers a hopsy experience right downtown: hops-fragranced saunas followed by hops-infused baths as well as a microbrewery and chocolate tasting menu.
- Haunted Montréal: Dive into the dark side of Montréal through chilling tales and eerie history on ghost walks and haunted pub crawls led by professional actors and storytellers. Tour options include the neighbourhoods of Old Montréal, Griffintown, downtown, on Mount Royal and more.
Where to find great steaks and other pre-party food
Before the lunacy, or rather, revelry starts, you’re going to need to put down a solid base. And top-quality steaks are the go-to bachelor party tradition.
- Moishes: Always a contender for being one of the great steakhouses in town, the legendary Moishes is the oldest steakhouse in Montréal. Situated centrally downtown, it has a range of beautifully cured cuts (and don’t dare miss out on their classic Monte Carlo potatoes, the fluffy stuff of dreams).
- Firegrill Restaurant and Bar: The Firegrill revels in “the thrill of the grill,” serving up the essentials — rib steaks, filet mignon, prime rib, mesquite BBQ ribs, you get the idea — in a classy and classic steakhouse setting.
- The Keg: The double-baked potato and “Baseball Steak” are a home run at the The Keg Steakhouse + Bar, where high quality is the name of the steak game. There are three locations in Montréal: Place Ville Marie downtown, Old Montréal, and in the suburb of Pointe-Claire.
- Gibbys: The rib steak is one of the musts at old world, Old Montréal meat-eating institution Gibbys, one of the city’s classic steakhouses. Fireplaces and stone walls add to this one-of-a-kind experience.
- Schwartz’s: Located on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, world-renowned smoked meat emporium Schwartz’s has been drawing A-list actors, famous musicians and prime ministers since 1928 for their legendary smoked meat sandwiches. They also serve a mean rib steak.
- Méchant Boeuf: The lively Méchant Boeuf in Old Montréal is renowned for its premium steaks, next-level burgers, delicious raw bar, craft cocktails and more.
- Vieux-Port Steakhouse: Great service, great ambiance and great steaks to match are the raison d’être of MTL mainstay Vieux-Port Steakhouse, which also features a charming outdoor terrace surrounded by ivy-covered stone walls.
Top pubs and bars to get the party started
The best way to tackle post-dinner food coma and get your bachelor party off the launch pad is by piling into one of Montréal’s many happening pubs. To that end, we suggest an MTL-style pub crawl to some of the following brew-based institutions.
- Downtown Crescent Street and Bishop Street pubs: Crescent Street and Bishop Street downtown run parallel to one another. On Bishop, check out Grumpy’s Bar (always a party with live tunes), and McKibbin's Irish Pub (you won’t want to leave) before heading east to Crescent for the iconic Sir Winston Churchill Pub complex (lots of MTL history went down in here), Hurley’s Irish Pub (jam-packed with real-deal Emerald Isle authenticity) and, of course, Brutopia (very cool seasonal brewpub and party place).
- Montréal neighbourhood pubs: There are also a number of beloved, character-filled neighbourhood pubs (or “brasseries,” in French) that are in close proximity to downtown. For example, the super popular Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! (creative craft brews and menu), BENELUX brewpub (top-quality homemade Belgian- and West Coast-inspired brews and famous European hotdogs), Pub Burgundy Lion (traditional English pub that offers a unique take on British food) and Le Saint-Bock microbrewery (pouring 44 lines of beer from across Québec) in the always active Quartier Latin.
- Bustling bars on Mont-Royal Avenue: For those in your party who are perhaps a little more adventurous, who might want to get a taste of “le vrai Montréal,” we recommend a Mont-Royal Avenue bar tour that doesn’t stray far from easily accessible Mont-Royal metro. Start at Plan B Bar (great back terrace) and head to Bily Kun (absinthe in your glass and ostrich heads on the wall), Taverne Saint-Sacrement (great music and cheap eats), Chez Baptiste (très chic, très fun), Le Boudoir (lively and with prices that won’t break the bank), Barraca (rum and tapas anyone?) and Pub West Shefford (craft beers and a crazy cocktail menu).
- Montréal Craft Beer Tours: A tasty, three-hour, “hangover friendly” bachelor-party walking tour of three noteworthy brewpubs. Six local brews are offered on the tour, and these glasses of hops happiness are paired with poutine, local charcuterie, cheese and chocolate.
Nightlife is the right life: popular dance clubs, live music and more
After grub and pubs, it’s time to bust a move by immersing the bachelor party in Montréal’s world-renowned nightlife, which covers everything from casino expeditions and entertainment to dance clubbing, live music and satisfying late-night snacks.
Casino de Montréal
- Casino de Montréal: One-of-a-kind doesn’t even begin to describe the Casino de Montréal, comprised of two eye-popping pavilions that were once a centre-piece of Expo 67. In addition to a head-spinning array of gaming options, the casino is renowned for its live entertainment, top-notch food fare and its ARcade, augmented reality immersive experience.
- New City Gas: Wholly unique Griffintown party palace New City Gas, built in the historic, industrial-age New City Gas complex that lit Montréal streets once upon a time, hosts international club DJs and is a weekly staple for hundreds of partygoers.
- Stereo: In The Village downtown, afterhours dance club Stereo, co-founded by Angel Moraes, a former DJ at New York’s legendary Paradise Garage, is a global nightlife destination known for its unparalleled sound system and A-list DJs.
- Club Unity: Also in The Village, the three-floor Club Unity, which bills itself as MTL’s biggest inclusive dance club, is a supremely solid go-to for night-lifers of all stripes at all times, and features a très cool rooftop terrace.
- Rouge: On Saint-Laurent Boulevard, the two floors (one a lounge, the other a dance club) of popular party mainstay Rouge bounce to the sound of hip-hop, club anthems and Top 40 hits on Fridays and Saturdays. Bottle service is available, reservations are required and a dress code is in effect.
- Piknic Électronik: And because Montrealers like to dance all night and all day, every Sunday throughout the summer Piknic Électronik hosts a huge, albeit welcoming and chill, outdoor electronic music dance party in Parc Jean-Drapeau, just minutes from downtown by public transport.
- Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill: The ironically named Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill (it’s actually in a cozy and intimate downstairs venue) has been a jewel for jazz fans going on decades. The high-calibre music programming is only matched by its equally soul-satisfying menu.
- Coco Disco Club: Disco balls meet classic European cuisine in this retro-chic restaurant serving grilled sardines, cordon bleu, fried lasagna, pan con tomate and tasty desserts, all paired with creative cocktails starting at lunch and going late into the night.
- La Banquise: And no late-night munchies suggestion would be complete without mention of preferred 24-hour poutine place La Banquise, an almost mandatory, post-party pit stop for both Montrealers and visitors alike. Open since 1968, La Banquise serves up around 30 different varieties of poutine, and provides a proven path to putting yourself to sleep.
Wishing all bachelor partygoers good luck, a ton of fun, and don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!
Jamie O'Meara
Jamie O'Meara was the Editor-in-Chief at C2 Montréal and the former Editor-in-Chief of alt-weekly newspaper HOUR Magazine.