Things to do in Montréal this December 2025

Welcome to Montréal!

To enjoy the best the city has to offer during your stay in December, 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!

Throughout the city this December, enjoy winter holiday activities like the plenitude of Christmas markets, including the Montréal Christmas Village and The Great Christmas Market outdoors at Quartier des Spectacles, each a unique showcase for crafts and creativity in all its forms. 

Take in Santa’s Kingdom and the holiday show at Complexe Desjardins, then go ice skating at the nearby Esplanade Tranquille skating rink. You can rent skates or bring your own, learn a few moves from instructors, and on DJ nights go “dancing” on the ice! 

Experience playful illuminated artwork and activities at Lumino along Sainte-Catherine Street, in Place des Festivals and projected on building facades in the Quartiers des spectacles. The historic Ogilvy mechanized holiday window displays are an unmissable Christmas classic — the cute stuffed animals that enchanted kids for decades are now preserved and free to see both outside and inside the McCord Stewart Museum. Christmas in the Park brings music, hot beverages and Christmas cheer to Place Émilie-Gamelin downtown and in Parc des Compagnons and Parc Lahaie in the Plateau.

Avenue Mont-Royal glitters this month too with the return of free holiday concerts and family activities along the avenue. In Rosemont, visit Santa in his winter cabin and sip free hot chocolate on December 13 and 14, and cider around a massive Christmas tree at Le Chalet du Père Noël sur la Promenade Masson (with a chance to win prizes!). In Old Montréal you can enjoy a Victorian Christmas at the historical house of Sir-George-Étienne-Cartier, until December 19. In lieu of a Christmas card, make memories with your family with a quick photoshoot in the picturesque backyard set of Maison Pépin or in the prettiest lane in Old Montréal, the Ruelle Saint-Amable.

Start checking off everyone on your list with our Montréal gift guide! The holiday markets are also fantastic for one-of-a-kind and locally made items, from home decor and art to jewellery and toys. Don’t miss Salon des métiers d’art at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal from December 11 to 21, packed to the gills with top-notch artisans. 

Shop for gifts-to-self as well as others (everyone needs new winter wardrobe staples and dinner-party glam) in Old Montréal’s boutiques, downtown along Sainte-Catherine Street and in the Underground City malls. Downtown’s Centre Eaton de Montréal and Place Montréal Trust transform in December, with gourmet surprises, a cappella choirs, a carousel ride, art workshops and more. Discover the latest styles there, 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 books for friends and family from 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. 

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, most of which are dressed to the nines for the holidays.

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.

Dive into fandom at Comiccon de Montréal – Holiday Edition, your chance to immerse yourself into gaming and comic culture at Palais des congrès de Montréal on December 6 and 7. 

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 and a few holiday specials.

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 a new attraction: the Port of Montréal Tower. Nearby, treat yourself to bird’s-eye views on La 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, call upon the experts at Guidatours, or take yourself on self-guided audio tours thanks to TourBird. 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, 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.

Onstage this December

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 December, catch Kisses Deep at the Centaur Theatre, a long-awaited English-language premiere that tells the story of the transformational relationship between a troubled, gifted young man and his complex and inspiring mother. It runs until December 14.

At the Segal Centre, the Tony-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo dubbed a “howlingly funny heartbreaker” by the New Yorker comes ready to charm Montréal audiences until December 21.

Take in some circus arts at La Tohu, where from December 11 to 30, Action! by Théâtre à Tempo will take you onto a 1960s television station, showing shows/acrobatic acts ranging from superheroes to Tarzan to culinary chronicles.

Catch the Québécois musical theatre hit Pub Royal, in original French, at the Place des Arts’s Théâtre Maisonneuve from December 3 to 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. 

Among the holiday performances, see the glorious Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal’s production of The Nutcracker from December 12 to 30 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.

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. 

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 December 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 December 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. A fantastic world that also questions the place of humans in our universe and the fragile balance that must be maintained if all species are to prosper.

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. 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 December

Film buffs will get a kick out of these holiday themed musical performances at Place des Arts: watch Les Choristes en Concert on December 6 and 7 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. Step into the world of Fond de l’Étang boarding school alongside the FILMharmonique Orchestra, conducted by Anthony Gabriele, and accompanied by Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal. They will perform live the famous soundtrack while the film is simultaneously projected onto a big screen.

On December 21, Les Chambristes du Grand Montréal with a jazz trio invite you to step into the magic of the holiday season with A Charlie Brown Christmas at Cinquième Salle. Inspired by the legendary jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s iconic album, this concert brings back the warmth and nostalgia of those beloved melodies.

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 December, 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.

Holiday concerts

Holiday concerts and theatrical events return in abundance this year, starting with Hallelujah! on December 4 at Maison symphonique. Experience the magic of the holiday season with excerpts from Handel’s brilliant Messiah and Bach’s grand Christmas Oratorio. 

On December 6, experience The Magic of Two Pianos for a holiday concert at Maison symphonique that features the exceptional pianists Serhiy Salov and Jean-Philippe Sylvestre in a breathtaking performance filled with poetry, intensity and sparkling musical dialogue, featuring pieces by Camille Saint-Saëns and Rachmaninov.

Watch Les Choristes en Concert on December 6 and 7 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier to step into the world of Fond de l’Étang boarding school alongside the FILMharmonique Orchestra. They will perform live the famous soundtrack while the film is simultaneously projected onto a big screen.

In The Messiah: Hallelujah!, on December 10 and 11, Handel’s masterful storytelling brings the narrative of Christ to vivid musical life. This choral concert at Maison symphonique is a unique chance to experience one of Handel’s greatest masterpieces under the baton of the Montréal Symphony Orchestra’s Rafael Payare.

On December 13 and 14 don’t miss Neiges: the OM Celebrates André Gagnon, at Maison symphonique. The program also includes choral works that capture the essence of the holidays with nostalgic charm, creating a fitting tribute to the timeless Neiges album.

From December 17 to 20, Fred Pellerin and Kent Nagano join forces once again at Maison symphonique for the seventh edition of their beloved symphonic tales. Fred Pellerin’s Traditional Holiday Tale brings to life the colourful characters of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, whose enchanting adventures blend with soaring orchestral passages. 

Are you in the mood for Christmas? Because the Glenn Miller Orchestra sure is. Enjoy timeless seasonal hits, with a twist on our favorite songs during this spectacular holiday show at Maison symphonique on December 21.

Also on December 21, Les Chambristes du Grand Montréal with a jazz trio invite you to step into the magic of the holiday season with A Charlie Brown Christmas at Cinquième Salle. Inspired by the legendary jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s iconic album, this concert brings back the warmth and nostalgia of those beloved melodies.

And from Boxing Day until December 28, Parapapam at Maison symphonique is a magical and heartwarming holiday show starring three of Québec’s biggest voices: Mélissa Bédard, Christian Marc Gendron and Vladimir Kornéev, alongside over 35 musicians and a choir of 100 voices.

More live music in December

We’ve got the perfect overview of Montréal’s big, can’t-miss concerts in 2025so you can plan your highlights of the year.

Classical lovers will thrill at the Bach Festival, which presents more than 30 concerts featuring hundreds of incredible musicians, singers and conductors until December 7.

At the Bell Centre this month, catch mgk on December 10, Joé Dwet Filé on December 12, Burna Boy on December 15, the Jonas Brothers on December 17 and Matt Rife on December 29.

You’ll find all sorts of fun music shows at MTELUS, including Jessie Reyes on December 2, The Tea Party on December 3, Damiano David on December 4, Pup on December 5, Ben Bankas on December 6, Mac Demarco on December 7, Shawn Desman on December 9, Aterciopelados on December 12, Grandson on December 13, and Men I Trust on December 18 and 19. 

At Théâtre Fairmount in Mile End, catch Skai Isyourgod on December 3, Xaviersobased on December 4, Berlam on December 5, Tommy Youngsteen on December 12 and Sota on December 13. 

The world’s best EDM artists come to New City Gas to get you moving, starting with Seven Lions, Jason Ross, Paper Skies and NOVA on December 26; Tchami, Omnom, DJ Susan and more on December 27; and BUNT, Lavern and Stef Agostino on December 28. See the full programming here.

At the SAT this month, don’t miss Rudimental and guests on December 13, among other fun things. 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 off.