Montréal Underground City: Montreal Travel Guide (4.4★)

Climb out of the Orange Line at Square-Victoria–OACI and you pass under a cast-iron Art Nouveau arch with a “Métropolitain” sign. It is a real Hector Guimard entrance, given to Montreal by Paris in the 1960s. A few steps on, the address on your map, 747 Rue du Square-Victoria, opens into the World Trade Centre Montréal. That is a good way to step into a city that carries on below its streets.

What you are actually walking through

The Underground City is a set of linked buildings, not one tunnel. Montrealers call it the RESO, a play on réseau, the French word for network. It started in the early 1960s with Place Ville Marie, and today more than 30 km of corridors join malls, office towers, metro stations, universities and concert halls.

Most of it is not very deep. You walk through mall atriums, glass-roofed passages and tiled metro concourses, and the floor and lighting change each time you cross into a new building. People use it all year, but you see the point most clearly in winter. Office workers cross downtown in shirtsleeves while the streets above are under snow.

The Berlin Wall in a covered lane

The World Trade Centre has the best single sight on the network. Its inner street is the Ruelle des Fortifications, an old Old Montreal lane that was roofed over in glass. Stone facades line both sides, so it still looks like a street that someone put indoors.

Along the lane you will find:

• A section of the Berlin Wall, standing upright, with graffiti still on its western face.
• The Amphitrite fountain, an 18th-century French statue of the sea goddess set in a long pool.
• Brick and stone fronts from the old buildings that were wrapped into the complex.

This stretch takes about twenty minutes and is the reason to start here and not at a random mall door.

Getting in and getting your bearings

Square-Victoria–OACI is on the Orange Line (Line 2) and connects you straight to the World Trade Centre. Place-d’Armes, one stop away, comes out by the Palais des congrès and is a short walk from Notre-Dame Basilica. From there the network heads north and west towards the busier downtown core.

Google currently lists this entry as open 8am–6pm on weekdays and closed on Saturday and Sunday. Every building in the RESO keeps its own hours, so other malls and corridors may open on days when this door is shut. Check before you plan a route around one link.

Following the blue arrows

Getting lost happens to everyone and won’t do you any harm. Look for the blue RESO signs with an arrow. They point you to the next building or metro station by name, not by street.

These are the main stops on a north-west walk from here:

• McGill station (Green Line 1): the Montréal Eaton Centre and the Promenades Cathédrale run beneath Christ Church Cathedral.
• Place Ville Marie: the cross-shaped tower where it all began, linked to Gare Centrale.
• Peel station: the way to Les Cours Mont-Royal and the western shopping streets.
• Place-des-Arts: the cultural end, connected to the concert halls and Complexe Desjardins.

The whole route is lots of short walks broken up by stairs and escalators, not one long hike. Allow two to three hours if you want to cover most of it at a relaxed pace.

Moving with the commuters

People use the RESO to get to work every day. It is not a theme attraction. Walk the way they do and your day will be easier.

• Keep right on escalators and in narrow corridors. People in a hurry pass on the left.
• Step aside to look at your map. Stopping at a junction or the bottom of an escalator blocks a whole stream of people.
• Learn a few French words. Signs give Sortie (exit), Ville souterraine, and building names, often in French first.
• Pay by card or tap. Food courts and chain cafés take contactless as standard. Paying at the counter and clearing your own tray is normal.

The food courts get packed when office workers break for lunch. Eat a bit earlier or later and you will find a seat. Corridors near the metro stations are at their busiest during the morning and evening commutes. Wander the quieter stretches in the middle of the day.

When it rewards you most

This is one of the city’s best-known sights, not a secret, and it works best when you use it as the locals do. On a cold or wet weekday you can get from Old Montreal to the downtown shops without a coat. The walk is part of the visit.

On a fine day, mix it up. Walk the Ruelle des Fortifications, come up at Place-d’Armes for the basilica and the old stone streets, then go back down for the walk north. The tunnels are a handy shortcut, and the way the city above and below links up is the interesting part.

Before you go

Look at the official RESO map before you set off, since the links between buildings change as towers are renovated. Start on a weekday, while this entry is open, and begin with the Berlin Wall and the fountain before the shopping corridors. After that, follow the blue arrows and come up wherever you like.