Start your day with breakfast at downtown’s Chez Cora, a vibrant and friendly restaurant that offers an array of breakfast choices. Once you’ve filled up on fruit and carbs, you’re ready for Being a teen in Montréal, the city tour offered by Guidatour. This three-hour-long trip through the city’s neighbourhoods lets you see how young Montrealers lived during the 30s, 40s and 50s.

Time travelling tends to work up the appetite, so pick up a lunch box from Europea Espace Boutique in Old Montréal, which offers quality choices at reasonable prices. Unpack your delicious meal in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve on a picnic table in the Botanical Garden, one of the largest in the world, and open all year to nature lovers.

Just next door, the Insectarium, the most important of its kind in North America, is home to thousands of insects from all over the globe. Nearby, the Biodôme invites groups to explore the flora and fauna of four different ecosystems: tropical forest, Laurentian, St. Lawrence Marine and the Arctic-Antarctic.

At the heart of the Olympic Park, site of the 1976 Summer Games, thrill seekers can take the funicular to the top for a mind-blowing view of the city. At 175 metres up, the Tour de Montréal, the world’s tallest inclined tower, offers a perch that’s hard to beat.

Later, an authentic culinary adventure awaits in the Quartier International at the restaurant Fourquet Fourchette, where history buffs can tuck in to a festive meal in the heart of New France. Servers are dressed in period costume and meals are inspired by traditional Québec and Amerindian specialties.

Before wrapping up this first day of fun, try some ice skating on the vast indoor rink at downtown’s Atrium Le 1000. Those who prefer an outing of galactic proportions can go to the Montréal Planetarium, where the celestial VIPs include the planets, stars and the Milky Way.

Back to the city’s very beginnings, in Old Montréal. At the café-restaurant l’Arrivage of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum of Archaeology and History, a full breakfast comes served with a stunning view of the Old Port. Starting at 10 a.m., visitors can explore its subterranean passageways and archaeological crypt where the city was founded. Groups can then take on the exciting challenge of the Guidatour Scavenger Hunts, an excellent way to get to know Old Montréal better.

It’s noon and stomachs are grumbling: with seafood and steak dishes on the group lunch menu, the Restaurant du Vieux-Port makes a great choice.  

Next stop is the Montréal Science Centre. Five interactive exhibitions allow students to become science reporters, monitor cargo activities in the harbour or to leap into the future and explore science and technology’s fascinating possibilities.

When the weather’s nice, Montrealers love getting around by bike, so why not join them and discover the historic quarter on two (or more!) wheels? Montréal On Wheels offers guided bike tours and rentals that include tandems and electric scooters.

Feasts fit for kings and queens await in an authentic New France ambiance recreated at the Cabaret du Roy’s theme restaurant. Share songs and stories with the period characters and musicians in this festive setting. And there’s nothing quite like the quarter’s quiet cobblestone streets to put you in the mood for a ghost story. Old Montréal Ghost Tours promises chills and thrills under the pale glow of the moon…

Tropical breakfasts at the Hard Rock Café, seasoned with a little rock 'n' roll, kick start the morning. Times and tempos then switch at downtown’s McCord Museum, which offers a fascinating look at the history of Montréal, Québec and Canada through collections of more than 1,375,000 objects, images and manuscripts.

Stroll around downtown’s lively streets before stopping off at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Exhibition rooms filled with paintings, sculptures and other art forms, testify to centuries of history, from antiquity to the present. This world-class museum is one of the oldest in Canada. 

It’s impossible to visit Montréal without tasting the typical fare of smoked meat sandwiches, which are served at the Brisket restaurant. Tender morsels of juicy smoked meat tucked between two warm slices of bread… absolutely to die for!

Not to be missed: parc Jean-Drapeau’s many attractions, a hit with young and old, summer through winter. The Stewart Museum, housed in a 175-year-old fort, offers a gold mine of history on New France and North America from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

A short walk along the banks of the majestic St. Lawrence River leads you to Environment Canada’s Biosphère, a phenomenal structure built for Expo 67, which marked the history of architecture. Through interactive games and exhibitions, students can learn about water, the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes.

A few kilometres from Montréal, Arbraska promises tons of adventures under a canopy of green. Six kinds of treetop treks are offered. Rock climbing, rope bridges, GPS hunts and nature interpretation sites from suspended bridges guarantee hours of fun and thrills.

Finish your day on a sweet note with a trip to the sugar shack, where dance, song and traditional meals are all on the menu. The Sucrerie de la Montagne offers a diverse range of activities, including horse-drawn carriage rides as well as tours of the maple grove and a hundred-year-old bakery. Tasting fresh maple taffy is a must, even at the peak of summer, and an excellent way to end this Montréal adventure!