My Bachelorette Party in Montreal

The wedding festivities have officially kicked off! Last weekend, I had my bachelorette party in Montreal, Canada and was joined by 5 of my favorite ladies in an amazing city. We picked Montreal because (1) I have always wanted to visit, (2) it is only a 1.5 hour flight from DC and many East Coast cities annnnddddd (3) I love anything French, and this was as close to a bachelorette in Paris as I could get.

So we landed on Montreal, and it was a great time! I can’t wait to return and explore the city even more.

Wednesday:

To kick off the bachelorette weekend my sister an I arrived a day early so that we could spend some time together (and so I could treat her to say thank you!). On Wednesday night, we stayed at Hotel Bonaparte for the night and it was so nice. It is a boutique hotel in the heart of Montreal’s old city and walking distance to so much. If I were going back (for not a bachelorette, I would definitely stay there again/ recommend staying in the old city.)

Getting in on Wednesday, my sister and I were both delayed so our original plan/reservation to go to L’Express for French food did not pan out, so we got late night Indian food instead (it was very mediocre). After a 9:00 pm dinner, we walked along the river and stumbled upon an amazing fireworks display. Then we went back to the hotel, showered and passed out.

Thursday:

Thursday, we had breakfast delivered to our room in a cute little basket (all breakfast is free at the hotel) and it was actually a lovely spread- Montreal bagels, cream cheese, jam, cheese, nectarines, yogurt, OJ and muffins.

After breakfast we had 10:30 am therapeutic massages scheduled at a very cool floating spa called Bota Bota and they were amazing. The facilities are super nice and cool, including a café and a few pools (which we did not take advantage of) and the dressing rooms were the perfect spot to get ready for the day!

After our lovely massages, my sister and I walked around the old city for a while until our friend landed and came to meet us at our hotel to drop their bags.

For lunch on Thursday, we ate at Seasalt, which we had passed on Wednesday night and it looked great. We were really banking on oysters for lunch, but they only serve oysters for dinner service. Luckily, everything else we ordered was delicious- like the fried calamari, salmon tartar and the tiradito. We also also got the fish burgers and they were amazing, not to mention the cocktails and service was great.

After lunch, we grabbed our bags and headed over to our Airbnb to check in, drop our bags and grab some groceries. In retrospect, the Airbnb was in a good neighborhood, walking distance to amazing restaurants, bagels, a good grocery store and liquor store. BUT, this place was above a night club that our Airbnb was directly above, and we could hear the music late into the night. Additionally the place was not the cleanest, but the host did come over to help us out and we were able to get some Lysol wipes to clean it ourselves to. It was 3 bed, 3 bath so every 2 girls had a room and bathroom and there was plenty of “hangout” space that could fit us all!

As the rest of the girls arrived, we made the call to walk to dinner in our neighborhood instead of ordering in (our original plan) and we ended up at an amazing Thai spot (Restaurant Thailande) that was absolutely delicious. It was a totally random spot with great reviews and we were soooo happy with it.

We got spring rolls, papaya salad, a fried fish, crispy duck, panang curry, green curry and pad see ew… and a lot of lychee martinis.

After dinner, we went back to the Airbnb to play a few games that my sister prepared and it was a lot of fun!

Friday:

Friday is when the “programming” officially started. We kicked off Friday by getting ready all together (which is always my favorite part about hanging with my gal-friends) and headed out for brunch.

Since our brunch location didn’t take reservations, we had about 40 ish minutes to walk around the neighborhood, so we grabbed some coffee and took a few laps around the area.

We had brunch at Arthur’s Nosh Bar which was soooooo good and a huge hit with my friends. It is a Jewish-style eatery serving up some seriously good food. Some of our favorite items were the latke smorgesbord, the salami and eggs and the tuna melt, but truly everyone on the menu looked amazing.

We also had our first round of Caesar cocktails which are Bloody Mary’s with clamato juice and they were a huge hit!

After brunch, we headed to the Old City for a historical walking tour of Montreal that we booked on Airbnb Experiences. We had a great tour guide and it was only our group of 6, a couple from Chicago and a solo German traveler. We got to learn a lot and see some things we would have definitely missed if we didn’t do this tour.

After our 2 hour walking tour, we headed to Poutinefest on the piers to try poutine. Honestly, it was a bit underwhelming but it was a good way to get to try some poutine. We tried a classic, a peri peri poutine, a general tsoa’s poutine and a chicken bacon ranch poutine.

Post Poutinefest, we walked a little bit and then went home to rest and freshen up for the evening. We made some gorgeous charcuterie boards and had some drinks while we got ready.

Of course, we had to spend some time having a girly photoshoot before heading out to dinner.

For dinner, we went to La Belle Tonki, and while I truly had no idea what to expect, this meal was amazing and also a very fun environment. Everything was super packed with flavor and sharable and the cocktails were delicious too.

We ordered the popcorn chicken, the beef carpaccio (that legit tasted like a deconstructed pho), mee kola, lomo saltado, garlic scapes, and this amazing mussel amok that was out of this world.

The staff was super fun and poured us some lychee shots and even made me a funny chocolate shot!

After dinner, we walked over to this super fun tiki bar and had some great fruity cocktails and the bar tended poured us some lemony shots that were super fun.

Saturday:

Saturday, our big activity for the day was a Montreal Bagel Making Class through Airbnb Experiences. This was such a good time and allowed us to do something that wasn’t just walking around. Will’s bagel making class takes place in his super cool and modern home and he works through the technique around bagel making and what makes Montreal bagels unique. We had such a great time and were able to walk away with some of our homemade creations! I highly recommend Will’s class if you are ever in Montreal!

After our bagel making class we took a veryyyyy long walk all the way to Saint Catherine’s street- making our way through the park, through the Gay District and eventually to the downtown shopping area. We stopped at Timeout Market Montreal which was a big hit and then headed home.

Then, before dinner, of course we posed for some more pictures before heading out for the night.

Saturday dinner was at Kamuy, a Caribbean restaurant downtown and it was sooooo good. The food was amazing, the staff was amazing and the DJ playing Afro-Caribbean beats made he vibe just perfect. We found Kamuy after watching the Montreal episode of “Somebody Feed Phil” and seeing the chef/owner, Chef Paul Toussaint, with Phil at his old restaurant Agrikol. Agrikol has sadly closed, but fear not, Kamuy is alive and well and so worth a visit!

Since we had a later reservation at Kamuy, we decided to head home, get in PJs and do some face masks for our last night.

Sunday:

Sunday we all headed out on our own schedules, picking up some St. Viateur bagels on the way.

That wraps up my bachelorette weekend in Montreal. I cannot wait to go back and it was honestly, everything I wanted and more!