Tours
Tours
OUR TOURS
Explore the diverse culture, food, and stories of Montreal’s Jewish community on our acclaimed tours of our city’s historic Jewish neighbourhoods led by our friendly museum researchers.
- Tickets for our food tour, Beyond the Bagel, can be booked up to 24 hours ahead of time.
- For all other walking tours we recommend booking tickets at least 12 hours ahead of time in order to confirm with our guides. However, once a tour has other guests booked on it, additional tickets can be purchased until the tour start time.
Image Credits
Making Their Mark: © JGH Archives HGJ. ID #1PF7.9.2.2a. Reproduced with permission from the Jewish General Hospital Archives
Rabbis, Writers, and Radicals: Image courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Mordecai Richler (Nov. 1957), Horst Ehricht fonds, e002712851
In the Shadow of the Mountain: Courtesy of the Léa Roback Fonds, Jewish Public Library Archives, 1243_PR014774
Beyond the Bagel: Image courtesy of Vince Morena and St. Viateur Bagel
TOUR PRICES
WALKING TOURS
$26 ADULT
$24 AGES 65+
$14 STUDENTS
$14 AGES 13–17
$8 AGES 8–12
AGES 0–7 ARE FREE
Walking tours are 1.5–2 hours
Prices do not incl. tax & are subject to FareHarbor fees
FOOD TOURS
$110 ADULT
$105 AGES 65+
$89 STUDENTS
$89 AGES 13–17
$55 AGES 6–12
AGES 0–5 ARE FREE
Food tours are 3.5–4 hours
Prices do not incl. tax & are subject to FareHarbor fees
PRIVATE TOURS
You can pick from any of our acclaimed tours to book as a private experience!
Private tours are all led by a museum researcher who is there to answer all your questions, lead discussions,
and bring Montreal’s Jewish history to life.
Private tour prices vary according to group size. For rates and availabilities, contact us at tours@imjm.ca.
Tour Descriptions
Learn more about our Beyond the Bagel food tour
Renowned worldwide for its unique take on Jewish cuisine, Montreal is the birthplace of countless Jewish foods, both iconic and overlooked. Experience the rich and delicious Jewish food culture of Montreal’s Mile End and Plateau neighbourhoods by visiting decades-old food institutions alongside new businesses that are revitalizing the city’s food scene. We’ll also travel to backyards and alleyways to uncover this city’s hidden Jewish food history and taste nearly forgotten delicacies. And of course you’ll get to feast on the classics like smoked meat and bagels, so make sure to bring a healthy appetite!
- Created by a Jewish food historian and experts in Montreal’s Jewish history, this tour offers a unique take on the city’s Jewish food history through personal narratives, recipes, and photos gathered from restaurants, business owners and their families.
- The seven food tastings include some of Montreal’s iconic dishes: a Schwartz’s smoked meat sandwich, Saint-Viateur and Fairmount bagels, and the Wilensky Special.
- Get an insider’s perspective on the stories behind Montreal’s Jewish culinary institutions, including well-known spots like Beauty’s and Moishes, and foods from Montreal’s Hasidic community.
- Learn about the resurgence of Montreal’s Jewish food scene and visit the establishments that are contributing to this movement.
- Explore the main streets and back alleys of the eclectic Plateau and Mile End neighbourhoods while learning the fascinating history of these traditionally Jewish neighbourhoods.
- This tour is not certified kosher/kashrut, and cannot provide vegan, gluten, or allergen-free alternatives. Vegetarian alternatives are available on the tour.
- Moderate walking (tour is approx. 3.5 km and lasts 3 to 4 hours)
Learn more about our Making Their Mark walking tour
The epicentre of Jewish life in Montreal from the turn of the 20th century until the 1950s, today’s Plateau neighbourhood once teemed with tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Learn how they worked, worshipped, and supported one another as they built new lives in Montreal. Our visit uncovers the synagogues, schools, hospitals, and cultural organizations they established and that still leave a mark on Montreal society today. Immerse yourself in the Jewish stories held in the streets and buildings of this vibrant neighbourhood.
- Learn about the foundations of Montreal’s Jewish community as you explore the eclectic Plateau neighbourhood, which was the epicentre of Jewish life in Montreal in the early 20th century.
- See the beautiful Bagg Street Shul. This heritage site is the last operating synagogue in the Plateau neighbourhood.
- Visit iconic Montreal culinary institutions, including Schwartz’s and the founding location of Moishes Steakhouse.
- Stroll along bustling St-Laurent Boulevard while you catch a glimpse of Montreal’s numerous murals and street art.
- Our friendly and knowledgeable tour guides are university-level researchers and will answer your questions and lead discussions throughout the tour experience.
- Moderate walking (tour is approx. 2 km and lasts 1.5-2 hours)
Learn more about our Rabbis, Writers, and Radicals walking tour
A hub of Jewish culture since the 1920s, Mile End was home to cantors and community organizers as well as poets and politicians of all stripes. Mile End has been a centre of the Yiddish language for nearly a century, first with its left-leaning Jewish schools, libraries, and social clubs, and now with dozens of Hasidic synagogues, yeshivas, and storefronts. Our visit travels through the parks, streets, and back lanes of the neighbourhood, tracing the evolution of Montreal’s literary, musical, and culinary culture and exhibiting the diversity of Jewish life in this very diverse neighbourhood.
- Stroll through the Mile End, Montreal’s trendiest neighbourhood, and an important centre for Montreal’s Jewish culture today.
- Learn more about the works and lives of Jewish Montreal writers, such as Mordecai Richler and Ida Maze.
Hear the sounds of Montreal’s largest synagogue, known as Montreal’s “Carnegie Hall” of Jewish music in the early 20th century. - Discover the diversity of politics in Montreal’s Jewish community at the time.
- Visit two of Montreal’s major Jewish culinary establishments: Fairmount bagels and Wilensky’s.
- Moderate walking (tour is approx. 2.5 km and lasts 1.5-2 hours)
Learn more about our In the Shadow of the Mountain walking tour
In the Shadow of the Mountain explores the vibrant Jewish cultural life established in between Montreal’s Francophone and Anglophone communities from the 1910s to the 1960s. Visit the parks, streets, and alleyways at the foot of Mount Royal and discover Montreal’s Jewish poets—from literary icons like Leonard Cohen to lesser-known but internationally-appreciated Yiddish writers such as Jacob Isaac Segal and Ida Maze. Through the stories of writers, activists, and other idealists, this tour explores the dreams that Jewish immigrants had for their lives in the new world, and contrasts these utopian visions with the sometimes harsh realities they faced in this city.
- Trace the development of Jewish literature in Montreal from famous Yiddish poets J.I. Segal and Ida Maze to English writers A.M. Klein, Irving Layton, and Leonard Cohen.
- See Leonard Cohen’s home in Montreal and other places he frequented.
- Stroll along Montreal’s historic and iconic boulevard St-Laurent and avenue Mont-Royal while you catch a glimpse of Montreal’s numerous murals and street art.
- Take a break from the bustle of downtown with a walk through Parc Jeanne-Mance, right across from Mount Royal Park.
- Visitors have the unique opportunity to gain insider knowledge on one of Montreal’s most vibrant neighbourhoods: Plateau-Mont-Royal.
- Moderate walking (tour is approx. 2.2 km and lasts 1.5-2 hours)
Frequently Asked Questions
Which tour is the best?
Can I still book a tour if it is past the tour cutoff time?
Where do tours start?
- Making their Mark and In the Shadow of the Mountain meet outside of 3961 Boul. Saint-Laurent (intersection Napoleon).
- Rabbis, Writers and Radicals meets at the south-east corner of Parc des Amériques (corner rue Rachel and Saint-Dominique street).
- Beyond the Bagel meets outside of the Rialto theatre at 5723 Park Ave (intersection Bernard).
Where can I park?
Can I tip my tour guide?
What is your tour cancellation policy?
- Tour ticket exchanges must be requested 48 hours in advance.
- Only cancellations made 24 hours in advance of walking tours will be refunded. For our Beyond the Bagel Food tour, only cancellations made 48 hours in advance will be refunded.
- In the event of severe weather conditions or in the presence of lightning, cancelled tours will be offered an exchange or refund.
- Please contact us at tours@imjm.ca for our private and group tours cancellation policy.