Here’s how enjoy the perfect sexy summer weekend in Montreal

My boyfriend and I celebrated our first year together in Montreal, Canada.

Nineteen years later, it was a no-brainer to return for our 20th anniversary. 

Montreal is like no other, especially in the summer. From afar, the city can seem like a mashup of elements. And yet, together, they create a beautifully layered symphony: most locals speak French and English; it feels classy and sassy (and trashy, in the best of gay ways); walkways range from cobblestones in Old Montreal to cement streets bordering skyscrapers downtown, to hiking trails that lead up 764 feet to the tip of Mount Royal, Montreal’s highest point. She’s got range! 

For as complex as she is, however, Montreal is an exceptionally easy weekend getaway. We boarded our direct flight at LGA airport, said goodbye to NYC, and 1.5 hours later were saying bonjour to the largest city in Canada’s Quebec region. 

Pack your bags, we’re going on an adventure

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Room Fit for a Queen

Montreal has many wonderful neighborhoods worth exploring, but if you are new to the city, I recommend staying downtown. We chose classy–the sassy and trashy would come later. With 950 rooms, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth is the largest hotel in Quebec. For the true royal treatment, The Queen Elizabeth offers a hotel-within-hotel experience on its top three floors, Fairmont Gold (Fairmont Or). Guests of Gold enjoy a lounge floor and private check-in, complimentary breakfast, cocktail-hour canapés and an all-day honor bar. 

Since opening in 1958, The Queen Elizabeth has been a historic stay. In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono added to its notoriety by choosing the now-famous Suite 1742 for their second “Bed-in” for peace, which led to Lennon’s recording of the song “Give Peace a Chance.”

The hotel has several dining options, including Rosélys on the lobby level, a bistro where you can elevate to the “Carte Blanche” experience with a surprise menu at the chef’s table. On summer evenings, the Bar Nacarat Terrace on the third floor offers food and drinks with spectacular views of downtown, and a soundtrack that ranges from live jazz to DJ sets. 

Summer Festivals and Pride

Montreal comes alive in the warmer months, with hundreds of outdoor festivals and events scheduled through October. We visited over 4th of July weekend–a conscious decision to spend America 250 with our friendly neighbors to the north–which coincided with the Montreal Jazz Festival (Festival International de Jazz de Montréal), the largest jazz festival in the world. Over the years, headliners have included Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder and Sade, among many others. 

Missing Pride festivities? Don’t worry, you still have time. This year’s Fierté Montréal, the city’s Pride festival, will celebrate queer joy and activism starting July 31, culminating in the Pride Parade on August 9. For a bird’s-eye view, join the party on the Nacarat Terrace of Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, overlooking the parade route. For the third consecutive year, this party will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research. 

Over the 10 days of Fierté Montréal, you can enjoy queer art exhibits, comedy shows, drag performances and many, many parties. 

For a kinky good time, visit over Labor Day for Montreal Fetish Weekend, Canada’s largest international fetish gathering, from September 2-7. 

Those Village People are Queer

Though warm weather adds extra allure, Montreal delivers for queer travelers year-round. The Village (also known as The Gay Village) is the LGBTQ+ epicenter of town. The more than half-mile stretch of St. Catherine Street becomes a pedestrian mall every summer, closed to traffic until October 12, expanding the city’s gay-favored restaurants and bars with over 40 outdoor terraces.

The Village is one of the things that makes Montreal so easy to navigate for a gay getaway. It’s all there: restaurants, bars, strip clubs, saunas. If it’s gay and you want it, chances are The Village has it. 

There is no shortage of bars on St. Catherine Street, making it a perfect spot for bar hopping. Some of my favorites include Bar Renard, for classy cocktails and light bites; Aigle Noir (Black Eagle), particularly during Friday happy hour; District Video Lounge for visual and aural stimulation by your favorite pop girlies; and Le Stud, the bear-popular bar on The Village’s eastside, which ended up being our favorite spot. Don’t forget to check out the upstairs room at Le Stud on weekend nights. While the main dance floor played popular club music, the upstairs lounge hosted a disco dance party with very groovy tunes. 

You can’t go to Montreal and not visit one of its gay, male strip joints. The two most popular are Bar Campus and Stock Bar. Both places feature some of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen, fully nude. Should you desire a closer look, private lap dances are available. You can work out the specific rules with your new friend. 

Inspired by the dancing boys? The Village is also home to several gay saunas, with Oasis and G.I. Joe as the crowd favorites. 

No summer weekend in Montreal is complete without a visit to Piknic Électronik, a daytime, outdoor electronic music party at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Though Piknic is not queer-specific, our community is very well represented. 

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“Electronic music culture has long been rooted in values of openness, diversity, freedom, and inclusion. These principles have shaped the scene from its earliest days, and Piknic Électronik proudly carries that legacy. They are part of our DNA and continue to guide the way we create our events,” said Barbara Philip, Piknic’s PR representative. This year, Piknic invites you to party every Sunday until October 18.

Stroll and Soak

A walk through Old Montreal is compulsory for its European charm. Don’t miss Notre-Dame Basilica, a masterpiece of neo-Gothic Revival architecture and one of Montreal’s most prized sights. Nearby, the Old Port neighborhood is good for a stroll along the St. Lawrence River. La Grande roue de Montreal is the largest Ferris wheel in Canada with climate-controlled cabins for year-round 360-degree views of the city.  

For a deep drive into Montreal’s history, join Thom Seivewright on his three-hour QUEERSTORY walking tour. Thom focuses less on today’s Gay Village and more on the downtown west side, where much of the city’s queer activism, nightlife, and community-building took shape from the 1960s through the 1990s.

Hungry to learn about Montreal’s immigrant communities and how they’ve shaped the flavors of the city? Join the Montreal Food Tour; or embark on an independent tasting adventure through a self-guided itinerary curated by Tourisme Montreal. 

Did you know that beer promotes wellness? Bains Ninkasi opened in December 2025 as the first beer spa in North America. The two-hour experience utilizes beer ingredients (hops, malt, and yeast) for their known skin benefits, all while you sip beers from Quebec craft brewers. Make a meal of the malt by adding a charcuterie board and chocolate tasting while you soak. 

If you are hungry for a more substantial meal, try a dry-aged Prince Edward Island beef steak at Monarque in downtown; or share a casual meal of Vietnamese tapas back in The Village at Le Red Tiger. 

Whether looking for a romantic getaway or a wild gay weekend, Montreal delivers without making you choose one experience.

In our house, we look forward to enjoying its beautifully layered symphony for many anniversaries to come. 

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