Montreal: Underground City RESO Tour with Local Guide

Explore the hidden shopping arcades and art installations beneath Montreal’s streets

With a local guide, you move through Montreal's RESO network: the climate-controlled passages, art installations, and transit hubs that keep the city running beneath the streets. Métro and REM rides and photos at selected stops are included. Expect steady walking, including some stairs or escalators, at a pace set by someone who actually lives here.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Montreal's Underground City

• Meet your guide at Complexe Desjardins
• See the Lipstick Forest at Palais des congrès
• See the Berlin Wall piece at the World Trade Centre
• Cross Place Bonaventure and ride the Métro and REM
• See the indoor skating rink at Le 1000
• Explore Central Station
• Pass Le Cathcart and finish at The Ring

The experience

You land in Montreal and it's winter, or summer humidity is already pressing down. Your guide meets you inside Complexe Desjardins, and within minutes you're heading into RESO: the vast underground city that most visitors never know exists. You're moving through a network that hundreds of thousands of people use every single day to avoid the weather, to get to work, to live their lives below ground. It's not a museum tour. It's the real infrastructure, the actual passageways, the climate-controlled arteries of the city.

The walk takes you first to the Palais des congrès, where the pink columns of the Lipstick Forest stand, once you see them, you can't unsee them. Then come the Montreal World Trade Centre, with a piece of the Berlin Wall plus the Amphitrite fountain, Place Bonaventure, the skating rink at Le 1000, Central Station, Le Cathcart and, to finish, The Ring at Place Ville Marie. You'll also ride the Métro and the REM along the way, with the fares included. Your guide knows which corners have the best light, which passages most tourists miss, and where to eat or wander once the tour ends. They take photos at selected stops, so you're not just walking through. You're getting images that actually capture what you saw, not what a stock photo thinks you should have seen.

The physical fitness requirement is moderate. Expect active walking, with some stairs or escalators and brief stretches outdoors. You're on your feet the whole time, so comfortable shoes matter. The route stays mostly indoors, sheltered from the weather, which is exactly why Montrealers built the network this way. By the end, you understand why the city works the way it does, why people move through it the way they do, and you've got a perspective on Montreal that the street-level tour never gives you.

What’s included

Your tour includes a local guide who shows you Montreal's hidden art, landmarks and history, Métro and REM rides with the fares covered, photos at selected stops, and a RÉSO orientation map with neighbourhood recommendations for after the tour.

Options for this experience

2 options

Montreal Underground City Discovery - ResoGuide in English or French · 10:00 and 13:00

Experience the Underground City in Montreal PrivatelyGuide in English or French · 10:00 and 13:00Tour for a private group

You pick the guide language when booking.

You'll see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates and prices

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 10:00 and 13:00

Book up toStart time

AgesAdult (18 to 64 years) · Senior (65 and older) · Youth (13 to 17 years) · Child (5 to 12 years) · Infant (under 1): free

GroupUp to 10

Live guideEnglish and French

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends at a different place from where it starts.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated today

Good to know

Moderate physical effortPublic transport nearby

Operated by Explora Montreal

Is this one for you?Right for travelers arriving in Montreal during winter or summer heat who want to understand how the city actually functions, not just see its surface. The walking route suits travelers with moderate fitness, and the guide's local knowledge means you're getting perspective, not a script.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and French.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (13 to 17 years); Child (5 to 12 years); Infant (under 1): free.

What do you see on the RESO tour?

You start at Complexe Desjardins, then see the Lipstick Forest at the Palais des congrès, a piece of the Berlin Wall plus the Amphitrite fountain at the Montreal World Trade Centre, Place Bonaventure, the skating rink at Le 1000, Central Station, Le Cathcart and The Ring at Place Ville Marie.

Is the RESO tour difficult physically?

Moderate fitness level required. Expect steady walking with some stairs or escalators and a few short stretches outside, so comfortable shoes are important.

What's included in the RESO tour?

A local guide who shows you Montreal's hidden art, landmarks and history, Métro and REM rides with the fares covered, photos at selected stops, and a RÉSO orientation map with tips on where to go after the tour.

Why did Montreal build an underground city?

The RESO network was built to help people move through the city during Montreal's extreme winters and hot summers while staying climate-controlled.