March break: Things to do in Montréal
A full slate of options are available to residents who’re keen on getting active and having fun with the kids during spring break, including indoor or outdoor sports and cultural activities. The following overview is a good place to start.
Get moving
Visit our parks
On foot, snowshoes, skates, a sled, cross-country skis or a fatbike, parks are the perfect antidote. Shake a leg, and go play outside during the vacation.
You are guaranteed to feel you’re on a trip if you go to one of the nature parks, where innovative programming awaits, for young and old. Try adapted cross-country skiing, “snowga,” and a maple syrup scavenger hunt with a visit to the sugar shack in the Parc-nature du Cap-Saint-Jacques. Enjoy interactive games about animals at the Parc-nature Bois-de-Liesse. Visit the Parc-nature de l’Île-de-la-Visitation to learn more about life in a sugar bush. Some parks even offer a maple taffy pull (la tire) for your sweet tooth.
Our partner, GUEPE, runs a day camp and a drop-in childcare centre at Parc-nature du Bois-de-Liesse.
Admission is free to the outdoor gardens at the Jardin Botanique: take a walk, go birdwatching or cross-country skiing. No charge for Montréal’s other major parks, Angrignon, Frédéric-Back, Jarry, Jeanne-Mance, la Fontaine, Maisonneuve and Mount Royal.
Several ice rinks are refrigerated and several sledding hills have artificial snow so that the fun can last longer. Check site conditions before you go.
Would you like to borrow outdoor equipment? You can do so at several parks and even at four libraries. And it’s free for children, so why not try it?
Enjoy our indoor facilities
Arenas and swimming pools open their doors for skating and freestyle swimming. Ideal when bad weather strikes.
Whether your kids are beginners or pros, TAZ is the place to be for family fun on inline skates, skateboards, scooters and BMX.
A snowman contest
Has a heavy snowfall just blanketed the city? Your family can enter the snowman contest. Then, invite your friends to vote: $900 will be awarded in prizes to entrants who win the public vote. Guaranteed fun!
Murals and other art for you to discover
Do you want to play tourist in your own city without spending a cent, and for the smallest ecological footprint possible? Go discover the murals and other artwork that beautify many Montréal neighbourhoods.
Escape the humdrum close to home
Playtime in the libraries
Come play, with Montréal joue. Entertainment, board games, video games and role-playing — take advantage of many free activities, both online and on-site. You can even take games home — they are free to borrow.
Time for the circus at the Maisons de la culture and on the ice
The circus comes to the Maisons de la culture. Magic, juggling and acrobatics take centre stage among a wide range of free activities.
As part of the Festival Montréal en lumières, the 7 Fingers collective presents “Cadence, a show on ice”. From February 24 to March 5, circus artists and Olympic skaters will give a great show on the skating rink of the Esplanade Tranquille (Quartier des Spectacles). Free performances at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
The Rosetta spacecraft and Philae robot at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium
The Rosetta orbiter and its lander, Philae, were launched on a long trip to reach a comet and explore scientific secrets hiding there. Follow them through the solar system.
A very strange lab at the Botanical Garden
The Grande serre of the Botanical Garden contains a mysterious laboratory hiding giant, enigmatic, animal-like, carnivorous, fleshy and flamboyant creatures. Come discover them!
Giant marionettes at the Biodôme
Oversized puppets, inspired by the animal species at the Biodôme will meet young at old in the area surrounding the ecosystems.
Story time and handicrafts at the Biosphère
What could be better than handicrafts and story-reading to entertain children aged three to five? These activities, on an environmental theme, will be presented at the Biosphère.