Isa Tousignant

While we all agree that Montreal is an incredible city, if not the 9th best city in the world, sometimes you just need to get out of town. Whether you're looking for a seaside escape, or hiking near Montreal, here are the best options (ranked by shortest to longest distance from the city) that are all totally doable. If you need a quicker fix, explore a day trip from Montreal or just kick back on one of the city's glorious beaches or parks.

Fredericks & Mae is the brainchild of Giovi Mae Signorile and Gabriel Fredericks Cohen, two roommates who started their collaborative practice in their Brooklyn living room. Today, the colorful homeware label creates lighthearted, rainbow-hued objects ranging from kitchen tools to decorative ornaments. With minimalism and eco-consciousness at the core of its approach, Fredericks & Mae produces a handful of beautiful everyday objects that are built to last. The brand’s famed confetti cutting boards are made from multicolored speckles of professional grade, food-safe recycled plastic for increas

With so many incredible free things to do in Montreal, hanging out in one of the city's many urban green spaces or beaches is at the top of the list. They are where Montrealers go year-round, but it’s during the hot summer months that they really come alive. We’re talking tons of Montreal festivals and events, where to get a tan before drinking at the best bars and rooftops or where to go after long date nights or a casual bite to eat. Here are the best parks in and around Montreal.

Nestled high atop the hills of Los Angeles, Flamingo Estate is a beauty and wellness brand that celebrates the lushness of California. Operating out of the palatial property of its namesake, the brand produces a variety of luxury products, including a selection of all-natural candles and a collection of recipes to nourish both body and soul. The brand takes inspiration from its rich surroundings to craft an assortment of evocative scents ranging from Italian rosemary to seaside sage. Made from 100% vegetable wax, each candle is hand-poured and has a burn time of over 60 hours.

We all agree that Montreal is home to some of the best restaurants, bars and things to do, but it's also outrageously close to day trip hot spots in Ontario, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and (of course!) Québec—hot air balloon rides included. There's no shortage of quick getaway ideas, whether you want to camp by a lake, visit lavender fields that will make you feel like you're in Provence, go hiking or spend the day on one of the many glorious, sandy beaches just outside of the city.

Montrealers are all about rooftop drinking. The minute the mercury starts to rise, you'll find us day drinking on one of the best terrasses in Montreal—we earned it after a long winter. Throw a rooftop with a jaw-dropping view into the mix and things go up a notch. From afternoons spent (boozily) basking in the sun to secret bars perched high above the city, we love them all for a lofty brunch, some of the best cocktails or a trip to one of the best gay bars. What can we say? Rooftop bars are the best.

Montreal ups its game in the fall. It’s a city that knows how to celebrate the last licks of summer while embracing autumn's arrival. This essential round-up of Montreal musts is your to-do list whether you're a tourist or a local: from iconic attractions and museums, unmissable restaurants and bars—and the very best apple picking—it rounds up the most outstanding things to do across the city.

From Michelin star-calibre institutions, to epically delicious cheap eats and some of the best rooftop terrasses in town, there's something for everyone in the city’s most bustling neighbourhood. Check out Canada's largest supper club, one of our favourite sandwich spots, the most Instagrammable patio in the city and more.

Central Saint Martins graduate Aaron Esh pays homage to East London’s healthy nightlife and irreverent attitude with his namesake menswear label. The deftly sexy and methodically disheveled luxury garments are defined by offbeat tensions—confronting billowy drapings with structured silhouettes and asymmetrical angles. In the Aaron Esh wardrobe, blazers aren’t quite double breasted, pants are never straight-cut, and accessories like the Comma Shoe are bona fide sculptural. While far removed from dull staples, the pieces are fit for everyday wear and constructed with superlative tailoring lauded

estled in the northern, sea-hugging community of Galicia, Spanish homeware brand SARGADELOS has been creating refined porcelain pieces since 1806. Known for its innovative approach to design, the brand takes cues from around the globe and often creates collections with international designers—while always staying true to its roots and standards of craftsmanship. Pieces like shallow, flat bowls and spherical vases are crafted using exclusive molds that are then finished by hand in patterns inspired by the local Galician and Celtic cultures and the coastal region’s rough-hewn beauty. Whether for

Whirl & Whittle brings the ebb and flow of natural shapes into the home. Inspired by her grandfather’s wood craftsmanship, Canada-based Pooja Pawaskar founded the studio in 2019 using her background in architecture and furniture design to create wooden and ceramic home goods that are functional, aesthetic, and unique. Whether it’s the silky-smooth curve of a spalted beech wood vase or the rough-hewn edge of a hand-dyed wood bowl, the brand’s pieces embrace the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi—finding inherent beauty in flaws and imperfections. Thoughtfully designed objects built to age with gr

Bringing the electricity and heart of Kinshasa to an office at 3PM on a Tuesday is no easy task. But Pierre Kwenders, the first guest of our new 3PM series, did all that and more.

Fuelled by empanadas (his favourite afternoon snack), Pierre’s vibrant vocals and arresting beats transported our artisans far, far away.

It may be more than a century older than the country it calls home, but these days, Montreal crackles with new energy. It's no wonder that the city of less than two million saw more than 11 million visitors last year: In addition to its burgeoning culinary scene, the Québecois city seemingly has it all—cobblestoned colonial neighborhoods, hundreds of historic churches, one of the world's best jazz scenes, and even a small mountain in its city center. And don't even get us started on the piles...

When I was little, we had family friends who would always deliver a giant tin full of scrumptious home-baked holiday cookies around this time of year. Chocolate thumbprint cookies, snickerdoodles, lemon snowflakes, jam-jewelled coconut drops — I dream of them still, and every year I crave a home-baked cookie extravaganza. This year I had one, in the form of a cross-city hunt for the best of the best scratch-made cookies. Here are my top 12.

Open-fire grills have been the biggest trend in fancy new Montreal restaurants over the last couple of years, and for good reason: that wood-fire char is a hard taste to top. As the temperature drops, it feels like the right time to explore the best of the new — and also some of the great old standards that have long known the power of fire.