Arriving (and Leaving) Montréal–Trudeau International Airport
Centre-Ville ou Métro?

The only way to describe landing at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport is like landing in an alternate universe where the French people suddenly don’t have French accents when they speak in English. 

Perhaps my preconceived standards of Canadian friendliness were too high, because no sooner had I stepped out of the jetway had I already encountered two very mean and very loud airport employees who essentially refused to help and only barked instructions in French, going so far as to straight up ignore the one poor girl who kept trying to flag them down (No, not me. A different poor girl).

ANYWAYS.

My original plan was to just Uber to Anna’s house. But then I wouldn’t be a very good traveler now, would I? So I took one for the team and went to look at my public transit options, which were effectively (and efficiently, might I add) reduced to one: The 747 bus. 

Despite the absolute chaos that surrounded me (seriously, out of all the airports I’ve ever been in, this one might be the most chaotic), finding the billeterie wasn’t complicated. After exiting customs and the luggage pickup area, I made a right and immediately ran into the 20 different signs for the 747 Centre-ville bus.

The fare to take this bus is 11 CAD on board, but you can use any transit pass that is the same amount or more (All Modes, Unlimited Weekend, etc.). At the kiosk, you can buy a reloadable OPUS card or a non-reloadable (paper) one. If you do choose to buy a plastic OPUS card (which I did), make sure you buy the right type: there’s a standard card that only works for zone A, and then a different card for each additional zone.

It’s a bit confusing, especially if you’ve just landed and are still a little frazzled (which I was – here’s a link explaining all the different fare types and cards: OPUS, occasional and magnetic cards – ARTM.) The metro station Anna was picking me up at was in zone B, in Laval. And long story short, I ended up with three different cards.

As far as the bus itself is concerned, I had two options. I could take the 1 – Centre-ville bus or on the 2 – Lionel Groulx. The queue to board the bus splits in two at the waiting area. A quick double take to make sure I’m in the right line – the one going to Lionel Groulx.

The difference between these two comes down the former dropping you off at the downtown area where the majority of the hotels are, while the latter leaves you right outside the Lionel Groulx metro station (just a few stops before downtown), where you can jump on the orange or green line. There are only 4 lines in the city – green (1), orange (2), yellow (4), and blue (5). Once upon a time there was a proposed red (3) line, but that’s a different story. 

I boarded the orange line headed towards Montmorency.

When I say the Montréal metro might be the best metro I’ve ever been on, I mean it. The stations are spacious, easy to navigate, and clean. The trains don’t smell like hot oil, petrol, burnt rubber, or electrical fires. When the trains rush in or out of the station, the breeze trailing behind them is actually refreshing, and cools me down from the hot, humid air outside. The only thing I dislike about them are the very heavy doors some of the stations have.

Per Anna’s instructions, I let her know when I passed through the “Space Mountain” station (Henri-Bourassa) and got off at De La Concorde.

Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy metro stations and photographing them?

Do you have a favorite metro station? Or a favorite mode of transport? Lemme know below!