The apartment building we stayed in was linked to this very large underground network of passages and shops and places to eat. Also linked to the Metro. You can walk around much of downtown without ever going outside, which is great in bad weather. But the passages are very confusing to tourists and the signage is terrible, thus it is easy to get lost.

This probably doesn’t even qualify as a “thing to do”. It’s just a network of ordinary shopping malls joined by uninteresting underground tunnels. It’s hard to navigate around and not especially nice inside. The fountain and food court at Place Desjardins is the highlight: after that it’s not worth the effort. If it’s raining or cold it’s probably better than walking around outside… that’s about the best you can say.

It was cold and raining so we decided to wonder around the underground. It was also a Sunday. The place was packed. It was hard to navigate too. Market One looked like a great idea. It was an upscale food court. We couldn’t find 2 seats together so we left

First a disclaimer, we are from Minneapolis, where the downtown buildings are all linked by second floor skyways. So, the idea of a bunch of connected buildings was nothing unique to us. That said, that's what this is, a bunch of buildings connected by tunnels. There is at least one very cool fountain in the Complex des Jardins and the Eaton center has a very nice "high-end food court" with various upscale options (no McD or Tim Hortons here). But otherwise, there really aren't any particular attractions, except for the various stores and restaurants--which are mostly in either Eaton Center or CDJ anyway. In fact, walking through the tunnels (at least on Sunday morning when we were there), can be a bit creepy.

Unless someone tells you, you can not imagine how good and extensive the underground city is. Very clean, great shops, busy, and you can walk around whatever the weather. It is always one of the highlights of every visit I make to Montreal.

Overall, this network of tunnels and venues is brilliant. My complaint is that the maps and signs are just not sufficient to help a first timer figure out where they are going. It is particularly confusing in the Victoria/Bonaventure area. We were walking around with several other tourists and none of us could figure out if we were really going the right way. I'm sure once you do it a few times it becomes second nature.

I really don't know what to think of the Underground City. I know it's necessary for the rough weather seasons but if you are used to the stand alone malls we have in the US thenyou are going to be a bit shocked. Because it's HUGE. 20+ miles huge. I took my daughter to check it out and we entered in the the Complexe Desjardins entrance. That center was okay. But pretty. There was a really big supermarket called IGA which was fun to walk around and see Canadian producst. The other mall stores however were not really for the younger set but it did have the coolest chocolate store there called Chocolat Favoris. We had the best chocolate dipped cones we ever had in our lives there. Highly recommend. The food court also looked cool but we had already had lunch before we got there. We finally asked someone what part of the Underground City was best and he sent us over the Eaton. Go there. More of the modern stores are there. I think it's pretty amazing that Montreal folks probably have this Underground City memorized.