Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie

A taste of the tropics in the middle of the city: Visiting the Montreal Botanical Garden—bursting with color—in the middle of the city's glacial winter feels like an unexpected surprise. The sheer scale here is staggering, with ten greenhouses and twenty-two themed gardens, both containing over 22,000 varieties of plants and flowers. Making your way through the grounds feels like taking a journey across the continents, with Japanese- and Chinese-style gardens, tropical plants, and cacti all in abundance. The most interesting spaces are in the aquatic garden, which displays the incredible range of natural life below water, and for the more medical-minded, the toxic and medicinal plants garden, which offers a fascinating look at the natural world's impact on healing. With a special youth garden and an on-site restaurant, it makes an ideal weekend family activity no matter the season.