Underground City (RÉSO)

When Montreal’s January turns brutal, a good share of the downtown simply moves below ground. The Underground City, known locally as the RÉSO, is a network of pedestrian passages, atriums and plazas that links metro stations, shopping centres, office towers, hotels, universities and cultural venues across the city centre. It extends over roughly 32 kilometres in total, and it lets people walk from one end of downtown to the other without ever putting on a coat, which is no small matter when temperatures drop well below freezing and the snow piles high at street level.

The network began in the early 1960s with the construction of Place Ville Marie, the cross-shaped office tower designed by I. M. Pei, whose concourse was connected to the new Central Station and, soon after, to the metro system that opened in 1966. Developers followed the idea, connecting new buildings to the growing web. Over the following decades, the network spread as Complexe Desjardins, Place Bonaventure, the Eaton Centre and other projects were built or linked. It is not a single tunnel but a series of connected buildings and passages, and some parts are indeed above ground, with skylights and atriums that let natural light in.

Today the Underground City has well over a thousand shops and hundreds of restaurants, together with cinemas, galleries, a concert hall at Place des Arts and the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Ten stations of the Montreal Metro link to it, as do two major rail stations and the bus terminal, so it works as a transport hub as much as a shopping district. Art installations and public sculptures appear in the corridors, and several passages double as informal museums of city life.

For visitors, the key is to treat it as a way of moving around rather than a single attraction. Signs and maps help, and the colour-coded ones guide you between major points. It is easy to lose your bearings, so keep note of the building you came from and the metro station you want. Guided tours are offered at some times, and visitors may wish to join one for a more structured introduction. Entry is free, and the opening hours of individual shops and corridors vary, with some closing in the evening.

The network is open throughout the year, but it is especially useful in winter and during heavy summer rain.