Montreal Guided Helicopter Tour

Olympic Stadium and the east of Montreal

The flight heads towards the Olympic Stadium, built for the 1976 Summer Olympics and still the most striking structure on the Montreal skyline. From the air you see its huge oval shell and the Montreal Tower leaning over it, the tallest inclined tower in the world at 165 metres. Around it lie the Botanical Garden, one of the largest in the world, and the Olympic Park with its velodrome now turned into a nature museum.

From a helicopter you can appreciate the scale of the site in a way that is impossible from the ground, along with the grid of the east-end neighbourhoods stretching towards the river. Your pilot-guide explains what you are seeing through the headset, and the low altitude of about 1,500 feet keeps the details clear. It is one of the moments when everyone reaches for their camera.

Mount Royal and Saint Joseph's Oratory

Mount Royal is the hill that gave Montreal its name and the green heart of the city. From above you see the wooded park on its slopes, the lookouts, the cross on its summit and the two historic cemeteries on its northern side. On the 30-minute flight you also pass the western slope and Saint Joseph's Oratory, the largest church in Canada, whose copper dome is among the largest of its kind in the world.

Nearby lies Westmount, a residential neighbourhood of stately stone houses and leafy streets. Many visitors wonder about the best time to visit Mount Royal for the view; from a helicopter the answer is any clear day, but autumn is especially spectacular, when the maple forest turns red and gold and contrasts with the glass towers of downtown below.

Downtown Montreal and the Old Port

The flight continues over the downtown skyscrapers, including the cross-shaped Place Ville Marie and 1000 de la Gauchetière, the tallest building in the city. You see how the business district sits between the mountain and the river, and how the streets of downtown slope down towards Old Montreal.

Then come the narrow streets and stone buildings of Old Montreal, the twin towers of the Notre-Dame Basilica and the Old Port, where the old quays have been turned into a long waterfront park with a large observation wheel and historic clock tower. From the air you understand how the city grew from a small 17th-century settlement on the river into a modern metropolis. It is the part of the flight that gives the best overview of Montreal for first-time visitors.

St Lawrence River, Jacques Cartier Bridge and Parc Jean-Drapeau

The St Lawrence River is the reason Montreal exists, and the helicopter follows its wide waters past the Jacques Cartier Bridge, a green steel cantilever bridge opened in 1930 that is lit up with changing colours at night. Below lie the islands of Parc Jean-Drapeau, created and enlarged for the 1967 World's Fair, with the Biosphere, a large geodesic sphere that once housed a national pavilion, an amusement park and the island race circuit.

On the 30-minute flight you continue downriver to Îles-de-Boucherville National Park, a group of green islands with channels, marshes and cycle paths, before heading back over the countryside to the base. The shorter 20-minute St Lawrence circuit focuses on the river, the bridge, the Biosphere and the islands, with views back towards the downtown skyline.