Montreal Airport parking (YUL)

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Guide to Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

Montréal-Trudeau Airport (YUL), officially known as Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in honor of the 15th Prime Minister of Canada, is easily the busiest airport in the province of Quebec and the third-busiest in the whole of Canada. Its two-story terminal building and three runways welcome over 16 million visitors per year and serve over 40 domestic and international airlines, making YUL one of the premier gateways into Canada.

Location of Montréal-Trudeau Airport

Montréal-Trudeau Airport is located on the Island of Montreal, just 12 miles (20 kilometers) from downtown Montreal and easily accessible by road and rail. The airport is connected via the Autoroute 520 expressway to Autoroute 40 heading north east and Autoroute 20 running south west, both of which serve as major connections between Montreal and Quebec City as part of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Numerous public bus routes take advantage of this connectivity with services running every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and taking just over 30 minutes to travel between Montreal Central Station and the airport. Although YUL doesn’t currently have a dedicated rail station, work has started on a major rapid transit rail network that will connect the airport to the rest of the island and is scheduled to be completed in 2020. Until then, the closest rail station is Dorval and there is a free shuttle bus running between the airport and the station every 30 minutes.

History of Montréal-Trudeau Airport

The site that would become Montréal-Trudeau Airport was established in the 1940s, when it became clear that the region’s original airport, operating since 1927, was no longer able to keep up with rising travel demands. Dorval Airport, as it was originally known, opened on September 1 1941. Within five years, the airport was handling more than 250,000 passengers a year and by the 1950s, Dorval was welcoming over one million visitors annually.

In 1960, the site was renamed Montréal-Dorval International airport and a new $30 million terminal facility made the airport not only the biggest in Canada but one of the biggest in the world at the time, acting as the gateway to Canada for all European air traffic and serving over two million passengers per year.

Since then, the airport has benefited from hundreds of millions of dollars of investment and expansion to bring it up to the standard of other major North American airports and, in 2004, it was renamed the Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in recognition of the Montreal native's achievements as Prime Minister.

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Airport facilities

Montréal-Trudeau Airport is one of only two airports in Canada to offer non-stop flights to five different continents and its single terminal building is equipped with a wide variety of retail, entertainment and food options to ensure you are prepared for the trip ahead, whether you’re hopping cross-country or embarking on a long-haul journey.

From fast food, fresh coffee and a smattering of international restaurants to cutting-edge technology, high fashion and even a florist, YUL's facilities are inspired by its reputation as a global gateway.

If you have any special requirements for your time at Montréal-Trudeau Airport, YUL’s accessibility policy has all the information you need.

Facilities at YUL include:

• Art gallery

• Baggage services

  • Baggage carts

  • Baggage wrap

• Car hire

• Cash machines/ATMS

• Cloakroom

• Currency exchange

• Disabled access

• Family facilities

  • Change tables

  • Children’s play area

  • Nursery rooms

• Florist

• Food and drink

  • Bars

  • Cafés

  • Delis

  • Fast food

  • Pre-packaged food

  • Restaurants

• Hotels and motels

• Information desk

• Internet access

  • WiFi

• Lost and found

• Lounges

  • Business facilities

• Medical services and first aid

• Parking facilities

  • Car share program

  • Covered parking

  • Long-term parking

  • Pick-up/drop-off bays

  • Short-term parking

  • Free to wait parking

  • Valet parking

• Pay phones

• Phone and laptop charging

• Post office

• Prayer rooms

• Shoe shine

• Shopping

  • Convenience stores

  • Duty free

  • High-street brands

  • Luxury goods

• Smoking area

• Spa and salon

• Special assistance

• Toilets

• Transport facilities

• Travel agents

• Trolleys

• Viewing platform

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Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport hotel and parking

Along with its on-site hotel, Montréal-Trudeau Airport is surrounded by a huge range of hotels and motels that offer an extensive selection of accommodation, parking and transport deals to suit any timeframe and any budget.

If you’re traveling on business or starting your vacation in style, the Montreal Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel is, just as the name suggests, located within YUL’s terminal building and provides unparalleled access to the check-in hall and airport parking facilities. As such, the Marriott is able to offer an extensive range of packages that combine your flights, your hotel rooms and long-term parking for up to two weeks, giving you even more time to relax and enjoy the luxurious, five-star facilities.

At just 0.6 miles (one kilometer) away from YUL, the Aloft Montreal Airport offers cool, contemporary style at an affordable rate. If you’re not away for long, Aloft offers on-site parking charged per day, but if you’re away for a week or more, the hotel also has a number of discount deals on parking for anywhere between seven and 14 days. Aloft Montreal also runs a complimentary airport shuttle every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, which will take you between the hotel and the airport in just five minutes.

Comfort Inn Aeroport Dorval is a good option if you’re booking on a budget. Only 1.8 miles (three kilometers) from YUL, the Comfort Inn offers free parking for the duration of your stay but, if you’re planning on leaving your car there while you’re away, the hotel’s Stay and Fly Packages include free and secure parking, a complimentary seat on their airport shuttle service and they’ll even throw in a free breakfast before you fly.

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Top things to do in Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

A taste of travel

Whether you’re in the mood for Greek food, Japanese dishes, wood-fired pizza or one of the best burgers money can buy at an airport, YUL’s diverse and eclectic mix of fast food outlets, cocktails bars, pubs, diners and delis offers a range of favorites and local delicacies.

If you're hungry during your layover, make sure to stop by the airport’s very own gourmet food truck, which features a rotating cast of Québec’s best street food brands and chefs who use locally sourced products to create innovative, tasty and affordable meals and snacks for when you’re on the move.

An eye for retail

Montréal-Trudeau Airport’s retail hall is as vibrant and creative as the city itself, with convenience stores selling travel essentials among a range of shops offering cutting-edge technology and electronic devices, classic vacation reading and the latest bestselling books, handcrafted sterling silver jewelry and an impressive selection of fashion and lifestyle labels from iconic global brands to local designers.

There’s also an extensive duty free outlet with a wide selection of souvenirs for family and friends back home and even a shop especially for the kids that sells a colorful range of quality toys and games to keep them busy throughout the flight.

Flower power

Whether you’re welcoming friends and family home or want something extra special to take back to a loved one, YUL has its very own in-house florist with a wide choice of ready-made bouquets, as well as the option to put together your own from the day’s selection of freshly picked flowers.

If you’re feeling travel weary, a moment taking in the colors and combinations of flowers on display can also make a refreshing change from endlessly scanning the departure boards.

Lounge around

Montréal-Trudeau Airport has several executive lounges that, for a fee, will permit entry to anyone regardless of the airline they’re flying with, the type of ticket they have or the destination they are flying to from Montreal.

If you’re in need of some peace and quiet away from the noise of the busy terminal, the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges and the National Bank World Mastercard Lounge offer their guests complimentary snacks and drinks as well as access to high-speed WiFi, HD TV, a selection of global newspapers and magazines, business facilities, workstations and showers.

These lounges can quickly become busy so, if you know you’ll need somewhere to catch up on emails or get some sleep during your visit, it’s a good idea to pre-book your space.

Spoil yourself

If jet lag is getting the better of you, a visit to the airport’s spa and beauty lounge is the perfect remedy. The certified therapists there offer an extensive selection of treatments including manicures, pedicures, chair and table massages, as well as a series of Traveler’s Edition express treatments and a range of luxury beauty products and accessories, so your trip through the airport doesn’t have to be a stressful one.

Airport art

Montréal-Trudeau Airport’s Aérogalerie art program uses the unique space of the terminal building to house and hang an eclectic selection of works from the region’s creative community alongside those of artists from around the world.

As well as housing an integrated light installation by Alex Morgenthaler and a permanent collection of drawings and paintings, the terminal is regularly used to exhibit touring collections of photography and sculpture. Visit the Information Desk to find out what’s on during your stay or just wander through the gallery on the way to your gate to take it all in.

Keep the kids happy

If you sometimes find airports a bit overwhelming, imagine what it must be like for children. Fortunately, YUL has installed children’s play zones in each of their boarding areas to keep them entertained and occupied before boarding, ensuring they take their seats on the plane happy and ready to fly, having burned off any nervous energy or bad moods.

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Top things to do near Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

A mountain of fun

Mount Royal Park is one of Montreal’s most expansive green spaces and is famed for its year-round beauty. Scaling all 764 feet (233 meters) of Mount Royal, the park’s lush forest was deliberately planted so that it would glow emerald green throughout the summer and then turn a fiery orange in the autumn before the winter sets in.

The park includes hundreds of foot and bike paths through its 470 acres (190 hectares) as well as an artificial lake, a toboggan run, cross country skiing trails, a sculpture garden and an innovative interpretation center, so there’s always something to see and explore whatever time of year you visit.

Visit Bessette's big basilica

Just half an hour from YUL, St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is the biggest church in Canada and the 27th-biggest in the world. Built in 1904, it has since become one of Montreal’s most iconic buildings, regularly welcoming over two million visitors a year.

The Oratory is particularly famous for its association with Saint André Bessette, who originally campaigned for the chapel’s construction. Reputed to have miraculously cured and healed thousands of local people in his lifetime, Bessette is just as treasured as his church and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

See a majestic Montreal museum

Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum in the city and holds one of the oldest, most significant art collections in Canada. Currently spread across four expansive pavilions, the permanent collection consists of over 42,000 works and includes rotating exhibitions of international works from medieval to modern art, archeology and ancient artefacts, Canadian art and special galleries dedicated to the legacies of some of Montreal’s most prominent creative families.

Whether you’re an admirer of the classics or a fan of contemporary works, the Museum of Fine Arts is bound to have something to keep you captivated before or after the airport calls.

Climb into the cockpit

Montreal has been the home of the prestigious Canadian Grand Prix since 1978 and in celebration of the city's proud motoring history, Vortex Racing brings you the chance to experience sitting behind the wheel of a Formula 1 super car (without any tires having to touch the road).

Using state-of-the-art simulation technology, Vortex Racing’s cockpits recreate the thrill of the race with a full range of motion and up to 2.5 Gs of force feedback.

Suit up, start your virtual engines and prepare to race your family and friends, just a five-minute drive away from the airport.

Take the boardwalk

Much of Montreal's rich and intriguing history has been lovingly preserved in Old Montreal, with some remains dating back as early as the late 16th century. One of the most fascinating districts is the Old Port of Montreal, which stretches for over 1.2 miles (two kilometers) along bank of the St. Lawrence River. The Old Port was redeveloped in the 1970s, but still retains its heritage as a popular recreational and historical area, featuring the Montreal Science Centre, an IMAX cinema and the famous Montreal Clock Tower.

As well as riverfront access for walking, cycling and even pedalo routes, the Old Port even has its own urban beach so you can soak up some sun before check-in.

Feel the force of nature

Montreal’s Space for Life is a downtown district just 30 minutes’ drive from YUL that brings together the city’s four most prominent natural science museums: the Montreal Biodome, the Montreal Insectarium, the Montreal Botanical Garden and the striking Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium.

Describing itself as a vast project based on citizen participation and visitor co-creation, Space for Life is the largest natural science museum complex in Canada and is hugely popular with locals and visitors alike. Its unique, family-friendly experience turns the traditional museum inside out and ensures that you take what you learn about the world back home with you.

Take a trip to the underground

Situated at the very heart of Montreal’s downtown district, RÉSO is a collection of shopping centers, entertainment complexes and performing arts venues more commonly known as the Underground City.

The name refers to the 20 miles (32 kilometers) of subterranean walkways that run between the buildings and integrate with the city’s underground Metro rail network. The largest underground complex in the world, the Underground City is climate-controlled and well lit, which makes it especially useful during Montreal’s long winters. So, if you’re looking for something to eat or treating someone to a souvenir or two, follow the locals underground to explore a whole new world of Canadian culture and cuisine.

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Which terminal?

Montréal-Trudeau Airport’s single terminal welcomes an average of 45,000 international and domestic visitors every day. The airport is a significant gateway between North America and Europe and is frequently used by major airlines such as American Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM. YUL also serves as the HQ and primary hub for Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, as well as being a base for Air Inuit, Air Transat and Sunwing Airlines.

The airlines currently offering public flights to and from Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport can be found on the Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport website.

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How to get to Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

Car

YUL is easily reachable by road thanks to Autoroute 520, the dedicated expressway that connects the airport to Autoroute 20 and Autoroute 40 – two major highways that span Quebec and form vital parts of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Wherever you’re coming from, you can use the postcode QC H4Y 1H1 to find your way to Montreal-Trudeau Airport. You’ll need to leave the Autoroute 20 at the Dorval Circle at 54 to reach the entrance.

Bus

Société de Transport de Montréal (STM), the city’s public transport agency, currently runs five different bus services to and from the airport. Routes ‘204 Cardinal’ and ‘209 Sources’ run every 10 minutes through downtown Montreal to the airport every day of the week, while the ‘356 Lachine/Montréal-Trudeau/Des Sources’ and ‘378 Sauvé/Côte-Vertu/Montréal-Trudeau’ run overnight between 1am and 5 am.

STM also runs an express shuttle service every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, connecting the airport to eight major downtown stops including metro and rail stations. This shuttle service operates on its own tariff system and regular bus tickets are not valid.

The average bus journey from Montreal city center to YUL will take 30-40 minutes. For up-to-date timetables and routes, you can check all of STM’s current bus schedules here.

Train

The nearest rail station to YUL is Dorval Station, just 1.2 miles (two kilometers) away. A complimentary shuttle bus runs between the rail station and the airport every 30 minutes and most of STM’s airport bus routes include stops at Dorval Station, as well as numerous other rail and metro stations between YUL and the city center.

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Useful tips

Arrive in plenty of time

More than 600 flights arrive and depart at Montréal-Trudeau Airport each day and, although its check-in hall, parking facilities and access routes are built to accommodate thousands of visitors, they can still become congested during peak hours. As such, if you’re flying elsewhere in Canada or into the USA, try to arrive at the airport at least two hours before boarding and if you’re on a transatlantic flight, you should arrive no less than three hours before you fly.

What’s the difference between Montréal-Trudeau and Montréal-Dorval Airports?

Rather confusingly, there isn’t one. Montréal-Dorval Airport officially became Montréal-Trudeau Airport in 2004, but due to a combination of habit and disagreements with some of Prime Minister Trudeau’s policies, many Montrealers still refer to YUL as ‘Montréal-Dorval Airport’ or even just ‘Dorval Airport’.

Check the height of your vehicle

YUL’s short-stay parking lot is situated in a multi-story facility that operates a height restriction of six feet 10 inches (2.1 meters) throughout. Save yourself a possible headache before booking your parking space and double-check your car is eligible to enter.

Don’t forget your phone

If you’re picking someone up from YUL and you’ve arrived earlier than they have, you can use the CellParc Lot completely free for an hour rather than driving round and round the airport. Keep an eye on your phone until they call or message to say they’re ready and then it’s a three-minute drive to the terminal forecourt where they’ll be waiting.

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Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport FAQs

Is there free WiFi at Montréal-Trudeau Airport?

You can access the Internet for free for 60 minutes via the ‘YUL WiFi’ network. All you need to do is open your browser and accept the terms and conditions. It’s accessible throughout the terminal.

Where can I find information about my flight?

YUL’s departures/arrivals feed contains details of all the day’s flight activity, including scheduled and revised departure and arrival times as well as your airline, flight number, gate and the opportunity to follow your flight with SMS updates sent straight to your phone. You can see it here.

Alternatively, the airport runs two information counters 24 hours a day as well as multiple banks of courtesy phones, video walls and information terminals in locations throughout the facility.

I’ve lost something - what do I do?

Items lost and found on Montréal-Trudeau Airport property will be kept securely at the airport cloakroom in the public area near domestic departures. The cloakroom is open 24 hours a day and can be reached on +1 514 633 2076. If you think you’ve left something on your plane, you should contact your airline as soon as possible.

Does Montréal-Trudeau Airport have any accessibility facilities?

YUL terminal building and all of its parking lots are fitted with facilities to welcome and accommodate all of its visitors, regardless of ability or mobility. If you require assistance whilst traveling, you can find comprehensive list of YUL’s adapted services here.