Montreal for The Solo Traveller: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Olmsted's carriage path climbs in long switchbacks to the chalet terrace; the city turns on its lights below as you arrive.

Even off-season the foot of the mountain is where the city's drummers, slackliners and fencers gather; stand at the edge and listen.

Open twenty-four hours since 1968, thirty poutines on the board; order La Classique and a stool at the counter.

Take a Bixi from the Old Port and ride the flat canal path past the Five Roses sign and the grain silos, with the city still waking.

Be at the door at ten: the permanent collection is free, and the Pavilion for Peace is quiet before the crowds arrive.

A solo stool at the bar of the city's most-loved restaurant, oysters and the lobster spaghetti; book the bar seat in advance.

An hour to the Gault reserve: the Pain de Sucre summit trail, 400 metres up through old sugar maple, with views over the Richelieu valley.

If the day runs long, the small cable ferry and the Trappist abbey village are the quieter reward; check the last crossing.

A tiny Mile End counter where small plates arrive as the kitchen finishes them; sit at the bar and ask for the day's wine.

Walk the pier to the 1922 tower for the sunrise over the Jacques-Cartier bridge and the river running out to sea.

The exterior iron stairs the city tried to ban in the 1940s, cheaper than interior halls, in rows of colour; go slow and look up.

The Mish-Mash omelette and a bagel at the 1942 diner counter, run by the same family since the beginning; a last stool.