Montreal Map - The Underground City
Located beneath the heart of downtown Montreal are more than 33 kilometres (20.5 miles) of tunnels connecting 2,200 shops, restaurants, 10 major hotels, theaters and museums. This is the Underground City (or Réseau de la ville souterraine), or RESO for short, and it’s a massive network that locals call “the indoor city.” The underground walkways are used by more than half a million people every day, and the Metro, commuter trains and buses all converge on this impressive hub.
The Underground City is a vital part of everyday life in Montreal, especially during the brutal winters or on muggy summer days. During these times, RESO is a temperature-controlled environment that allows residents and visitors to shop, watch a movie or go to a concert without having to venture outdoors. The RESO network also connects hotels, office towers and malls that are open year round.
In addition, the underground network is home to many cultural events that take place throughout the year. For example, the Cinema du Parc, an independent art house, hosts a variety of different programs from indie films to artistic documentaries. You can find out about the latest events and exhibitions by downloading the free Moovit app.
This free app provides an offline map of Montreal that is available for use in the underground and on the Metro. It is easy to use and makes it simple to see where you are in the system. The app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
RESO began to take shape in 1962 with the construction of a lower level shopping mall at Place Ville Marie, the city’s first modern skyscraper and also connected to Gare Centrale, the central train station. The inauguration of the Metro in 1966 encouraged more subterranean malls and tunnels to link subway stations with important locations around town including hotels and offices.
Today, RESO is a series of over 12 square kilometres of tunnels that are mostly climate controlled and host office towers, hotels, malls and residential complexes. There are more than 120 exterior access points to the network, and the vast majority of them are open from 5:30 am until 1:00 am. For more details please visit montreal underground city hours
RESO is named after the French word for network because the entire system of corridors and tunnels is a network that interconnects office towers, hotels, malls, restaurants and residential and commercial complexes. It is the largest underground urban network in the world and the largest in North America.
The easiest way to get a map of the RESO network is to download the free Moovit app, which also acts as an offline Montreal Metro Map. The Montreal Downtown & Underground City Map is available for iOS and Android devices, and it can be used on the Metro, in the underground city and when traveling elsewhere in copyright. This free app is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod users in the App Store, and for Android devices from the Google Play Store.