La Ville Souterraine Montreal

Montreal Underground City - RÉSO


Useful Information

Location: Montreal
Open: All year daily.
Guided Tours: all year daily after appointment.
[2020]
Fee: free.
Guided Tours: Per Group CAD 165.
[2020]
Classification: SubterraneaUnderground City
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: L=32,000 m, Ar=12 km².
Guided tours: D=2 h.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: yes
Bibliography:  
Address: La Ville Souterraine.
Guidatour, 360, Saint-François-Xavier Street, Suite 400, Montréal H2Y 2S8, Tel: 514-844-4021, Toll-Free (Canada & USA) 1-800-363-4021. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1962 first interconnected sections built.
1966 Montreal Metro starts operating.
2004 Underground City rebranded and given the name RESO.

Description

Montreal's Underground City (La Ville Souterraine) is the largest underground complex in the world. Since 2004 the underground city is also called RÉSO, from the French word réseau which meanins network. The tunnels extend over 32 km spread over an area of twelve square kilometers. 60 residential and commercial complexes comprise 3.6 km² of floor space. 80% of all office space and 35% of all commercial space in downtown Montreal is located underground. There are more than 120 entrances to the underground city.

Obviously such an underground structure is a good way to avoid the cold winter days. Unlike other underground structures the guests are actually not aware that they are underground, it looks like any other shopping mall. Actually most malls do not have windows either.

It seems there is a sort of inofficial competition between Montreals RESO and Torontos PATH. RESO has the largest underground system overall with 32 km, but has several disconnected areas. All of PATH is connected underground but is only 27 km long.

And despite being a shopping district, there are actually underground tours. They are offered for groups only, and while there is actually no size restriction, groups between 12 and 15 people are recommended.