Active Pursuits

After such long winters, locals pour outdoors to get sun and warm air at every possible opportunity (though there's also lots to do when there's snow on the ground). Even if you come to Montréal without your regular outdoor gear, it's easy to join in. A small and typically packed beach at Parc Jean-Drapeau (www.parcjeandrapeau.com) is open to the public from mid-June to mid-August. As well, a new "urban beach" in the Old Port is expected to debut in the summer of 2012, complete with sand, sun umbrellas, and lounge chairs. Visit www.quaysoftheoldport.com for updates and details.

Bicycling & In-Line Skating

Bicycling and rollerblading are hugely popular in Montréal, and the city helps people indulge these passions. It boasts an expanding network of more than 560km (348 miles) of cycling paths and year-round bike lanes. In warm months, car lanes in heavily biked areas are blocked off with concrete barriers, creating protected bike-only lanes.

If you're serious about cycling, get in touch with the nonprofit biking organization Vélo Québec (tel. 800/567-8356 or 514/521-8356; www.velo.qc.ca). Vélo (which means bicycle) was behind the development of a 4,000km (2,485-mile) bike network called Route Verte (Green Route) that stretches from one end of the province of Québec to the other. The route was officially inaugurated in summer 2007. The Vélo website has the most up-to-date information on the state of the paths, the Montréal Bike Fest, road races, new bike lanes, and more. It also offers guided tours throughout the province. (Tip: Several taxi companies provide bike racks and charge C$3 extra for each bike.)

The shop Ça Roule/Montréal on Wheels (tel. 877/866-0633 or 514/866-0633; www.caroulemontreal.com) at 27 rue de la Commune est, the waterfront road in Vieux-Port, rents bikes and skates from March to November. Rentals are C$5 to C$9 per hour and C$30 per day on the weekend, with a deposit required. The company now offers high-performance Argon 18 road bikes. Helmets and locks are included. The staff will set you up with a map (also downloadable from their website) and likely point you toward the peaceful Lachine Canal, a nearly flat 11km (6 3/4-mile) bicycle path, open year-round and maintained by Parks Canada from mid-April through October, that travels alongside locks and over small bridges. The canal starts just a few blocks away. Also for rent at Vieux-Port in warm months are quadricycles (tel. 514/849-9953; www.quaysoftheoldport.com), or "Q-cycles" -- four-wheeled bike-buggies that can hold up to six people. You can ride them only along Vieux-Port, and the rental booth is in the heart of the waterfront area, next to the Pavillian Jacques-Cartier. Rentals are by the half-hour and cost C$20 for a three-seater with spots for two small children, and C$40 for a six-seater.

In the spring of 2009, the city launched a self-service bicycle rental program called BIXI, where users pick up bikes from designated bike stands in the city and drop them off at other stands for a small fee.

Hiking

The most popular hike is to the top of Mont Royal. There are a web of options for trekking the small mountain, from using the broad and handsome pedestrian-only chemin Olmsted (a bridle path named for Frederick Law Olmsted, the park's landscape architect), to following smaller paths and sets of stairs. The park is well marked and small enough that you can wander without getting too lost.

Jogging

There are many possibilities for running. In addition to the areas described above for biking and hiking, consider heading to the city's most prominent parks: Parc La Fontaine in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood, or Parc Maisonneuve in the city's east side, adjacent to the Jardin Botanique and across the street from Olympic Park. Both parks are formally landscaped and well used for recreation and relaxation.

Kayaking & Electric Boating

It's fun to rent kayaks, large Rabaska canoes, pedal boats, or small eco-friendly electric boats on the quiet Lachine Canal, just to the west of Vieux-Port. H2O Adventures (tel. 877/935-2925 or 514/842-1306; www.h2oadventures.com) won a Grand Prix du tourisme Québécois award for being a standout operation. Their rentals start at C$8 per half-hour. Two-hour introductory kayak lessons, on Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons, start at C$35. From June to August, the shop is open daily from 9am to 9pm. Cross the footbridge past Marché Atwater, where you can also pick up lunch from the inside boulangerie and fromagerie, adjacent to the canal.

Swimming

On Parc Jean-Drapeau, the island park just across the harbor of Vieux-Port, there is an outdoor swimming pool complex and a lakeside beach, the Plage des Iles (tel. 514/872-2323; www.parcjeandrapeau.com). Admission to the beach is C$6 adults, C$3 children 3 to 13, and free for children 2 and under. Métro: Jean-Drapeau.

Cross-Country Skiing

Parc du Mont-Royal has an extensive cross-country course, as do many of the other city parks, though skiers have to supply their own equipment. Just an hour from the city, north in the Laurentides and east in the Cantons de l'Est, there are numerous options for skiing and rentals.

Ice Skating

In the winter, outdoor skating rinks are set up in Vieux-Port, Lac des Castors (Beaver Lake), and other spots around the city; check tourist offices for your best options. One of the most agreeable venues for skating any time of the year is Atrium Le 1000 in the downtown skyscraper at 1000 rue de la Gauchetière ouest. It's indoors and warm, and it's surrounded by cafes at which to relax after twirling around the big rink. And yes, it's even open in the summer.