Museum sights in Montréal
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Biodôme
At this captivating, kid-friendly exhibit you can amble through a rainforest, the Arctic Circle, rolling woodlands or along the raw Atlantic oceanfront – all without ever leaving the building. Be sure to dress in layers for the temperature swings. The four ecosystems house many thousands of animal and plant species; follow the self-guided circuit and you will see everything. Penguins frolic in the pools a few feet away from groups of goggle-eyed children; the tropical chamber is a cross-section of Amazonia with mischievous little monkeys teasing alligators in the murky waters below. The Gulf of St Lawrence has an underwater observatory where you can watch cod feeding alon…
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Centre Canadien d’Architecture
A must for architecture fans, this center is equal parts museum and research institute. The building incorporates the Shaughnessy House, a 19th-century grey limestone treasure. Highlights in this section include the conservatory and an ornate sitting room with intricate woodwork and a massive stone fireplace. There’s also a busy, well-stocked bookstore. The exhibition galleries focus on remarkable architectural works of both local and international scope, with a particular focus on urban design. The CCA’s sculpture garden is located on a grassy lot overlooking south Montréal, but separated from the main grounds by busy Blvd René-Lévesque.
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Musée des Beaux-Arts
Montréal's Museum of Fine Arts, the oldest in the country and the city's largest, is housed in two buildings: the classical, marble-covered Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, and the modern annex across the street, the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion. The latter plays host to works by European and Canadian masters but also ancient artifacts from Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Far East; Islamic art and works from Africa and Oceania.
The Old Masters collection has paintings from the Middle Ages stretching through the Renaissance and classical eras up to contemporary works. Exhibitions change but some great painters (such as Rembrandt, Picasso or Matisse) and sculptors (Henry…
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Musée Ferroviaire Canadien
The Canadian Railway Museum contains more than 150 historic vehicles, ranging from locomotives, steam engines, Old Montréal streetcars and passenger cars to snow plows. It’s widely acknowledged as one of North America’s most outstanding collections. Not particularly well known by Montrealers, this museum gets raves from those who make the trek, especially families, and many claim it’s the best museum in the Montréal area. The aerodynamic steam engine Dominion of Canada broke the world speed record in 1939 by clocking over 200km/h. A special sight is Montréal’s famous Golden Chariot, an open-air streetcar with tiers of ornate seats and gilt ironwork. Another goo…
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Musée d'Archéologie et d'Histoire Pointe-à-Callière
Built on the very spot where European settlers set up their first camp, the Pointe-à-Callière Museum of Archaeology & History provides a good overview of Montréal's beginnings. Visitors should start with Montreal, Tales of a City a 20-minute multimedia show that illustrates the centuries with the aid of film, hologram characters and real drizzle.
For the most part the museum is underground. Head to the archeological crypt in the basement where you can explore the remains of the city's ancient sewage and river system and the foundations of its first buildings and first public square. Interactive exhibits include video monitors that allow visitors to ask questions of the…
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Fur Trade in Lachine National Historic Site
This 1803 stone depot is now an engaging little museum telling the story of the fur trade in Canada. The Hudson Bay Company made Lachine the hub of its fur-tradingoperations because the rapids made further navigation impossible. Visitors can view the furs and old trappers’ gear, and costumed interpreters show how the bales and canoes were schlepped by native trappers. A little office display near the Fur Trade site relates the history of the Canal de Lachine, and guided tours are conducted along the canal on request. This museum has a gorgeous little location, kissing Lac St-Louis, making it lovely to wander the side streets, particularly behind the Collège Ste-Anne nunne…
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Musée McCord
With hardly an inch to spare in its cramped but welcoming galleries, the McCord Museum of Canadian History houses nearly one million artifacts and documents illustrating Canada’s social, cultural and archaeological history from the 18th century to present day. The eclectic collection has large sections on Canada’s earliest European settlement and the history of Québec’s indigenous people; other display highlights include embroidered gowns, toys, prints and First Nations’ works. The 2nd-floor gallery neatly encapsulates French-Canadian history in Québec. There’s also a gift shop and an inviting café. In summer it’s also open Monday.
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Musée d’Art Contemporain
This showcase of modern Canadian and international art has eight galleries divided between past greats (since 1939) and exciting current developments. A weighty collection of 6000 permanent works includes Québec legends Jean-Paul Riopelle, Paul-Émile Borduas and Geneviève Cadieux, but also temporary exhibitions of the latest trends in current art from Canadian and international artists. Forms range from traditional to new media, from painting, sculpture and prints to installation art, photography and video. The sculpture garden is also worth a look. The pleasant restaurant upstairs has a great dining terrace.
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Musée Redpath
A Victorian spirit of discovery pervades this old natural history museum, though you won’t find anything more gruesome than stuffed animals from the Laurentians hinterland. The Redpath Museum houses a large variety of specimens, including a dinosaur skeleton and seashells donated from around the world. A highlight is the 3rd-floor Ethnology Gallery, which traces the beginnings of human civilization. It includes Egyptian mummies, shrunken heads and artifacts from ancient Mediterranean, African and East Asian communities. In winter it’s also open Friday.
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Musée Juste Pour Rire
The Just for Laughs Museum is the seat of the summer comedy festival of the same name. Apparently comedian George Burns was nearly killed by a brick of fake banknotes here, but otherwise guffaws are few and far between. A favorite with kids, the Abracadabra show reveals a fascinating glimpse of magic and magicians behind the scenes. The adjacent Cabaret Theater (845-2014) stages special events and shows.
This warehouse space runs the best 100 comedy clips from comics around the world, from Roberto Benigni to Steve Martin, in its International Humor Hall of Fame.
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Biosphère
Located in the striking spherical dome of the former American pavilion in the ‘67 World’s Fair, the center has the most spectacular collection of hands-on displays in the entire city. Exhibits focus on the world of water, the St Lawrence River ecosystem (which, together with the Great Lakes, makes up 25% of the planet’s freshwater reserves) and emerging ecotechnologies. Hands-on exhibits all involve real water, and though primarily geared to kids, big people will also find it worthwhile. The upstairs Visions Hall offers a great view of the river.
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Écomusée du Fier Monde
This magnificent ex-bathhouse explores the history of Centre-Sud, an industrial district in Montréal until the 1950s and now part of the Village. The museum’s permanent exhibition, ‘Triumphs and Tragedies of a Working-Class Society, ’ puts faces on the industrial revolution through a series of excellent photos and multimedia displays. The 1927 building is the former Bain Généreux, an art-deco public bathhouse modeled on one in Paris. Frequent modern-art exhibitions are also held here.
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Black Watch Highlanders Regimental Museum & Archives
The presence of the legendary Highlanders is usually reserved for holidays and official ceremonies, but military buffs can delve deeper at this small museum of military memorabilia that includes medals, insignia, munitions and small arms from prior to 1969. The fanciful building – a faux Gothic castle, complete with turrets – also houses a national military archive and takes numerous requests for personnel documents. Few Montrealers know about this place because it never advertises and almost never opens.
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Musée des Soeurs Grises
Dedicated to Ste Marguerite d’Youville, founder of the community of the Sisters of Charity, better known as the Grey Nuns, this museum has a small but wonderfully presented set of exhibits. The sisters set out by canoe and founded a mission in what was to become Manitoba in western Canada in 1850. Folk legend has it that the nuns sold moonshine to the Aboriginals, getting them gris (grey) or tipsy. Tours of the museum in French and English are available by appointment only.
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Musée de Lachine
Practically right on the Lachine Canal, it’s a great bike ride to this museum, also one of the oldest houses (1669) in the Montréal region, with shooting holes inserted for defense. Back then Lachine was the last frontier for trappers heading west and the final stop for fur shipments. You can see and smell the old fur-storage building from the original trading days. Adjacent to the museum is a huge waterfront sculpture garden that you can visit anytime from dawn to dusk.
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Holocaust Memorial Centre
The Montréal Holocaust Memorial Centre provides a record of Jewish history and culture from pre-WWII Europe and holds seminars, exhibitions and other events. The museum has many powerful exhibits, including testimonies by Holocaust survivors that mix video interviews with archival footage. There’s also a Jewish library open to the public. The museum is closed on Jewish holidays; call to confirm Friday hours between November and March.
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Musée Marc-Aurèle Fortin
This museum has but a few viewing rooms dedicated to a sole Québec painter, Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888-1970), whose depictions of lush trees and greenery transformed the art of landscapes. A self-taught genius, Fortin produced thousands of works. He painted until his death, even after he lost his legs, and later his eyesight to diabetes. Fortin's bold, colourful paintings are a sharp contrast to his tragic end.
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Centre d'Histoire de Montréal
Housed in a handsome old fire hall on Pl d’Youville, the Montréal History Center has 300-plus artifacts that illustrate the city’s eventful past with the aid of models and videos. You can listen to the tales of real people while sitting in a period kitchen, or travel back in time while watching archival footage from the ‘40s and ‘60s. For sweeping views, head to the rooftop.
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Centre des Sciences de Montréal
This sleek, glass-covered science center houses virtual and interactive games, technology exhibits and an ‘immersion theater’ that puts a video game on giant screens. There’s a huge range of different admission prices depending on which combinations of films and/or exhibits you want to take in. The center includes an IMAX cinema showing vivid nature and science films.
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Musée Stewart
Inside a former British garrison (where troops were stationed in the 19th century), this museum displays relics from Canada’s past as well as a multimedia model of Old Montréal. Demonstrations are given outside by actors in period costume, and there’s a military parade every day in summer. It’s a 15-minute walk from metro Jean-Drapeau station.
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Ursuline Museum
Rue des Ursulines is worth exploring, with its picturesque homes (some of which are now B&Bs) and its unseen history, which you can learn about in the Ursuline Museum. Founded by Ursuline nuns in 1639, the museum has a fine collection of textiles, ceramics, books and prints related to Catholicism. Frescoes adorn the chapel.
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Armoury of the Mount Royal Fusiliers
The former munitions depot of this Canadian Black Watch regiment is a miniature château complete with steel turrets and battlements. Today it’s an administrative center and a museum of old military gear, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find it open.
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