It’s no secret that Montréal is a city of museums. With close to 50 museum establishments spanning the entire city and covering a variety of subjects, there’s something to pique the interest of all visitors.

The Accès Montréal card holders benefit from discounts and advantages at certain museums in Montréal. The Musées Montréal card also offers advantageous packages.

Among the city’s museum institutions, eight municipal museums and Pointe-à-Callière offer unique experiences. By bringing their focus to bear on the history of societies and the natural sciences, these museums preserve Montréal’s cultural identity over time.

Please see their Web sites for programming details and practical information.

The MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises mobilizes Montrealers to help highlight the city’s plural identities. It collects and showcases first-hand accounts from a range of communities to tell the history of Montréal. To achieve its mission, the MEM prioritizes the voices of residents, past and present, in an effort to capture the essence of “Montreality” and the myriad facets of the city in all their diversity. 

The MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises continues to program the activities offered by its predecessor, the Centre d’histoire de Montréal. Located in the Quartier des spectacles, at the corner of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Rue Sainte-Catherine, the MEM will open its doors in 2022.

Nestled on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, just a few kilometres from downtown Montréal, the Musée de Lachine invites visitors to travel back in time. The museum includes Maison Le Ber-Le Moyne, the city’s oldest fully intact building, along with a classified archeological collection and buildings from the 17th century. Rounding out the visitor experience are a sculpture garden and a temporary exhibition.

TheMaison Nivard-De Saint-Dizier museum and archeological site has a mission to preserve and highlight the value of one of the oldest French-inspired rural houses on the island of Montréal. It preserves, documents and disseminates the site’s archeological and historical heritage dating back more than 5,000 years, to when it was occupied by Indigenous people.

Together, the Biodôme, Biosphère, Botanical Garden, Insectarium and Planétarium form Espace pour la vie, the largest natural science complex in Canada. It is also a major urban biodiversity hub, active and open to the world. Through its communication, conservation, research and education activities, Espace pour la vie guides human beings towards a fuller experience of nature.

Designated a national archeological and historical site, Pointe-à-Callière presents centuries of history, from the settlement of our First Peoples to the present day. Located on a site occupied by humans for more than 1,000 years and on the very site where Montréal was founded, the museum houses some remarkable architectural ruins that are showcased on site.