Here are a few suggestions for museum visits to experience this winter during an outing with friends, family... or, why not, even on a date? 

Surprising Science Venues 

Step back in time at the Redpath Museum, housed in a beautiful Victorian building dating back to 1882 and home to impressive natural science collections ever since. Intriguing minerals, ichthyosaurs, mummies and much more await you! At the Montréal Insectarium, discover the world through the eyes of insects. Titillate your senses as you travel from the underground galleries to the Grand Vivarium! Admire the diversity and beauty of these incredible species and learn more about their life cycles. 

Vibrant Artistic Worlds 

Are you an enthusiast of acrobats', clowns' and jugglers' prowess? The exhibition Place au cirque, at the Pulperie de Chicoutimi, will take you on a journey along the Quebec trails of these daring performances, from the pioneers to the contemporaries, from backstage to the stage. Have you ever dreamed of running off with the circus troupes? 

At the Musée régional de Rimouski, relive the story of the very popular Gaspésie singer Mary Travers. Better known as La Bolduc, she travelled the roads of the province in the 1930s to share her music and her joie de vivre with the public. If you are interested in artists' creative process, check out the Dans l'atelier de Frederick Simpson Coburn exhibition at Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke. The life, work and studio spaces of this local painter are here revealed with finesse. 

Heady Stories 

Is exciting nightlife what you are after? In Quebec City, at the l’Ilot des Palais, meet the bartenders, DJs, waitresses, managers and other night owls who have populated the world of bars, clubs and taverns from prohibition days to today. Soundtracks, projections and evocative decors included! In La Prairie vicinity, at the Musée d’archéologie de Roussillon, beer takes the spotlight. Did you know that this beverage has been quenching the thirst of Quebecers since the days of New France? See how it has been woven into the cultural fabric of Quebec over the centuries. 

Outstanding Design  

If the château lifestyle piques your curiosity, check out two magnificent old Montréal residences with a refined and luxurious cachet, now converted into captivating historical museums, such as the Château Ramezay and the Château Dufresne! In Trois-Rivières, have fun comparing furniture from the past with contemporary furniture at the Musée POP in the exhibition Changer de décor. Can you distinguish the influences from one period to another?  

Exciting Virtual Experiences 

Enjoy a breathtaking moment to the fullest, as if it were the last minute of your life, in an immersive virtual installation at the Centre PHI in Montreal. At the Biosphère, enter a world of plastic and let yourself be carried away in a meditative virtual story that will take you to the frontier between art and science. 

Cool Stories 

At the Dorval Museum of Local History and Heritage Museum, you will learn all about one of the oldest and most popular and widely practiced sports in the country: ice skating. An invitation to enjoy hockey, figure skating or speed skating sheltered from the cold! At the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, plunge into the heart of a precious and magnificent material, ice, with spectacular images that invite us to learn how vital it is... and how threatened. Climate change has inspired the artist Daniel Corbeil to create La fin des icebergs, a photographic exhibition that can be seen at the Centre d’exposition Léo-Ayotte in Shawinigan until February 19 and, in a version including installation works, at the Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto in Montreal from January 26 to March 5. See ice in a completely new way!   

This winter, enjoy an out-of-the-ordinary experience in Quebec's museums in the company of your friends and family, and lighten up this cold season!