Family friendly activities in the beautiful province of Quebec and surrounding area. Find tips and guides for hiking, traveling, outdoor and indoor time with your kids.
Ottawa, Canada’s Capital, offers many family-friendly activities and is known for the wide selection of the National museums and nature activities just on the city outskirts.
Here is the list of activities (ideal for wintertime but it can be equally enjoyable during the summer):
– Parliament Hill
– Museums
– Byward Market
– Rideau Canal Skateway
– Gatineau Park
– Wakefield
– Mer Bleue
– Parc Omega
– Fairmont – Le Chateau Montebello
– Hockey Game
Musée de la Nature et des Sciences à Sherbrooke (MNS2) is a small museum at the heart of Sherbrooke City in Estrie. We visited the museum on a rainy day and the kids enjoyed and learned about wildlife and geology in a fun way. During our visit, there were two main attractions, the AlterAnima exhibition, and the Terra Mutantès multimedia show, both interactive.
Guyon farm offers an educational farm, butterfly house, plant nursery and a huge indoor farmer market with lots of Quebec produce. At the educational farm there are many animals; rabbits, goats, sheeps, alpacas, miniature horses, donkey, chicken, quails, pigeons, turkeys and peacocks. Our family had fun on an early spring afternoon at Ferme Guyon enjoying a light fresh lunch from the local bakery, a visit to the animal farm and the highlight – spending indoor time with the butterflies.
Animalium Par Selenia museum near Mont-Tremblant is great for rainy days. The indoor zoological museum for families offers a permanent exhibition of stuffed animals from 4 different floras and faunas around the world. Learn and watch from close proximity an impressive 800 species displayed in the museum.
Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal is a Roman Catholic basilica and a national shrine based on Mont Royal’s Westmount Summit. The construction of the chapel started in 1904, continued in 1924 with the basilica and completed in 1967. This is the largest shrine in the world dedicated to Saint Joseph who was credited with healing power. Many ill, handicapped and pilgrims pour into this Basilica. The basilica is built from Canadian granite and copper. This Montreal landmark is truly worth seeing. Take your visitors from out of town to visit this place and admire the architecture of this basilica and the wonderful views from its terrace.
The Children Museum is the place for kids to learn about different professions in a super joyful way, with 22 professions to discover. The venue is designed for the ages of 2-8 years old. One rainy day (a statutory holiday) we visited this place and the kids had lots of fun. The kids enjoyed 3 hours in the museum, exploring each station and enjoyed two funny shows from the nice staff. Good for rainy/snowy days.
Maison Saint-Gabriel is a national historic site located in Montreal (Pointe Saint-Charles). This museum will take you back in time to show you how the new settlers of New France lived in the mid 17th century. The place was founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys who bought the land in 1668 to support agricultural and educational activities of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame. We spent a few hours at this wonderful site. I highly recommend a visit, it is an ideal place for rainy/snowy days.
A small museum on the St Lawrence riverside, great for young kids to keep them entertained and active! The museum (with its three small houses) invites you to learn about the history of Gananoque as a center for boats throughout the years. Your kids can craft a wooden boat and enjoy playing in a naval theme indoor playroom with lots of dressing up, related toys and books.
Abbey Saint Benoit images have been featured in many regional touristic books. This magical historic landmark is a major attraction. Located in the Eastern Townships, the abbey is surrounded by mountains (Owl’s Head) and nearby the lake of Memphremagog. We also visited a soap factory nearby. Just a perfect day!
I don’t tend to recommend restaurants and hotels as I do believe it is up to personal taste but I could not resist writing about this fantastic place, not only for the coffee but mostly for its theme with recreational activities. La Récréation Cafe offers a wall full of board games for all ages. Located in Montreal near UQAM University, we enjoyed a cold and snowy afternoon indoor and it was lots of fun for the whole family. The menu offers coffee, smoothies, alcoholic drinks, sandwiches, snacks and many more…
Bfly is an interactive adventure for families inside a butterfly aviary. A simple indoor activity near Montreal, ideal for young kids. If you are in the area of Brossard (Quartier DIX30 shopping area), you can definitely spend there about 30 minutes to 1 hour. This super colourful decorated venue offers the kids to wander around the flying butterflies and to take part with interactive stations (choose French or English), individual activity book to identify creatures and learn about the butterfly life cycle.
If you are in the area of Waterbury or Stowe in Vermont head for this cute factory visit. You can spend there about an hour/hour and a half. The 30 minutes guided factory tour includes: a 7 minutes video about the history of the company, explanation about the production stages and an ice cream tasting. The venue also has a full scoop shop, a gift shop and an outdoor playground.
Jay Peak is a resort which offers lodging, ski and this great indoor waterpark. Located in Jay, Vermont nearby the border with Quebec, only 1h50 from Montreal, you can spend a full day here. You don’t have to be a guest in the hotel to access the waterpark as it also offers a pay as you go option.
We had a lovely visit to this beautiful basilica located along the St Lawerence River nearby Quebec City. If you are in the area, the place is worth the visit!
Quebec Aquarium in Quebec city offers a refreshing getaway with impressive exhibitions of fishes, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and sea mammals. We had lots of fun on our visit during a massive snowstorm. The aquarium is ideal for kids with lots of attractions to enjoy in any weather condition.
The place to go all year round with kids, but I prefer to keep it for a rainy day. So many stalls offering fresh vegetables, fruits and a lot of local product from Quebec!
Love trains? Exporail museum is the place for you! The perfect place for kids, you can definitely spend all day here! Rainy, or snowy days? Here we go. The big closed train hangar has a permanent exhibition where you can discover the evolution of Canadian rail transportation from the early years to modern time. During the summertime, there are also temporary exhibitions at the museum.
We visited the Canadian Railway Museum during one mid-November weekend when the theme ‘Magic of Christmas’ was on and we loved it. The Exporail museum had lots of Christmas decorations throughout!
The place to learn about the Huron-Wendat First Nations history. Wendake is a reservation of the Huron-Wendat and is located in the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough of Quebec City. Just 30 minutes from Quebec City you will find this beautiful reservation, with a great walk to see Kabir Kouba waterfall and the Huron-Wendat Museum.
Quebec Family Hikes 