Quebec's Best Museums: Musée de la Civilisation, the Morrin Centre (1808 Jail) & MNBAQ

Whether you want to understand 400 years of French-Canadian and Indigenous history or duck inside on a rainy or snowy afternoon, three architectural landmarks in Quebec City turn museum-going into an adventure.

1. Musée de la Civilisation (In Lower Town Next to Place Royale & Ferry Dock)

Designed by world-celebrated architect Moshe Safdie and opened in 1988 right on the Old Port waterfront (85 Rue Dalhousie), the Musée de la Civilisation incorporates the actual 18th-century stone vaults of the Maison Estèbe (1752) and a real 1750 wooden bateau boat discovered buried in the mud during excavation. Do not miss its two permanent core exhibitions:

• C'est notre histoire (This Is Our Story): created in collaboration with all 11 First Nations and the Inuit Nation of Quebec, showcasing Indigenous worldviews, artistry and resilience.
• Le Québec, autrement dit (Quebec, Differently Said): an engaging, multimedia journey through 400 years of Québécois life, from the freezing winters of New France and the fur trade to hockey, language and modern society.

2. The Morrin Centre (1808 British Prison & Victorian Library, 44 Chaussée des Écossais)

Tucked along a quiet lane inside St. John's Gate in Upper Town stands a Neoclassical stone building with a dramatic double life: built in 1808 as Quebec City's first common gaol (where prisoners were held in dark stone cells and public hangings took place above the front porch), it was converted in 1868 into the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. Join a 45-minute guided tour to walk inside the original 1812 iron prison cells and step into a striking, two-storey Victorian English Library with spiral wrought-iron staircases.

3. MNBAQ (Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, On the Plains of Abraham)

Located at the entrance to the Plains of Abraham, the MNBAQ links four pavilions, including the dramatic OMA / Rem Koolhaas glass-cantilevered Pierre Lassonde Pavilion and the 1867 former Plains of Abraham Provincial Prison, housing 42,000 works of Quebec and Inuit art (including world-famous canvases by Jean Paul Riopelle).