Top Quebec Skip-the-Line Tours

The Canadian Museum of History is a large museum, with lots to see. Their main exhibit is the Canadian History Hall. It is divided into three sections. The first is from earliest times to 1763. (In 1763, France had to cede Canada to the British after they lost the French and Indian War.) The earliest peoples to cross into North America from Asia were the Clovis people. The spear points on display were made 13,500 years ago. The second section focuses on Colonial Canada, 1763 to 1914. One display represented the War of 1812. In that war, the U.S. invaded Canada to take it over. The last section of the Canadian History Hall is devoted to modern Canada from 1914 to the present. One case showed teen culture of the 1960s. A modern Canadian hero is Terry Fox. He lost a leg to cancer at age 18 and decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. It was known as the Marathon of Hope. Terry had to stop about halfway through when the cancer returned and he died in 1981, aged 22. You can see a prosthetic designed by Fox and Ben Speicher for his grueling runs.Relations with the United States are very important to Canada. Displays show a ceremony in Gander to mark the 1st anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and flags at the border between Washington and British Columbia. (The exhibit was made in 2013 and has not been updated to reflect the current trade problems.)One of the problems in Canada was the Indian Residential Schools. First Nations children were taken from their families and sent to these schools to force them to abandon the old ways and "Canadianise" them. Conditions were horrible and many died. The 2013 stained glass window by Christi Belcourt is titled "Looking Ahead" and recognises residential school survivors and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's official apology in 2008. (An identical window was installed above the west entrance to the Centre Block of Canada's Parliament Buildings.)The museum also had a special exhibit "Napoleon: The Immersive Saga". The first part was an exhibit of background information, such as a representation of the Battle of Waterloo. In the second part, you don VR headsets and watch Napoleon lead you through his key battles. It was a walking experience, similar to the ones I saw in London of Pompeii and Cleopatra. It felt strange when the (images of the) cavalry marched though you. Very realistic!

Amazing Experience. Canadian history in all it's good and bad. Filled with wonderful First Nation artifacts and displays. Very educational and inspiring.

Really enjoyed this visit. It was well organised with car park marshalls when I first arrived. Then the ticket office was well managed and off I went on the boardwalk to the observatory tower. Reasonably busy throughout but not too crowded. Didn't try the cafe which didn't look very inviting. Maybe menu was more than 2 hot dogs with chips. Souvenir shop was good. Really enjoyed the visit

This is an awesome place! It’s an easy walk to the top where you’ll get incredible views. I highly recommend it!

We absolutely loved the Canadian Museum of History! The exhibitions are fascinating, beautifully presented, and give you a much deeper understanding of Canada’s past and cultural heritage. We were particularly impressed by the way the museum presents the history and cultures of Indigenous peoples, while also acknowledging the difficult and often painful chapters of Canada’s past. It feels thoughtful, honest, and respectful rather than simply presenting a polished version of history. The totem poles are absolutely spectacular and worth seeing in person! Don’t skip the 45-minute guided tour. Our guide added a lot of interesting context and made the visit even more enjoyable. Highly recommended if you’re visiting Ottawa!

We stopped at these museums during a day trip to Ottawa, but there is more than a day’s worth of exhibits and activity here. I especially loved the exhibit design, particularly the Canadian history laid out in concentric circles on the upper floors. The kiddos loved the smaller children’s room in the History museum (nice for a little break) and the larger, connecting Children’s Museum which offers so many different activities in a setting designed to give you a little taste of everything from around the world. The location is great (neighboring bagel shop was top notch and has a kid’s space for reading/play) and outside is the Riverwalk, with bike trails, events, and a cool playground. Parking is available in the garage. The kids were free as part of a summer promo. Excellent all around!

The site on top is spectacular. Really refreshing. You need to take your time to walk as you might run out of breath ☺️ overall the site itself is well maintained and staff are wonderful. Highly recommend 👍

This place is amazing! Beautiful park, park benches, and kid's play area. The walk up to the structure was long, but easy. The climb up the treetop was also easy and worth every step to see the beautiful view!

We all enjoyed our time but I think the overall experience could be improved. The good: The Grand Hall with the totem poles is stunning and I loved discovering the various rooms of the various Pacific Northwest tribes. I also loved the gallery dedicated to Early Canada and was stunned by some of the artifacts and appreciated the reproductions you could touch. The Children’s Museum was amazing in its depth of experiences. Improvements: signage. While it’s nice to know what an item is, like a pipe or a dress, the signage doesn’t always give enough context. While the history, particularly in galleries 2 and 3, is impressive, I wish the children’s experience was incorporated into the main exhibits more instead of off in its own area. We were dragging our child through and werenot alone. The winding exhibit hallways don’t give you a clear line of sight to the rest of your party so you could get separated. The Canadian history is also presented with an assumption of knowledge. But for visitors from elsewhere (or newer Canadians), I think more context could be given. Some items were not suitable for younger viewers. The cafe is overpriced for what you get. The parking is strange, not sure the architect took that into account.

Fascinating museum about the first inhabitants and the history of Canada. Remarkable scenography.

We walked over the bridge to visit this site- worth a stop for the setting and architecture alone! We spent about 3 hours exploring the collections in this comprehensive museum, spending more time on topics that interested us and moving through others. Ended with some seltzers from the panorama cafe - great views but I would eat elsewhere. Uncrowded, well curated and well worth a visit.

Then this museum is for you…explains Canadian history from Indigenous People through today. Does it present the complete, unedited history? Probably not but it was refreshing to see a museum that doesn’t hide all the warts of a country’s history. One suggestion: Allow a lot of time. It’s a big museum with lots to see and read.

Enormous. You definitely need more than one day to do it properly. We parked at the museum and did the bottom floor (the First Nations floor). It is very well done...though overrun with school groups. The totem poles are amazing, I love the fake house fronts. Very well done. We then took a break, walked across the river to check out Rideau Canal + Parliament Hill and get lunch. Then walked back and did the 2nd floor. Kind of weird that the 2nd floor starts again with pre-European cultures. I thought that was pretty well-covered on the 1st floor. So it felt repetitive and the information was related in a more boring way. We never made it to the 3rd or 4th floors because our brains were full. Parking is very easy. So convenient that we could also walk across the bridge to see some of Ottawa.

We arrived just after 10 am and found out there was a special virtual reality event about Napoleon. You put on your headset and for approximately 30 minutes you are imbedded into his world! It was fantastic. After that we started to explore all the floors and at 4:30pm we were done - 6.5 hours and we enjoyed every minute. The Panorama Cafe was okay but I believe it could have been better.

We had what turned out to be a personal guided tour with Ralph after some confusion about our booking that we had made in January from UK. It turned out to be a very full and frank overview of the museum. We then went around on our own. The Residential Schools section on the third floor was extremely harrowing but important to remember and learn from. We needed a break so went for a coffee in the cafe, a mistake! Big queues, noisy with school parties and the coffee was awful. There’s a bagel place across the road, we should have gone there instead. Overall an excellent museum, beautifully designed and a very thought provoking experience.

It really was an amazing place. We spent 4 hours but if you wanted to take your time and add in movies shown there, You could have stayed longer easily. As many have said it is well laid out. Impressive displays and building. Very quiet when we went mid- April in the morning. Only small issue was cafeteria, though it has great views the food is average. Highly recommended to visit the Canadian Museum of History.