Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History — Attraction in Montreal

When I came, there was a Very long lineup for buying tickets. I had paid online, so I had no lineup (there was a line, but no one in it). Definitely worth it. I read online it takes 3 hours to go through, but I'd say minimum 4 hours if you want to see Everything. It's a great historical museum with a section where you are walking over actual ruins on a glass floor (terrifying if you are afraid of heights, but still very cool), a passage through a not-used sewer that once was a small river. When I went there was a pirate exhibit and a witch exhibit. I was impressed by how much information they had gathered about the history of witch's in lore, where it came from, witch hunts, the start of witch mania (anti witch mania and how being called a witch started becoming a bad thing), reality vs misconception of what and who a witch is, everything. There were 2 floors. The second floor focused on occult items (actually used by witches, spritualists, tarot and palm readers, etc), and what people sold as used for occult, even if it was bogus (made up)), witches in modern media, witch tools (wands, brooms, etc), and witchcraft as it is today: a holistic spiritual practice (without a specific religion, though in more modern times was mostly associated with the wicca religion, though now religion and witchcraft are divorced. You can have any religion, or none, and be a witch) that uses your intention and action (and a feeling of connection to the earth's energy) to change your life (or those you care about) for the better. Anyway, it covered almost all aspects of witches; the real, the made up (that resulted in many not actual witches to be killed), and so on. It would have been complete with a bit of a bigger section about modern witchcraft (about witches today), but was still very thorough and well done. The witch exhibit isn't for children (they would be bored by parts, or disturbed by the sections about what people did to supposed witches, etc). But children will love the...

We bought our tickets online and going in was very fast as there is a line reserved for those with electronic tickets (we just showed them the tickets on our phone).

On entering there is a place to leave your coat and you can also rent a locker for a fixed fee of $1 (cash only and exact change needed) so that's really nice. There are smaller lockers and a couple of bigger ones and they all cost $1, which is a very reasonable price for the convenience of walking lighter without all your bags and scarves and gloves and beanies to slow you down. Staff was polite and professional at the ticket counter.

Your ticket gives you access to all the exhibitions, both permanent and temporary ones. This time, we went to check out the temporary exhibition about witches and found it quite interesting but sadly lacking depth, especially since they seemed to almost completely skip the whole trial and hunt period of women believed to be witches, which is a tragic but very important moment in history. Most objects had very limited descriptions too, so it was unclear about where they had been obtained.

The place itself is very clean, including the washrooms, and there are several water fountains as well throughout the museum.

I do think that further directions could be added for you to make sure to check all the exhibitions - we almost missed one because the corridor leading towards it was so discreet. I would recommend checking the website in advance to see the list of all the exhibitions, so that you know which ones you are interested in (if not all) and make sure to not miss them. The whole place is not super big but big enough to keep you busy for at least 3 hours if you move leisurely and check out all the beautiful...

Love this Museum!

This museum is the perfect place to discover or add to your knowledge about Montreal.

Give yourself at least three to four hours to explore the museum. There are sections that would be quite boring for very young children, but they have a pirate room that would be fabulous for little kids.

Start your visit by watching the movie. This 17 minute multimedia show called Generation MTL is well made and very informative regarding the history of Montreal. The movie sets the tone for the rest of your visit to the museum. The museum is completely bilingual and everything is offered in both French and English.

There are many permanent collections but one that I enjoyed the most was called Memory Collector, which is a tribute to North America’s first collector sewer, and a feat of civil engineering. Very cool to walk below the earth in a historic sewer tunnel!

While we were there the museum had two special exhibits that I particularly enjoyed. The first was called Dinner is Served! The Story of French Cuisine, which was informative and fun and certainly worth the visit. The second was called Into the Wonder Room, which is a look into the mysterious and unique world of cabinets of curiosities. Very peculiar and interesting!

Make sure you end your visit by taking the elevator up to the Belvedere which offers spectacular views of Montreal.

Make sure you check out the bathrooms.

The museum shop is definitely worth a visit and had a huge variety of anything from candy to art to jewelry to history books and objects for all budgets. This shop was a museum exhibit...