POP Museum — Attraction in Trois-Rivières

Located in the heart of Trois-Rivières, the POP Museum (Musée POP) offers a unique and engaging look into Quebec’s diverse and evolving popular culture. Far from a traditional museum experience, POP blends history, nostalgia, and fun in a way that appeals to visitors of all ages.

The exhibitions are vibrant and interactive, often exploring themes such as music, fashion, sports, media, and everyday life in Quebec. Whether you grew up in the province or you’re just visiting, the museum provides a fresh perspective on how culture is shaped by people, trends, and time.

One of the museum’s standout attractions is the Old Prison of Trois-Rivières (Vieille prison)—a historic site attached to the museum where you can take a guided tour of a real 19th-century jail. The experience is immersive, eye-opening, and often a highlight for visitors interested in social history and justice.

The museum itself is modern, clean, and family-friendly, with exhibits designed to be accessible and thought-provoking. It’s also a great place for kids, with hands-on displays and occasional themed activities. Most of the information is available in both French and English, which is a big plus for non-French-speaking tourists.

Pros: • Unique focus on Quebec popular culture • Fun, interactive exhibits • Fascinating guided tour of the Old Prison • Bilingual content • Centrally located in downtown Trois-Rivières

Cons: • Some temporary exhibits may appeal more to locals than international visitors • Smaller in scale, so best for a half-day visit

Verdict: The POP Museum is a cultural gem that successfully celebrates Quebec’s identity through the lens of everyday life. It’s informative, entertaining, and unexpectedly moving—especially when paired with the powerful prison tour. A must-visit if you’re exploring...

It's actually a great museum with very interesting and well-designed exhibits! Most of the exhibits are on the second floor. I especially enjoyed the main exhibit on culture québécoise. It is a colourful, highly engaging and interactive, and yet also very informative exhibit where people of all ages could have fun and learn something about the fascinating culture of Québec, all in a space that is very well laid-out. It is an exemplar for exhibition design! You could really tell that they put thought into the space.

I also enjoyed the historic vs. modern furniture exhibit, and there was a fun little exhibition about a superhero's quest to protect Trois-Rivières, which is aimed at kids. Overall, I would recommend spending about 1.5 hours here for a not-too-rushed stroll through the various exhibits. However, note that (as is the case in many areas outside of the biggest/most visited cities in Québec), many of the labellings/descriptions are in French only, and some level of French skills would help you understand the exhibits/have a more...

Pretty good museum, especially if you want to know more about Canada, and Quebec in particular. We wanted to go for the old prison tour but the slots were already filled (we reached in the second half of the day) and the guided tour was in French only. The exhibits are interesting. Besides the pop culture, a part of the museum also covers the history and the evolution of the criminal justice system of Quebec. There are small tablets/TVs in between with interviews of some people who throw some insights on how things worked and how it affected common people, which is interesting to know. There are some interactive sections as well but not all of them were working, partly due to COVID I suppose. There's pretty huge parking right before the museum if you're coming from Rue Laviolette. It charges like 8 cents a minute with a maximum of $9, which is...