Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec

The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec is the province’s great art museum and the best place to understand Québec through its painters, sculptors and designers. It sits in Battlefields Park at the western end of the Plains of Abraham, spread across connected pavilions that are themselves part of the attraction. The main entrance is the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion on the Grande Allée, a cantilevered glass building with stacked galleries and a staircase that looks out over the city, which houses contemporary art, design and decorative arts and the museum’s dining areas. The Espace Riopelle in the Michael Audain Pavilion is devoted to Jean Paul Riopelle, the abstract painter who is Québec’s most celebrated modern artist. The Charles Baillairgé Pavilion occupies a former nineteenth-century prison, and the Gérard Morisset Pavilion, the historic main building, is currently closed with reopening planned for spring 2027. The collections run from New France religious art to the Automatistes and today’s artists, with strong holdings of Inuit art. Temporary exhibitions draw big crowds; Hyperrealism: This Is Not a Body runs until March 7, 2027, and the special presentation A Hidden Treasure: A Century of Mystery requires a separate Plus ticket. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm, with late opening to 9pm on the first Wednesday of each month, and is closed on Mondays. Admission is free for visitors aged 17 and under, making it one of the city’s best-value family outings.

Plan the visit around the building that interests you most. Start in the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion for the architecture and the contemporary galleries, then follow the connecting passages to the Espace Riopelle, where Riopelle’s monumental works get the room they need — seeing them at full scale is one of the museum’s signature experiences. The former prison in the Charles Baillairgé Pavilion is worth seeing for the setting alone: the contrast between the old institutional building and the art inside it is memorable. With the Gérard Morisset Pavilion closed until spring 2027, some historic collections are off view, so check what is on display if you are coming for a specific period.

Tickets and timing: the Tiqets ticket bundles general entry with an audio guide (bring your own headphones), which covers the permanent exhibitions and selected temporary shows; the special A Hidden Treasure presentation is not included. Buying online is cheaper than at the door. Weekday mornings are quietest; weekends and school holidays are busy, especially during blockbuster exhibitions. The Bistro is temporarily closed, but there are other dining areas in the Lassonde Pavilion.

Pairings and practicals: walk out the back door into Battlefields Park for the Plains of Abraham and the Joan of Arc Garden, or along the Grande Allée toward the Parliament and Old Québec, about twenty minutes on foot. The museum is accessible, with paid parking near the Charles Baillairgé Pavilion. For families, free admission for under-18s and the open galleries make it an easy rainy-day or deep-winter refuge. If you only have ninety minutes, prioritise the Lassonde Pavilion architecture, the Espace Riopelle and the current headline exhibition. Art lovers with a full day can combine the museum with the Plains of Abraham Museum at the other end of the park for a culture-and-history day, finishing with dinner on the Grande Allée, ten minutes’ walk east.