During our recent Roadtrip to Montreal, we decided to spend the entire day at Montreals Biodome. I first visited when I was 15 years old and remember having the time of my life, and wanted experience that again with my own children.
Finding the right day between all our other Summer activities and co-parenting access schedule, we went on a random Monday morning for the night. After a few hours of reserarch regardint what to do in Montreal, we ended up dedicating Tuesday to the Biodome so we would be able to tour is calmly and without rushing to get home.
Thankfully the rain was pushed from Tuesday morning to afternoon, and eventually Wednesday morning after we finished our mini-holiday so we were blessed with clear skies during our day outside in the elements.
Biodome
The Biodome opens at 9am so ideally you will want to be there for opening. The Metro brings you straight to Station Viau on location. Arriving early means you miss the big tour companies and Summer camps, as they generally start their journey at the point of departure around 9/9:30 am.
The ticketing section of the Biodome can be a little hard to read for first time visitors but here is the long and short of it; If you plan to do 4/5 of these museums, or visit again at least once in the next 12 months, get the Passport. Hands down it was the best decision we made and it was significantly cheaper than purchasing each ticket individually.
Navigating the Biodome is fairly simple; get to the centre hub and all entrances/exits from the biomes stem from here. There is even an option of walking up the mezzanine to see a few biomes from above the trees.
We spent about an hour touring the 4 biomes and this was with minimal crowds and a gentle pace.
Planetarium
The Planetarium entrance starts in the lobby of the Biodome (or outside if you want to go around), down the stairs and up another flight of stairs. Both have cute little cafes and plenty of room for families to bring their packed lunch.
There was a room for exploring different types of space rocks, the history of our Planet and the discovery of other planets within our Solar System. The highlight of the Plantarium is the two cinemas giving back to back shows in both official languages, throughout the day. While the show’s are included in the price of Entrance ticket, that doesn’t reserve space for your family in the cinema. You need to go online and reserve a show or go to the Ticket vendor at the front of the museum and ask them to give you tickets. The board behind the desk shows all times, languages, recommended target age, and the number of spaces available.
Shortly after arriving, there was a show scheduled for 10:45am in the Chaos cinema, in English, ideal for kids 4-10 “ABOARD THE SSE-4801”. Even my 11 year old thought it was entertaining. Bean bags were around the room to allow opptimal viewing of the ceiling, it was great.
Lunch
While the cafe was adorable and had a handful of goodies to purchase for lunch, it’s Montreal and we can’t turn down a good Poutine. The courtyard just infront of the Plantarium had a fenced off area for Slush Puppie slushies, Hot Dogs, Pizza and Poutine food trucks. There was good music and enough seating for everyone that wanted one.
Around the corner was a series of Bouncy Castles for little ones that wanted something for themselves, and the Olympic Rings for the older visitors to read about. This was a nice 30 minute rest in the beautiful sunlight after 45 minutes in the dark. TBH I may or may not have taken a little nap in the theatre while our ship was lost in space. It’s fine.
Montreal Botancial Gardens
There are signs everywhere to take guests across the highway (via traffic light and cross walk, don’t worry). I don’t remember the Chinese Gardens being here last time but apparentlty they were added in 1991 so clearly I am not recalling every detail of my chilldhood experience.
According to Parks Canada:
The main functions of the modern botanical gardens are research, conservation, presentation and education, which the Montréal Botanical Garden has adhered to since its conception in 1931 and opening to the public in 1936.
We managed to spend another hour here, just walking around and enjoying the beautiful gardens. It was fairly sunny, as opposed to the rain they were calling, but the lack of shade in the main garden meant it was getting hot. We were able to cool off when we got to the First Nations half of the garden. There was a lot of trees and shaded areas here.
Mind the map regarding bathroom breaks. We found a set of toilets in the Japanese Gardens and then again in the First Nations area, so they were not super close together.
The majority of the gardens are wheelchair and stroller friendly but the Chinese garden did have a fair number of steps to reach the waterfall and temple. There was another way around it, however, so all hope is not lost.
Insectarium
This is where we lost the youngest’s interest. She had no desire to view bugs or any kind. I can understand that; I vaguely remember being terrified of this exhibit and fainting. I’m probably remembering an exaggerated version of events but I hate bugs none the less.
Girl-Child wanted to skip it, but we agreed to stay off to the side when we eventually got to the actual “scary” part. In the centre of the building, there is a round room with a large number of display cases showing off various species of insects for all to see. The entrance and exit are right next to each other so it was easy for her and I to duck out of the way, and let the oldest (Boy-Child) wander on his own while still being safe.
The final room was the butterfly conservatory. I highly enjoyed this section. Be mindful that we aren’t allowed to touch the butterflies, even if they land on us, so it’s important to be mindful of where the children’s hands are at all times. There are also a handful of serious photographers capturing some amazing shots while we were there so that was fun to see as well.
One day we’ll go back and spend more time visiting the museums, Biosphere and Mont Royal. Montreal is not nearly as small as I thought it was.
And it’s one city I highly recommend you visit with your family.