We talked in the last post about Museums in rural Manitoba, so let’s now review the museums in Winnipeg. Museums are a great thing to do in Winnipeg – the cultural offer in the Manitoban capital is so rich, there is something out there for everyone.
Houses of famous people
Gabrielle Roy’s house
There are several famous personalities who were born in Winnipeg, and two childhood homes have been converted in Winnipeg. Museums. The first is the childhood home of author Gabrielle Roy, who contrary to the popular belief, is not from Québec but from Manitoba. The house is a great visit, it makes you want to immerse yourself in Gabrielle’s books.
Louis Riel’s house
The other celebrity house in Winnipeg is the house of Louis Riel, the founding father of Manitoba, in Saint-Vital. The place is run by Parks Canada so you can expect a variety of programs and interpreters in historical costumes!
Dalnavert Museum
Dalnavert Museum is the former home of the MacDonald family in the late Victorian period. The house is in perfect condition, the interpreters during events are in costume and the programming is relatively interesting, it’s not a bad visit at all!
Winnipeg Museums for families
The Children’s Museum
The Children’s Museum, located at the Forks, can only be visited if you have children! The best age range to take full advantage of the museum is quite broad: from zero to nine years old, there are activities and programs designed specifically for the needs of children of these ages.
The Manitoba Electrical Museum
The Manitoba Electrical Museum is absolutely brilliant, interactive, dynamic, full of experiments to be carried out. Admission is inexpensive and the museum is really fun.
Fort Gibraltar
Fort Gibraltar can be visited twice: in winter, during the Festival du Voyageur, and in summer. There is historical interpretation, which means the guides will be in costume, will play a role and will explain to you the life in the Fort (where the fur trade happened) at the time of their character. It’s really interesting.
Museums coming soon
The Winnipeg Railway Museum, which used to be in Union Station, closed in December 2021 and is looking for a new space.
I am also impatiently awaiting the reopening of the Royal Aviation Museum, scheduled for spring 2022.
Museums in Winnipeg that must be visited
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights
You can’t miss it, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights dominates the city center with its extraordinary architecture. This museum must be visited, because it is beautiful, but also sad and rich: genocides, discrimination, racism, but also human rights, hope, activism, there is shadow as well as light.
WAG and Qaumajuq
The Winnipeg Art Gallery has been home to Qaumajuq, the largest Inuit art center in the world, since 2021. It’s really beautiful to visit, all in detail and precision. Temporary exhibitions change often, admission is free every second Sunday of the month, what more could you ask for?
The Manitoba Museum
I have to go back to the Manitoba Museum, because I still haven’t finished visiting it entirely because this museum is so huge. With historical and society galleries, a planetarium and a science gallery, it’s possible to spend hours at the Manitoba Museum.
The Mint
If you are a fan of the Netflix show Money Heist, you’ll enjoy visiting the Royal Mint. All Canadian coins – as well as those from dozens of other countries – are made in Winnipeg, and you can tour the facility to learn about the coin-making process. It’s a really unusual and interesting visit, you don’t often have the opportunity to see behind the scenes of anything related to money. The building is beautiful, too.
The Saint-Boniface Museum
I talk more about the Musée de Saint-Boniface in my article on Manitoba Museums, because it is one of the Seven Signature Museums of the province. If I had to sum up the essentials, I would say Francophone history + Louis Riel + oldest building in the city still standing!
More Museums in Winnipeg
Winnipeg is home to a few other museums, like the small Winnipeg Police Museum (which is free all the time) and the Manitoba Sport Halls of Fame for sport fans.
An easy and affordable way to experience most of the Winnipeg Museums is to visit them during Doors Open, a historical event which usually takes place the last weekend in May.
More posts about things to do in Winnipeg?
– the Canadian Museum for Human Rights
– the Manitoba Electrical Museum
– the Cement Cemetery
– the St-Boniface Museum
– Back Alley Arctic, polar street-art
– the Manitoba Museum
– Winterlude, an ice-carving competition
– all the museums in Winnipeg
– the West End Murals
