L'Islet-sur-Mer
Musée maritime du Québec – Capitaine J.E. Bernier
Set on chemin des Pionniers Est, in L'Islet-sur-Mer, the Musée maritime du Québec is one of the finest museums in Chaudière-Appalaches — and probably the most surprising. Visiting it means plunging into the memory of the St. Lawrence, in a village that saw generations of sailors born.
The indoor visit unfolds over three levels and offers five exhibitions. The star is of course captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (1852-1934), a son of L'Islet, who was commanding ships by the age of 17 and who helped define Canada's Arctic boundary. The new permanent exhibition HIVERNAGE / UKIITILLUGU recounts his seven Arctic expeditions between 1904 and 1917, highlighting his encounters with the Inuit, whose ancestral knowledge proved vital to these sailors from the south. A sensitive and genuinely well-crafted exhibition.
Don't miss the model room either, accessible on a guided tour: more than 200 scale models of ships that marked the maritime history of Quebec and Canada. Breathtakingly fine work.
The two museum ships
This is where the experience becomes truly unique: you step aboard two exceptional vessels, kept in dry dock just behind the museum.
The icebreaker CCGS Ernest Lapointe, a former flagship of the Canadian Coast Guard, sailed the St. Lawrence from 1940 to 1978. Over the winter of 1958-1959, it freed some sixty ships trapped in the ice between Montreal and Quebec City. You visit it on your own, from the engine room to the upper decks by way of the wheelhouse — children love taking the helm!
The other ship is downright surreal: HMCS Bras d'Or 400, a prototype military hydrofoil designed by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Cold War. In service from 1968 to 1971, it exceeded 63 knots (117 km/h) in hydrofoil mode during its sea trials, making it the fastest warship over 100 tonnes in the world.
The riverside park and its open-air exhibition
The wharf has been completely redeveloped to offer families a broad space for play and discovery, with an entirely free open-air exhibition. You wander between the sentier des Hélices, the halte des Icebergs, the jardin des Encres, the pointe du Mât, the placette des Treuils and the place des Brumes — stations that invite you to touch, to climb and to look at the river differently.
Families can also pick up the passeport Aventure and set off on La quête Des-Trois-Lieux, with captain Bernier's challenges, the riddle of the Duhamel mast and the self-guided digital tour L'Équipée. A picnic area and a terrace round out the site, and parking is free right across the way.
Good to know: the ships are closed in the low season, so aim for the summer months to get the full experience. The site is also accessible to people with reduced mobility, with adapted services for hearing and visual impairments.
