The Biodôme
We were spending the weekend in Montreal to cheer on a relative who was running the marathon the next day. On Saturday, October 10, in the afternoon, we took the opportunity to visit the Montreal Biodôme, in the heart of the Olympic Park. We stayed two hours, and our favourites were the capybaras and the penguins.
Five ecosystems, from jungle to ice
The Biodôme, part of the Espace pour la vie network, is home to about 2,500 animals of nearly 150 species, along with more than 800 species of plants. The visit passes through five ecosystems of the Americas, where animals and plants live side by side, and you travel from the south to the north of the continent in just a few steps.
The tropical rainforest. This is where it begins: the air is warm and humid, the vegetation lush. You can see capybaras, our first favourite, but also golden lion tamarins, two-toed sloths, caimans, piranhas, roseate spoonbills and exotic birds. Remember to look up: the sloth hides in the treetops.
The Gulf of St. Lawrence. A large saltwater pool of 2.5 million litres reveals the river's underwater life, with hundreds of fish and invertebrates, including cod, sturgeon, skates and spiny dogfish.
The Laurentian maple forest. This typical Quebec forest changes with the seasons. You meet the Canada lynx, the beaver, the river otter and the porcupine, with a viewpoint onto the lynx habitat.
The Labrador coast. This ecosystem is devoted to the alcids, seabirds, including the Atlantic puffins, nicknamed sea parrots. Don't miss their acrobatics in the water and in the air.
The subantarctic islands. Here, the penguins steal the show, and they were our second favourite. Several species live together, including the king penguin, the gentoo penguin, the chinstrap penguin, the macaroni penguin and Moseley's rockhopper penguin, and a tunnel and an ice wall carry visitors into a polar world.
From Olympic velodrome to living museum
The building has a history of its own: it is the former velodrome of the 1976 Olympic Games. The idea of turning it into a place devoted to life came from Pierre Bourque, then director of the Montreal Botanical Garden, and the project took shape in 1992, for the city's 350th anniversary. The concept was novel at the time: recreating complete ecosystems, where animals and plants interact as in their natural environment, an idea presented as a world first. The Biodôme was given a new look in a major renovation completed in 2020.
Good to know
Address: 4777, avenue Pierre-De Coubertin, Montreal. Telephone: 514 868-3000. The Viau metro station, on the green line, is the closest.
From September 2 to April 30, the Biodôme is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Monday. From May 1 to September 1, it is open every day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tickets are for a set time. They go on sale online two months ahead, and weekend and holiday slots fill up weeks in advance.
For two adults and one child, we paid about $70. Rates vary by age and place of residence, and combined passes let you add the Botanical Garden, the Insectarium and the Planetarium, all in the same neighbourhood.
The Biodôme also offers the "À table avec les manchots" (Dinner with the Penguins) activity: check its schedule before your visit.
Do not confuse it with the Biosphere, located on Île Sainte-Hélène: the Biodôme is in the Olympic district.
