Montréal's Biodôme is the only one of its kind in the world. It features four distinct ecosystems recreated in the former Olympic Games Velodrome. Created to represent the four most beautiful habitats found in North, Central and South America. Mammals, birds and plant life thrive in mini-habitats. Visitors, especially children, will enjoy all four environments.

The St. Lawrence Valley Natural History Society zoo focuses on native flora and fauna in educational and entertaining exhibits. Enjoy a stroll through the songbird aviary or along boardwalks through habitats for turtles and other reptiles. The "Light to Dark" exhibit, which compares and contrasts all sorts of diurnal and nocturnal animals, is fascinating.

Begun with two donated collections of insects from more than 100 countries, the Montréal Insectarium today maintains about 144,000 specimens. Along with an amazing variety of mounted insects the museum has 75 vivariums, displays of live critters such as honeybees, leafcutter ants, water beetles, scorpions, walkingsticks and spiders. A fascinating place to spend a couple of hours, especially if you're a kid!

Montréal's bountiful Botanical Gardens are the second largest in the world. The gardens opened in 1931 and now feature 30 beautiful outdoor displays and 10 exhibition greenhouses. Each display offers visitors a view of a different climate, country or flowering style. An insectarium is also part of the gardens and displays countless varieties of insects. One of the most popular stops in the gardens is the six-acre Montréal-Shanghai Dream Lake Garden.

Located about an hour's drive southeast of Montréal, the Granby Zoo is a great day-trip destination, particularly if you have kids. Among the animals are chinchillas, poison dart frogs, stick insects, Amur leopards, capybaras, colobus monkeys, fishing cats, llamas, porcupines, kangaroos, snow leopards, meerkats, and numerous bird and reptile species. Special exhibits highlight sharks and lorikeets, and there's also a small park with rides for the kids. The waterpark features a Lazy River, the biggest wave pool in Quebec, and a children's water playground, all set within a replica of an Amazon rainforest village. The zoo is open weekends only during the months of September, January and February, and is closed October-November.