10 Best Museums in Edmonton

The Royal Alberta Museum is among the largest museums of its type in Western Canada, offering just about everything from archaeology to botany, indigenous culture to politics, geology to zoology. The museum encompasses 419,000 square feet of space and showcases over 2 million artefacts, documents, photographs, and ephemera. There's something here for just about everyone, including a Children's Gallery where they can get hands-on with natural history. Highlights of the collections include the Bug Gallery, the Western Canadian History collection, the Cultural Communities collection, and the Indigenous Studies exhibits.

From dinosaur bones to oral histories, this museum presents an in-depth look at the natural history of Western Canada. It's in the heart of city centre Edmonton.

The Muttart Conservatory is among the most famed landmarks in Edmonton, offering a look at 3 greenhouses, public gardens, and 5 featured pyramidal art displays. The first four pyramids are designed to display exotic plant species from specific biomes all across the world, and the fifth is a skylight pyramid that illuminates the foyer. Here you can explore plants, both indigenous and exotic, from trees to bushes to shrubs to flowers and beyond, and learn all about the role they play in world ecology.

The conservatory was funded by the Gladys and Merrill Muttart Foundation, and is staffed, operated, and managed by the city's Parks and Recreation Department. It's right in city centre Edmonton.

The Alberta Aviation Museum lets you experience the reason why Edmonton is Canada's Gateway to the North and explores a full century of aviation in the region. It's located in a double-sized hangar dating back to World War II and lets you get up close to tonnes of full aircraft, including jets, bombers, bush planes, fighters, and other aircraft from over 80 years of aviation. It's a family-friendly museum that's as fun for kids as it is for grown-ups.

Besides the ability to touch real planes, you can get hands-on with some of the exhibits and see artefacts from wars, watch educational exhibits, and learn all about the science of flying. It's in the heart of city centre.

The Art Gallery of Alberta lets you explore more than 6,000 works of art in just about every medium from paintings to sculpture to photography and beyond. The museum was founded in 1924 and is a historic institution of the city. The focus is on artwork produced in Western Canada and specifically in Alberta, and it's considered to be among the most important and exquisite collections in the country. Here you can see original paintings as well as prints, photos, and historical works adjacent to important contemporary works.

From historic indigenous artwork to up-and-coming artists of this century, it's all on display here. It's in the centre of city centre Edmonton.

The Alberta Railway Museum is a popular museum in Edmonton tracing the importance of the railway industry to the local culture, economy, and history. It's an entirely volunteer-run nonprofit museum that lets you explore a wide range of railway relics, including climbing aboard historic train cars from engines to boxcars to cabooses and beyond. The exhibit is largely outdoors and is a fun place to just explore with the kids. You can even head for a replica railway terminal, which is perfect for a posed "historic" photo op.

This is one of those museums that's not just fun and educational, it's really like a walk back into history. It's located about 30 minutes north of city centre.

The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village is an open-air, living history museum focused on raising awareness about the importance of Ukrainian culture in Edmonton and Alberta. The focus of the museum is specifically between the years 1899 and 1930, and you'll see costumed performers showcasing what life was like for pioneers during this era as you walk among 40 refurbished buildings with hands-on exhibits. You'll learn what it was like to use common hand tools and cook in the pioneer style, including the chance to eat hand-churned ice cream. You'll see historic churches, shops, even mills.

You can also enjoy a fire pit, tables, and picnic areas. The museum is roughly 30 minutes to the east of city centre Edmonton.

The Reynolds-Alberta Museum is home to one of the largest collections of machinery in Canada, showcasing cars, aeroplanes, farm vehicles, and heavy equipment. If you're interested in learning about the industrial history of Alberta, you can explore it here, from the earliest days to the modern era. Not only can you touch many of the vehicles here, you can also climb into the cab and see how they steer and work. That makes this a place that kids love to come when they can crawl around in the cockpit of a real aeroplane.

The staff here are also exceptionally knowledgeable and the on-site gift shop and restaurant top it all off. It's about an hour south of city centre.

The TELUS World of Science is a state-of-the-art science centre that's outstanding for grown-ups and kids alike, offering countless hands-on exhibits of science and technology. The museum offers a fantastic science stage where live presenters give lectures and demonstrations. An on-site IMAX theatre lets you take in big-screen cinematic productions. A full planetarium lets you learn all about the universe outside of our world. Tonnes of other interactive exhibits explore just about every aspect of science and technology, from the wheel to the microchip and beyond.

This museum opened in 1984 and has thrilled generations of visitors ever since. It's just 10 minutes northwest of city centre Edmonton.

The Neon Sign Museum is a unique and fun place to stop, showcasing 20 historic neon signs as well as detailing where they hung and the history of neon lights. This museum may be small, but it's among the most popular photo ops in the city. It just takes a few minutes to explore the display, which hangs along the east wall of the TELUS building and along the Mercer Warehouse building's south wall. You can grab a coffee and stroll along to view what's there. It's free, and if you hit it up at night it's illuminated in all its glory.

The museum is at the crossroads of 104th Street and 104th Avenue NW. It's in the heart of city centre.