Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, and the private, small-group, or expert-led way to make it yours — your own pace, real access, none of the crowd.
In port at Troisrivieres, the bucket-list move is La Vieille Prison: After-Dark Ghost Tour of Trois-Rivières. La Vieille Prison de Trois-Rivières (official) runs it — a private, expert-led experience at your own pace, not a 40-person coach. Below: all 6 bucket-list things to do on a Troisrivieres port day, each with the independent way to make it yours.
1history
Step inside one of Canada's most storied jails — a working prison until 1986 — and explore its haunted corridors on an immersive guided experience. Dramatic storytelling, period cells, and spine-tingling atmosphere make this unmissable.
Book it withLa Vieille Prison de Trois-Rivières (official)CAD 25–35 per adult (day guided tour); evening/ghost tours CAD 40–55 per adult
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2culture
Visit one of Canada's most revered Marian shrines — a breathtaking riverside basilica whose rose-window light show and serene grounds are among Quebec's great spiritual landmarks. An expert guide unlocks its art, architecture, and living history.
Book it withSanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap (official)CAD 0 entry (free); guided tour by donation / CAD 10–15 per adult suggested
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3landmark
Housed in a dramatic 1930s waterworks building on the St. Lawrence, Boréalis is a world-class museum tracing Trois-Rivières' paper-and-pulp industrial legacy with stunning interactive exhibits. A private guided visit turns it into a genuinely revelatory experience.
Book it withBoréalis – Centre d'histoire de l'industrie papetière (official)CAD 16 per adult (standard); private guided group rates available from CAD 120 for up to 10 guests
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4history
Explore the ruins of North America's first industrial ironworks, a National Historic Site where furnaces roared from 1730 to 1883. An expert Parks Canada interpreter brings this extraordinary piece of New France history vividly to life.
Book it withForges du Saint-Maurice National Historic Site – Parks Canada (official)CAD 8.50 per adult; CAD 7.25 senior; family CAD 17.25 (Parks Canada 2024 rates)
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5culture
Uncover Trois-Rivières' hidden layers on a curated expert walking tour of its luminous Old Quarter — one of the oldest urban cores in North America, with 17th-century streetscapes, heritage churches, and insider stories no guidebook tells.
Book it withTourisme Trois-Rivières – Guided Thematic Walks (official)CAD 18–25 per adult (guided thematic walk; private group rates available on request)
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6culture
Step inside the extraordinary Ursuline Monastery — founded in 1697, the oldest surviving convent in North America — for a private expert-led journey through its museum of sacred art, embroidery, and New France daily life that few travellers ever experience.
Book it withMusée des Ursulines de Trois-Rivières (official)CAD 12.50 + taxes (exhibitions only); CAD 14 + taxes (with guided tour) per adult; seniors/students CAD 10.50–12 + taxes
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