Where Space Becomes Tangible
Walk into the Cosmodome and you step inside a life-sized space shuttle cockpit—the kind of encounter that makes the vastness of space feel suddenly, physically real. The museum sits along the Laurentian Autoroute and holds its own as a serious space destination, not a theme-park diversion. If you're traveling with younger visitors or simply want to understand what astronauts train for, Space Camp Canada operates here too, turning passive observation into hands-on learning.
The Thrill of Defying Gravity on the Ground
Laval offers two distinct ways to experience weightlessness without leaving the city. At SkyVenture Montreal on avenue Du Cosmodôme, you enter an indoor skydiving wind tunnel where the air itself becomes solid enough to hold you aloft. A few blocks away on boulevard Dagenais Ouest in Chomedey, Isaute operates an indoor trampoline centre—a simpler pleasure, perhaps, but one that works for families and for anyone who wants to remember what it felt like to bounce without limits. Weekday rates start lower than weekends, which matters if you can shift your schedule.
Picking Your Own Harvest
Two working farms invite you to step into their fields and gather fruit and vegetables by your own hand. Ferme D. & M. Sauriol, on boulevard des Mille-Îles in Auteuil, lets you pick strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, corn, peppers, and eggplant in their seasons—a direct connection to where food comes from that no grocery store can replicate. Ferme Marineau, further west on boulevard Dagenais, offers similar pick-your-own berries (strawberries and blueberries among them), plus a sale of local produce and a picnic area where you can eat what you've gathered before leaving. Both operate as genuine working farms, not tourist theatres.
Green Space and Urban Breathing Room
Le centre de la nature, anchored on avenue du parc, sprawls across more than fifty hectares of open ground—enough space to walk without feeling crowded, to sit without hearing traffic, to remember that a city can contain genuine quiet. Open from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., it serves as the kind of urban park that matters for clearing your head or spending an afternoon with a book.
Watching Professional Athletes Up Close
Laval hosts three professional teams that play where locals sit close enough to see effort in athletes' faces. The Rocket de Laval, an American Hockey League team, and the Victoire de Montréal, a Professional Women's Hockey League side, both play at Place Bell on rue Claude-Gagné. The Roses de Montréal, Laval's newest professional sports entry, began play in 2025 as a charter member of Canada's first professional women's soccer league and plays at Stade Boréale within the Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne complex on avenue de Bois-de-Boulogne. If you prefer traditional hockey played outside the major leagues, Les Pétroliers du Nord compete in the LNAH at Colisée de Laval on avenue Desnoyers.
Laval sits close enough to Montreal to feel like an extension of the region while maintaining its own identity around innovation, sport, and the chance to touch the earth yourself. Begin planning your visit by deciding whether you want to watch athletes, pick berries, or spend an afternoon where the sky feels larger than the buildings around you.