Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre

Beautiful museum that teaches you the history of Yellowknife and it's people. It's big enough to wander for an hour or two and not get bored. Great little cafe for snacks and lunch. Free entry.

Great little museum to browse and learn about the Northern life while in town. Some very interesting stories about earlier RCMP and life in the North. Free admission.

Honestly one of the most impressive museums I’ve been to. Very thoughtfully curated and informative. The building is beautiful and well laid-out. Really great way to learn more about the culture and history. Entry is also free which is nice!!

I visited the Centre early Friday morning when I had some free time. I spent about an hour in total walking through. I must say it's an well managed and impressive museum particularly for being in such a remote area and being free. I've been to other regional museums which are not nearly as well organize and charge significant amounts to visit. Highly recommend visiting if you come to Yellowknife.

This is a small but well designed museum and the free entrance was an unexpected bonus. It is a great way to get out of the cold for the afternoon. The Cafe has very good food and a scenic view.

Yellowknife is a town that’s even more beautiful and interesting once you understand it, which is why I highly recommend this museum. When you enter, there are guidebooks in multiple languages, and the attendant will warmly and kindly explain the best order to explore the exhibits. It’s thanks to people like them that this town is kept so beautiful. The museum isn’t as large as a city museum, but there’s so much to see that you can enjoy it fully for anywhere from one to two hours. There are places to hang your coat, plenty of seating along the way, and restrooms, making it enjoyable for visitors of all ages. If you’re visiting Yellowknife, I recommend going to this museum on your first day before starting a full tour. I’m sure it will help you see and appreciate much more throughout your trip. I hope it continues to operate for many years to come.

We visited the Heritage Center the other day and had a wonderful time learning about the history of the First Nation people, the animals as well as the people who came to mine and trap in the area. The displays were very well done with just the right amount of information. It was amazing that such a wonderful center was free.

Lovely free museum we spent a couple hour in whilst visiting Yellowknife, very interesting, especially the RCMP and special Constables exhibit. Loved it! Big shout out to the friendliest security/guide at the start, he was so cheerful and helpful. What a lovely asset to the museum. Highly recommend you visit for a couple of hours. The cafe is great too! Get lunch

I feel like free museums should already get bonus stars. This one was great for being free imo. I thought there was just enough info to be informational, but not boring. They had a lot of artifacts and things displayed. I liked that I could touch some of the animal hides and that there was a whole room dedicated to the indigenous people of the region. It is kind a small museum, but clean, well maintained and has friendly staff. We walked over from our hotel, but there is plenty of free parking. I like that there is a dedicated (literally flagged) trail if you want to walk from downtown yellowknife. It looks like there is a cafe on the second floor, but it was closed when we visited. I'd recommend this museum if you are in the area. There's not a whole lot to do in Yellowknife, so I'm sure this place gets lots of visitors. I've been to other kind of small Canadian museums that kind of guilt you into donating. This one didn't.

Free admission, by the time we get in, one of the guy came to us said, "This is a free admission. You can hang your coat on your left hand side (the hanging closet area) or you can carry it on your own. You can take pictures and enjoy your day." We are very appreciative of his presence. Overall, this museum is about how people use the animals skin/hair to make clothing and boots to keep them warm, boat and etc.

Well managed, educational exhibit, fun treasure hunting for kid ( well.. My 10-year-old was very satisfied! Questions sheet), the kids' play area is outstanding! Strongly recommended!!!

If you're like me, you can't resist visiting an entirely new (for you) area without getting a taste for its local history and culture. I feel so fortunate that among my first stops in the capital city of Canada's Northwest Territories was the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Sure, by Toronto standards, it's a charmingly small venue, but it's a fun and ideal spot to explore the work of regional Native artists, archaeological artifacts, and the influence of air travel in this otherwise isolated part of the continent. A large portrait of Charles greets the visitor, along with a commemorative royal sword presented in honour of the Queen's reign. But what makes the museum more approachable to the lay visitor is the long presentation of historic and contemporary images of the mining workers and the Native community in this area, where at least nine Native languages are still spoken with common enough frequency that Dogrib appears on some building signage as much as English in Quebec. A children's play area offers many opportunities for a historically-aware parent to teach the kids about the lives of the Native peoples here, as well as the role of the RCMP in Canadian history, with life-size replicas of 19th century housing. Airplanes and model replicas demonstrate the role of early explorative flight that's been so vital here. High-tech audio-visual presentations tell the tale of the Legendary Sky Diamond. It's an intimate, relaxed setting where the visitor easily gets a sense of the diversity and challenging history of this interesting, if remote, part of the country. Unfortunately, there's little to be said in this review for the Museum Cafe to be found there, and that's only because its staff chose to entirely ignore us as we waited to be placed to a table. No eye contact, no please wait we'll be right with you. That was the coldest part of this visit just below the Arctic Circle.

We first enjoyed lunch at the Museum Cafe. The seafood chowder was divine! The whitefish was delicious and my daughter had a yummy bison burger. After we were served and ate our soup, the owner of the cafe, Chris, stopped by and chatted with us a little bit about what we ordered and how we were enjoying Yellowknife so far. After lunch, we enjoyed all the exhibits at the museum. We particularly liked the native stories about the Yellowknife area and the archaeological artifacts that accompanied the displays. Overall, a nice, relaxing couple of hours well spent!

Amazing. A great place to visit, as well plan on staying for lunch and have a little taste of northern food. Good food takes a bit so remember it is a very relaxed atmosphere. You will be glad you made the stop.