Pole Culturel du Monastere des Ursulines, Quebec City

Among the oldest schools in North America, founded in 1639, this site now also boasts a museum and a chapel alongside the schoolrooms and courtyard playgrounds. Despite its simple, austere pews, the chapel has some of the most beautiful sculpted wood in Québec, and it was the Ursulines themselves who gilded the carvings, which now adorn the nave.

Just outside of the convent's walls, the Musée des Ursulines tells the story of these pioneer women, allowing visitors into the heart of the boarding school and the daily lives of the nuns and the young girls who passed through the convent's halls. Not only are the exhibits interesting, but they're also the perfect size and have just the right amount of information – including artifacts from the time of the French regime such as teaching materials, personal objects, and sacred artwork. Most museums feel worn, but not this one; it feels brand new.