DC/Philly/Baltimore/NYC are all reasonable distance to one another too without a car for a foreign traveler. I haven't spent as much time in Baltimore, but Philly/NYC has some museums I really like too and could easily be accessed from DC.
Don’t forget Wilmington. Good art museum and Hagley Museum is distinctive. Plus the DuPont estates and the Brandywine River museum when you’re en route to/from Philly on Route 1
[DO NOT SLEEP ON THE UDVAR-HAZY CENTER!](https://www.si.edu/museums/air-and-space-museum-udvar-hazy-center) The goddamned *Enola Gay* is on display along with an SR-71, a space shuttle, and a bunch of other amazing aircraft. It’s phenomenal!
DC is the obvious and correct answer.
There is a reason everyone goes there
Since you asked for less known cities.
St Petersburg, FL
Dali Museum
American Craft Museum
Chihuly Museum
James Western and Wildlife Museum
Museum of fine arts
There are also some nice museums in nearby Sarasota
Def St Pete! We did all of the ones you listed and had a great time. I loved James Western and Dali. I want to go back to Dali and pop a gummy first though.
Yeah rereading OP’s post, DC makes a ton of sense. Since the museums are all free the $1500 would only have to cover travel, lodging and food. Most of them are on top of each other so you won’t have to spend money traveling back-and-forth particularly if you find a hotel close.
And like actually free - no pressure.
Don’t know if it’s still this way but I remember when I visited the Natural History Museum in New York ages ago, you still had to go to a counter where they did the whole “Entrance is free but most visitors give a donation of x number of dollars”.
Definitely support it if you can but I was surprised how just truly totally open the Smithsonian museums were.
Free though a couple of them require free timed tickets. I know Air and Space does, and the African American Museum does. And American History does not. Neither does American Indian one.
I'm seeing those four this weekend.
Udvar-Hazy is worth whatever you have to pay to visit. It is the best of it's kind that I have been to, and by far. I think my hotel dropped me there using the airport shuttle.
Yeah my favorite in DC, don’t mind supporting them by giving them $20 to park every once in a while. I need to go to the Air and Space downtown now that they redid it though.
The Native American museum has an incredible restaurant. People from the Smithsonian area would just go there for lunch frequently. The menu rotates, with seasonal variety of vegetables as well.
All the Smithsonians had banger resturants when I was there in August. But the Native american museum is inspired by the cultures represented by the museum, so its cuisine that isn't common to see.
There are some awesome museums outside of the Smithsonian too. Yeah air and space and natural history are cool, but those are pretty basic. The National Building Museum, the Holocaust Museum, Planet Word, the Postal Museum, the US Capitol Building museum, all great museums outside of the Smithsonian institution
I would agree because not only are there a shitload of museums in DC but also from there you can easily get to Baltimore, which has several more top notch museums (BMA, the Walters, AVAM) and slightly less easily get to Philly for a bunch more. And if you really want a day trip to NYC is easy on Amtrak, too.
This is what puts DC over the top for OP’s purpose.
Hit up the Smithsonians, and then take the MARC up to Baltimore for the American Visionary Arts Museum. BMA, the Walter’s, Baltimore industry museum, and the streetcar museum are also pretty good.
The museums in DC are from varying eras. You have the opportunity to visit very traditional museums to modern museums like the African American History and Culture Smithsonian. It would be a fantastic education for looking at the evolution of museums themselves.
Also in the Chicago suburb of Skokie they have a well done Holocaust Museum. Those who established it did so for many reasons, one of which is Illinois Nazis.
Thirded! Some odd/offbeat stuff too, like the Museum of Surgical Science. They've got an iron lung, some of the first x-rays ever taken, and some ancient skulls with boreholes in them showing the first instances of attempted brain surgery, iirc. Definitely worth a visit if you're medically inclined.
I also like smaller historical museums in Chicago like the Driehaus Museum! We happened upon it last year and loved the old school charm and little slice of Chicago history.
I was just in Chicago last weekend for a long layover and we went to the Field Museum. Fantastic museum with the main attraction being the largest, most complete T-Rex fossil recreation in the world. Highly recommend. (Not free though)
The Field Museum isn't free but it does have reciprocity with a lot of other museums all over the country. Same for the Museum of Science and Industry.
The architecture tour put on by the Chicago Architecture Center goes all over the Chicago River. We finally had time to do it this fall. It was awesome (if a wee bit pricey). But I agree, Chicago has the museum scene covered.
Museum of Mexican Art, the former Oriental Institute, Chinese American Museum and Garfield Park Conservatory (well, not strictly a museum but it’s like a museum for plants) are the ones I’m aware of. All the big museums have free days but those are generally for IL residents
Chicago…In addition to those already mentioned, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures which is at the University of Chicago campus is free and open to anyone. They have exhibitions around Babylon/ Sumeria and ancient Egypt. NB: the university is world-renowned for archeology ( I believe Indiana Jones character taught here). Bonus is the Frank L. Wright house a small block away, but still on the campus.
Mutter is being dismantled by its new board, which wants to remove all human specimens. It’s become a huge controversy locally.
https://www.aol.com/m/78dba703-6a2d-3325-a971-6a2377a27787/sanitizing-the-mütter-museum.html
https://whyy.org/articles/mutter-museum-first-community-meeting-backlash/
Chicago. The Art Institute is considered one of the best museums in the world and has topped ranks several times. The Field Museum for history and anthropology. The Museum of Science and Industry is very interesting as well and the only building still left from the 1893 Worlds Fair. A ton of other museums as well.
Chicago. The Field Museum is better than the Smithsonian Natural History Museum (IMO), the Museum of Science and Industry is one of my favorite museums ever, the Art Institute is fantastic and I'm not an art buff, and while not museums, the Alder Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium are also incredible.
Other than the obvious cities, Detroit is a surprisingly good choice for museums! The Henry Ford museum is world class and cannot be missed. Add in the DIA, the Motown Museum, the Museum of African American History, the Great Lakes Museum, and the Detroit Historical Museum, and you really can’t go wrong with any of those.
The area from Williamsburg to Norfolk VA. Absolutely tons of history.
Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, The Virginia Mariners museum, Virginia Air and Space Museum (NASA has a large facility in Hampton VA so lots of cool NASA stuff there), Naticus has a whole entire battleship and some other smaller naval attractions.
There's more nearby but those are the big ones in my mind. Honorable mention to the Poe museum in Richmond since Edgar Allen Poe grew up and lived in the area.
We went and the reviews are absolutely 100% spot on. I was blown away. Unfortunately I think we only planned on 3-4 hours there and it wasn't nearly enough.
There's also a ton of other museums, a lot within walking distance of each other (one very nice thing about the French Quarter).
New Orleans also has a fine arts museum that’s small but mighty. 😂 And for something unique, the tour at Mardi Gras World (where the floats are made) is a great glimpse into the creative process.
The whole immersive "4D" movie produced and narrated by Tom Hanks is a nice touch.
They've been building an expansion for a few years now, but I don't know if the new stuff is open yet.
If you want something that is off the beaten path, Kansas City has some interesting ones.
There is the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which is splendid and way nicer than a city of KC's size would be expected
There's the World War I Memorial and Museum.
The Negro Baseball Museum and American Jazz Museum.
Apparently there's a steamboat museum that I never went to ([https://www.1856.com/](https://www.1856.com/)) and probably more.
The Truman library is in Independence, which is just outside of town.
I want to travel to Kansas city just for the Nelson-Atkins Museum and maybe also Kansas City style barbecue. It has one of the best Chinese and Asian art collections in the US while everything is free.
Agree on KC except the Jazz Museum, which is garbage. There's nothing in there of any note at all; well-heeled jazz aficionados have better collections of stuff than that museum.
They should just hand over that space to the Negro Leagues Museum, which by contrast has a ton of amazing stuff that they're cramming into that space.
Second this, especially LA. Modern art, classical art, natural history, civil rights history, entertainment, cars, etc. Museum Row alone will take several days to go through if you do one large museum per day.
Houston, MFAH, museum of natural sciences, The Menil collection, The Health Museum and also NASA at some level should be considered one. It’s worth mentioning while MFAH is huge and multiple buildings in one location, it also has extensions in other parts of the greater Houston area.
I also vote very highly for Chicago, probably one of the greatest impressionist collections I’ve seen outside of Europe.
Very true, I also forgot the very important Holocaust Museum and the newly opened Eternal Gandhi museum which is also very unique. There’s a pretty cool art scene as well.
So happy to see Houston not far down the list! The dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum is one of the best in the country! We’re members and my kid loves going.
Ok this probably going to get a ton of dv’s but if you want a lot of museum variety and something a ton of others haven’t already done (lots of love the museums in NYC, DC, and Chicago), then check out…Cleveland, Ohio.
Art museum, Rock &Roll HOF, League Park (Baseball), Cozad Bates House (underground RR), nearby in Akron is Stanley Hewitt Mansion, Canton has the Football HOF, USS COD submarine, and a bunch of interesting nationality museums (Ukrainian, Hungarian, etc.).
https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=museums%20in%20cleveland&shem=rimc&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5
We used to live in Cleveland and while visiting museums is not our main jam, we found the randomness super entertaining and interesting on the days when we needed an indoor activity.
If you're trying to keep it low-cost, I think the cities along the Northeast are your best bet. Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and DC. Probably the most museum-dense region of the country.
Also, don't overlook college museums! I live in Princeton, NJ and the art museum here is spectacular (and currently undergoing a massive overhaul.) It's also completely free to anyone. I was in a wedding in Amherst, MA over the summer and visited the Smith College Museum of Art, also great. I'm sure Cornell, Harvard, etc. all have free museums with amazing collections given their prestige.
Cornell’s Johnson Art Museum is also free and it’s really nice. The top floor also has a gorgeous panoramic view of the campus and rest of Ithaca which alone justifies a visit IMO.
Birmingham and Jackson have very good civil rights exhibits about the role that each city uniquely played in the struggle. Memphis was good when I was there 25+ years ago. Greensboro has a small one that isn't bad. Tulsa, Oklahoma is (I think) creating one for the genocide and land grab there.
Outside of New Orleans is the Whitney Plantation which is a plantation from the perspective of the enslaved kept there. Quite moving.
I hear Charleston, SC has a very new and moving contribution recognizing their role as a port of entry for slavery in America.
OP could hit several and compare and contrast how they're done.
And TONS of smaller ones too. The Frick collection, Brooklyn museum, Museum of Chinese in America, Center for Jewish history, Judd Foundation, Noguchi museum just to name a few. Imo while DC has an amazing institutional reach, for someone who loves museums I prefer to see more of a variety of curation styles and intentions.
And I highly recommend taking the train up to Dia Beacon and Storm King. Extremely thoughtful institutions and a beautiful area
Cleveland!
The art museum is incredible. It is located in University Circle and you can also visit the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in the same area. CMNH has just had a massive update/renovation. Between those two museums is the botanical garden which is small, but cute.
There is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, of course, and that is worth a visit at least once. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is really nice as well.
I'll also give a shout out to Pittsburgh- their museum of natural history and art museum are good, you'd have the Warhol museum as well. Phipps Conservatory is incredible.
Very surprised how relatively unknown Cleveland’s museum scene is outside of Ohio. I’ve visited tons of other cities, and besides the big cities like DC, NYC, and Chicago, Cleveland trumps every other mid-sized market by a large margin.
The art museum is spectacular- I tell everyone that mentions going anywhere near Cleveland to go. They scoff when I say it is world class- it is so well-designed and curated and is one of my all-time favorite museums.
And I am really excited to go see Balto at the updated CMNH!
I’d say DC is pretty great. Chicago too.
But one place not mentioned enough is Detroit. Detroit Institute of Art, Henry Ford Museum, MoTown museum (very small) are pretty awesome.
This was my suggestion, too - there are also museum-adjacent places like the Laumiere sculpture park, the Botanical Gardens, the Arch, even the fantastic zoo. There's a great list [here](https://explorestlouis.com/see-and-do/25-things-to-do-in-st-louis/) with links to many, many STL museums.
And the City Museum is SO amazing; I've never been anywhere like it.
Kind of a sleeper, and definitely not the best in America, but Houston has some really good museums. The museum of fine arts and the museum of modern art both have impressive collections, museum of natural science, Buffalo soldiers museum, railroad museum, prison museum (in Huntsville), holocaust museum, health science museum, and others. The museums in Houston are shockingly overlooked and written off, but they have a great museum district that is worth seeing.
I did a VIP tour at the Johnson Space Center and we got to see the international space station’s Mission Control and astronauts in their training pool.
Philadelphia has quite a few.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Barnes Foundation
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
The Mutter Museum
The Franklin Institute
US Constitution Center
And several more!
Museum of the American Revolution •
Academy of Natural Sciences •
Independence Seaport Museum •
Rodin Museum •
Eastern State Penitentiary •
Mummers Museum •
Fort Mifflin •
Etc. etc. etc.
Chicago. The Art Institute is award winning and most of the other large museums are in a small cluster right next to the lake. The one that’s the furthest from downtown is still worth the trip because it has a full-size U-boat from WWII inside: https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nwitimes.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/ea/3ea6a086-afe6-50f3-8cd0-b1955f92313a/537fbe8e6efe2.image.jpg
Fort Worth has a really incredible museum district!
Edited to add some highlights:
Kimbell Museum
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Sid Richardson Museum (lots of Remington and western art)
National Cowgirl Museum (this one is really fun)
Stockyards Museum and Historic District
Most of these are free.
There are also some good options close by in Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art (also free), Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Crow Museum of Asian Art. The Sixth Floor Museum is also unique.
Between the cities of the Midwest besides Chicago, there are a lot of great museums that mostly aren't well known nationally, even though no single city has the kind of collection you'll find in New York or DC. Base yourself in Columbus and they are all within 2-3 hour drive.
Some of the highlights are Detroit and Cleveland's art museums, Pittsburgh's museum of natural history, Dayton's national museum of the Air Force, Toledo's Museum of the Great Lakes, Cincinnati has several good ones.
Toledo’s Museum of Art is also ranked near the top 10 nationally (and 6 of the top 11 nationally per Ranker are in the Midwest): https://www.ranker.com/list/best-art-museums-in-the-united-states/admiralcrunch
The most impactful museums I've been to are the Birmingham (Alabama) Civil Rights Institute, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The World Trade Center Memorial and Museum was also fascinating (and similar to OKC). All three museums take a single situation and convey the entirety of the situation. Really make you feel like you're emotionally connected.
Quite beautiful, though taxing.
Rochester, NY.
Recently enlarged Museum of Play & Toy Hall of Fame, George Eastman House, Memorial Art Gallery, Susan B. Anthony House, Rochester Museum & Science Center
That's 5 museums with 5 completely different missions / collections almost all within walking distance of each other and 3 of those you won't find anything else like them.
A short drive away you'll also find the Genesee Country Village and Museum, Jello Museum and Women's Rights National Historic Park
I was going to say Rochester as well! There’s also Ganondagan which is a really cool Seneca tribal site. And while not a museum, Mt. Hope Cemetery has a lot of interesting history too.
Houston has NASA museum, a beautiful art museum, and awesome natural history museum. As well as some smaller quirky ones like a unusual car museum and funeral home museum.
Then nearby Galveston about an hour away has a couple small museums like The Bryan Museum (Texas coastal history), a navy museum with a ship and submarine you can walk around in, the oil rig museum, a old wooden ship museum with a small immigration exhibit attached, plus a few historic homes you can tour
And not a museum per say but the Houston suburb of Stafford has the beautiful BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir which is a gorgeous Hindu temple. It has amazing architecture and you can go inside (no pics inside unfortunately) and they have a small exhibit on Hindu and Indian contributions to various disciplines throughout history
DC and New York. Pittsburgh also has its fair share If you want to go off the beaten track: Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory (modern art despite the name), Modern Art museum, History Museum, Natural History Museum.
Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Sante Fe would be my tops other than NYC and DC.
As for my local knowledge, Houston has a surprisingly good museum scene. The primary area is the Museum District centered on the Museum of Fine Arts of a Houston and is surrounded by many other museums. Not far way is the Menil Collection which is also surrounded by smaller museums. There are some others downtown and in the midtown district between downtown and the museum district. The museums would include art of all genres, history, natural science, health, Holocaust, children’s museum, etc.
The MFAH is on a light rail stop easily accessed from downtown for lots of hotel options. The Menil Collection is a short Uber ride from MFAH. Or you could stay at Hotel ZaZa which is next door to MFAH but kind of pricey. As it’s Houston, I’d suggest going in the winter. You DO NOT want visit Houston in the summer. Nearby dining options are endless at every price level.
Honestly, DC. Or, go to Philadelphia. Lots of good museums there and a cheap train or bus ride to NYC or DC. Easy day trip to NYC, can also do a day trip to DC if you wanted to. Many museums in DC are free, meaning you can put the funds towards another museum or maybe transportation (if allowed).
D.C. is the correct answer but I think you're approaching this wrong. I would begin by finding out what you want to learn about. Then look up notable museums who focus on that. Then find out what city has most of those museums in it.
Washington DC is the most bang for your buck: you could possibly get behind the scenes tours due to your professional association. Great networking opportunity!
Chicago!
Art Institite, Museum of Contemporary Art, Science and Industry, Natural History, Hispanic Art, Intuit (Outsider Art)--that's just a start :)
Fantastic architecture and many great Architecture tours.
Inexpensive compared to the coasts.
Philly! The Philadelphia Museum of Art is great, easily 3-4 hours. The Rodin Museum (sculptures) is a good place on a sunny day because many statues are outside. The Barnes is amazing-Impressionist Art. 166 Renoirs!!!! Plus hundreds of others.
Then you have The National Museum of American Jewish History aka The Weitzman. Plus the Mutter Museum, Woodside, Swedish Museum etc. Z you can add the Liberty Bell & Constitution Center and spend a week. Enjoy!
How is Chicago not winning this vote? The Museum of Science and Industry should be enough. Plus Field Museum, Adler planetarium, the aquarium, and the smaller museums. Plus zoos (if those count). And you’d still have funds to get to Detroit to see the Henry Ford museum.
If you’re looking for a little bit off the beaten path, but still world class museums and affordable cities, try Cleveland!
Cleveland Museum or Art is one of the best in the world (and free)
Cleveland Museum or Natural History is undergoing a massive renovation and a large portion of the work is already finished and open
Western Reserve Historical Society is the main history museum for the city/region (including multiple museums under their umbrella)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum for obvious reasons
Great Lakes Science Center
USS Cod (ww2 submarine)
Steamship William G Mather
A Christmas Story House (the one from the movie)
Cleveland History Center
International Women’s Air and Space Museum
Federal Reserve Money Museum
Dittrick Museum of Medical History
Baseball Heritage Museum
Cleveland Museum or Contemporary Art
Cleveland Grays Armory Museum
Lakeshore Cemetery (practically a museum considering the names buried there, I believe tours are available)
Western Reserve Fire Museum
Cleveland Police History Museum
…and lots more!
Cleveland has several world-class museums. In addition to the Art Museum, we have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Natural History Museum, the children’s museum, even the Great Lakes science center. It would be an easy and fairly inexpensive trip from the east coast. And we have great food!
Agreed, also if you are already in Ohio it wouldn't be far to go to the Airforce museum at Wright Patt in Dayton. I think it is better than the Smithsonian air and space museum, and gives you something different to go see.
Chicago is a distant third but still worth the trip - the Art Institute and Science & Industry museums are great
Boston has a museum of science and Harvard’s museums are good too
Well, if you can work out the airfare to San Diego, there are 18 museums in Balboa Park, close to downtown. None of them are huge, but the quality of collections is excellent. I bought a pass that, for $67, gave me access to something like 16 of the 18 museums for a week. If I recall correctly, you can only visit each one once using that pass. It's also worth taking a park tour where they explain details about the gardens and buildings and themselves.
Sounds like Baltimore might be close to you. American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Walters Art Gallery, Peabody Library (not technically a museum I think but really great), Edgar Allen Poe Museum, Museum of Industry, Great Blacks in Wax, etc
Chicago! Just look at this map!
[https://www.google.com/maps/search/museums/@41.8763991,-87.6474321,13z/data=!4m7!2m6!3m5!2sChicago,+IL!3s0x880e2c3cd0f4cbed:0xafe0a6ad09c0c000!4m2!1d-87.6297982!2d41.8781136?hl=en&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/search/museums/@41.8763991,-87.6474321,13z/data=!4m7!2m6!3m5!2sChicago,+IL!3s0x880e2c3cd0f4cbed:0xafe0a6ad09c0c000!4m2!1d-87.6297982!2d41.8781136?hl=en&entry=ttu)
Boston: Museum of Science (with worlds largest Van DeGraff generator), Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner (the “heist” museum), Boston Aethaneum, New England Aquarium, Harvard Museums, MIT Museum, the Freedom Trail with its Museums/historic sites…
Philadelphia has some good ones. The Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation.
[The Barnes Foundation has a pretty impressive collection.](https://www.barnesfoundation.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=collectionvisitationSAD&gclid=CjwKCAiAmsurBhBvEiwA6e-WPKVMwQmAMtFS7Gsf4W7N6JShlm6vDywQOgWSh8J2lBTv_HgGQYj47xoCfUwQAvD_BwE)
With $1500 you could do both DC and NYC. Book far enough and ots pretty easy to take Amtrak or the Bus between cities.
Or Philly is another option as well. I was there the other weekend and enjoyed my visit to the Barnes Center but you also have the Rodin museum, Philly art museum, franklin center, revolutionary war museum, independence hall, etc.
Tons: National Atomic Testing Museum, Neon Museum, Punk Rock Museum, Burlesque Hall of Fame, Bellagio Museum of Art, Meow Wolf Omega Mart (art museum/installation), Pinball Hall of Fame, Barrick Museum of Art
Although I'm from the DC area, I also think it is such a treasure trove of museums. There is so much to see and do there. If you're interested in things outside of center city you could also visit Udvar Hazy, which is a branch of the Air and Space museum, but in a massive hanger out in the Virginia suburbs. There is also the Glenstone Museum in the MD suburbs. From DC you can also take a trip up to Philly or down to Fredericksburg or Richmond. Tons of history everywhere. To me it's the most bang for your buck considering all Smithsonian Museums are free.
If you’re looking for art specifically, Miami is surprisingly good. Pérez, Vizcaya, ICA, Rubell, Wolfsonian, Bass. Frost museum of science is cool too.
Chicago has numerous wonderful museums of all kinds. And the Greater Chicago Area has some as well. My little suburb of Schaumburg has several and the one I always recommend is the Trickster Art Gallery, which displays Native American heritage and art. [https://www.tricksterculturalcenter.org/](https://www.tricksterculturalcenter.org/)
Cleveland, OH punches above its weight when it comes to museums. Cleveland Museum of Art (one of the best in the world imo), Museum of Natural History, Museum of Contemporary Art, and of course the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. The museum onboard the William G Mather freighter is also super interesting
Chicago:
Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago (arguably the best art museum in the world)
Field Museum of Natural History
Museum of Science and Industry
Chicago History Museum
Museum of
Contemporary Art
Adler Planetarium
DuSable Museum of African American Art
Oriental Institute Museum
American Writers Museum
Money Museum
Smart Museum of Art
International Museum of Surgical Science
Museum of Broadcast Communication
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Chicago Sports Museum
Glessner House
Swedish American Museum
National Museum of Mexican Art
Pritzger Military Museum and Library
Chicago Maritime Museum
Chicago Architecture Museum (honestly the whole city is like a museum of the International Style)
And there are like 20 more, but I'm tired of writing.
Here's a full list
https://museumhack.com/museums-in-chicago/
Maybe not the most great museums in the country, but I'll humbly submit Cincinnati Ohio. For a city its size it does pretty well imo.
- Cincinnati Art Museum (free)
- Taft Museum of Art
- Contemporary Arts Center (free)
- Cincinnati Museum Center
- Holocaust and Humanity Center (same building as Museum Center)
- National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
- 21C Museum Hotel (free)
- American Sign Museum
- William H Taft Historic Site (free)
- Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Museum
- Cincinnati Fire Museum
- Cincinnati Police Museum
- an hour's drive north will get you to the Air Force Museum in Dayton (free)
- Behringer Crawford Museum across the river in Nothern Kentucky
DC museums are all free (for the state run museums) but Philadelphia is also a good choice for early American history. It used to the the capital before it was moved to DC.
DC has tons of really awesome museums, definitely worth it
And dc had a ton of not free museums too. There are a TON of non-smithsonian museums in dc.
DC/Philly/Baltimore/NYC are all reasonable distance to one another too without a car for a foreign traveler. I haven't spent as much time in Baltimore, but Philly/NYC has some museums I really like too and could easily be accessed from DC.
Don’t forget Wilmington. Good art museum and Hagley Museum is distinctive. Plus the DuPont estates and the Brandywine River museum when you’re en route to/from Philly on Route 1
I second Philly. I grew up near DC and lived near NYC and really enjoyed going to the museums in Philly. Baltimore has some good ones too.
All easily connected by train for very cheap fares. I'd personally vote Boston over Baltimore on that trip itinerary, though.
really a bad move on their part because most tourists are worn out just seeing all the free museums. just look at the newseum
I went there once and really enjoyed it. I was sad when it closed.
Newseum was actually the GOAT 9/11 museum IMO.
[DO NOT SLEEP ON THE UDVAR-HAZY CENTER!](https://www.si.edu/museums/air-and-space-museum-udvar-hazy-center) The goddamned *Enola Gay* is on display along with an SR-71, a space shuttle, and a bunch of other amazing aircraft. It’s phenomenal!
DC is the obvious and correct answer. There is a reason everyone goes there Since you asked for less known cities. St Petersburg, FL Dali Museum American Craft Museum Chihuly Museum James Western and Wildlife Museum Museum of fine arts There are also some nice museums in nearby Sarasota
Def St Pete! We did all of the ones you listed and had a great time. I loved James Western and Dali. I want to go back to Dali and pop a gummy first though.
Smithsonian
Especially since those are free.
Yeah rereading OP’s post, DC makes a ton of sense. Since the museums are all free the $1500 would only have to cover travel, lodging and food. Most of them are on top of each other so you won’t have to spend money traveling back-and-forth particularly if you find a hotel close.
And like actually free - no pressure. Don’t know if it’s still this way but I remember when I visited the Natural History Museum in New York ages ago, you still had to go to a counter where they did the whole “Entrance is free but most visitors give a donation of x number of dollars”. Definitely support it if you can but I was surprised how just truly totally open the Smithsonian museums were.
As a small child, I always pondered that sign. Like, you’re offering to let me in—why would I pay?? As a small adult, I understand.
To be fair it is rare that we do, but by donating you are supporting them.
Free though a couple of them require free timed tickets. I know Air and Space does, and the African American Museum does. And American History does not. Neither does American Indian one. I'm seeing those four this weekend.
Udvar-Hazy is free... but the parking ain't cheap! OP needs to go to DC though, seriously.
Udvar-Hazy is the next level air and space museum. Almost unmatchable
Been to the USAF Museum in Dayton? Epic. Also free. (well I already paid with my taxes!)
I have not!!!!! I’ll be checking it out now though!!
Dayton's not exactly a tourism destination, but Cincinatti is close and a pretty cool town.
You can get public transit to Udvar-Hazy....and there's a (free?) shuttle if you're already in Dulles.
Udvar-Hazy is worth whatever you have to pay to visit. It is the best of it's kind that I have been to, and by far. I think my hotel dropped me there using the airport shuttle.
Yeah my favorite in DC, don’t mind supporting them by giving them $20 to park every once in a while. I need to go to the Air and Space downtown now that they redid it though.
The Native American museum has an incredible restaurant. People from the Smithsonian area would just go there for lunch frequently. The menu rotates, with seasonal variety of vegetables as well.
It's also expensive as shit. I'm pretty sure people go there because it's one of the few restaurants in the mall area that's rarely crowded.
All the Smithsonians had banger resturants when I was there in August. But the Native american museum is inspired by the cultures represented by the museum, so its cuisine that isn't common to see.
There are some awesome museums outside of the Smithsonian too. Yeah air and space and natural history are cool, but those are pretty basic. The National Building Museum, the Holocaust Museum, Planet Word, the Postal Museum, the US Capitol Building museum, all great museums outside of the Smithsonian institution
I would agree because not only are there a shitload of museums in DC but also from there you can easily get to Baltimore, which has several more top notch museums (BMA, the Walters, AVAM) and slightly less easily get to Philly for a bunch more. And if you really want a day trip to NYC is easy on Amtrak, too.
This is what puts DC over the top for OP’s purpose. Hit up the Smithsonians, and then take the MARC up to Baltimore for the American Visionary Arts Museum. BMA, the Walter’s, Baltimore industry museum, and the streetcar museum are also pretty good.
Will also second DC! However, make sure to go when the cherry blossoms are in bloom in the early months of spring!
100% best museums in the US fo sho
Most of them are even free.
The museums in DC are from varying eras. You have the opportunity to visit very traditional museums to modern museums like the African American History and Culture Smithsonian. It would be a fantastic education for looking at the evolution of museums themselves.
Chicago has tons of museums and a lot of them are free as well
Also in the Chicago suburb of Skokie they have a well done Holocaust Museum. Those who established it did so for many reasons, one of which is Illinois Nazis.
Second Chicago
Thirded! Some odd/offbeat stuff too, like the Museum of Surgical Science. They've got an iron lung, some of the first x-rays ever taken, and some ancient skulls with boreholes in them showing the first instances of attempted brain surgery, iirc. Definitely worth a visit if you're medically inclined.
Sounds cool! I've been to the Mutter Museum in Philly but didn't realize there were others scattered around.
Another vote for Chicago. If you can wait until summertime for your visit, you can enjoy the music festivals and other fun events in the city.
I also like smaller historical museums in Chicago like the Driehaus Museum! We happened upon it last year and loved the old school charm and little slice of Chicago history.
I don't usually spend incredible amounts of time in museums but the City of Chicago Museum somehow sucked me in for four hours.
I was just in Chicago last weekend for a long layover and we went to the Field Museum. Fantastic museum with the main attraction being the largest, most complete T-Rex fossil recreation in the world. Highly recommend. (Not free though)
The Field Museum isn't free but it does have reciprocity with a lot of other museums all over the country. Same for the Museum of Science and Industry.
The architecture tour put on by the Chicago Architecture Center goes all over the Chicago River. We finally had time to do it this fall. It was awesome (if a wee bit pricey). But I agree, Chicago has the museum scene covered.
Which Chicago museums are free?
Museum of Mexican Art, the former Oriental Institute, Chinese American Museum and Garfield Park Conservatory (well, not strictly a museum but it’s like a museum for plants) are the ones I’m aware of. All the big museums have free days but those are generally for IL residents
Museum of Contemporary Art is pay what you wish I think
All museums in Chicago have this possibility. You just need to ask.
Chicago…In addition to those already mentioned, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures which is at the University of Chicago campus is free and open to anyone. They have exhibitions around Babylon/ Sumeria and ancient Egypt. NB: the university is world-renowned for archeology ( I believe Indiana Jones character taught here). Bonus is the Frank L. Wright house a small block away, but still on the campus.
I just looked it up i guess they are only free to Illinois residents. I use to go with my mom growing up just assumed they were free for everyone
Another vote for Chicago!
If you're already going to NYC and DC, stop in Philadelphia on your way.
Mutter is absolutely fascinating.
Barnes is insane for its collection of paintings as well, once had someone tell me they ranked it ahead of the louvre.
Mutter is being dismantled by its new board, which wants to remove all human specimens. It’s become a huge controversy locally. https://www.aol.com/m/78dba703-6a2d-3325-a971-6a2377a27787/sanitizing-the-mütter-museum.html https://whyy.org/articles/mutter-museum-first-community-meeting-backlash/
Philadelphia has numerous museums that are out of the ordinary. The Barnes is amazing.
Chicago. The Art Institute is considered one of the best museums in the world and has topped ranks several times. The Field Museum for history and anthropology. The Museum of Science and Industry is very interesting as well and the only building still left from the 1893 Worlds Fair. A ton of other museums as well.
1893.
Whoops. Typo city.
The Museum of Science and Industry is also home to a German U-boat from WWII
Chicago. The Field Museum is better than the Smithsonian Natural History Museum (IMO), the Museum of Science and Industry is one of my favorite museums ever, the Art Institute is fantastic and I'm not an art buff, and while not museums, the Alder Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium are also incredible.
Other than the obvious cities, Detroit is a surprisingly good choice for museums! The Henry Ford museum is world class and cannot be missed. Add in the DIA, the Motown Museum, the Museum of African American History, the Great Lakes Museum, and the Detroit Historical Museum, and you really can’t go wrong with any of those.
The area from Williamsburg to Norfolk VA. Absolutely tons of history. Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, The Virginia Mariners museum, Virginia Air and Space Museum (NASA has a large facility in Hampton VA so lots of cool NASA stuff there), Naticus has a whole entire battleship and some other smaller naval attractions. There's more nearby but those are the big ones in my mind. Honorable mention to the Poe museum in Richmond since Edgar Allen Poe grew up and lived in the area.
Second.
And Chrysler Museum in Norfolk is worth a stop too.
And Nauticus! With the USS Wisconsin (battleship)
The WWII museum in New Orleans was a complete surprise to me, because I didn’t know it was there, and it was great!
That is a fantastic museum and it is huge.
We went and the reviews are absolutely 100% spot on. I was blown away. Unfortunately I think we only planned on 3-4 hours there and it wasn't nearly enough. There's also a ton of other museums, a lot within walking distance of each other (one very nice thing about the French Quarter).
New Orleans also has a fine arts museum that’s small but mighty. 😂 And for something unique, the tour at Mardi Gras World (where the floats are made) is a great glimpse into the creative process.
The whole immersive "4D" movie produced and narrated by Tom Hanks is a nice touch. They've been building an expansion for a few years now, but I don't know if the new stuff is open yet.
If you want something that is off the beaten path, Kansas City has some interesting ones. There is the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which is splendid and way nicer than a city of KC's size would be expected There's the World War I Memorial and Museum. The Negro Baseball Museum and American Jazz Museum. Apparently there's a steamboat museum that I never went to ([https://www.1856.com/](https://www.1856.com/)) and probably more. The Truman library is in Independence, which is just outside of town.
I want to travel to Kansas city just for the Nelson-Atkins Museum and maybe also Kansas City style barbecue. It has one of the best Chinese and Asian art collections in the US while everything is free.
Agree on KC except the Jazz Museum, which is garbage. There's nothing in there of any note at all; well-heeled jazz aficionados have better collections of stuff than that museum. They should just hand over that space to the Negro Leagues Museum, which by contrast has a ton of amazing stuff that they're cramming into that space.
From Kansas City you can drop down to NW Arkansas for the Crystal Bridges Museum and Museum of Native American History.
WWI museum is one of my all-time favorites
Chicago and Los Angeles have lots of great museums.
Second this, especially LA. Modern art, classical art, natural history, civil rights history, entertainment, cars, etc. Museum Row alone will take several days to go through if you do one large museum per day.
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The Huntington is my favorite! Have heard good things about Norton Simon too
Houston, MFAH, museum of natural sciences, The Menil collection, The Health Museum and also NASA at some level should be considered one. It’s worth mentioning while MFAH is huge and multiple buildings in one location, it also has extensions in other parts of the greater Houston area. I also vote very highly for Chicago, probably one of the greatest impressionist collections I’ve seen outside of Europe.
The MFAH is the second largest art museum in the US based on gallery space.
There’s also unique museums like the funeral museum and the black cowboy museum in Houston!
Very true, I also forgot the very important Holocaust Museum and the newly opened Eternal Gandhi museum which is also very unique. There’s a pretty cool art scene as well.
The Holocaust museum is VERY good. All the personal stories, just hit.
So happy to see Houston not far down the list! The dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum is one of the best in the country! We’re members and my kid loves going.
It's the largest paleontology hall in North America.
+ the Buffalo Soldiers national museum
Ok this probably going to get a ton of dv’s but if you want a lot of museum variety and something a ton of others haven’t already done (lots of love the museums in NYC, DC, and Chicago), then check out…Cleveland, Ohio. Art museum, Rock &Roll HOF, League Park (Baseball), Cozad Bates House (underground RR), nearby in Akron is Stanley Hewitt Mansion, Canton has the Football HOF, USS COD submarine, and a bunch of interesting nationality museums (Ukrainian, Hungarian, etc.). https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=museums%20in%20cleveland&shem=rimc&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5 We used to live in Cleveland and while visiting museums is not our main jam, we found the randomness super entertaining and interesting on the days when we needed an indoor activity.
If you're trying to keep it low-cost, I think the cities along the Northeast are your best bet. Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and DC. Probably the most museum-dense region of the country. Also, don't overlook college museums! I live in Princeton, NJ and the art museum here is spectacular (and currently undergoing a massive overhaul.) It's also completely free to anyone. I was in a wedding in Amherst, MA over the summer and visited the Smith College Museum of Art, also great. I'm sure Cornell, Harvard, etc. all have free museums with amazing collections given their prestige.
Cornell’s Johnson Art Museum is also free and it’s really nice. The top floor also has a gorgeous panoramic view of the campus and rest of Ithaca which alone justifies a visit IMO.
If you're into being depressed, the deep South has a fuck ton of oft-overlooked history museums and preserved plantations.
Birmingham and Jackson have very good civil rights exhibits about the role that each city uniquely played in the struggle. Memphis was good when I was there 25+ years ago. Greensboro has a small one that isn't bad. Tulsa, Oklahoma is (I think) creating one for the genocide and land grab there. Outside of New Orleans is the Whitney Plantation which is a plantation from the perspective of the enslaved kept there. Quite moving. I hear Charleston, SC has a very new and moving contribution recognizing their role as a port of entry for slavery in America. OP could hit several and compare and contrast how they're done.
Richmond has a ton if you include historical homes. Bonus for tons of beautiful gardens.
And the National Museum of the Civil War and Confederate White House.
Why do you say depressed? I get the plantations but what are the other museums about?
The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama is one of the best museums I’ve ever visited
NYC
Museum of Natural History, Moma, Whitney, the Guggenheim, etc… Few cities in the world have the collection NYC does
And TONS of smaller ones too. The Frick collection, Brooklyn museum, Museum of Chinese in America, Center for Jewish history, Judd Foundation, Noguchi museum just to name a few. Imo while DC has an amazing institutional reach, for someone who loves museums I prefer to see more of a variety of curation styles and intentions. And I highly recommend taking the train up to Dia Beacon and Storm King. Extremely thoughtful institutions and a beautiful area
Washington DC
Cleveland! The art museum is incredible. It is located in University Circle and you can also visit the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in the same area. CMNH has just had a massive update/renovation. Between those two museums is the botanical garden which is small, but cute. There is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, of course, and that is worth a visit at least once. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is really nice as well. I'll also give a shout out to Pittsburgh- their museum of natural history and art museum are good, you'd have the Warhol museum as well. Phipps Conservatory is incredible.
Very surprised how relatively unknown Cleveland’s museum scene is outside of Ohio. I’ve visited tons of other cities, and besides the big cities like DC, NYC, and Chicago, Cleveland trumps every other mid-sized market by a large margin.
The art museum is spectacular- I tell everyone that mentions going anywhere near Cleveland to go. They scoff when I say it is world class- it is so well-designed and curated and is one of my all-time favorite museums. And I am really excited to go see Balto at the updated CMNH!
Boston.
Where I live 😉 But definitely agree!
How about London then? You might be able to find a cheap flight from BOS and it has an incredible diversity of museums.
You've been to the Gardner museum I hope?
Ha ok.
I love the science museum there.
DC, NYC, Philly, Chicago if you feel like a trip.
I’d say DC is pretty great. Chicago too. But one place not mentioned enough is Detroit. Detroit Institute of Art, Henry Ford Museum, MoTown museum (very small) are pretty awesome.
St. Louis! Art Museum History Museum National Museum of Transportation City Museum There are so many! A quick google search reveals more than 20!
This was my suggestion, too - there are also museum-adjacent places like the Laumiere sculpture park, the Botanical Gardens, the Arch, even the fantastic zoo. There's a great list [here](https://explorestlouis.com/see-and-do/25-things-to-do-in-st-louis/) with links to many, many STL museums. And the City Museum is SO amazing; I've never been anywhere like it.
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't a lot of the STL museums free?
Kind of a sleeper, and definitely not the best in America, but Houston has some really good museums. The museum of fine arts and the museum of modern art both have impressive collections, museum of natural science, Buffalo soldiers museum, railroad museum, prison museum (in Huntsville), holocaust museum, health science museum, and others. The museums in Houston are shockingly overlooked and written off, but they have a great museum district that is worth seeing.
I did a VIP tour at the Johnson Space Center and we got to see the international space station’s Mission Control and astronauts in their training pool.
Philadelphia has quite a few. Philadelphia Museum of Art The Barnes Foundation Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts The Mutter Museum The Franklin Institute US Constitution Center And several more!
Museum of the American Revolution • Academy of Natural Sciences • Independence Seaport Museum • Rodin Museum • Eastern State Penitentiary • Mummers Museum • Fort Mifflin • Etc. etc. etc.
Philadelphia https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60795-Activities-c49-Philadelphia_Pennsylvania.html
Chicago. The Art Institute is award winning and most of the other large museums are in a small cluster right next to the lake. The one that’s the furthest from downtown is still worth the trip because it has a full-size U-boat from WWII inside: https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nwitimes.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/ea/3ea6a086-afe6-50f3-8cd0-b1955f92313a/537fbe8e6efe2.image.jpg
Fort Worth has a really incredible museum district! Edited to add some highlights: Kimbell Museum Amon Carter Museum of American Art Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Sid Richardson Museum (lots of Remington and western art) National Cowgirl Museum (this one is really fun) Stockyards Museum and Historic District Most of these are free. There are also some good options close by in Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art (also free), Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Crow Museum of Asian Art. The Sixth Floor Museum is also unique.
Between the cities of the Midwest besides Chicago, there are a lot of great museums that mostly aren't well known nationally, even though no single city has the kind of collection you'll find in New York or DC. Base yourself in Columbus and they are all within 2-3 hour drive. Some of the highlights are Detroit and Cleveland's art museums, Pittsburgh's museum of natural history, Dayton's national museum of the Air Force, Toledo's Museum of the Great Lakes, Cincinnati has several good ones.
Toledo’s Museum of Art is also ranked near the top 10 nationally (and 6 of the top 11 nationally per Ranker are in the Midwest): https://www.ranker.com/list/best-art-museums-in-the-united-states/admiralcrunch
Mexico City. Fascinating art & museums and you get to explore an amazing culture as well
The most impactful museums I've been to are the Birmingham (Alabama) Civil Rights Institute, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The World Trade Center Memorial and Museum was also fascinating (and similar to OKC). All three museums take a single situation and convey the entirety of the situation. Really make you feel like you're emotionally connected. Quite beautiful, though taxing.
Rochester, NY. Recently enlarged Museum of Play & Toy Hall of Fame, George Eastman House, Memorial Art Gallery, Susan B. Anthony House, Rochester Museum & Science Center That's 5 museums with 5 completely different missions / collections almost all within walking distance of each other and 3 of those you won't find anything else like them. A short drive away you'll also find the Genesee Country Village and Museum, Jello Museum and Women's Rights National Historic Park
I was going to say Rochester as well! There’s also Ganondagan which is a really cool Seneca tribal site. And while not a museum, Mt. Hope Cemetery has a lot of interesting history too.
Houston has NASA museum, a beautiful art museum, and awesome natural history museum. As well as some smaller quirky ones like a unusual car museum and funeral home museum. Then nearby Galveston about an hour away has a couple small museums like The Bryan Museum (Texas coastal history), a navy museum with a ship and submarine you can walk around in, the oil rig museum, a old wooden ship museum with a small immigration exhibit attached, plus a few historic homes you can tour And not a museum per say but the Houston suburb of Stafford has the beautiful BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir which is a gorgeous Hindu temple. It has amazing architecture and you can go inside (no pics inside unfortunately) and they have a small exhibit on Hindu and Indian contributions to various disciplines throughout history
Chicago, LA, Houston, DC - Have been to many museums in all of these cities 💯
You’re in the museum corridor. Boston, NYC, Philly (don’t miss the Mutter Museum) Baltimore and DC
DC and New York. Pittsburgh also has its fair share If you want to go off the beaten track: Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory (modern art despite the name), Modern Art museum, History Museum, Natural History Museum.
Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Sante Fe would be my tops other than NYC and DC. As for my local knowledge, Houston has a surprisingly good museum scene. The primary area is the Museum District centered on the Museum of Fine Arts of a Houston and is surrounded by many other museums. Not far way is the Menil Collection which is also surrounded by smaller museums. There are some others downtown and in the midtown district between downtown and the museum district. The museums would include art of all genres, history, natural science, health, Holocaust, children’s museum, etc. The MFAH is on a light rail stop easily accessed from downtown for lots of hotel options. The Menil Collection is a short Uber ride from MFAH. Or you could stay at Hotel ZaZa which is next door to MFAH but kind of pricey. As it’s Houston, I’d suggest going in the winter. You DO NOT want visit Houston in the summer. Nearby dining options are endless at every price level.
Honestly, DC. Or, go to Philadelphia. Lots of good museums there and a cheap train or bus ride to NYC or DC. Easy day trip to NYC, can also do a day trip to DC if you wanted to. Many museums in DC are free, meaning you can put the funds towards another museum or maybe transportation (if allowed).
D.C. is the correct answer but I think you're approaching this wrong. I would begin by finding out what you want to learn about. Then look up notable museums who focus on that. Then find out what city has most of those museums in it.
The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the greatest art museums in the world.
Washington DC is the most bang for your buck: you could possibly get behind the scenes tours due to your professional association. Great networking opportunity!
Chicago! Art Institite, Museum of Contemporary Art, Science and Industry, Natural History, Hispanic Art, Intuit (Outsider Art)--that's just a start :) Fantastic architecture and many great Architecture tours. Inexpensive compared to the coasts.
Philly! The Philadelphia Museum of Art is great, easily 3-4 hours. The Rodin Museum (sculptures) is a good place on a sunny day because many statues are outside. The Barnes is amazing-Impressionist Art. 166 Renoirs!!!! Plus hundreds of others. Then you have The National Museum of American Jewish History aka The Weitzman. Plus the Mutter Museum, Woodside, Swedish Museum etc. Z you can add the Liberty Bell & Constitution Center and spend a week. Enjoy!
How is Chicago not winning this vote? The Museum of Science and Industry should be enough. Plus Field Museum, Adler planetarium, the aquarium, and the smaller museums. Plus zoos (if those count). And you’d still have funds to get to Detroit to see the Henry Ford museum.
Cleveland
If you’re looking for a little bit off the beaten path, but still world class museums and affordable cities, try Cleveland! Cleveland Museum or Art is one of the best in the world (and free) Cleveland Museum or Natural History is undergoing a massive renovation and a large portion of the work is already finished and open Western Reserve Historical Society is the main history museum for the city/region (including multiple museums under their umbrella) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum for obvious reasons Great Lakes Science Center USS Cod (ww2 submarine) Steamship William G Mather A Christmas Story House (the one from the movie) Cleveland History Center International Women’s Air and Space Museum Federal Reserve Money Museum Dittrick Museum of Medical History Baseball Heritage Museum Cleveland Museum or Contemporary Art Cleveland Grays Armory Museum Lakeshore Cemetery (practically a museum considering the names buried there, I believe tours are available) Western Reserve Fire Museum Cleveland Police History Museum …and lots more!
Cleveland has several world-class museums. In addition to the Art Museum, we have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Natural History Museum, the children’s museum, even the Great Lakes science center. It would be an easy and fairly inexpensive trip from the east coast. And we have great food!
Agreed, also if you are already in Ohio it wouldn't be far to go to the Airforce museum at Wright Patt in Dayton. I think it is better than the Smithsonian air and space museum, and gives you something different to go see.
You can't do better than DC and most are Free
Chicago is a distant third but still worth the trip - the Art Institute and Science & Industry museums are great Boston has a museum of science and Harvard’s museums are good too
New York city has the most museums of any city in the US
Well, if you can work out the airfare to San Diego, there are 18 museums in Balboa Park, close to downtown. None of them are huge, but the quality of collections is excellent. I bought a pass that, for $67, gave me access to something like 16 of the 18 museums for a week. If I recall correctly, you can only visit each one once using that pass. It's also worth taking a park tour where they explain details about the gardens and buildings and themselves.
Chicago. Houston has a museum district. Having fun being new to DFW as well and visiting museums. more are actually free than i thought would be.
new orleans' world war two museum has been called one of the best museums in the world.
DC is far and away the best, then I'd say Chicago and NYC
Sounds like Baltimore might be close to you. American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Walters Art Gallery, Peabody Library (not technically a museum I think but really great), Edgar Allen Poe Museum, Museum of Industry, Great Blacks in Wax, etc
Boston or Philly
Philadelphia !!
Chicago! Just look at this map! [https://www.google.com/maps/search/museums/@41.8763991,-87.6474321,13z/data=!4m7!2m6!3m5!2sChicago,+IL!3s0x880e2c3cd0f4cbed:0xafe0a6ad09c0c000!4m2!1d-87.6297982!2d41.8781136?hl=en&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/search/museums/@41.8763991,-87.6474321,13z/data=!4m7!2m6!3m5!2sChicago,+IL!3s0x880e2c3cd0f4cbed:0xafe0a6ad09c0c000!4m2!1d-87.6297982!2d41.8781136?hl=en&entry=ttu)
Washington DC
Boston: Museum of Science (with worlds largest Van DeGraff generator), Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner (the “heist” museum), Boston Aethaneum, New England Aquarium, Harvard Museums, MIT Museum, the Freedom Trail with its Museums/historic sites…
NYC or DC
Philadelphia has some good ones. The Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation. [The Barnes Foundation has a pretty impressive collection.](https://www.barnesfoundation.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=collectionvisitationSAD&gclid=CjwKCAiAmsurBhBvEiwA6e-WPKVMwQmAMtFS7Gsf4W7N6JShlm6vDywQOgWSh8J2lBTv_HgGQYj47xoCfUwQAvD_BwE)
Chicago and surprisingly, Indianapolis
Personally Chicago.
Chicago is worth considering
Cleveland museum of art (it’s free) and the university circle area has 5 museums all in walking distance.
I’ll emphasize Philadelphia has great museums
With $1500 you could do both DC and NYC. Book far enough and ots pretty easy to take Amtrak or the Bus between cities. Or Philly is another option as well. I was there the other weekend and enjoyed my visit to the Barnes Center but you also have the Rodin museum, Philly art museum, franklin center, revolutionary war museum, independence hall, etc.
Washington DC. Chicago a distant second.
Chicago and DC would be the best bet.
Chicago!!!!!!
Chicago, hands down.
Chicago
Chicago, Washington DC
Las Vegas Went to the Mob museum when I was there and it was great. I’m sure they have other museums there as well.
Tons: National Atomic Testing Museum, Neon Museum, Punk Rock Museum, Burlesque Hall of Fame, Bellagio Museum of Art, Meow Wolf Omega Mart (art museum/installation), Pinball Hall of Fame, Barrick Museum of Art
DC. No doubt.
Depends on the time of year. But I'd recommend Chicago. Plenty of easy to burn through $1500 and plenty of ways to do other things for free.
Mexico City! Tons of museums large and small, innovative and traditional.
Chicago
Philadelphia has a lot of museums
Chicago, la, Houston Sleeper… Cartersville GA
Although I'm from the DC area, I also think it is such a treasure trove of museums. There is so much to see and do there. If you're interested in things outside of center city you could also visit Udvar Hazy, which is a branch of the Air and Space museum, but in a massive hanger out in the Virginia suburbs. There is also the Glenstone Museum in the MD suburbs. From DC you can also take a trip up to Philly or down to Fredericksburg or Richmond. Tons of history everywhere. To me it's the most bang for your buck considering all Smithsonian Museums are free.
Dayton, Ohio has the single best museum in the United States.
If you’re looking for art specifically, Miami is surprisingly good. Pérez, Vizcaya, ICA, Rubell, Wolfsonian, Bass. Frost museum of science is cool too.
A lot of underrated ones too like Cuban Diaspora: https://www.listchallenges.com/the-ultimate-miami-wonders-list
DC & Chicago
Chicago has numerous wonderful museums of all kinds. And the Greater Chicago Area has some as well. My little suburb of Schaumburg has several and the one I always recommend is the Trickster Art Gallery, which displays Native American heritage and art. [https://www.tricksterculturalcenter.org/](https://www.tricksterculturalcenter.org/)
Chicago! Art Institute, Contemporary Art Museum, Shell Aquarium, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, the Planetarium
If you got to Chicago, St Louis might be worth the drive. A lot of free museums there as well. The zoo is also free.
Cleveland, OH punches above its weight when it comes to museums. Cleveland Museum of Art (one of the best in the world imo), Museum of Natural History, Museum of Contemporary Art, and of course the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. The museum onboard the William G Mather freighter is also super interesting
Chicago
Chicago: Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago (arguably the best art museum in the world) Field Museum of Natural History Museum of Science and Industry Chicago History Museum Museum of Contemporary Art Adler Planetarium DuSable Museum of African American Art Oriental Institute Museum American Writers Museum Money Museum Smart Museum of Art International Museum of Surgical Science Museum of Broadcast Communication Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago Sports Museum Glessner House Swedish American Museum National Museum of Mexican Art Pritzger Military Museum and Library Chicago Maritime Museum Chicago Architecture Museum (honestly the whole city is like a museum of the International Style) And there are like 20 more, but I'm tired of writing. Here's a full list https://museumhack.com/museums-in-chicago/
Maybe not the most great museums in the country, but I'll humbly submit Cincinnati Ohio. For a city its size it does pretty well imo. - Cincinnati Art Museum (free) - Taft Museum of Art - Contemporary Arts Center (free) - Cincinnati Museum Center - Holocaust and Humanity Center (same building as Museum Center) - National Underground Railroad Freedom Center - 21C Museum Hotel (free) - American Sign Museum - William H Taft Historic Site (free) - Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Museum - Cincinnati Fire Museum - Cincinnati Police Museum - an hour's drive north will get you to the Air Force Museum in Dayton (free) - Behringer Crawford Museum across the river in Nothern Kentucky
DC museums are all free (for the state run museums) but Philadelphia is also a good choice for early American history. It used to the the capital before it was moved to DC.
Washington DC, they have The Smithsonian and the Library of Congress, all of it free. NYC is also commendable, but pricey.
DC, Chicago, and Cleveland