1. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City
- By floor area, it is the largest art museum in the Americas, and is the most-visited museum in the United States
- The museum's permanent collection consists of works of art ranging from the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt, through classical antiquity to the contemporary world
- It includes paintings, sculptures, and graphic works from many European Old Masters, as well as an extensive collection of American, modern, and contemporary art
- The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art
- The museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes, and decorative arts and textiles, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world
2. Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
- The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States
- Its collection includes works such as Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, and Grant Wood's American Gothic
- Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly that illuminate aspects of the collection and present curatorial and scientific research
Featured in The Best of Illinois
#54 in Best Attractions in the USA
3. National September 11 Memorial & Museum, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is a memorial and museum that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11, 2001, attacks, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six
- The memorial is located at the World Trade Center site, the former location of the Twin Towers that were destroyed during the September 11 attacks
- The September 11 Museum was dedicated in 2014, and its collection includes more than 40,000 images, 14,000 artifacts, more than 3,500 oral recordings, and over 500 hours of video
Featured in The Best of New York
#38 in Best Attractions in the USA
4. National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The National Museum of Natural History, opened in 1910, houses an extensive collection of over 146 million specimens, which include plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, and cultural artifacts
- Its exhibitions and research cover a wide range of topics related to the history of the Earth and life on it, showcasing the planet's transformation over billions of years
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
5. Chihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle, Washington
Best time to visit: Sept-Oct
- Chihuly Garden and Glass is a museum located in the Seattle Center, adjacent to the Space Needle
- It is dedicated to showcasing the glass art of Dale Chihuly, a renowned American artist known for his innovative and colorful blown glass sculptures
- The museum features eight indoor galleries that display a wide range of Chihuly's work, including large installations and intricate glass piecesk, allowing visitors to experience the interplay of light and color
- The outdoor garden is landscaped and serves as a backdrop for various glass sculptures
Featured in The Best of Washington
#27 in Best Attractions in the USA
6. Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- Griffith Observatory is a public observatory located in Los Angeles, in Griffith Park
- It educates visitors to observe and understand the sky, and they can look through telescopes to observe celestial objects
- The observatory also hosts various exhibits related to astronomy and space science
- Another feature is the the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, which offers live shows and educational programs
- The observatory is renowned for its views of the Los Angeles skyline and the Pacific Ocean
Featured in The Best of California
7. Getty Center, Los Angeles, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust
- Opened in 1997, it is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles
- The center branch of the museum features pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and photographs from the 1830s through present day from all over the world
- Among the artworks on display is the Vincent van Gogh painting Irises
Featured in The Best of California
8. Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-early Nov
- Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum located in Asheville, known as America's Largest Home, featuring a 250-room chateau designed in the Châteauesque style
- The estate covers approximately 8,000 acres and includes extensive landscaped gardens
- The estate was built by George Vanderbilt, a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family, and was completed in 1895
- Visitors can tour the mansion, explore the extensive gardens, and enjoy various activities on the estate, including wine tasting at the nation's most-visited winery
Featured in The Best of North Carolina
#49 in Best Attractions in the USA
#17 in Best Landmarks in the USA
9. Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
- The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is located in Santa Fe, and opened in 1997, eleven years after the artist's death
- The museum is dedicated to the life and artistic legacy of Georgia O'Keeffe, a prominent figure in American modernism, known for her distinctive paintings that often feature flowers, landscapes, and abstract forms inspired by the New Mexico desert
- The museum houses nearly 150 paintings and hundreds of works on paper, including drawings, pastels, and watercolors
Featured in The Best of New Mexico
10. The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana
Best time to visit: Feb-May
- The National WWII Museum, located in New Orleans, is a prominent military history museum dedicated to exploring the American experience during World War II
- It was established to honor the contributions of American forces in the war, which significantly shaped the modern world
- It houses an extensive collection of artifacts and first-person oral histories, allowing visitors to learn about the experiences of those who lived through the war
Featured in The Best of Louisiana
#64 in Best Attractions in the USA
11. Wynwood Walls, Miami, Florida
Best time to visit: March-May
- The Wynwood Walls is an outdoor street art museum located in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, established in 2009
- The Wynwood Walls consists of large murals painted on the exterior walls of six warehouses, covering over 80,000 square feet
- It serves as a canvas for renowned street artists from around the world
Featured in The Best of Florida
12. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The National Gallery of Art is a prominent art museum located on the National Mall
- It serves as a center for visual art, education, and culture, and allows visitors to explore and experience art and creativity
- The museum's collection includes over 150,000 works of art, encompassing paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, photographs, prints, and drawings that span the history of Western art
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
13. USS Midway Museum, San Diego, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The USS Midway Museum is a historical naval aircraft carrier museum in San Diego, located at Navy Pier
- The museum consists of the aircraft carrier Midway, and the ship houses an extensive collection of aircraft, many of which were built in Southern California
- The USS Midway was the United States' longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, from 1945 to 1992
Featured in The Best of California
#65 in Best Attractions in the USA
14. National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The National Air and Space Museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution, and is renowned for housing the world's largest and most significant collection of aviation and space artifacts
- It encompasses all aspects of human flight, including historical aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, rockets, and related works of art and archival materials
- Beyond exhibitions, the museum serves as a center for research into aviation, spaceflight, planetary science, and terrestrial geology
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
15. Getty Center, Los Angeles, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust
- Opened in 1997, it is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles
- The center branch of the museum features pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and photographs from the 1830s through present day from all over the world
- Among the artworks on display is the Vincent van Gogh painting Irises
Featured in The Best of California
16. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Merritt Island, Florida
- The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island
- It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus tours of the spaceport
- The "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit contains the Atlantis orbiter and the Shuttle Launch Experience, a simulated ride into space
- The visitor complex also has daily presentations from a veteran NASA astronaut
- A bus tour, included with admission, encompasses the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center
Featured in The Best of Florida
17. Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
- Denver Botanic Gardens is a prominent public botanical garden located in the Cheesman Park neighborhood of Denver
- Established in 1951, it features a diverse array of attractions, including a glass-enclosed conservatory housing various plant species, multiple themed gardens showcasing different plant types and designs, and a sunken amphitheater for summer concerts and events
- The gardens are recognized for their extensive collection of plants, particularly those from cold temperate climates
Featured in The Best of Colorado
18. Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
Best time to visit: mid-April-early June-Sept-mid-Dec
- Pearl Harbor National Memorial is a unit of the National Park System on the island of Oahu
- The site commemorates the events of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which killed over 2,400 Americans and sank twelve ships
- The site includes the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Utah memorial, the USS Oklahoma memorial, six chief petty officer bungalows on Ford Island, mooring quays F6, F7, and F8, which formed part of Battleship Row, and the visitor center at Halawa Landing
- Visitors can take a ferry to the Arizona memorial
Featured in The Best of Hawaii
#18 in Best Landmarks in the USA
19. American Museum of Natural History, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- The American Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum on Manhattan, in New York City
- Located across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library
- The museum collections contain about 32 million specimens of plants, animals, fungi, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time
Featured in The Best of New York
20. Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle, Washington
Best time to visit: Sept-Oct
- The Museum of Pop Culture is a nonprofit museum located in Seattle, dedicated to contemporary popular culture
- It was originally established as the Experience Music Project in 2000, and has since evolved to encompass a broader range of pop culture elements, including music, film, and gaming
- The museum offers participative experiences that allow visitors to engage with various aspects of pop culture through discovery and play
- The museum's architecture includes a notable two-story tornado sculpture made from over 500 pieces of metal
Featured in The Best of Washington
21. Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee
Best time to visit: April-May, Oct-Nov
- Graceland is a mansion on an estate in Memphis, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley
- Today, Graceland is a major tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world who wish to explore the life and legacy of the "King of Rock 'n' Roll"
- Visitors can see various exhibits, including Elvis's collection of cars and memorabilia
- Graceland is recognized as one of the most visited homes in the United States
Featured in The Best of Tennessee
#21 in Best Attractions in the USA
22. New York Public Library, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- The New York Public Library is a public library system in New York City
- With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress and the fourth-largest public library in the world
- The library system was established in 1895
Featured in The Best of New York
23. Neon Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The Neon Museum in Las Vegas features signs from old casinos and other businesses displayed outdoors
- The organization started out by re-installing old signage in downtown Las Vegas, to attract more visitors to the area
- The Neon Museum's collection includes more than 200 signs
- The museum offers guided and self-guided tours, and stories are associated with each sign
Featured in The Best of Nevada
24. Ernest Hemingway House, Key West, Florida
Best time to visit: March-May
- The Ernest Hemingway House is located in Key West, and is a historic residence, which was home to the renowned American author Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, from 1931 to 1940
- The house is notable for its Spanish Colonial architecture and was built in 1851
- It served as Hemingway's residence during a prolific period of his writing career, where he produced several significant works
- The house is constructed from native limestone and was one of the first in Key West to have indoor plumbing and a swimming pool
- The property is famous for its population of polydactyl cats, descendants of a cat named Snow White, given to Hemingway by a ship's captain
- Today, the house operates as a museum, showcasing Hemingway's life and works
Featured in The Best of Florida
25. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, opened in 1994, is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist
- It houses the most extensive collection of Andy Warhol's artworks and archival materials in the world
- The museum contains over 500,000 objects related to Warhol's life and work, including paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and films
- It showcases various aspects of Warhol's artistic journey and his influence on contemporary art
Featured in The Best of Pennsylvania
26. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville, Tennessee
Best time to visit: April-Oct
- The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, located in downtown Nashville, is a prominent institution dedicated to the preservation and celebration of country music
- The museum hosts a variety of world-class exhibitions that showcase the history and cultural impact of country music
- The area honors the inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, celebrating their contributions to the genre
- The location contains an extensive collection of country music artifacts, which exceeds 2 million items
Featured in The Best of Tennessee
#56 in Best Attractions in the USA
27. ʻIolani Palace, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
Best time to visit: mid-April-early June-Sept-mid-Dec
- The ʻIolani Palace was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty (1845) and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani (1893) under the Kalākaua Dynasty
- It is located in Honolulu, on the island of O'ahu
- After the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, the building was used as the capitol building for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory, and State of Hawaiʻi until 1969
- ʻIolani Palace is the only royal palace on US soil
Featured in The Best of Hawaii
28. Mmuseumm, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- Mmuseumm is a modern natural history museum located in Tribeca, Manhattan in New York City
- It is dedicated to its signature curatorial style of "Object Journalism" and draws parallels to the older cabinet of curiosities model
- Mmuseumm is dedicated to the curation and exhibition of contemporary artifacts to illustrate the modern world
- The museum, which totals 36 square feet, is accessible 24 hours a day via peepholes in its door
Featured in The Best of New York
29. USS Arizona Memorial, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
Best time to visit: mid-April-early June-Sept-mid-Dec
- The USS Arizona Memorial is a significant national memorial located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu
- It commemorates the lives lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, specifically honoring the 1,177 sailors and Marines who died aboard the battleship USS Arizona
- Built in 1962, the memorial spans 184 feet across the sunken ship
- The memorial attracts thousands of visitors daily, offering a solemn space for reflection and remembrance
Featured in The Best of Hawaii
#10 in Best Landmarks in the USA
30. Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
- The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is an art museum located in St. Louis, founded in 2001 by Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer Jr.
- The foundation emphasizes the importance of direct experiences with art, presenting both contemporary and historic artworks
- The museum's campus includes distinct outdoor spaces, such as a garden with native plants
Featured in The Best of Missouri
31. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts
Best time to visit: June-Oct
- The Museum of Fine Arts is an art museum located in Boston, founded in 1870
- It opened to the public on July 4, 1876, coinciding with the nation's centennial celebration
- It is recognized as one of the largest and most comprehensive art museums in the world, featuring more than 100 galleries showcasing a diverse range of art, from ancient artifacts to contemporary pieces
Featured in The Best of Massachusetts
32. John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the official state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota
- Established in 1927 by circus impresario John Ringling and his wife Mable, the museum opened to the public in 1930
- It is renowned for its extensive collection of art, particularly from the Renaissance period, as well as housing a significant collection of 17th and 18th-century Baroque art
- The museum's building is designed in a pink Italianate style, reminiscent of a Renaissance palazzo
- The museum also includes botanical gardens and a historic theater
Featured in The Best of Florida
33. Exploratorium, San Francisco, California
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
- The Exploratorium is a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco
- Exhibits cover a range of subject areas, including human perception, the life sciences, physical phenomena (such as light, motion, electricity, waves and resonance, and magnetism), local environment (water, wind, fog, rain, sun, and other elements, as well as cityscape, landscape, and the flora and fauna of the Bay) and human behavior
Featured in The Best of California
34. The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas
Best time to visit: Jan-April, Nov-Dec
- The Alamo is a historic site located in San Antonio, originally established as a Spanish mission known as Mission San Antonio de Valero in 1718
- The Alamo is most famously known for the Battle of the Alamo, which took place from February 23 to March 6, 1836, during the Texas Revolution
- The pivotal event involved a small group of Texian defenders who fought against a much larger Mexican army, ultimately leading to their defeat but inspiring further resistance against Mexican rule
- Today, the site not only commemorates the battle but is a symbol of Texas' struggle for independence
35. Whitney Museum, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- The Whitney Museum of American Art is a modern and contemporary American art museum located in Manhattan, in New York City
- The institution was originally founded in 1930 by a prominent American socialite, sculptor, and art patron after whom it is named
- The Whitney focuses on collecting and preserving 20th- and 21st-century American art
- Its permanent collection, spanning the late-19th century to the present, comprises more than 25,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, films, videos, and artifacts of new media by more than 3,500 artists
Featured in The Best of New York
36. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- Colonial Williamsburg is the largest outdoor living history museum in the United States, located in Williamsburg
- It serves as a restoration and reconstruction of the historic district, showcasing life in the 18th century during the colonial period
- The museum features a variety of historic buildings, working tradespeople, and interactive exhibits that immerse visitors in the culture and daily life of the time
- The site was once the capital of the Virginia colony from 1699 to 1779 and played a significant role in American history
- Today, Colonial Williamsburg aims to educate and inspire visitors through experiences that reflect the values and challenges of early American life
Featured in The Best of Virginia
#60 in Best Attractions in the USA
37. Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City
- The institution was conceived in 1929, and it opened just days after the Wall Street Crash
- The museum, America's first devoted exclusively to modern art, began with an exhibition of works by European modernists
- Today the MoMA's collection spans the late 19th-century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated and artist's books, film, as well as electronic media
- The collection houses such important and familiar works as the following: Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night; Salvador Dalí, The Persistence of Memory; Pablo Picasso, Three Musicians; Henri Matisse, The Dance; Claude Monet, Water Lilies triptych; and Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans
Featured in The Best of New York
38. National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
- The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum dedicated exclusively to documenting African American life, history, and culture
- Opened in 2016, the museum houses over 36,000 artifacts that chronicle the African American experience from slavery to the present day
- It houses historical documents, photographs, and cultural items that reflect the contributions of African Americans to the nation
- The museum aims to provide a comprehensive narrative of African American history, emphasizing the importance of understanding American history through the lens of the African American experience
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
39. Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington
Best time to visit: Sept-Oct
- The Museum of Flight is the largest independent, non-profit air and space museum in the world, located in Tukwila
- It boasts an extensive collection that includes over 175 aircraft and spacecraft, tens of thousands of artifacts, and millions of rare photographs
- The museum offers a variety of exhibits that showcase the evolution of flight, from early aviation pioneers like the Wright Brothers to modern space exploration
Featured in The Best of Washington
40. Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
Best time to visit: Jan-April, Nov-Dec
- The Musical Instrument Museum is located in Phoenix, and was opened in 2010
- It is the largest museum of its type in the world
- The collection of over 15,000 musical instruments and associated objects includes examples from nearly 200 countries and territories, representing every inhabited continent
- Some larger countries such as the United States, Mexico, India, China, and Brazil have multiple displays with subsections for different types of ethnic, folk, and tribal music
Featured in The Best of Arizona
41. Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
- Meow Wolf is an American arts and entertainment company that specializes in creating immersive, multimedia art installations
- Founded in 2008 by a group of artists in Santa Fe, it has grown from a small collective into a significant player in the immersive art scene
- Meow Wolf installations bring visitors into different realms filled with intricate art, storytelling, and interactive elements
Featured in The Best of New Mexico
42. Chicago Architecture Center, Illinois
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
- The Chicago Architecture Center is a nonprofit cultural organization based in Chicago, whose mission is to inspire people to discover why design matters
- Founded in 1966, its programs include public tours and programs, most notably the docent-led architecture cruise on the Chicago River, and other tours in the Chicago area
- In 2009, the center opened a new exhibition, Chicago Model, which includes a 3D-printed scale model of the central area of the city and is now on permanent display
Featured in The Best of Illinois
43. The Cloisters, New York City, New York
Best time to visit: Jan-Dec
- The Cloisters, also known as The Met Cloisters, is a museum located in New York City
- It is part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and is dedicated exclusively to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages
- The Cloisters features a collection of medieval artifacts, including sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, and decorative arts, and it is surrounded by gardens that reflect the horticultural practices of the Middle Ages
Featured in The Best of New York