The best museums for kids feature interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, and immersive experiences—all while keeping the adults in the room entertained and engaged, too. Read on below for a list of some of the most popular kid-friendly museums located anywhere in the world. So whether you’re planning a domestic trip to the big city or a grand adventure across the globe, there’s a perfect museum for kids to be found in practically any destination.
Amsterdam // National Maritime Museum
Het Scheepvaartmuseum—or in English, thankfully, the National Maritime Museum—is a fascinating museum housed in a historic, seventeenth-century building that once served as the Amsterdam city arsenal. Occupying a beautiful waterfront location, the National Maritime Museum is home to a remarkable collection of naval artifacts that includes historic maps, vintage seafaring instruments, and colorful ship decorations. The real draw, however, is found outside the walls of the museum, where you can tour three historic ships, the oldest of which dates back to the 1700s.
Barcelona // Poble Espanyol
While not strictly a kid-centric attraction, the open-air museum Poble Espanyol (“Spanish Town”) is the perfect destination for the entire family. Here you’ll find over 100 life-size replicas of buildings that might have appeared all over Spain throughout the course of history. It’s a charming place to explore—and when you’re all out of patience for historical details, you can turn your attention to enjoying the site’s plentiful dining and shopping options.
Boston // Museum of Science
In one form or another, Boston’s Museum of Science has been delighting families and educating children about the wonders of biology, engineering, and astronomy for almost two centuries now. Whether you’re little one is concerned about climate change, intrigued by the future of AI, excited by outer space, or just wants to see some dinosaur skeletons firsthand, the Museum of Science has a little bit of something for everyone. It even has a domed IMAX theater that shows a variety of programs daily.
Chicago // Field Museum of Natural History
Chicago’s Field Museum is world-famous for its fabulous collection of dinosaur skeletons, which include “Sue,” one of the largest and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossils ever identified, and Máximo the Titanosaur, a cast of the planet’s biggest sauropod dinosaur. The Field Museum is part of Chicago’s Museum Campus, where you’ll find other kid-friendly attractions like Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium.
London // London Transport Museum
Occupying a prime location within bustling Convent Garden Piazza, the London Transport Museum somehow manages to make learning about the history of public transportation a blast for kids. Here the little ones can come face to face with the world’s oldest surviving Underground steam locomotive, as well as a double-decker, horse-drawn tram that dates to the late nineteenth century—all while the group’s adults imagine what it might have been like to be carried like royalty on an eighteenth-century, human-powered sedan chair!
New York // American Museum of Natural History
New York City’s American Museum of Natural History is so famous it served as the inspiration for the setting of the Night at the Museum movie franchise. When it’s not being featured in popular Hollywood films, though, it’s drawing millions of visitors each year to its beloved Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites, and Hall of Biodiversity. The American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium is another big hit with kids of all ages—and their parents, too!
Paris // Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie
The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie—translated from the French as literally “City of Science and Industry”—is one of the best spots in Paris to give your kids a break from the city’s legendary art museums. At the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie you’ll find numerous interactive exhibits that, while devoted to educational math and science topics, are every bit as entertaining as they are educational. And when the kids have had their fill of learning about how the universe was created, genes shape human development, and the brain works, the whole family can hop on board the attraction’s 1950s-era submarine for an adventurous tour!
Seattle // The Museum of Flight
If you’ve got a little one in your family who dreams of being an astronaut or hopes one day to fly planes, then you’ll definitely want to check out Seattle’s Museum of Flight. This large museum is full of educational exhibits, programs, and activities, but let’s not kid ourselves: the real attraction here is the collection of over 150 aircraft on display throughout three separate buildings. This is your chance to stand in awe before an Apollo 17 lunar module, Concorde jet, Boeing lunar-roving vehicle, and the original Air Force One, just to name a few of the unforgettable artifacts held here.
Stockholm // Vasa Museum
Chat with anyone who’s ever been lucky enough to visit Stockholm’s acclaimed Vasa Museum and you’ll quickly find they can’t stop raving about how cool it is. Built to house the remarkably well-preserved remains of the seventeenth-century Swedish warship Vasa, a massive, state-of-the-art vessel that sank almost immediately after it was launched, the Vasa Museum has to be seen to be believed. Here you’ll learn all about how the ship was built, why it sank, the manner in which it was salvaged, and the lengths that the museum staff are going to today to ensure the vessel doesn’t deteriorate even further.