Looking for a museum in Maryland to explore with the family? We have a list here for you explore and enjoy!
B&O Railroad Museum | Baltimore, MD
The B&O Railroad Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, offers guests the opportunity to engage all their senses and explore our country’s oldest and most historic American railroad collection! Located on the museum’s Baltimore campus, this carefully selected location is regarded as the birthplace of the American Railroad. The museum features both full-size trains and model replicas. Visitors can explore inside locomotives and train cars, view historic railroad artifacts, and even enjoy a real train ride along the first commercial mile of railroad track laid in America!
B&O Railroad Museum: Ellicott City Station | Ellicott City, MD
Ellicott City Station, part of the B&O Railroad Museum, is the oldest surviving railroad station in America. As the original terminus of the first 13-miles of commercial railroad in the country, visitors enjoy many exhibits boasting original artifacts. A popular exhibit includes a 40-foot model train layout showing the original 13-miles of commercial rail track from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills, as well as a replica of the first horse-drawn passenger rail car, and a 1927 train caboose.
Be With Me: The Children’s Playseum | Bethesda, MD
This indoor play destination is set-up to look like a kid-size city where children explore, discover, and play in uniquely-designed city shops! From an art room and grocery store to music and make-believe, kids will enjoy exploring more than a dozen city shops!
Brunswick Heritage Museum | Brunswick, MD
The Brunswick Heritage Museum can be seen as two museums in one. On one floor, the Museum’s exhibits tell the story of a town built by the B&O railroad at the turn of the 20th century and the people who lived here. Recreations of late Victorian rooms are the centerpiece, complemented by exhibits that recall the lives of the railroaders and their families in the early 1900s. On another floor, you can see a 1,700-square-foot HO-Scale model railroad depicting the B&O Metropolitan Subdivision, beginning at the west end of Brunswick’s rail yard and running eastward all the way to Union Station in Washington, DC.
Chesapeake Children’s Museum | Annapolis, MD
Helping kids get closer to the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland history, the Chesapeake Children’s Museum is a great stop for fun and learning. Live animals, a docked boat, theatrical costumes, nature trails, and Underground Railroad trails are just some of the activities to keep your child busy while they learn about the local environment. (Temporarily Closed-Oct. 2020)
Hagerstown Aviation Museum | Hagerstown, MD
See a 1953 Fairchild C-119, explore a North American AT6G Texan, or walk through a Kreider Reisner KR-31 at the Hagerstown Aviation Museum! This all-volunteer, non-profit corporation offers visitors a glimpse into more than 90-years of amazing history and is dedicated to preserving and sharing the aviation history of Hagerstown, MD, and surrounding areas. The museum is currently only open to the public during museum events, so please visit their website for a chance to get up-close to a priceless aircraft.
KID Museum | Bethesda, MD
Featuring hands-on experiences, the KID Museum is an innovative learning space, unlike any other in the DMV! Guests are invited to enjoy learning opportunities that incorporate STEM, art, and culture with 21st-century skills, like creativity and critical thinking. (Temporarily Closed-Oct. 2020)
National Aquarium | Baltimore, MD
The National Aquarium is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top three aquariums. In fact, it’s Maryland’s largest paid tourist attraction, home to more than 20,000 fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and marine mammals living in award-winning habitats!
The Aquarium boasts a wide variety of exhibits, but visitor favorites include a multi-level tropical rain forest, the Australian Outback, and most impressively, an Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit featuring hundreds of colorful tropical fish, sharks, eels, and more inhabiting a fabricated reef in a 335,000-gallon, 13-foot-deep, open-air aquarium. // Updated Jan 2020
National Capital Trolley Museum | Colesville, MD
The National Capital Trolley Museum, open since 1969, not only provides a chance to learn about historic streetcars in Washington, DC, but also an opportunity to take a trolley ride in one of eleven original cars! The museum has a wide collection of streetcars, including originals from Washington, DC, American Streetcars, and International Streetcars.
National Cryptologic Museum | Fort Meade, MD
Do you have a budding code-breaker in your family? Is your family looking for a different view of historical events? Then the NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum is a place you will definitely want to visit! The museum features exhibits that offer a glimpse at individuals who devoted their lives to cryptology and national defense and the techniques they used, as well as a September 11th Memorial and multiple exhibits on the Cold War, computer and machines developed for use in the field, World War I, World War II, and much more.
National Museum of Health & Medicine | Silver Spring, MD
What began as the Army Medical Museum during the Civil War is now the center of a very extensive collection of objects (approximately 24,662,515!) that offers visitors a unique perspective on health, medicine, and the effects of disease on the human body. Learn about human anatomy, traumatic brain injury, biomedical engineering, and pathology, as well as innovations in facial reconstruction, surgical response, and rehabilitation. Information about age-appropriate guided tours available for groups of ten or more can be found here.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Greenbelt, MD
Activities, exhibits, and events at NASA’s Goddard Visitor Center provide inspiring and captivating educational experiences for all ages! Learn about climate change and tracking satellites, explore the mysteries of black holes, participate in the monthly rocket launch, and watch children transform into astronauts as they try on a kid-sized space suit. Plus, check out Science on a Sphere, as well as the Goddard Rocket Garden, featuring a unique collection of actual space flight hardware and artifacts. // Updated Dec 2019
Maryland Science Center | Baltimore, MD
The Maryland Science Center is a must-visit — this STEM-inspired museum encourages plenty of hands-on exploration, perfect for children and families! Guests of all ages are invited to enjoy permanent exhibits like Newton’s Alley (a kinetic, hands-on exhibit powered by you), Cells: The Universe Inside Us (zoom into your own body to see the different cells that make up your heart, brain, and bones), Dinosaur Mysteries (a landscape filled with more than one dozen life-size dinosaurs), and much more! Plus, don’t miss their planetarium, special events, and even an IMAX theatre!
For young kids, the museum also has a dedicated, gated room complete with a Chesapeake Bay-themed water play area! There’s even an area for kids under two, where infants and toddlers can crawl around squishy waterbeds, look at brightly colored books, and play with big soft blocks. // Updated Jan 2020
Port Discovery Children’s Museum | Baltimore, MD
Ranking among the top children’s museums in the United States by Parents Magazine and Forbes, Port Discovery offers 80,000-square-feet of interactive, hands-on exhibits and activities designed for curious, active kids! Knowing children learn best through play, this special museum offers a variety of permanent and traveling exhibits on its three floors packed with fun.
The Children’s Museum of Rose Hill Manor | Frederick, MD
Providing a hands-on learning approach to history, The Children’s Museum gives kids the opportunity to experience life in early America through hands-on fun, including experimentation and role play. From learning to card wool to grating spices and playing with toys from the past, there are plenty of play-based opportunities to learn about early American history. // Updated Mar 2020
The Original Playhouse Children’s Museum | New Market, MD
The brainchild of a former Frederick County educator, The Original Playhouse Children’s Museum gives curious kids the opportunity to use their imaginations, engage in pretend play, and enjoy hands-on, interactive fun! More than just an indoor destination, the museum also has a warm-weather outdoor garden with a construction pit of trucks, a dreamy wooden castle and fairy garden, and natural features that encourage gross-motor play. (Temporarily Closed-Oct. 2020)
Disclaimer/Terms: These opportunities are subject to last-minute cancellations; always confirm by calling/clicking.