Skip to Content

RV Road Trip: 10 Best Museums in the United States [PLUS 9 More!]

| Updated Oct 24, 2020

We’re always trying to bring you great places to consider stopping while on your RV travels, and this post is no exception – it’s all about the 10 best museums in the United States.

(But we also have nine more you must see, too. Keep reading!)

I thought this was a great topic to explore as cooler temperatures begin to move in and our RV Lifestyle Fellow Travelers make plans to do more stuff inside during the long winter months on the horizon.

With the help of TripAdvisor, here is the list of the 10 best museums in the United States.

(As always, we’re sure you have your favorite so please add them in the comments below.)

Here is the official list of the 10 Best Museums in the U.S.

1) RV Road Trip: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Titusville, Florida

The center’s impressive displays range from astronaut artifacts to the Saturn V rocket, but there’s even more to enjoy. That’s because this museum also offers meet-and-greets with astronauts as well as a tour with a former NASA launch director that provides a first-hand look at everything from the control room used during launches to the massive crawler that would carry rockets to their take-off points.

An image in the Kennedy Space Center, one of the 10 best museums in the United States.
Kennedy Space Center. Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

We recently featured the Kennedy Space Center in a video we did for our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel:


 

2) RV Road Trip: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City

Set aside some time to explore this one because MoMA’s collection is made up of close to 200,000 modern and contemporary artworks that range from outdoor sculptures and hand drawings to playful interactive exhibits. Further, the museum also regularly hosts film screenings.

2) RV Road Trip: American Museum of Natural History in New York City, New York

Animal lovers will want to head to the American Museum of Natural History, where they’ll be treated to an array of halls and exhibitions digging into the history of ocean life and dinosaurs. At the same time, large-scale displays of animals like bison and elk will leave visitors in awe.

An image inside the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History. Photo by Aditya Vyas on Unsplash

4) RV Road Trip: The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California

Visitors will feel like they’ve stepped into a modern new world at the Getty Center, where the façade is made of glass-and-stone buildings. Located on a hilltop in the Santa Monica Mountains, the space is home to breathtaking gardens that can be admired after perusing through its art collections from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet, and more.

5) RV Road Trip: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Those interested in space and flight will find themselves in paradise here, where displays include the 1903 Wright Flyer, the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, and more. There’s even a lunar rock that visitors can touch. The museum — free to enter — is also home to popular attractions like the Albert Einstein Planetarium and a public observatory where visitors can gaze at the sky through telescopes.

6) RV Road Trip: U.S.S. Midway Museum in San Diego, California

Located aboard one of the country’s longest serving aircraft carriers, the U.S.S. Midway Museum invites you to get lost at sea with more than 60 exhibits that take visitors through 29 restored aircraft, as narrations from Midway sailors help to transport tourists back in time.

7) RV Road Trip: The National 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City

Designed to honor the thousands of lives that were lost during the September 11 attacks, this museum takes guests through the events before, during, and after that tragic day with archival photographs, videos, and artifacts from Ground Zero. Outside, reflecting pools stand in the fallen towers’ footprints as a solemn memorial.

8) RV Road Trip: Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

This one is home to roughly 300,000 works of art, from ancient to contemporary. It consists of eight buildings and covers nearly 1 million square feet. The museum is a work of art in and of itself, displaying elements of historic Beaux Arts architecture while simultaneously showcasing Greek and Roman influences with its Corinthian columns and friezes.

An image inside the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Doran Erickson on Unsplash

9) RV Road Trip: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana

TripAdvisor reports this is now the top rated-tourist attraction in New Orleans. The museum takes visitors on a historic journey through its collection of artifacts and first-person oral histories that delve into the story of the war. In addition to its display of boats, tanks, and planes of the past, the space also has a wartime-themed canteen to help visitors unwind.

10) RV Road Trip: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

At the Met, visitors are greeted with more than 2 million pieces they can admire in the museum’s permanent collection. Spanning four city blocks, the Met also regularly brings in fascinating collections that range from the works of famed traditional painters to eclectic clothing displays and historic photographs.

BONUS! Looking for more? Here are 9 More of the Best Museums we've found on our RV Road Trips!

Though they aren't all exactly the Kennedy Space Center or the Met, here is a list of links to other museums that have been featured by the RV Lifestyle, and that also make for great RV stops:

We REALLY love the RV/Motorhome Hall of Fame! Every RVer needs to visit this place. Here's our video of our tour with the Hall of Fame President:

 

Get more RV travel ideas, tips, news, and perks!

Each Monday Mike and Jennifer Wendland publish the RV Lifestyle Newsletter, where they share weekly articles about RV travel that inspire and inform. As soon as you sign up, we'll send you for free the RV travel checklist that Jennifer and Mike use. You can save it to your computer and print it out for every trip like we do. No more forgetting things!  Plus, besides the insider's newsletter each Monday, you'll get lots of special perks and RV discounts. 
Enter your info below and you are in!
[mc4wp_form id=”49345″]

Want to REALLY connect to the RV Lifestyle?

Become as a supporter of the RV Lifestyle and get inside access to exclusive tips, trip planning ideas, how-to RV info, private member-only campouts with Mike & Jennifer, and special perks, giveaways, and discounts. CLICK HERE for info.

Mike Wendland

Published on 2020-10-24

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

2 Responses to “RV Road Trip: 10 Best Museums in the United States [PLUS 9 More!]”

October 24, 2020at8:03 pm, Philip Previti said:

A great museum we loved on an RV trip is the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois. One of the best museums we have been in.

Comments are closed.

Back to top
7 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin7
Email