10 Best Museums in Dallas

The Dallas Museum of Art offers more than 25,000 works of art in almost every medium you can imagine from painting to sculpture and from ancient times to postmodern. You can easily get lost just exploring the thousands of works here. The museum showcases classical works, Latin American works, European works, Far Eastern works, and others. It also puts on regular rotating and traveling exhibitions focused on specific topics. Some of the works here date back 5,000 years.

From the paintings of Renoir to the crafts of the indigenous Hopi tribes, you'll find a broad and eclectic range here. It's right in the heart of downtown, and it's free to get in.

The Frontiers of Flight Museum offers an up-close look at the aviation and space industry with more than 30 kinds of aircraft and information about all forms of aviation. You'll get to see full historic aircraft up close and personal, plus exhibits, artifacts, ephemera, documents, photos, and information about everything from the aircraft of war to the space program. Many of the full-sized aircraft are open, so you can go inside and see the controls and cargo areas. You can even see the famous and iconic Apollo 7 command module.

If you're an aviation enthusiast, or even if you're just on a layover at the airport, this is a great stop. It's just 13 minutes north of downtown.

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is the spot where Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F. Kennedy and today houses a museum chronicling the chilling events of that day. Inside you will see photographs, documents, and information about the assassination, the hunt for Oswald, and surrounding events. You can also see special exhibits on display that have some association with the Kennedy family, from historic artifacts to artwork, documents, photos, and others.

This museum may not be the best for kids, as it chronicles one of the darkest and most chilling events in American history. It is, however, an important museum dedicated to an event that shaped our nation in the heart of downtown.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a striking museum in the heart of downtown offering interactive exhibits covering everything from dinosaurs to outer space and beyond. Here you can learn about energy production, evolution, geology, natural history, sports, and technology. Most of the exhibits let you get hands-on, so you can learn all about these things in a personal and tactile way. The building is a unique structure that has been called the "rock building" for its appearance and architecture.

The museum has 11 exhibit halls and offers events for kids and adults alike. You can even attend after-dark over-21 nights on Thursdays with food trucks, music, and drinks.

The Museum of Illusions is a national chain of museums offering the chance to see all sorts of optical illusions from swapping faces to colored shadows, infinity rooms, and others. Here you can see yourself turned into a kaleidoscopic image, walk through a dizzying vortex tunnel, and enter a room where everything seems to be tilted. You can also see a space where one person seems to be infinitely smaller than another, or interact with holograms.

This is a place where nothing is what it seems and offers fun and education together. Kids and adults alike will love the smart playroom. It's also centrally located right in the heart of downtown Dallas.

The African American Museum of Dallas is an independent art museum in Fair Park that celebrates all forms of Black art from the Renaissance through to the modern day. Here you can see folk art from the early days of the United States as well as masterworks from centuries ago painted by Black artists from Europe in the 16th century. The museum's goal is to raise awareness of Black art and shed light on hundreds of years' worth of history and expression like no other museum does.

This one-of-a-kind institution has a vast collection of art in almost every medium, from folk crafts to masterwork paintings, photography, and more. It's only 8 minutes east of downtown.

The Crow Museum of Asian Art offers a free-to-view Asian art collection in the heart of the Dallas Arts District named for the family that first showcased it. The museum has become a beloved landmark in the city since its opening in 1998 and hosts regular rotating events and showcases local and national artists both in its own space and across the city. The permanent collection showcases the art of China, Japan, Korea, India, and other regions of Southeast Asia and is truly vast.

In addition, the museum hosts wellness courses, yoga, and meditation workshops. It's 8 minutes from downtown to the north.

The Samurai Collection offers a curated collection of more than 1,000 pieces of authentic Japanese armor from a personal collection. This museum is among the largest collections of samurai armor outside of Japan, and it's growing every year. Here you can see ancient suits of armor that showcase incredible artwork and craftsmanship, elegant weaponry, and documentation about where the armor came from, when it was made, and the reason for its appearance and style.

The museum is astonishing and curated by its namesake creators. It's tucked in the Saint Ann Building in the Harwood District, 8 minutes north of downtown.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the 13th presidential library and offers a chance to get an in-depth look at the time of Bush's presidency. The museum includes a look at the events surrounding 9/11 in the "A Nation Under Attack" permanent exhibit, including the later investigation into the attacks. You can also see a detailed replica of the Oval Office from President Bush's time in office. The museum also houses the president's library of books and documents.

For historians interested in recent history, this museum offers a great deal of insight. It's located at Southern Methodist University, 12 minutes north of downtown Dallas.

The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is a gigantic museum focused on the horrors of Nazi Germany and issues of human rights all over the world across history. The massive copper building offers photographs, artifacts, exhibits, and information about the human rights movement after World War II and the American civil rights movement in addition to information about the Holocaust. Exhibits include a Nazi rail car and video testimonials by survivors of the Holocaust.

Because of the graphic nature of many of the exhibits, this may not be the most kid-friendly stop among Dallas museums. It is, however, heartbreaking and enlightening at the same time. It's in the heart of downtown.