Curating Art, History and Fun at Connecticut’s Museums

Connecticut is home to hundreds of museums and historic sites, showcasing everything from classical to contemporary artwork, ancient to modern history, dinosaurs to space exploration —and everything in between.

Featuring: American Clock & Watch Museum | American Museum of Tort Law | Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry | Barker Character, Comic & Cartoon Museum | Boothe Memorial Park & Museum | Bruce Museum | Connecticut Air & Space Museum | Connecticut Art Trail | Connecticut Children's Museum | Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum | Connecticut Freedom Trail | Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library | Connecticut River Museum | Connecticut Science Center | Connecticut State Museum of Natural History | Connecticut Trolley Museum | Connecticut Women's Heritage Trail | Connecticut's Old State House | Custom House Maritime Museum | Danbury Railway Museum | Eli Whitney Museum | Eric Sloane Museum and Kent Furnace | EverWonder Children's Museum | Florence Griswold Museum | Genius Museum at Nature's Art Village | Henry Whitfield State Museum | Hill-Stead Museum | Historic Ship Nautilus & Submarine Force Museum | Housatonic Museum of Art | Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center | Institute for American Indian Studies | Kidcity Children's Museum | KidsPlay Children's Museum | Knights of Columbus Museum | Lutz Children's Museum | Lyman Allyn Art Museum | Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center | Mattatuck Museum | Museum of Connecticut History | Mystic Seaport Museum | National Helicopter Museum, Inc. | New Britain Museum of American Art | New England Air Museum | New England Carousel Museum | New England Civil War Museum | New England Motorcycle Museum | New Haven Museum | Niantic Children's Museum | Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine | PEZ Visitor Center | Prudence Crandall Museum | Railroad Museum of New England/Naugatuck Railroad Company | Sacred Heart University’s Discovery Science Center & Planetarium | Shore Line Trolley Museum | Slater Memorial Museum | SoNo Switch Tower Museum | Stepping Stones Museum for Children | The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum | The Barnum Museum | The Children's Museum | The Mark Twain House & Museum | Vintage Hi Fi Museum | Vintage Radio & Communications Museum of Connecticut | Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art | William Benton Museum of Art | Windham Textile and History Museum | Yale Center for British Art | Yale Collection of Musical Instruments | Yale University Art Gallery

Take Your Time, Connecticut — Play Tourist in Your Own Backyard!

Research shows that 7.2 million vacation days go unused in Connecticut every year. Now, with a new nationwide study touting the health benefits of taking more of your hard-earned Paid Time Off (PTO) days, we’ve got a few suggestions on how you can “take your time” — while playing tourist right here at home. 

Featuring: American Museum of Tort Law | Antiques on the Farmington | Argia Mystic Cruises | Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry | Barker Character, Comic & Cartoon Museum | Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library | Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden | Book Barn | Boothe Memorial Park & Museum | Breck Marshall at Mystic Seaport | Bruce Museum | Butler-McCook House & Garden | Cathedral Pines Farm | Collinsville Canoe & Kayak | Connecticut River Museum | Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo | Cross Sound Ferry Lighthouse Cruise | Custom House Maritime Museum | Deacon John Graves House (c.1685) | Dinosaur State Park | Florence Griswold Museum | G Spa at Foxwoods | General David Humphreys House (c.1698) | Gillette Castle State Park | Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden | Greenwich Historical Society | Harriet Beecher Stowe Center | Hempsted Houses | Henry Whitfield State Museum | Hill-Stead Museum | Historic Ship Nautilus & Submarine Force Museum | Hollister House Garden | Kent Falls State Park | Leffingwell House Museum | Lighthouse Point Park | Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum (c.1864) | Lyme Art Association | Mandara Spa at Mohegan Sun | Mayflower Inn & Spa | Mohawk Mountain Ski Area | Mount Southington Ski Area | Mystic Seaport Museum | Mystic Whaler Cruises | Nathan Hale Homestead | New Britain Museum of American Art | New England Science & Sailing | Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society | Ogden House & Gardens | Osborne Homestead Museum | Paddle Mystic-Mystic River Adventure Company | Phelps-Hatheway House | Powder Ridge Mountain Park & Resort | Project Oceanology | Quinebaug River Trail | Roseland Cottage Museum | S&P Oyster Co. | Saybrook Point Resort & Marina | Schooner Brilliant at Mystic Seaport | Sea Mist Thimble Island Cruise, LLC | Ski Sundown | Sleeping Giant State Park | Stamford Museum & Nature Center | Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods | The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum | The Glass House | The Glass House | The Mark Twain House & Museum | The Spa at Norwich Inn | The Spa at Norwich Inn | The Vanilla Bean Café | Town of Essex | Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art | Water's Edge Resort & Spa | Webb Deane Stevens Museum | Westbrook Outlets | White Flower Farm | White Memorial Foundation | Winding Trails Cross Country Ski Center | Winvian Farm | Yale Center for British Art

Have you Discovered Connecticut’s Hidden Gems?

Most people know Connecticut’s most visited landmarks and attractions, like Mystic Aquarium and the Mark Twain House. So, we asked Facebook users to suggest a few of the state's “hidden gems,” and we were thrilled with the response! Maybe you’ve heard of some of these but never visited. Or maybe you haven’t. Either way, it’s a great list of places where you might just find a few surprises worth discovering for yourself.

Featuring: American Museum of Tort Law | Antiques on the Farmington | Barker Character, Comic & Cartoon Museum | Book Barn | Boothe Memorial Park & Museum | Collinsville Canoe & Kayak | Lighthouse Point Park | Town of Canton

Free for Our Military Families: Connecticut’s Blue Star Museums

Connecticut is proud to support Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums across America. Each summer since 2010, Blue Star Museums have offered free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

See below for a list of Connecticut museums participating this summer.

Featuring: American Museum of Tort Law | Avery-Copp House | Barker Character, Comic & Cartoon Museum | Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden | Bruce Museum | Butler-McCook House & Garden | Canton Historical Museum | Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library | Danbury Museum | Ebenezer Avery House | Eric Sloane Museum and Kent Furnace | EverWonder Children's Museum | Fairfield Museum & History Center | Harriet Beecher Stowe Center | Hempsted Houses | Henry Whitfield State Museum | Hill-Stead Museum | Hyland House Museum (1713) | Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center | Institute for American Indian Studies | Kidcity Children's Museum | KidsPlay Children's Museum | Leffingwell House Museum | Lyman Allyn Art Museum | Mattatuck Museum | Museum of Connecticut History | Nathan Hale Homestead | New Britain Museum of American Art | New Britain Youth Museum | New England Carousel Museum | New England Civil War Museum | Phelps-Hatheway House | Prudence Crandall Museum | Roseland Cottage Museum | Slater Memorial Museum | Stamford Museum & Nature Center | Stanley-Whitman House | Stepping Stones Museum for Children | The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum | The Mark Twain House & Museum | Tolland Historical Society | Town of East Granby | Town of Scotland | Town of Simsbury | Town of Southington | Vintage Hi Fi Museum | Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art | William Benton Museum of Art | Wilton Historical Society | Yale University Art Gallery

Museums and Galleries in the Litchfield Hills

History, culture, technology, art – they’re all on display within the fabulous museums throughout the Litchfield Hills. Experience all the fascinating things that embody our rich and diverse culture – for a few quiet hours, or over a peaceful weekend.

Featuring: American Clock & Watch Museum | American Museum of Tort Law | EverWonder Children's Museum | Institute for American Indian Studies | New England Carousel Museum | The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum | Washington Art Association & Gallery