This museum is amazing. You can explore at your own pace the houses, a scool house and barber shop.The coolest part for me was the interaction with the beautiful animals here.They offer many interactive experiences and festivals throughout the year.The Scottish festival is very popular.I really enjoyed my time here exploring.Theres so much to see, do and experience it's a fun day for families or to just visit alone.Plus free parking on the premises. read more

See all

With plenty of free parking this museum is a must to come out and visit.It hosts many festivals like the Scottish festival which brings in lots of people.Evrything here is self guided and I really enjoyed exploring the grounds, homes, school house and the cute animals that just come up to you.Lots to do here, great for family fun day.So come out and enjoy, you'll go home learning a lot and will not be disappointed . read more

See all

I went here over the weekend for the Holiday Market which was set up outside on what was a cold windy day. Felt bad for the vendors and their tents! Well I guess it is after all December in Buffalo. To me the outdoor area is like a mini Genesee Country Museum with 16 buildings compared to about 70 at GCM. A great size for families that might see GCM as too large. Plus most of buildings have been moved here from the Amherst area to be preserved. Besides a self guided tour of the buildings the museum also has several interactive events and festivals scattered throughout the year. Nothing like learning a little bit about the history of the area while also having some fun. I'd advise you check it out. 2021-191 read more

See all

This place turned out way better than I expected it to be! I'd heard about the village part of the museum, but was pleasantly surprised with the interactive exhibits as well. I came here on a hot Friday during the day. The place was basically empty, assuming because there were no special events going on that weekend. We were greeted by a wonderful woman at the front desk, and she suggested we check out the village before walking through the museum. She gave us a map of the grounds, and off we went! We followed the loop, exploring each of the gorgeous historic buildings one by one! Some parts of each building will be blocked off from foot traffic, but you can still get a really good look at the furnishings and how that particular home looked back in the day! Highlights from the village: - the schoolhouse, with dozens of chalkboards and desks for interacting with! I wrote a Millard Fillmore quote on one of them. - barbershop, where there was a photography booth complete with clothes to dress up in! - the outdoor games, like hoop & stick, croquet, and horseshoes! - the farm animals, of course. We coaxed out the sheep and got to see the ox up close! In the museum part of the campus, you'll find a TON of interactive exhibits which are...admittedly, mostly for younger kids, but I'll be darned if I didn't play around with each and every one of them! I really enjoyed the museum's exhibits because they helped to combine memorable parts of U.S. history with the Buffalo area. The Prohibition exhibit was beautiful and informative. They do festivals here a couple of times of year, but I don't think that should be the only reason you visit the BNHV! This place has so many great things going for it even without the special events! It provides the perfect atmosphere for large groups, would be great for school field trips. I can't wait to return! read more

See all

I have been here for festivals a few times with my wife and her family. We usually attend the German Sommerfest, and we most recently attended the Scottish Festival here over the weekend. The festivals are really great. The Scottish Festival features the Highland games, which is very cool to watch. The sporting events feature both men and women in the contests and it is fun to watch all events. They also have tons of vendors, a lot of tents are set up by each individual clan. They have beer for purchase, but i was slightly disappointed that the offerings were all from NYBP, and not really authentically Scottish. Apart from festival activities, the indoor museum is really cool. I went into the prohibition section for the first time this weekend and was surprised to learn as much as i did. They have a cool wall in this room where wny folks hand wrote their own personal or family connections to the prohibition era. The houses, school houses, etc. on the property are neat to go in and have a look around. It reminds me of a simpler time that i sometimes wish i was a part of. Parking is free, and it costs $13 for adults for the festivals. Kids under 5 are free, which is a nice bonus. They have truck or treat events here for Halloween, multiple festivals and even a murder mystery dinner event. This is a great place to bring the whole family to learn a little bit about the history of Amherst or to check out a heritage themed event. read more

See all

Wow- very cool place to checkout for both adults and kids. Went with my boyfriend on a sunny Saturday afternoon and it took us about an hour and a half to get through the outside part and museum. Outside- this is self-guided. Each building has a short description in the pamphlet. You follow a path to check out each building and some of the buildings may have a person dressed up cooking, weaving, or performing other demos. There are also gardens and two cows. The house with the big kitchen smelled really good as soon as we walked in, as there was a woman cooking vegetable soup on a wood stove with veggies from the garden. Mmmmmm! Buildings vary from homes, to barbershop (which was the most interesting, read the plaques inside about the other ways he made money), blacksmith shop, church, etc). Wondering how the structures were transported or where they were previously located? Go inside the museum, it tells you. Inside the museum- very neat. Lots of exhibits including Erie Canal (very interactive for kids), history or radio and TV, town of Amherst history, regional war history, uniforms throughout history, and more. $8 per adult well spent. Looking forward to returning next time they have an event or demo. Interested in learning how to weave too... read more

Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village - Checkout that tree flagpole! - Museums Near Me - Amherst, New York

See all

My family refers to this as the Amherst Museum and we have been coming here for festivals for years, most specifically the Scottish Festival and the German Sommerfest. In addition to experiencing the festival, with the price of admission you also get to check out the museum and all of the buildings on the property, such as the old homes. Everything is very rich in history and there are so many cool things to look at. As a little girl my favorite exhibit was always the weddings dresses throughout the years, see how the styles have changed is fascinating. The German Sommerfest is a roaring good time, filled with German Music, lots and lots of German beer, and German foods catered by Schnitzel and Co. They have a keg tapping every year, which means free beer for all! They have a stein holding competition, which my dad won this year and was very entertaining. They even had horse pulled carriage rides around the grounds which is delightful. At the Scottish Festival, you have to check out the Highland Games, they are so fun! read more

See all

A well designed, well run museum of interest to Amherst and Williamsville residents. Some old buildings were moved to this location and have been preserved. A great place to visit. read more

Absolutely disappointed. We had never been here. Bought 2 tickets in advance (as instructed on their website). When we arrived (around 11am, shortly after they opened), the receptionist was very nice, welcoming us as first time visitors and telling us how much there was in store. That was so far from the truth. EVERY single building was closed with a sign saying, "We are temporarily closed." Most had the curtains drawn so we couldn't even peek inside. Even the little theatre was closed. Not a clue what we paid full price admission for. Not even a warning that there was nothing at all to see. We won't be back. read more

This used to be called the Amherst Museum. Good to know if you're looking for directions. This is a really nice venue for fests. Scottish fest and german fests are held here and since I'm half Scottish and half German, I alway end up going to them and sometimes working/cooking. read more

Awesome place to visit. They have a ton to do. I cant wait to come back and see more what they have to offer.

This is a wonderful place for an afternoon with kids or the family. They have a very nice and varied collection of 19th century structures from the WNY area. You can enter the buildings and learn how people lived and worked 100 years ago. They don't really have re-enactors, so you won't see a blacksmith working there, but they do have special events throughout the year, such as the Scottish Festival, that are fun. The museum itself is small and informative, and sort of fun. The building is a cheap shed that looks horrible -- they need to raise money to have a better building that can be used for exhibits, events, concerts and so on. The so-called cafe wasn't very good -- can we at least get a decent cup of tea? If they had a better cafe, they might be able to earn a bit of needed cash. If they actually upgraded it to a real cafe, it could be a nice place for people to go for lunch. This is often overlooked, but people should support it more. read more

This is an absolutely amazing historical site. Formerly known as the Amherst Museum, now Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village (BNHV), there are exhibits inside and outside. For one event, they actually built muskets! They hold several historical lectures and teas, i.e. The First Ladies Tea. We get to speak to one of the First Ladies and listen to her tell her story. They serve tea and all the accoutrements of a good old fashioned tea party, and you could almost say the event is a historical modern day salon. They hold a race, German Sommerfest (so many lederhosen and beer steins!), the Scottish Festival (Haggis food eating competition [ick - hahaha], Highland games, bagpipers, and different vendors selling kilts and other items. The outdoor exhibits have houses and volunteers that educate people about different buildings (school house, etc), they have chickens, a rooster, two oxen, a ram ... all animals that people owned. Indoors they have an old fashioned car, a old fashioned diner counter and stools, a prohibition exhibit and they always feature one exhibit that changes. I was there when they showed people what kind of wedding dresses people used to wear. I was surprised to learn most people did not wear white! The staff, volunteers and board members are wonderful people to work with. I encourage everyone to go there at least once! read more

We checked the website just before we went. When we arrived after driving a distance, we found the exhibit listed had closed. They had not put the closing date on the website when it closed---they waited until they had an unhappy patron. That exhibit was the reason we went. The website is fixed now. We tried to make the best of it but it is just an average museum---your common everyday area museum. We thought there could have been more about the development of the area and the community. Also, they have a lot of out-buildings but they were all closed. We asked why and were told it cost too much to heat them. I've never been to this kind of museum (except Williamsburg) where they actually heat the buildings. It was a perfectly fine day---no breeze nor any kind of rain/snow. So there's no reason they couldn't have unlocked at least a few of them for us. We were the only 3 people there and they knew we were already disappointed because of the closed exhibit. They could have put forth some kind of effort to make it up to us. If I didn't feel like I was causing even more of a scene for the others I went with, I would have demanded our money back and left. If you are going for a specific exhibit, call first. Otherwise, this is really quite simple and best suited for young school groups, and quite young at that. We won't go again, nor will we recommend it to anyone we know visiting the area. read more

Really cool historical museum. If was fun to show the kids what life would be like without tv and Xbox. Gift shop is great awesome prices.

This place needs more support! The organization does so much to preserve the history of the WNY region. The place recently lost a great deal of funding and has had to cut back it's interpretation budget (reason why there are not a lot of paid staff on the grounds during the summer). If you plan on visiting, I suggest calling ahead and check if their is a costumed interpreter on site who can give you a guided tour of the village, including some of the homes that are not usually open to the public due to preservation precautions. All at no extra costs. There interpreters are wonderful, staff is knowledgeable, people of all ages will enjoy this place! There is fun for kids and adults alike. Also, the exhibit's are wonderful! There is over 24,000 square feet of exhibit space in the main museum building in the mean time! Definitely affordable considering what you are getting compared to other museums, galleries and locations of interest in the area. Kudos! can't wait to visit again!! You gotta visit this place! read more