Talk about a fabulous way to repurpose an iconic building in JoCo! The site of the old King Louie…read morebowling alley has given way to the Arts & Heritage Center containing an exhibit better known as the Johnson County Museum. Instead of erecting another concrete monstrosity, JoCo took a piece of its expansion and history to house that very same dynamic. The Arts & Heritage Center itself is a wonderful facility, blending local & regional art, classes, and community space. It also doubles as an election polling location particularly focused on early voting opportunities (exercise your right!). Taking that classic 1960s suburban architecture, complete with stone walls & beams in a pseudo-flying buttress, and turning it into a new piece of the community is a *chef's kiss* of civic planning. Where you once may have tried to pick up a 7-10 split, you now can tour decades of people & progress. The museum itself costs $6 for adults with discounted admission for seniors, veterans, & children. It doesn't take long to get immersed in the interactivity and to get mesmerized by JoCo's storied past. Take in the public art displays or stop into the gift shop for keepsakes of the visit. Virtually every event has been well-documented, notable people are memorialized, and the chronology only keeps moving forward. Northeast Kansas continues to grow and find new ways to reinvent progress, so be sure to grasp the spirit of expansion that has occurred in this beautiful metro area.

Me and my family have went to the Johnson County Museum many times, the facilities are always clean…read moreand the workers are always very friendly, and the children's area gets cleaned everyday from 12:00-12:30. The Johnson County Museum is very good for toddlers and younger kids ages 2-10 but for anyone older I would say that they would get bored pretty easily. Over all the Johnson County Museum is a great place to bring your children on a rainy day to keep them busy I would definitely recommend.

My first time to this contemporary museum but not for lack of trying. This museum has wonderful and…read morediverse programming for the family. And it's free. The museum's current exhibit is KC native Jeremy Scott (Moschino) & Katherine Bernhardt show thru aug. 3, 2025. This museum is a Johnson County treasure.

It's a charming museum! We had a great, quick visit for the rotating exhibit. The permanent…read morecollection was also really beautiful. Free, with easy parking - just a bonus. Next time we'll plan to grab a snack in the cafe on the first floor

"Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car." -E.B. White…read more The Kansas City Automotive Museum is one of those places where the experience shifts every time you walk through the door, because the cars on display rotate in and out and each one is a "gift" from an owner who decided to share their automotive "sculpture" with the rest of us. The vehicles are packed in ticket and nearly every one comes with a caption that gives you a little history lesson about the manufacturer, the model and often the personal story of how it ended up in the owner's hands. Most of the displays include QR codes with translations, which is a thoughtful touch especially if English isn't your primary language and you want to dig deeper into the details. On my visit, the standouts were the 1925 Jordan Seven Passenger Sedan, the 1929 Packard Roadster, and the 1959 Chevy El Camino, each one rare, beautiful, and full of character. There were at least a dozen other rare cars plus a great display about the former Leeds factory, complete with memorabilia and artifacts that add a layer of Kansas City history to the experience. If you're a real fan like me, expect to spend two hours, wandering, reading, admiring and appreciating what these owners have chosen to share. Don't miss the posters on the wall with other interesting details and history. It's a tremendous time. [Review 842 of 2026 - 149 in Kansas - 26023 overall]

What a curious creation. This place is an amalgam of the collections of the donors, as most cars in…read morethis facility are temporarily donated by benefactors, supportive of the idea of a collection of vehicle history in one place. The cars were beautiful, though if I'm being honest plainly beautiful. There also weren't too many options to choose from, to catch the wandering eye. It feels like it's less a museum, and more of a person dedicating their life to a car club of sorts. This place is a gussied up garage of shorts. There's a couple of notable pieces in here that capture the mind for a short moment or two, and some displays, thematic in nature, are of interest. But, I could take this or leave it mostly. Maybe I'm not that in the cars is the problem. The most interesting part I think is that the vehicles are all donated on loan from benefactors, and the collection changes all the time. The community of this seems most interesting. I felt almost like I was in the cleanest garage of all time, and not ever like I was in a museum filled with pieces of wonderful human innovation. If you're in the vehicles, you probably would like it more than I did. I thought I did, but in my old age it just seems to be metal and glass not long for this side of the scrap heap.

Beautiful building. The main hall is free and open to anyone. Lots of cool info on dinosaurs,…read morespace, and an interactive section where you take a quiz, make a dinosaur and see it on a big screen next to you. Upstairs is a discovery room that I want to like so much but it's just so poorly run. It seems to me that there's not enough staff or funding maybe to keep everything organized and neat so a lot of it is disheveled or there's stuff missing. Worth a visit on a free day or with a pogo pass but I wouldn't pay for it.

Positives: Beautiful building, nice staff, not too busy, generally clean, affordable, some fun…read morethings in the Discovery Area for kids. Negative: I would say that the main floor really needs to add some more displays or exhibition pieces. I feel like there's a lot of space that could be better utilized. My grandkids weren't that excited about the main floor. The discovery room area primarily for children has some neat displays, but could have a little bit more interactive play areas instead of just viewing displays.

*Missing Review(s)?…read more In my opinion this is one of the best museums in the world. No doubt,pound for pound I would put the Nelson Akins up against any museum anywhere. I love art so, traveling to Kansas City regularly in the early to mid 2000s,I naturally visited the Nelson Adkins. Walking into the building was not particularly interesting as the entrance had been modernized and different from the exterior. However,once you walk into the galleries,you are stunned. The overall building design,galleries and quality of art seems almost out of place in Kansas City. Not that they don't deserve it,every city should be so lucky,it just seems a surprise. One special thing they had, that is just wonderful, is the cafeteria style cafe in a significantly beautiful atrium. I took many pictures and posted them of the entire facility including the marvelous food over several years. I have been trying to come up with a good excuse to go to KC for a Nelson-Adkins fix! Seriously,maybe an UYE! Now for "The"truly significant impact this museum had on my life.On the second floor you could walk out doors, taking you into the large atrium that holds the cafe. Around this walkway were many Rodin sculpture. I must have past these sculpture a dozen times on my walk to the descending stairs in order to eat During one visit as I exited the doors,passed the sculptures,I noticed a large photographic presentation. Stopping to look closer,I learned it was regarding details of Rodin's Hell Gates. If you have the slightest interest in art,look it up, amazing. After lunch,I returned to this exhibit reading all about the Hells Gates. Finding out there are only two bronze cast of this magnificent sculpture,I felt I just had to see one if not both. One is at the Rodin museum in Paris. If I needed a reason to go to Paris( you don't) this was as good as any. I'm proud to report a few months later I was standing in front of the Gates Of Hell at the Rodin museum Paris. All because of a visual display at Nelson Atkins... Go!

My visit to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art was extremely disappointing. While the museum itself…read morewas beautiful the behavior of several staff members completely ruined the experience. Throughout our visit we were repeatedly followed and monitored. At one point, as we were leaving through a doorway a staff member who was entering saw us exiting and immediately turned around after looking directly at us. Another staff member approached us in a very confrontational manner under the guise of "guiding" us and even laughed after I responded with "yikes." The micro-aggressions were impossible to ignore. They didn't even seem "micro." The behavior from staff was excessive, unwelcoming, and deeply uncomfortable. It's unfortunate that such a culturally significant and visually appealing place is staffed by people who ruin the experience. I genuinely hope the museum addresses and provides better training on how staff members interact with guests.

If you are looking for an underrated gem, this unassuming museum is an absolute must-visit. Our…read moregroup spent about 1.5 hours exploring, and it was worth every minute. Tip: Start on the 2nd floor as the museum is split across two floors. The 2nd floor is Toys and a complete walk down memory lane. It's packed with nostalgia, featuring games and classic items from the last century--everything from vintage Mouse Trap to Chinese Checkers. The 1st floor is Fine Miniatures. Do yourself a favor and save this for last. The first floor houses fine scale miniatures that are plain mind-blowing. The level of craftsmanship and architectural detail in these tiny masterpieces is unbelievable. Before you leave, make sure to pop into the nifty little gift shop. They have some super fun items, including mini tabletop versions of games like Mini Monopoly. Highly recommended!

A group of us spent part of our weekend exploring this incredible museum in the heart of Kansas…read moreCity, and it was pure magic from start to finish. ​The fine-scale miniatures are an absolute marvel of patience, precision, and artistry. Having recently visited the Truman Library, seeing a miniature replica of Truman's Oval Office shrunk down with microscopic accuracy--right down to the tiniest nitty-gritty details on the desk--was amazing to see up close. There are far too many highlights to squeeze into one miniature review, but the massive 1,000-pound dollhouse from the late 1800s completely stopped us in our tracks. ​On the toy side of the aisle, wandering through generations of playthings was a blast--even if realizing I'm officially old enough to be part of vintage museum nostalgia was a funny, slightly bittersweet pill to swallow. They also have three hypnotic rolling-ball kinetic sculptures where you just zone out watching the spheres navigate intricate winding tracks. It's oddly calming, very zen, and almost impossible to pull your eyes away from. ​To top off the visit, I nearly committed accidental petty crime on the way out. I picked up an adorable tiny Monopoly game in the gift shop, got distracted, and walked right out the front door before realizing I hadn't paid. When I hurried back inside to confess, the cashier laughed and pointed out the irony of accidentally playing a real-life Get Out of Jail Free card with Monopoly. ​Definitely check this place out, whether you appreciate mind-boggling micro-craftsmanship or just want to let your inner kid run loose for an afternoon.

I'm so glad this place was preserved! The entire farm is delightful to tour and it's great to just…read morewander and imagine what it was like during the height of migration.

I've been here three times by now, and I can't say enough good things about this place. There's a…read morefull farm with a active stagecoach and driver, and for a nominal fee you can actually ride in a real stagecoach which is an experience that everyone should experience to appreciate modernity. The house is fully restored and owned by the city of Olathe, marked as a national landmark. There's a functional blacksmith and lessons on particulars of blacksmithing. There is a wash station, and goats and chickens and sheep and horses and all the accompanying accoutrement. The house particularly is wonderful. The stagecoach stop was essentially like a gas station of the old world, and one would get off the stagecoach, which was like a bus, and go down into the cellar of that stagecoach house to have supper at this massive table with functioning 1850s kitchen that they use to this day to make samples in the wood fire. It's really something to see, and they even have an ice house that they tried to make functional but couldn't figure it out. Essentially a massive building where you put huge blocks of ice packed with sawdust that keep the ice Frozen for a year nearly. It's such a neat place, and the dedicated staff really commit. I would recommend anybody that lives in Kansas to go here and check it out, because it truly is living history.

How lucky KC is to have such a treasure and amazing museum that is phenomenal. History is hard and…read morewar is even harder to convey the breadth but still message it is a deliverable way for all ages. Our last visit was years ago and the changes & additions are just impressive! Blessed to also see the Freedom Plane exhibit that is only going to 8 cities! Well done !

Three of us decided this would be our destination on the first day of our KC trip. We read online…read morereviews and all of us like history, so we thought this would be a neat place for a "quick" visit. Well it turned into more than just a quick visit. The reviews don't give this place enough justice. It was AWESOME! We spent over four hours here and we could have spent more if we didn't have to leave for lunch and a ballgame. The tower and "original" memorial halls were very neat, but the newly built museum is the main attraction. Three levels of outstanding visuals, interactive displays, multiple movies, and of course tons of WWI artifacts. I am a former U.S. History teacher and I learned a lot of new information!This is a MUST visit if in the area. It ranks as one of the best museums I've ever visited.

Over priced and over rated…read more Too small. Things looked old and touched too much. Wack! Don't waste your time or money.

Unfortunately, this location didn't live up to expectations. Having visited the St. Louis Museum of…read moreIllusions, I found this one to be significantly smaller and lacking the same variety of exhibits. Given the price point, the experience felt a bit underwhelming and short. If you've been to their larger locations, this one might leave you disappointed.

The play kitchen got set on fire (according to a young child), the manager of the kitchen is a 4…read moreyear old, I was handed a whole fake loaf a bread and a whole fake eggplant, I got stuck in the slide, the castle was closed and the AI robot guy doesn't have any jax lines. Horrible experience. (No but all jokes aside, this place is awesome, great place to bring your kids for a fun adventure, awesome experience)

This historical building is a central hub of transportation, connecting different train lines and…read morestreet car. The building has so much architectural designs etched into its walls and ceiling. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas with a huge Christmas tree inside. The parking around the station is hefty, up to $15/hour. The building is connected to Westin and Crown Center with Skywalk. There are activities like Science city, cafe, restaurant, bakery and gift shops inside the building. The passage walkaway also has lots of historical portraits, highlighting the timeline of development of the station. We spent almost half day exploring the station. The bakery, cafe and gift shops were nice. Science city is great for children. Overall the was clean and a popular place for tourists.