OMSI is a museum that is full of natural sciences, physics, and innovation. Though very large with…read morea theater and planetarium, I'd heed the warnings from other Yelp reviews: this museum is for kids!! Not adults!! I truly didn't look at Yelp before buying tickets to the museum and a showing of the planetarium. My fiancé and I finished walking the museum in 30 minutes because it was full of children from camp. We weren't going to play or interact with the museums when children were there and it was sciences we already knew. I was saddened thinking it was a museum for adults. In addition, we absolutely bought the wrong tickets for the planetarium. We ended up at a KPOP Delon Hunters Laser Show. We didn't know what to expect. Whoever made the show did an exceptional job, but we wanted to see something that completely encompasses the entire planetarium. Ultimately, perfect for children. Not adults. The 4 stars is that it is still a great museum.... For children.

I think for the value of the Family Membership, OMSI gets 5 stars. Hot tip, purchase the year-long…read moremembership during Black Friday when it's 20% off and stretch your dollar even further! My kids can spend the whole morning or afternoon here. There's something for everyone, from toddlers to high schoolers, adults and beyond. I always learn something new here too. Bonus, mention that you're a member in the gift shop and get 10% off your purchase.

This place has an awesome museum, cheap prices for oddities, friendly and informative staff, and…read moreunforgettable experiences. I've gone multiple times just for buying wet specimens. Every time I go there's something new to look at

Very fun spot, if you are into "dark" stuff. I know for a fact that this place is haunted. I didn't…read morereally see any paranormal activity myself, but with the items they have on display......yeah, it's haunted. The temperature in the back area was cold, compared to the main entrance which appeared to be warmer. If you know the significance of cold rooms regarding paranormal activity, you know what I'm talking about. There were a lot of interesting displays and fun things to read. The place was not very big, but I still had a good time. The staff was great, the selection was as on pint and the value of place was legit. Check it out if you are into paranormal activity.

My best friend took me to Hopscotch while I was visiting Portland, and it ended up being one of the…read morebest parts of the entire trip. We went with her 3 year old, and honestly, I think we had just as much fun as him. Every room had something different to see or interact with, and it felt like there was always another surprise waiting around the corner. The mix of lights, art, music, and creative exhibits made it easy to lose track of time. One of my favorite areas was the Secrets room. You could step into a phone booth, record a secret, and then hear anonymous secrets playing through the giant speakers overhead. Some of the kid-submitted ones were absolutely adorable and had everyone smiling. The biggest hits for our group were definitely the interactive light rooms, where the lights seemed to react to your movement, and of course the giant rainbow ball pit. Watching everyone dive in and immediately turn into kids again was pretty entertaining. We also checked out the gift shop on the way out. I ended up grabbing a magnet, a postcard, and a few stickers that I thought were really cool. And I have to mention this: I was oddly happy to find out there was an actual hopscotch game inside. After walking through the whole experience, I was starting to wonder if the name was just symbolic. Nope. There was hopscotch, and it made me laugh. Overall, we had an amazing time. It's fun, colorful, interactive, and works just as well for adults as it does for kids. If you're looking for something different to do in Portland, I'd definitely recommend checking it out. For us, it was absolutely worth the price of admission.

Super interesting place! While we did have fun, I was a bit underwhelmed. Honestly, I was thinking…read moreit was more a "Meow Wolf" type of place... so I guess I should've just entered the space without any expectations. The bar in the beginning was a nice touch. You can walk around with your drinks and explore the different rooms they had. You can even take a break and grab food- once you get in your time there is unlimited! One of the best rooms was the Secret Garden. This is where you stand under a cloud like dome and hear secrets from people who have recorded them from a month or two ago. They have a recording booth within the room and you sit there and confess things. Then it plays it back after a couple of months to make sure you remain anonymous. The secrets we heard were gnarly... Won't repeat any, just go there and see! That was probably the best room we went into. The other rooms were super cool, which included a ball pit, infinity room/light looking room as well as a semi-bouncy room. Really interactive and creative space. Entrance fee is not bad for the type of space it's in [Around $22ish?]. Just don't be a jerk and be respectful of peoples' spaces. Not that anyone was disrespectful to us, just saying!

We stopped in on a rainy day and spent about an hour & a half going through their various displays…read more It's only $5 per adult, and worth a visit. The lady at the front desk was very nice and gave us an overview of the museum so we'd know our way around. I'm not sure how often they change themed displays, but when we visited they had 4 themed sections set up: local brewing & info on Prohibition in the area, influential women of Clark County, local music, and the waterfront/naval shipping. Our only disappointment was many of the displays consisted of nice printed placards/signs with information for you to read and photos printed on them, with some actual objects and a few photos for you to view. It was truly a lot of reading. Don't get me wrong, it was all very interesting, but I'd like to see more actual objects/artifacts to see in person, or replicas, with some signage to go along with it rather than mostly signs. But it was still worth of visit, and nice to learn more about the local history since we're relatively new to the area. They also have a research library in the basement you can access (I'm not sure what the fees are). They do ask that you make an appointment to access the research library.

Helpful and informative staff, cool rotating exhibits, and a good local history research library!…read moreAnd the haunted history tours in October are so much fun! A treasure in DT Vancouver :)

If there is an aviation museum, consider me a 12 year old boy, I am in. The Pearson Air Museum,…read morelocated in Vancouver, Washington, is a tribute to aviation history, particularly that of the Pacific Northwest. It was awesome. It's within the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and is home to Pearson Field, one of the oldest continuously operating airfields in the U.S (1905). Pearson Field is named after Lt. Alexander Pearson, an aviator who set airspeed records in the 1920s. During the interwar period, Pearson Field became a hub for innovative aviation, seeing visits from famous pilots like Charles Lindbergh. This is a must do! It's free and amazing.

Free museum on historic grounds dating back to late 1740's. Visit Officers row of Victorian homes…read morebuilt to house military officers from the 1740's and still unkept today. Then walk a quarter mile toward the river and run into Pearson Air Museum. My wife got a masters degree in museum curatorship. This air museum is so well done it brings to life what would be a minor detail in history. Vancouver was a major artery for Sitka Spruce a strong light wood without knots. A key factor in building light airplanes during and post WW1. Well done and this is a US National Park. Kids activities, stamps for their books, and a short .5 M walk from Main Street

I found this place on Atlas Obscura and I felt like visiting with my partner and our dog. To our…read moreluck, our well behaved dog got us 1 free admission! We spent about 15-30 minutes in here just taking it all in and reading as much information as we could. There are plenty of photo ops as well as interactive things to play with. We were lucky to find a parking spot a few steps away and paid about $1-$2 to park for almost an hour. The person behind the front desk was kind and welcoming. The merch selection was vast and interesting. I just wish they had a photo booth because it would tie into the place perfectly. Overall, highly recommend as it is a fun spot to hangout for under an hour.

This is a quirky throwback to Portland high-weirdness and is more like a circus sideshow exhibition…read moreof yesteryear. Like a lot of these places in Portland, it's a gift shop in front with exhibits in the back. It's an eclectic collection of oddities covering everything from sci-fi & horror, to bigfoot, to exhibitions to urban folktales. It might be slightly pricy for what is there, because the museum portion is quite small, maybe taking thirty minutes to navigate. However, it has a few instagrammable exhibits for fun photos, my favorite was the one they dedicated to the Talking Heads lead man. The staff is friendly and welcoming and very chill. The gift shop is a parade of off-side oddities that's very different than anything most anything I've seen, but so different I couldn't find anything for me.

The Portland Art Museum sits directly in front of the South Park Blocks, a historic 12-block green…read morespace stretching through downtown Portland. It's a beautiful area within the Cultural District. The museum itself, easy to navigate, well-curated, and well-designed. There are several outdoor pavilions - the doors to which are contact free (you just wave to open them). My only complaint is the "All User" bathrooms which lack privacy and feel awkward to use. The Hockey exhibit is worth seeing - as is the Rothko collection, NW, and european collections. The Vancouver Art Museum could use its help...

I do like an art museum, but $27 is quite steep. The museum is nice with four floors. About 50-70%…read morewas more modern art, and only about half a floor was classic. For my proposes I'm calling modern art anything produced in the last 40 years. There were some unique exhibits like the one where you lay on a bed at watch a video on the ceiling. And some classic art, like paintings from historical masters. I tried to include a wide variety of photos to provide a sample of what to expect. Nice museum, can spend a few hours here, but make the ticket price more reasonable... Maybe $15-20.

If you are anywhere near Vancouver and have even the slightest appreciation for history, do…read moreyourself a favor and walk the waterfront, then wander over to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and soak it all in. Right nearby sits Old Apple Tree Park, home to what was known as the oldest apple tree in the Pacific Northwest. I remember seeing the old tree standing there like some weathered pioneer that had witnessed centuries pass by. The original trunk finally died, but shoots from its living roots were replanted, and the tree lives on through its offspring. Considering apple trees were not native to this land and had to be brought across oceans and continents, there is something downright incredible about standing next to the very beginning of Northwest orchard history. Fort Vancouver itself is fascinating. Established by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1825, it became the center of trade, farming, and industry in the Pacific Northwest long before Washington or Oregon were even states. Back then this place was a bustling multicultural settlement with trappers, traders, farmers, blacksmiths, sailors, and families from all over the world. They cultivated massive gardens, orchards, and farmland here to feed thousands of people traveling through the region. It was essentially the headquarters of the Pacific Northwest during the fur trade era. Walking through the fort today feels like stepping into another century. Between the wooden palisades, parade grounds, river breeze, and views of the Columbia, you can almost imagine canoes arriving loaded with furs while smoke curled from fireplaces inside the fort walls. It is peaceful now, but this place once shaped the entire region. I honestly think one of the best afternoons you can have in Vancouver is to stroll the riverfront, grab a coffee, walk through the historic reserve, and end up here reflecting on how much history happened on this patch of ground. Relish it. So much of the Northwest rushes forward so fast that we forget where it all began. Fort Vancouver reminds you.

We love visiting this 191 acre site! There's so much to see...Officer's Row, barracks, gazebo, the…read moreFort, gardens, land bridge trail, and the Pearson Air Museum. We've been to almost everything this historical site has to offer. Our favorite part is just walking around any time of year and seeing what's in bloom. In the spring they have gorgeous cherry blossoms and tulip trees. In summer there's tons of hydrangeas around the historic buildings along Officer's Row. The Fort Vancouver gardens are gorgeous in summer with a wide variety of plants and flowers. There's a lot of vegetables too! Overall a great place to explore. I feel so lucky to have such a gem so close to home! Would highly recommend.