Fun and free for the whole family. The OG volunteers are so awesome and knowledgeable. Great stories and wonderful with the kids. read more

Travis Heritage Center - Museums Near Me - Travis AFB, California

This museum was a lot of fun for our entire family. Literally from grandparents to the youngest grandchild who is only 4. We had a wonderful time. They have quite a lot of aircrafts displayed that you can actually walk by and read some historical facts and take many great pictures. Then the indoor part actually surprised us. As we expected it to be very small but they had quite a big exhibit. From engine, propeller, history and even an area where children are allowed to sit in a variety of cockpits of aircrafts. The children had so much fun! The volunteers are very helpful and so nice, explaining everything. At the end of our exploration we stopped at the gift shop and picked up some toys which are reasonably priced and they even got to take a pin home. read more

This is a nicely arranged aviation museum. It is located within Travis AFB and IS open to the public. If you don't have current access onto military installations, just call the Heritage Center who will pick you and your guests up at the front gate. There are lots of historic military aircraft displayed outside. I visited during the annual Travis AFB open house & airshow...the center was shuttling visitors from the flightline every 10 mins. The aircraft are packed in closely, so minimal walking was required to see them all. A few of the aircraft were open for visitors to walk inside. The Heritage Center building seemed way larger inside, than it appeared from the outside. Lots and lots of military memorabilia and history, not only about Travis AFB but also about military aviation. A couple interesting sections contained air and space powerplants...from piston engines to turbans to rocket boosters. I also enjoyed the section discussing the history about the Berlin Airlift of WWII. There were a couple smaller aircraft also housed inside the center. There is a mockup C-5 Galaxy also which I found interesting. Now I've been to lots of aviation museums. This one is a little better than average. When you consider that admission is free, it moves up a star! If you're more of a looker and less of a reader like I am, you can see everything in about 60-90 minutes. If you lean more towards reading, I'd guess you'll be here at least a couple hours. Definitely no objection to coming back here again. read more

Tried to visit and were turned away after driving an hour to get there. The 2 bullies at the visitor center were completely rude to me and my family. Called the museum who had steered us wrong on what we needed and no help from them either. Travis Air Force Base should be embarrassed by how we were treated and my father who served in WW II in the pacific is probably rolling over in his grave. read more

Take the kids and enjoy your free admission to these great displays both inside the museum building and outside, all sizes, terrific. The kids will love the interesting exhibits as well as the opportunity to get outside and checkout the many planes on display. Inside exhibits include a space capsule for children, air force uniforms, the nose of a WWII glider, WWII aircraft recognition models, a link trainer, aircraft engines, and the cockpits of a T-28, a T-37, and a F-100. Outside see over 20 planes including fighters, bombers and transports. The museum website offers info on getting access to the base and direction to the museum. Highly recommended. read more

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I only wish I found this museum earlier! There are a lot of planes outside so you at least know where to find the place. My GPS had me going the opposite direction so I had to ask. Along with the static aircraft display outside, there are a lots of static exhibits within, more aircraft and loads of history ~ did I mention great history lessons here? The place from the outside seemingly small, but it is a HUGE place and I spent two hours within with a friend, and we haven't seen everything yet! I must confess that the Berlin Airlift exhibit was a display I wanted to see and almost missed it; I had to return to see it and how creative having a path of Hershey chocolate bars hanging under small homemade parachutes, all leading to the exhibit! What surprised and shocked me was a tribute to Moon Island in (Masirah) Oman where I was situated during the days days of Desert Shield as it changed to Desert Storm. I had forgotten all about that little place and time in my military career and am so proud to see it from another viewpoint! When I get home to Spain, I'll have to look through my collection of patches and find one to send to the museum! Though one must be the holder of a military ID card (active, reservist or retired), I strongly recommend this place for kids and anyone who loves aviation, military equipment and planes, and *history* because this place is FULL of it! Go see it if you can get onbase - you won't regret it. It's so odd to enter this museum as there is no front desk... it's all Gratis/Free!!! read more

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This is a great FREE place to take the older kids. It is an active AFB so you must check in at the visitor center. They do a quick background check and then you are driven to the museum via van. This museum has lots of cool artifacts from WWI, WW2,Korea and the Vietnam war. They have some cargo planes and jets outside of the building as well. There are a few flight simulators that the kids can climb on. Not far from there is the Jelly Belly factory so make a day of it and check them both out while your in the area. read more

Travis Heritage Center - Museums Near Me - Travis AFB, California

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Nice place to go to check out planes. Took some clients here for a social event and it was nice that it was free. However it is really musty and hot inside!! So stuffy, and luckily it was a cool day outside or we would have been burning up inside. It's also nice the kids can sit in some of the airplanes inside and "pretend" to fly and there is one that moves which was fun. However this place is pretty small and you can walk thru the entire place in 10minutes. My clients mainly played on what they could and luckily it kept them entertained. I would recommend they invest in an AC or at least dust this place once in awhile. Also hours are NOT accurate so make sure to call and check what days and times. Just saying...... read more

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This Museum is a hidden Gem that I was lucky enough to find. The Museum is inside of Travis AFB, but that does not mean that you have to have access to the base to visit. Its very simple and trouble-free to get in. All you have to do is drive to the Travis AFB visitors center, tell the desk that you want to go to the museum, and they'll ask for your drivers license and ssn. They do a 5 minute background check and once that's done a shuttle picks you up and takes you to the museum. All of this is free. The museum itself was impressive. They have quite a collection of models, a wide range of historic and modern jet engines, as well as many many radials and piston engines. They even have an XLR-99 (x-15 rocket motor), and an absolutely pristine example of an LR-87 rocket motors, the ones that powered the Titan II rockets. They have a full sized mercury capsule mockup that guests are allowed to sit inside of, and they have a t-37 trainer, an F-100, a T-28 and a C-5 trainer that you can all go inside of. The outside has just about every cargo aircraft the Air force has ever flown. A lot of them appear to be in great shape, and a bunch of them had what looked like a fresh coat of paint. They aren't roped off or anything so you're free to walk around and explore them. They will be adding a C-5 to their collection soon too. The best part about all of this is that it is absolutely free. This is one of the best aviation museums I've been to, and they don't ask for any admission fee. Whenever I'm in the Bay area again, I will absolutely be coming back. read more

Pretty simple air museum. A lot of great displays and history inside. My boys really enjoyed all the planes outside and the stories about them. Travis it's self has a lot of history and contributions over the years. You MUST have a military ID to get on base (or be with someone who does). read more

The place needs a lot of update. The airplanes are old and not very interesting. The outdoor collection of airplanes makes me feel like visiting a junkyard. I'm particularly disappointed with the B52 bomber. It's wrapped in so much tin foil tape/paint, or something like that, with the real engines removed, that it looks like a bad fake model. The volunteers are very nice people. I admire their effort to preserve the heritage of the USAF. But it's a hassle to enter AFB. You have to provide your ID for a background check, and fill a form, at the visitor center. After that you need to wait for volunteers to drive you to the museum. read more

This is a good, little aviation museum. I kind of expected more, being at the "Gateway to the Pacific" but it is not bad. It is a pain to get to, though. Plan an extra hour or more for dealing with getting a visitor pass to go on the base to get to the museum. Another of those times when I wish I still had a valid military ID. I can't seem to find a decent barber shop just off the base, and wish I could just pop over to the Exchange to get a haircut. Oh well. Cest la vie! read more

Well, first make sure you stop at the visitor center to get your gate pass.....they don't have that posted.....second their website isn't updated so when we went they told us they are only open on Thursdays and Saturdays. Bummer! Call ahead of time if you can to make sure things haven't changed:) read more

Wow, Wow, Wow.....this place is historic, amazing, one of the best that I have been to. The place is great and the people there are very helpful. The planes there place you in awe of what are men and women in the military do. Just can say enough. A place not to miss. Adults and kids can send hours and hours there. Best of all its FRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE read more

I have been here so many times that I have lost track, and the exhibits are great and the volunteers are generally great, but if you post an E-mail contact address, you are really obligated to reply to E-mails that ask for group tours, whether OK or not. Sorry. read more

Fighter aircraft are in bad shape. Its great to see them, but more preservation needs to be done. Many of the exhibits are in need of maintenance and preservation. I respect the need for security for the base but it is time consuming to enter. The museum interior is enjoyable. read more

The air museum on Travis AFB is free admission and has some awesome items. The museum runs the gambit from the beginning of the Air Force to modern day. read more

This place is pretty awesome, they are planning on separating off the base some time in the future, and to house all the artifacts, exhibits, at a new museum at the Nut Tree airport. Before that happens roll by here and see if you can get one of the docents to open up the B-29 they have there, awesome awesome awesome, don't wait!! read more

We saw multiple advertisements and wanted to check it out.......the only thing you have to have a MILITARY ID to enter! Would have been useful to know that prior to making the trip. Lame city. Stay away. read more

If I seem long-winded its because I am really excited about this place. I love how restricted it was to get here, remember to call ahead and check the hours, and get directions to the Personnel center before you go. We got lucky and we had a freakin' ball! Everything was so fun! Michael was a huge help, and Buck was a good ole' boy so it fun to talk to him. Love this place, spent fours there and could have spent another 4 there. The exhibits were great, as true to life as you can get, I love the history. If you got small kids with short attention spans, put them on a leash and they will love the planes outside! Go to the gift shop! Everything is cheap, model kits, shot glasses for every branch of the military and pick up a "Remove before flight" keychain, it is hilarious to watch it hang out of my ignition will I drive! Talk to Buck!! He is just the sweetest guy, a complete riot and he used to be a pilot in his day so you know there are great stories of youth there. The indoor museum is about the size of a small warehouse I'd say, and every exhibit not only has the history aspect to it but some personal tidbits from the people who were living it, gives it a different perspective and it FEELS more real. When you go outside there are a dozen or more Planes that are huge and you can go right up to them. You can touch them but be respectful, so I don't have to see someone's handy work when I go back. GO! GO! GOOO! Remember to bring your ID/DL and prepare to have a background check, they aren't looking for criminal history I don't think, just Terrorist suspects. If you have to drive onto base bring everything you would need as if you got pulled over, but if you get the chance ride with Michael! Can't say enough, filled up an entire memory card with Pictures and talkin' to the people in the Museum was a lifetime experience. read more