There are many San Antonio museums to visit. Some will interest adults only, others will interest children, and still others have a little something for everyone. Below are just a few:
Alamo Museum
Plaza Wax Museum
San Antonio Children’s Museum
San Antonio Museum of Art
Witte Museum
Museo Americano Smithsonian features Hispanic culture and arts.
The Mexican Cultural Institute will teach you about the ties Texas has with Mexico.
The Blue Star Arts Complex features galleries of student artwork and photography.
The Buckhorn Saloon And Museum is a piece of Texas history, with stuffed animals, interesting exhibits, and an old-fashioned saloon.
The Institute Of Texan Cultures is a great place to visit if you truly want to learn about the history of Texas.
The Yturri-Edmunds Historic Site is of interest to those who enjoy learning about early Texas.
Go back to the days of frontier Texas at the Pioneer, Trail Drivers And Texas Ranger And Memorial Museum.
If you would like to go inside one of the homes in the King William Historic District, visit the Steves Homestead Museum.
The Fort Sam Houston Museum tells the story of the military in Texas, and especially in San Antonio, which is a huge military town.
The U.S. Army Medical Museum is filled with military medical equipment from the beginning of our country through Desert Storm.
If you are an aviation enthusiast, visit the Air Force History and Traditions Museum.
Does someone in your family love trains? If so, visit the Texas Transportation Museum.
If you are into the circus, visit the Hertzberg Circus Museum.
As you can see from the above list, the art museum is not the only one. Museums in San Antonio are abundant. Pick one or two to visit while you are here to make your trip educational for your children and teens.
San Antonio Children’s Museum
Be sure to visit the San Antonio Children’s Museum if you have children who are ten or under. They will absolutely love having their own miniature San Antonio to explore! Located at 305 E. Houston Street in downtown San Antonio, you can get to this child-friendly place by walking one block from the River Walk on Houston and Navarro Streets. Admission is $6.95 per person. Children under two get in free. Science, nature, history, math, geology, geography, archeology, farming, cooking, and technology all combine to make this one of the most exciting places your child will visit while in San Antonio.
So what do they have for your child to do?
Your child can ride a pretend trolley and do some banking with an ATM card. Then your child can take a walk along the River Walk and shop in a grocery store that has items from different cultures. They can go to a mini dentist’s office and learn how to make foods edible.
Your children will learn about nature, climb a treehouse, blow bubbles and other fabulously fun activities. A favorite is the Teddy Bear Hospital where stuffed bears go to get well.
This is definitely a hands-on museum for children. You won’t have to worry about watching your little ones closely. You will not have to say “don’t touch that” over and over. They can touch everything in this museum.
Your kids will explore a cave and take a flight. They will ride a bike and learn about their body’s movements while pedaling. They will create their own weather and build buildings.
They will learn the history of San Antonio and learn about San Antonio as it is today. Kids love the San Antonio Children’s Museum. By the way, you will enjoy this museum, too. Someone had a great idea!
San Antonio Museum Of Art
The San Antonio Museum Of Art is housed in the old Lone Star Brewery built back in 1884.
It is located at 200 W. Jones Avenue, and the phone number is (210) 978-8100.
The collection at this museum is from all around the world. You can see Greek, Egyptian, Roman, and Asian art, along with pre-Columbian, Latin American Folk art, and Spanish colonial works. These works include paintings and sculptures.
Of course, there are plenty of European and American paintings as well. The San Antonio Museum Of Art is a great place to teach your children about art appreciation. If you home school, this makes a great field trip for your family. You may want to study works of some of the painters prior to the trip and then the children will be familiar when they see the names of the artists. You can find out about some of the artists by visiting the museum’s web site. There is a link at the bottom of this article for your convenience.
Flash photography is not allowed inside this museum. You can take photos and video of the museum’s permanent collections without flash. No photos of visiting collections are allowed.
Pens are not allowed in the museum, but lead pencils are allowed if you must take notes or sketch something.
In the spring of 2009, there will be Riverwalk access to the museum as a part of San Antonio’s Riverwalk expansion.
Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for senior citizens who are 65 and over, $3 for children ages three through 11, and children under three are free. For your convenience, admission on Tuesdays is free for everyone.
The Witte Museum
The Witte Museum in San Antonio is a wonderful place for children and adults alike to learn. There are special exhibits just for kids to learn by touching. There are interactive exhibits all over the museum. The children especially enjoy the HEB Science Treehouse for kids. This is a new building that looks like a treehouse, filled with experiments and all sorts of hands-on things for kids to do on each of the four floors.
When we first moved to San Antonio, my children went to the Witte on field trips and loved it. My son, Matthew, got to see a mummy there and he was fascinated. Thus began his ten-year hobby and love of Egyptian history and mummy studies. So this museum really impacted him.
There are binoculars and telescopes on the top floor of the Treehouse for watching wildlife and for checking out the view of Brackenridge Park, which is near the museum.
The museum puts on special programs all throughout the year as well. It has overnight camps for children ages six through eleven frequently.
Several exhibits change frequently so there is always something new to see.
Admission to the Witte and the Treehouse together is $7 for adults, $6 for senior citizens 65 and older, and $5 for children ages four through eleven.
On Sundays, it is open from 12pm until 5pm. Hours from Monday through Saturday are 10am to 5pm except for Tuesdays when the museum stays open until 8 pm.
Plaza Wax Museum
If you like seeing famous people, you will probably enjoy the Plaza Wax Museum in downtown San Antonio. The Imax Theater used to be right next to it, but now it is located in River Center Mall. You can see movie stars and lots of other famous folks in realistic wax. The figures are amazing and so lifelike.
See more than 175 people–historic figures and your favorite celebrities, comedians, movie stars, fantasy characters, and presidents in detail, down to their clothes and shoes. Heights and weights of everyone are pretty accurate.
President George W. Bush and all those who came before him are part of the permanent display so your kids can experience all of the presidents of the United States of America, up close and personal! How is that for an educational field trip while on vacation?
It is so much fun to look at these beautifully sculpted Louis Tussaud figures. The museum even has a cool exhibit about parts of the life of Jesus Christ.
This is a great place for the whole family to visit. I always get a kick out of seeing wax figures. New ones get added throughout the year. In my opinion, the $16 admission price for adults is well worth it. Kids, ages 4 to 12, can get in for $7.
If you want a real bargain, you can get into both the Plaza Wax Museum and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not for the fabulous price of $19 for adults or $10 for children. Ripley’s is right next door.
Both are located at 301 Alamo Plaza at the corner of Alamo Plaza and Crockett Street.
Summer hours are 9am to 10pm everyday. Fall and winter hours vary with the day of the week. Additional information can be obtained for both places by calling (210)224-9299.