These 3 Triangle museums are among the best in the country, USA Today says. Here’s why

The Smithsonian. The Met. The Guggenheim. These institutions are among the most well-known in the U.S., revered worldwide for their exhibits and architecture.

But three of the best museums in the country, USA Today says, are in Raleigh.

The institutions were finalists in the publication’s 10Best rankings for 2025. Museums included in the Best Free Museum and Best Children’s Museum lists were nominated by an expert panel and voted on by readers.

Here’s what to know about the museums.

Two Raleigh museums among 10 best free museums in US

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina Museum of Art are the third- and eighth-best free museums in the country, respectively.

They were the only two institutions in North Carolina that made USA Today’s list, both ranking higher than the only Smithsonian Institution museum that made the top 10:

1. National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center (Columbus, Georgia)
2. Saint Louis Science Center (St. Louis, Missouri)
3. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, North Carolina)
4. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, Arkansas)
5. California Science Center (Los Angeles, California)
6. The Blue Ridge Music Center (Galax, Virginia)
7. Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, Maryland)
8. North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, North Carolina)
9. Wagner Free Institute of Science (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
10. National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C.)

Occupying two buildings in downtown Raleigh, the natural sciences museum houses exhibits on ecosystems across North Carolina along with creatures such as snakes, bugs and dinosaurs. For example, one of its newest exhibits, Dueling Dinosaurs, features fossils of a Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex, which were buried alongside each other and discovered in present-day Montana, The News & Observer previously reported.

There are also interactive exhibits, such as the live butterfly room.

The North Carolina Museum of Art, located at 2110 Blue Ridge Road, includes thousands of paintings, sculptures, artifacts and other pieces created since 4,000 BCE. Collections focus on African, American, European, Ancient American and Judaic art.

Visitors can browse the East Building, designed by Edward Durell Stone and Associates of New York and Holloway-Reeves Architects of North Carolina, and the West Building, which was reorganized and rearranged in 2022 to “broaden the stories art tells by the way they pair or juxtapose different pieces and by providing more historical and cultural context,” The N&O wrote at the time.

Outside, the museum property includes a park with an amphitheater, gardens, miles of recreational trails, a pond and picnic area, and temporary and permanent art installations.

Raleigh museum one of the country’s best for kids

1. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, Indiana)
2. Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
3. The Strong National Museum of Play (Rochester, New York)
4. Mississippi Children’s Museum (Jackson, Mississippi)
5. The Children’s Museum (Cincinnati, Ohio)
6. Marbles Kids Museum (Raleigh, North Carolina)
7. Exploratorium (San Francisco, California)
8. Children of Gettysburg 1863 (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
9. Please Touch Museum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
10. Glazer Children’s Museum (Tampa, Florida)

The museum includes an IMAX theater and two floors of interactive exhibits on topics including renewable energy, electricity, animals, numbers and financial literacy. An outdoor area filled with shade structures, picnic tables, climbing structures and native plants provides another place for visitors to play.

USA Today noted that the museum “offers tons of fun by way of exhibits like imagiFAB, where guests can construct and create to their heart’s delight, and EcoSphere, which is perfect for teaching the importance of wind, solar, and hydropower.”

Regular museum admission for children, adults and seniors is $9. The museum is at 201 E. Hargett St., across from Moore Square.

This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 10:45 AM.

Renee Umsted

The News & Observer

919-419-6579

Renee Umsted is The News & Observer’s Affordability Reporter. She writes about what it costs to live in the Triangle, with a consumer-focused approach. She has a degree in journalism from TCU.