We arrived right as the museum was opening and parked in the museum lot…read more The museum is divided up into different floors. Highlights from the kids: 2 story climbing area by entrance Garage area with the slide and lots of interactive play Water room - not to bring a swimsuit They have a large area to eat with a small cafe. I recommend brining your own food since the menu is limited. My kids enjoyed the pizza. The great part about this museum is the museum lab is included next door. After lunch we took a trip over to check it out. Not all the area were open but they had one section with several activities setup like bracelet making, Legos, chess and printing. My kids enjoyed the area and it kept them entertained and engaged

This was our second time visiting the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. The first time was last…read moresummer when my son was just over a year old, and we came again recently that he is almost two. He enjoyed it so much more this time. This place is truly amazing. Every corner has something new and engaging for kids. Each activity easily keeps them entertained for 15-20 minutes before they excitedly move on to the next fun thing. It's so thoughtfully designed. The entire third floor dedicated to water play is fantastic. My son absolutely loved it. This time we came prepared with proper clothes for water play, which made the experience even better. We arrived a little before noon and he played almost nonstop until closing at 5 pm. The ultimate proof of a great day: the moment I put him in the car, he fell asleep within two minutes. We live in California, and honestly I have not seen anything this amazing for young children in the Bay Area. This museum is truly special, and we will definitely visit again whenever we are in Pittsburgh.

Overall my family enjoyed the museum. We had a reciprocal pass and would have been disappointed if…read morewe paid full price. We arrived to the museums shortly before opening and parked in the closest lot. We received a map that was helpful to navigate since the museum is on multiple floors. Our first stop was the submarine and we were able to get the next tour. It's not really a tour but a time to access the sub and read the signs. The kids didn't really spend much time reading and rather quickly walked through. They have multiple levels of exhibits but not as much as I would expect for the size. Some of the highlights included the sports area, train display, earthquake simulator. They have several shows but the timing only worked out so we could do one. You can pay for add ons for the laser show, movies and makers label but for a family that can add up quick. We planned to have lunch there since the food menu looked like it would please our family. When it came time to eat lunch we were surprised that only a partial menu was available. Fun to check out once but not something I would do again.

Im torn between 3 and 4 stars. Ive been to the Science Center on several occasions and we always…read morehave a good time. I was a bit disappointed in this visit as half the museum was closed! Sport works was completely gutted, the water area on the first floor was closed, the train area was closed and when we tried to go in the Fab Lab it was closed! Im not sure why the museum was even open. We did go see a show at the Buhl planetarium which was awesome (Beginners Guide) I highly recommend. We also went in the sports 360 exhibit which was fun. We did the body and mars area as well. Basically everything we could do that was actually open. We will probably wait a bit for our next visit to make sure other floors of the science center are open. Parking was $6 which is to be expected in the north shore. There isn't a coat rack but they have lockers available for 50 cents.

This place is incredible ... recently opened on Pittsburgh's North Side in the Chateau neighborhood…read more(very close to CCAC and Acrisure Stadium), this museum is housed in the Astrobotic Lab (next to Wendy's). Admission is $10 per person, and I thought well worth the price of admission. The highlight of our visit was seeing the Peregrine Lander, which is headed to the moon soon. In addition to seeing moon landers and rovers and robots, there are interactive exhibits that curious people of all ages will enjoy. The volunteer docents we met were extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the subject at hand, and I learned a lot in my short visit. I hope to come back again some time and see what new things they are working on next ... Cheers!! P.S. They also have a small gift shop near the admission desk.

The Moonshot Museum opened toward the end of 2022, and it is located at the headquarters of the…read morespace robotics company Astrobotics. Its mission is to inspire students to study science, technology, engineering, and the arts to prepare for careers in the space industry. Inside this museum, visitors can watch scientists construct lunar spacecraft. Currently, scientists are building the small-class Peregrine Lander, the first American lander since Apollo, and soon they will begin to build the medium-class Griffin Lander. This museum is open only on certain days, so be sure to visit their website for their current hours. My husband and I visited this museum on a Saturday. A free parking lot was located outside. Near the front entrance, a volunteer greeted us and processed our payment for admission. The price of admission is currently $10 for adults, $5 for children who are 3-17 years old, and free for children who are 2 years old and younger. After a couple of minutes, another volunteer guided the visitors to the Moonshot Theater. There, we watched a 10-minute video about scientists' work to explore the moon. Then, we watched a scientist working inside the Clean Room workshop. He was building the Peregrine Lander, which in the coming months will deliver payloads to the lunar orbit and surface. This lander has five engines, four legs, communication and navigation systems, and space for payloads, and it is powered by solar panels and a battery. I felt interested in how businesses and individuals may use this lander to send messages and other items to the moon. Outside this room, visitors may view models of a rocket, lander, and rovers and may interact with educational touchscreens. A small gift shop near the entrance sold merchandise such as shirts, magnets, mugs, and stickers. Please note that this museum is small. In total, my husband and I spent 25 minutes inside the museum. We do appreciate that the Pittsburgh-based Astrobotics company is conducting the first commercial missions to the moon.

I was really impressed by the museum of natural history and the art museum. The natural history…read moremuseum had cool fossils, beautify rocks/minerals, and breathtaking dioramas that really put you in the habitat of the creature they are portraying. The museum was relatively empty when I went except for multiple field trips of elementary school students. Admission for one adult to the museums was only $25 for the whole day, which felt like a steal. There were plenty of opportunities for children to enjoy the exhibits as well. The museum was clean, inviting, easy to navigate and had staff all over to help give directions.

Hey, I liked the first "Jurassic Park" and was raised on Saturday morning episodes of "Land of the…read moreLost". However, I've got to admit I'm just not into giant dinosaurs. Truth be told, the key reason I came here was that the $25 admission gave me concurrent access to the Carnegie Museum of Art since the two museums share the same building. If dinos are your thing, the scale was indeed impressive. Just be mindful they didn't move and were ironically crowded together in one section (Photo 7). There are rooms dedicated to wildlife dioramas from eons past, including the fabled La Brea Tar Pits (Photo 9), as well as more current ones representing North America, the polar caps, and the African savanna. I thought the most arresting exhibits were the rooms dedicated to minerals, gems, and jewelry. The Hillman Hall focuses on natural forms and dramatic shapes (Photo 8), while the Wertz Gallery presents more of the finished, polished results (Photo 10). It felt like Tiffany's without the breakfast or Holly Golightly. It was quite a family-friendly hodgepodge of attractions. It seemed I deal for a junior high school field trip, probably somewhat less for out-of-town curmudgeons like me. RELATED - Exploring Pittsburgh? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/ygLhKUK9LU

Awesome experience! We went last night and Savanna made our visit perfect and captured all the…read morelittle things helping make memories special

This was the moment I realized I overstayed my welcome in Pittsburgh, an indisputably great city…read more However, even indisputably great cities can have disappointing attractions. My first clue was that I discovered this museum was not specific to Pittsburgh. In fact, it's part of a privately owned museum chain, one of over sixty identical museums across over 25 countries. I came here because I had a free morning trying to avoid the wintry weather. I decided to make stops on the North Shore along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail. Clearly, not every stop is a landmark. This museum appears to be targeted to either young families with hyperactive kids and Instagram-addicted tourists. Falling somewhat into the latter category, I found the admission rather steep at $25 for what looked to be a relatively small scale space. I paid that same amount for both Carnegie Museums (Art and Natural History). This museum consisted of a series of interactive exhibits that create optical illusions. There were several spinning wheels, tilted spaces, distorted rooms, and mirrored illusions. My walkthrough lasted around fifteen minutes. Kids were anxious to go through the exhibits at breakneck speed, and my attention span was rarely stimulated by the exhibits. In visiting this museum, at least I won't be curious about the sixty other Museums of Illusions. RELATED - Exploring Pittsburgh? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/h0qh7n2Ol5

The Mattress Factory excels at site-specific imersive installation art, and their permanent…read morecollection has some origami art by some of the biggest names in installation art. The museum also hosts private events, a few of which I've attended, and they were outstanding. The staff are very welcoming. The museum gives back to the local community in a big way.

I've visited the Mattress Factory many times over the years, and it's always a place I enjoy…read morereturning to. I love the main building and how the exhibits are constantly changing, while some of the iconic spaces--like the mirror rooms--remain favorites that you can always count on seeing again. During this visit, I noticed the Dollhouse building has been completely redone. The new exhibit is much darker and heavier in tone, which honestly made me a little disappointed since the dollhouse installation used to be a staple of my visits and something I always looked forward to. The third building had construction going on on the first floor, but from what I could see it looks like it's going to be an incredible new display once it's finished. I was also a little sad to see the delayed recorder projector piece gone, but the new installation in its place was still interesting. One thing I still absolutely love is the water flowing down the handrails--it's such a small detail but always one of my favorite parts of the experience. Overall, it's still a place I enjoy visiting and seeing how the exhibits evolve over time.

Pittsburgh Hienz Museum…read more Whether you are new to the Pittsburgh area, or are returning there after years away, or you are a lifelong "Yinzer," I highly recommend that you visit the Heinz History Center. It covers the history of the Native Americans, to the French Indian War, through the Revolutionary War, and the role Pittsburgh played in the two World Wars! It also celebrates the sports accomplishments of its Professional and College Teams. Finally, a tremendous history of everyone's favorite, Heinz Tomato Ketchup!

I think this Museum deserves 5 stars. Its really a "History of Pittsburgh" Museum and they have…read moreexhibits ranging from contributions of Pittsburgh people and industries (such as to WWII, the Moon landing), cultural exhibits (Mr Rodgers Neighborhood), Pittsburgh history including a focus on the French and Indian Wars, and of course, an exhibit to the Heinz company itself. The exhibits are well titled and display, the trolly is really cool. There is a kids area and an interactive play area. I have visited this Museum twice, once before we had kids, and once after and it really is a different experience each time, something for people of all ages! Also kids are FREE! If you visit Pittsburgh and have time for only one Museum, this is it. My only complaint is the cafe is underwhelming, and the gift shop is prohibitively expensive. Finally, if you enjoyed the exhibit on the French and Indian wars be sure to check out the Fort Pitt Museum, which has lots of collections from the era!

OMBicycles!! How have I NEVER reviewed this glorious Pittsburgh institution? Literally one of the…read moremost fun places you can visit in the city. They've got so much stuff packed in making so much for the eye to see. Many, many treasures. This is the oldest bicycle shop/museum in the world!! All sorts of fun displays, over 3,500 bikes. Themed bikes, vintage, and hard-to-find bicycles. They've got movie props and so much more too. If you're visiting Pittsburgh, add this place to your stop. It's worth the time!

This could be a wonderful place but it is packed into such a small area that you cannot really see…read moreor appreciate everything that is there. We felt that the $15 fee per person was steep for this type of museum. Hopefully some day they can get a larger area where items can be displayed properly. Beware of the very steep stairs that you need to take to get to the second floor.

We have joined the Carnegie Museum because even living 200 miles away and not really near…read morereciprocating museums, it is good value. We often come to the Warhol. I find it comforting. It has been at least a year but I found many new things to see. I wasn't expecting that. I dreaded art class in school. Absolutely no talent. But I find this museum fascinating and informative. It is well worth your time....and membership.

As a Warhol art owner, I was a little dissapointed with the art on display. I guess I was expecting…read moreto see some major commercial pieces. But it was still a fun experience and only $12. One visit was plenty. Unless I went for a special event.

I think Pittsburgh is undervalued as a historic American city, and this small, two-floor museum…read moreattests to the city's critical role in the American Revolution and the French & Indian War. At least that's what I learned when I inadvertently visited during my wintry stroll around Point State Park. Yes, to be truthful, I was looking for a break from the obstinate weather, and the $8 admission was a small price to pay. I'm glad I did visit because the curators have taken an immersive approach in providing living history programs which included demonstrations from 18th-century "characters" in recreations of structures like a trader's cabin and soldiers' barracks. Housed in a recreated bastion of the original 1758 fort, the museum carries unique artifacts like a copper whiskey and a cannon. Definitely worth a stop-by. RELATED - Exploring Pittsburgh? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/VlkxJtR3sY

Cute little museum but no free parking, but there's a cheap lot nearby. The fort is right on the…read moreriver, which made sense for defense but now makes for a lovely view. Most people were using the park itself for leisure and dog walking. There's not much of the fort left, just a small structure, but the museum is still worth visiting. If you've recently visited the Heinz Museum (within a day), you get a discount here. Thanks to the ticket guy who let us know about this deal! It's got a nice exhibit on the history of the fort and information on the people on both sides of the French and Indian War. It probably takes an hour or so to do the museum, and there's a small gift shop. If the weather is nice, it's worth walking around the park. It's a nice historic site that's worth visiting in Pittsburgh.