This museum is a hidden gem. They're constantly bringing new and exciting exhibitions to our…read morecommunity, specifically those that are geared towards our elementary aged kiddos, which I sincerely appreciate. Most recently we visited Toytopia. This exhibit offers the chance to explore a hands-on history of toys from the past and into the future. My kids loved the oversized robotic claw, reminiscent of an amped up arcade machine. It was a blast trying to get the individually articulating fingers to close around the ball in order to lift it into the basket for the big reward. We also enjoyed the oversized battleship game. So fun to play and we spent 20-30 min there. Mr Potato Head was old school fun too. We made a competition out of it to see who could make the wackiest example. I think I won... or maybe my kids let me win. But the favorite had to be the mini arcade they had setup with some of the best old school cabinets. Donkey Kong, DK Jr., Dig Dug and so many more are all here as part of the exhibit and you could spend a long time here without realizing it! Oh and there's even a Zoltar fortune teller too! When you're done at toytopia you can go learn the history of Wilbur D May on the other side of the museum. I personally love exploring the artifacts and treasures he collected from his travels, especially the hunting and fishing trophies! All in all, a great little place to spend a

Wonderful experience for my family. Roaming around the gardens and taking a tour of the museum…read more Plenty of places for a picnic on the grounds. Just understand that May was a "big game" hunter when that was not frowned upon as it is now. Many of his "trophies" are found throughout the museum.

There is a little Cafe inside, The Biggest Little Cafe. It is open to the public and the food,…read moreespecially the homemade soups are very delicious. They have breakfast and lunch, drinks, snacks, etc.

We wanted to see downtown Reno before heading out. I saw this on Apple Maps and thought there would…read morebe more than a whale statue and a bunch of skateboarders. There is a reasonable view of the Truckee River but if you're looking for anything to do there or see you'll want to head elsewhere.

My son really likes here, so I became a member of this museum. I can bring him back anytime. He…read moreespecially loves Truckee Connects area, he spend time for an hour easily. Also, we can bring a lunch and eat there, because there has microwave. It's so helpful. The staff are so kind. If you have some questions, you can ask them, and they'll teach you kindly!

This is a really well done children's museum. The water exhibit featuring sensory play and…read moreeducation about the water cycle of the Sierra Nevadas, lakes, river and system of dams was awesome. My boys loved the space exhibit and the builder workshop, the project that day was building flower boxes out of wood. Kids could use real tools and fill them with soil to take home.

I have never been to burning man, and really have no interest, but this little celebration gave me…read morea taste of the playa life. Bonanza Casino put on a art car and mutant vehicle show. Each vehicle had one thing in common, huge massive speakers. There was a vehicle that looked like a swing line stapler. A car that looked like a sardine can with the top peeled. A mobile stripper pole car and several other just odd looking cars. I guess a big part of burning man is the art and music. The music was cool but way loud. Multiply that by about 700 to 1000 and you get slot of weird vehicles playing loud music and some shooting flames. Maybe one day I will go , it was cool.

I love this place. Been going since I was a kid. Its a fun different date night. Spend an evening…read morelearning about our skies.

Had a great time at the Fleischmann Planetarium. The planetarium part itself was not necessarily…read morethe biggest or most comfortable one we've been in, but the show we saw, narrated by Diego Luna, about the elemental makeup of the universe, was eye-opening. The real highlight of the place, though, was the museum-quality sci-fi movie and TV show displays they had throughout the building. It was like geek heaven. You could tell it was assembled with a combination of passion for the subject matter and a desire to share as much as possible with visitors. There were tons of obscure and iconic Star Wars-and Star Trek-related items in display cabinets everywhere, as well as a lot of interesting information about science-related human accomplishments through time. It's too much to describe . . . I highly recommend a visit if you're at all interested in anything sci-fi-related. It was fascinating for me; I had a really good time taking in as much as I could learning about meteorites, learning about the T.A.R.D.I.S. from Dr. Who, posing next to the R2-D2, etc. etc. It was great. Parking in the West Stadium Parking Complex was super easy; you just park on the third floor (which is the garage-entrance floor off the main street) and the Planetarium is practically connected right to the garage via a very small walkway/bridge right off the third floor.

I saw a flyer for an art town festival at the discovery museum and I had to check it out with my…read morekids because 1, I had to get a bite of history and check out the 1877 Victorian/Itanliante mansion and 2, the kids would have 8 stations of art enrichment. This event turned out to be a huge hit with the whole family as the workers also invited me and my husband for some art. Some art included shaping clay, art with pastels, assembling paper birds, making stick bumble bees, paper butterflies and more. They even gave out a free book per child and had free face paint. It was priceless for the kids to have engaged in all of the art projects. Only one knows the endless influence it will have on their future selves. Upon arrival, I immediately felt the positivity of the environment-all the workers were happy to be there and happy to teach. I love that they kept track of which schools kids were coming in from so that they can have a better picture and make arrangements for funding. They hold kids' birthday parties(you can bring in food and decorations), special events, legit tea parties (tea and food included), and weddings. I've seen pictures of all their events on their website and they looked amazing. I'm definitely going to do tea and throw a birthday party here one day, especially knowing that the funds will go towards maintaining the beautiful property. Check out their website for events, details for rentals, tours, lessons, camps and volunteer opportunities (they're always looking for art people to teach). Thanks Lake Mansion for having a passionate artistic heart and Reno for hosting art town for the betterment and enjoyment of the whole community.

This was such a fun event. I wish I had taken more pictures. Everybody was dressed up and looked…read moreamazing! The mansion was beyond beautiful and each room featured a cocktail from four different bars. They were all delicious and perfectly crafted, it was so hard to choose a favorite. Our night ended with a little crafting where we got to decorate our own candle holder. I hope there's another event like this one. 10/10!!

Really loved this museum. Great variety of art across different mediums and artists, and the staff…read morewas super friendly and helpful throughout. The museum itself is manageable in size, I got through the whole thing in a couple of hours which I actually appreciated. Not overwhelming, just right. My only gripe was that there were a lot of loud people while I was there. Conversations echoing through the rooms made it hard to really concentrate and take everything in. Wish the etiquette had been better enforced but that's more of a crowd thing than a museum thing. The gift shops though? Loved them. There's a bookstore, a library, a gift shop, and a cute little shop in the lobby and I could have spent way too much time and money in all of them. Would absolutely go back next time I'm in Reno.

I love First Thursdays with the girls! I love how they have different breweries around the city…read morehost the beer choices! Tonite it was Parlay 6 and Battle Born! Sometimes, I wish they change the music up with other local artists in our town. It's always great seeing friends there especially if you haven't seen them in along time! Tonite I got my friends to go look at some of the art exhibits and we went to my favorite one! See photos!

This event in the Reno area is THE BOMB! I have lives her for 5 summers and last year 2025 was the…read morefirst year that I attended. I was kicking myself and so mad that I had not taken to tiem to come and see this awesome event in the 3 years prior! Yes, its an early wake up but man-oh-man what an awesome sight to see 75-100 hot air balloons glowing at 5:30 am in the dark morning sky. I was so enamored with this, I joined the crew for one of the balloons and now i get to come every year and help set up and launch/recover the balloon. Seeing this first hand and being up close is so fun. 2026 was a little dicey as we struggled with some wind in the forecast. The entire week showed that Saturday was looking pretty grim for flying but Sunday would be beautiful. Well, as a surprise to all, we lucked out on Saturday as the winds were within the range for safe flying. However, Sunday came and so did the winds. At 3:30 am winds were out of the west at 17mph way to fast for the max of 7 mph to fly. In fact they could not even inflate for morning glow. It was fun either way and as a Navy Veteran, I was asked to hold the flag for the singing of the National Anthem. What an honor.

If you've never been to the The Great Reno Balloon Race, put it on your list. Watching the balloons…read morelight up before sunrise and slowly fill the sky is something you have to experience in person. The event is well organized, family friendly, and has a great community atmosphere. My biggest tip is to arrive early, dress in layers, and bring a chair or blanket. It gets chilly before the sun comes up, but it's absolutely worth it. Whether you're a local or visiting Reno, this is one of those events that reminds you how special our community is. I'll definitely be back.

You cant enter City Hall from the street. Park in the garage, take the elevator to the second…read morefloor enter and then take another elevator to the first floor to find the Metro Gallery. This exhibit, "Fat Chance". is a fun show exploring Gambling motifs and themes with ceramic and textiles by Joan Azzizabaiaga. It is up until April 14.

Did you know that there is an Art Gallery on the first floor of Reno City Hall?…read more Well, you do now and it is free and open to the public. They have regular exhibits of works by local artists and really makes for an impressive welcome to residents and visitors who come to City Hall. It is located in the large lobby just outside of the City Council Chamber. The space is light and open and is a great venue for a wide variety of artwork. They have regular exhibitions that are on display throughout the year. The City of Reno website has information on current and past exhibits and dates and times for the Artist Receptions. The growing public art venues in Reno are one of the reasons this is a great place to live.

Adj: "Local" destination of the biggest little city in Nevada…read more As a non gambler, visiting Reno is an occasional thing. I understand that some people who like to gamble tend to come here a lot from Sacramento. But Reno is a beautiful not too far from home destination and so we visit once in a few years. The last time was a good 5-6 years ago. The kiddos don't really remember having been here at all, haha. We stayed here only one night at the J Resort, more on that in a separate review of that casino hotel. But we did come up from Carson City and the drive is quite pleasant and pretty. As we get into town we see the "famous" casinos to include Peppermill, Circus circus, and Atlantis. We don't usually like staying at a casino due to sensitivity to smoke, but they are abundant and they do offer other than gaming, such as buffet and other dining as well as some of them have interesting and unique architecture. On this trip we did some locals type of things to include having a picnic at a community/regional park that's popular with locals, visiting a Sensory Garden and a local rose garden, all of which were worthwhile and enjoyable for us. Overall, it was a nice little trip to Reno. It looks a LOT better than 5+ years ago when everything was very "dead" and we saw a lot of businesses closed up especially towards city center. Looks like the city put in quite a bit of efforts towards revitalization and attracting business investments into the city. We plan to be back.

My last time here was over 5 years ago, and so many things have changed! We stayed near downtown…read morelast time at Legacy Vacation Resort just south of the (Truckee) Riverwalk. This time we stayed at J Resort (formerly the Sands Regency Casino Hotel). 6 years ago was during Covid, and we came in August, so while it was still summertime, it was still very much 2020 and downtown Reno looked pretty depressing. Actually, it looked pretty lifeless all over! I'm glad Reno seems to have made a come-back! From my pics you can see revitalization, to include big projects like Sands Regency Casino Hotel turning into J Resort the inside of which was quite impressively done up. We enjoyed our 1-night stay there minus the smoky casino area. Not really family friendly, but our room was nice, more about that over on J Resort's page. Anyhow, glad to see many businesses remain, reopened, or have newly opened up in Reno! Besides the gambling side of which I'm not really one to gamble, Reno actually has a lot to offer because of all the nature around, especially along the Truckee River (that runs through it). All in all, our family enjoyed our 36 hour or so stay in Reno. Hope it'll continue to thrive.