Springfield, MA - the Springfield Museums complex is five museums arranged around a courtyard…read moreanchoring the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, with the history museum conveniently located across the street. One admission gets you into all five: 1. The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum 2. Springfield Science Museum 3. Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts 4. Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History 5. George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum (closed for renovations at this time) Dr. Seuss Museum is the newest addition and an absolute delight - colorful, immersive, and photo-ready. The first floor is pure chaotic kid energy, like a Dr. Seuss book come to life; the second floor is more grown up, featuring a recreation of Springfield native Theodor Geisel's (aka Dr. Seuss) studio and living room, plus exhibits on his life. My child refused to leave. Thankfully, the museum is equipped with benches and seats in every room, as it is incontrovertible law that children's play areas can never have too many resting places for parents. I eventually pried my child away and ushered him to the science & natural history museum, which was also a hit. Highlights included a snowboarding video game and a 360° photo capture that spits out a digital image you can email to yourself as a souvenir. There's also a dinosaur hall, African hall, planetarium, animal dioramas, small aquariums, and a nice gift shop. Again, kid did not want to leave. Grandpa is into history so toured the Museum of Springfield History on his own. Springfield was once a manufacturing powerhouse: automobiles, firearms, and home of the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company. Fittingly, the museum has an automobile gallery, the world's largest collection of Indian cycles and memorabilia, and the world's largest collection of Smith & Wesson guns among its 1,600+ firearms. Grandpa learned a lot about local history and the Connecticut River Valley. I only got a quick walk-through of the D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, and regret not having more time to linger over the intricate and absolutely exquisite "Book of Wonder"exhibit by Donna Castellanos. The Smith Art Museum, a Victorian-era single-collector museum, is currently closed for renovation, which was fine, as by that point we'd run out of time and energy anyway. Even the on-site restaurant, Blake House Café, was excellent, serving food from Smoked, a local BBQ joint. There was something for everyone in the family (kids, arts, history, and science) and it's good bang for your buck. The museums are compact enough to hit all five in one day if you keep moving, but you're better off slowing down and focusing on two or three.

This was a jewel museums and we did not complete them all. We did the science, the Seuss and the…read moreart elements and was bowled over quite honestly with the entire location. We purchase the family season ticket to return here and the attend at no cost the vast network of the NARM location at no further cost. Highly recommended and we can't wait to return!

very cute! when I went there was kids activities and big bubbles on which made the whole experience…read more10/10. Fun place!

This sculpture garden is right in the center of Springfield Museum plaza. There were a handful of…read morecopper/metallic sculptures of many famous Dr. Seuss characters. There's also a giant book sculpture that has some famous verses from Dr Seuss engraved in it. The garden has elegant walking pavement covered by trees. It leads to entrances of four museums around the plaza. There's also an outdoor tent for people to sit in front of the garden. Overall it's a nice garden for families and kids.

My first review somehow went under a different reviewer with same name…read more Trying again, a great NHS that covers the beginning of the weapons industry in Anerica. The displays cover eras and the conflicts during those times through the history of the weapons that were manufactured to be used by those involved. The displays are nicely done, informative and eye catching, especially the damaged weapons case (one was struck by lightning). The Rangers were helpful and willing to share thier knowledge of not just the Armory, but of the local events (fireworks) and the Dr. Seuss museum downtown. We are very appreciative.

Such a deep dive into the history of the making & development of the weapons that shaped the world…read moreof today by preserving the first Armory in America. Well done & maintained displays of different weapons from an early era. A great stop for weapon & history enthusiasts. The Ranger at information desk provided not just info about the Armory, but Springfield in general. We did not know about Dr. Seuss museum if not for him.

Great place to play Playground is free to public…read more Parking is limited Has shade coverage, picnic tables and benches

Don't know why this is listed as closed as it is NOT. Wonderful place to take the children, and the…read moreplayground is amazing AND free.

This is s fantastic museum for art lovers. It has art collections from different centuries covering…read morea wide geographical areas including French, Italian, Dutch, Medieval and more. The rooms are conveniently separated by centuries We were lucky to have seen the Van Gogh exhibit. Lots of his greatest creations were on display. There was also an activity room that had materials for guests to create their own piece of art.

One of five museums included in the Springfield museums. $25 admission and you can go in to all…read morefive museums. Grand entrance gave me a chill. The collection was very powerful and spoke volume. They had Van Gogh interactive experience when we visited. It was really cool to see the paintings come alive and immerse in the colors.

If you ever happen to find yourself in South Hadley any time between May and October, and the idea…read moreof wandering amongst scrimshaw trinkets, ruby glass, Americana of uncertain provenance, and assorted mineralia sounds appealing to you, make your way posthaste to this veritable cabinet of curiosities. Assembled in a deconsecrated church literally uprooted and brought to South Hadley during the displacement of five towns caused by the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir, this museum collection is amongst the quirkiest places Western Massachusetts, a distillation of the local ethos circa 1870. Did I mention that admission is free?

Spend an hour here and you'll feel like you've discovered something (rather than having it all…read morehanded to you in one church-shaped package by Mr. Skinner). Hunting around this museum is an adventure unto itself. Every nook or cranny has something worth looking at. The staff is super-nice, although they aren't going to know a lot more about every object than is written on the ID cards -- and most items don't have cards! It can get pretty hot on a sunny day without a/c in the building, so beware of that. I love oddball little museums, and this fits the profile perfectly. One guy who really liked collecting crap donated said crap, and here it is! Enjoy!

A beautiful hidden gem right in the center of the city!…read more from History, cultural events, art exhibits, music recital, house tours, special costumed tours, Holiday events, Master Gardens and even really cool oddities like the Frog Circus!! Wistariahurst has it all!! Come and visit a gem in your own backyard!!

A gem! Beautiful historic home with guided tours filled with great background on the Skinner…read morefamily, the history of Holyoke industry and interior design, plus a special section on the lives and duties of household staff. Admission $7 for adults, $5 seniors. The adjoining garden and gift shop / museum (free) are also lovely.

Had one of the best tours I've ever been given. The people running the house are so knowledgeable…read moreand such hard workers at keeping the place running. I would definitely recommend it if you are visiting! Some of the friendliest people I've met on this trip.

Excellent collection of Victorian clothing and earlier furniture. A pleasantly delivered tour was…read moregiven to me because I only had 15 minutes. I could easily spent five times that amount hearing about the history from the highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic docents.

As a WNBA fan, and lifelong basketball fan, I was blown away by the level of respect the Hall of…read moreFame gives to women athletes. Coming in, I was expecting for the building to focus on predominantly male athletes and get some tidbits of the women's game here and there. Because that's usually how it goes. Instead, I got a pretty large selection of content. In the historical section, which I was most interested in, there were so many artifacts from the women's teams, I could have spent hours there alone. The games and videos and promotional material all highlighted women beyond tokenism too. In most cases, for every highlight of a man, there was a highlight of a woman. Even the little things like the disposable inserts of the frames they were selling at the gift shop- had several women incorporated. And the gift shop wasn't segregated with a WNBA corner like every other basketball store I've ever been in, it was dispersed throughout the store. There was less W merch, but there was still a more meaningful selection than usual. I'd love to see an exhibition for a female player soon the way they have an exhibition for Steph rn. And there was great disability representation. The building itself is accessible with an elevator, spacious aisles, captions on all videos, large bathrooms with the more than one accessible stall. The museum is so impressively interactive, too. I would come back again and again. There are two main floors of content and a third bottom floor that is a basketball court. As a slow museum reader it took me 3 hours to get through. There is a Subway and a nicer tavern restaurant right in the building on either entrance. There is a Pizzeria UNO's in the same plaza as well.

I am a huge NBA fan, so when I arrived to find it located within a strip mall, I was a bit…read moredisappointed. The venue itself was much smaller than I anticipated too. There are basically three floors offering different exhibits/experiences but nothing crazy. The third floor had some nba hand/height comparisons, but honestly you could do some of this at the nba store in nyc. I enjoyed the Kobe exhibit and some of the historical items, but was also confused that they had stuff for people who weren't in the HoF yet (Stephen Curry had an entire exhibit). Also, I expected more than just a wall of names for the actual HoF "hall" area. Overall, cool to look around the exhibit and shoot/dunk hoops at the end, but underwhelming overall. It just seemed like some rich guy's collection of basketball memorabilia. Only worth checking out if you're in the area, but I wouldn't center a trip around it.