10 Austin Museums – Art, Interactive, Children’s Museums & more!
Austin Museums | Image Credit: Bullock Texas State History Museum Facebook Page
Austin museums are among the city’s most popular attractions. The many museums in Austin, Texas are a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. Furthermore, there is always a museum for everyone — whether you enjoy contemporary or traditional arts, science or history, or maybe you want to simply experience something interactive and unique, Austin, TX museums have it all!
With so many great museums to choose from in ATX, it is often difficult to decide which museums to go visit. Our comprehensive guide can help you narrow down your choices. We have included details about the museum exhibits, museum hours, tickets, discounts, and more!
Check out this list of the 10 Best Museums in Austin!
Deal Alert: Save Big on Austin area Museums and other Attractions with POGO Pass
The Standard South Central Texas Pogo Pass (San Antonio/Austin/Waco) provides admissions to 35 different entertainment venues in the San Antonio, Austin and Waco area.
Perfect for families, the Pogo Pass gives both adult and child pass-holders 50+ visits to some of the best things to do that San Antonio, Austin and Waco have to offer. The Pogo Pass nearly pays for itself with a visit to one or two venues alone!!!
Pass Features the following Attractions in Austin
- One visit to Wonder World Park
- One visit to Typhoon Texas Waterpark
- One Visit to the Thinkery Museum
- Two Texas Stars hockey games
- Two Austin Spurs basketball games
- One visit per month to Austin’s Park
- One visit to the Austin Aquarium
- Two visits to Quest ATX Wakeboard Park
- One visit to Pioneer Farms
- One visit to Monster Mini Golf
- One Visit per Quarter to D-Bat
- One Visit to Mt. Playmore
- Two visits to Rock Sports Arena
- Two visits to Pump It Up
- One visit to Neill-Cochran House Museum
Check out the POGO pass and SAVE Big on Austin Area Museums and other Attractions!
Austin Museums – Local, International, Traditional & Contemporary Art Museums
Blanton Museum of Art
Image Credit: The Blanton Museum of Art Facebook Page
If you are looking for the best art museums in Austin Texas, then the Blanton Museum should be included in your must-see museums in Austin TX. European paintings, prints, drawings, modern and contemporary American and Latin American art, and Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin are among Blanton’s permanent collections of almost 21,000 pieces.
Timings: Wednesday – Thursday: 10 am – 5 pm | Sunday: 1 pm – 5 pm | Monday – Tuesday: Closed
Located At: The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Austin, TX 78712
How Much: Adult: $12 | Seniors: $10 | Youth: $5 | Military, Teachers, and Children 12 and under: Free
Mexic-Arte Museum
Image Credit: Mexic-Arte Museum Website
Artists Sylvia Orozco, Sam Coronado, and Pio Pulido founded Mexic-Arte Museum in the Arts Warehouse in downtown Austin in 1984 to share Mexican art and culture with Texas. For visitors of all ages, the museum is dedicated to enhancing the community via educational activities, exhibitions, and the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art and culture.
Timings: Monday – Thursday: 10 am – 6 pm | Friday – Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm | Sunday: 12 pm – 5 pm
Located At: 419 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701
How Much: Adult: $7 | Students, Military & Seniors: $4 | Children 12 and under: $1
Elisabet Ney Museum
Image Credit: Elisabet Ney Museum Facebook Page
There are plenty of free museums Austin offers its locals and tourists, and this is one of the favorite free museums in the city. The Elisabet Ney Museum is the former house and studio of Elisabet Ney, a controversial German artist who arrived in Austin in 1882. Through exhibitions and programs for the whole family, the museum proudly honors her art, history, and legacy.
Timings: Monday – Tuesday: Closed | Wednesday – Sunday: 12 pm – 5 pm
Located At: 304 East 44th Street, Austin, 78751
How Much: Free
Museum of the Weird
Image Credit: Museum of the Weird Facebook Page
Nothing beats the weird museums in Austin better than the Museum of the Weird! It houses an unusual collection of oddities and is a must-see attraction! The Creature, Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, and even a life-size King Kong are among the wax sculptures on display. Strange animals, monsters, mummies, mermaids, and more await you! But fear not, because everything is created and displayed in a family-friendly environment.
Timings: Monday – Sunday: 10 am – 7 pm
Located At: 412 East 6th St, Austin, TX 78701
How Much: $12
Science Museums in Austin
Austin Nature & Science Center
Dino Pit | Image Credit: Austin Nature & Science Center Facebook Page
Since 1960, the Austin Nature & Science Center has served visitors, instructors, and children of all ages with hands-on nature displays, education programs, and recreation activities that improve knowledge and appreciation of the natural world.
Timings: Monday – Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm | Sunday: 12 pm – 5 pm
Located At: 2389 Stratford Drive, Austin, TX 78746
How Much: Free
Austin Museums – History, Educational
Bullock Texas State History Museum
Image Credit: Bullock Texas State History Museum Facebook Page
The Bullock Museum is truly one of the best museums in Austin. It showcases exhibitions, films, symposiums, community events, field trips, and entertaining, family-centered programming that convey the richness of hundreds of objects, the museum’s culture, and pioneering ideas to visitors of all ages. The museum oversees the presentation of Texas artifacts from all over the world, forming partnerships with other museums and private lenders to help Austin residents and visitors in learning more about the city’s rich history.
Timings: Wednesday – Sunday: 10 am – 5 pm | Monday – Tuesday: Closed
Located At: 1800 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701
How Much: Adult: $13 | Students, Military & Seniors: $11 | Youth (4-17): $9
LBJ Presidential Library
Image Credit: Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum Facebook Page
The Library of Congress, which is located on a 30-acre site on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, houses 45 million pages of historical documents, 650,000 photos, and 5,000 hours of recordings from President Lyndon B. Johnson’s political career, including approximately 643 hours of his recorded telephone conversations. The museum’s core collection is made up of personal items owned, used, purchased, or worn by President and First Lady Johnson, all of which were contributed by President Johnson under the Presidential Libraries Act (1955).
Timings: Monday – Sunday: 9 am – 5 pm
Located At: 2313 Red River St., Austin, TX 78705
How Much: Adult: $13 | Seniors: $9 | Students & Youth (13-18): $4 | Children 12 and under: Free
Austin Museums – Interactive, Children’s Museums
Museum of Ice Cream
Museum of Ice Cream Austin Photos from Facebook Page
There is no other museum in the world where you can learn about ice cream while riding an animal cookie, surrounded by thousands of bananas, or swimming in a pool filled with millions of sprinkles. Prepare to be whisked away to a world where all of your wildest ice cream fantasies come true, only here at the Austin ice cream museum.
Timings: Monday & Thursday: 11:30 am – 6:30 pm | Tuesday – Wednesday: Closed | Friday: 11:30 am – 8 pm | Saturday: 10 am – 8 pm | Sunday: 10 am – 6:30 pm
Located At: 11506 Century Oaks Terrace, #128, Austin, TX 78758
How Much: General Weekday Admission: $29 | General Weekend Admission: $32 | Kids 2 and below: Free
The Contemporary Austin
Image Credit: The Contemporary Austin Facebook Page
Through exhibitions, commissions, education, and its collection, The Contemporary Austin highlights the essence of contemporary art. It is housed in two locations: the historic Jones Center on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin and Laguna Gloria, a fourteen-acre art-in-nature complex that includes the Driscoll Villa, the Betty, and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park, the Art School at Laguna Gloria, and the Moody Pavilions.
Timings: Jones Center — Wednesday: 12 pm – 9 pm; Thursday – Sunday: 12 pm – 6 pm | Laguna Gloria — Wednesday: 9 am – 3 pm; Thursday: 9 am – 9 pm; Friday – Sunday: 9 am – 3 pm
Located At: Jones Center, 700 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701 | Laguna Gloria, 3809 West 35th Street, Austin, Texas 78703
How Much: Adult: $10 | Students & Seniors: $10 | Military & Kids under 18: Free
Thinkery
Image Credit: Thinkery Facebook Page
Thinkery is one of the great kid museums in Austin. It is a place where Austin’s kids and their families may engage in inquiry-based, hands-on learning through play. Thinkery has 40,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor activities for kids and families to learn while having fun. Thinkery stimulates physical, emotional, and cognitive growth for young learners and fosters joyful curiosity for all ages through a range of hands-on, interactive exhibits and events. The interactive experiences in the museum are suitable and truly interesting for people of all ages.
Timings: Monday: Closed | Tuesday – Thursday: 9 am – 3 pm | Friday: 9 am – 5 pm | Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm | Sunday: 10 am – 3 pm
Located At: Thinkery at the Meredith Learning Lab, 1830 Simond Ave., Austin, TX 78723
How Much: General: $16 | Children aged 0-23 months: Free. Thinkery is a one of the attractions covered by the POGO Pass
Any other Austin Museums that we forgot to include in here? Let us know!
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