Museum of Science
Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Explore over 700 interactive exhibits, including the Theater of Electricity and Charles Hayden Planetarium, at Boston’s Museum of Science.
Planning your visit
Boston's Museum of Science traces its origins to 1830, making it one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the country, and it holds over 700 interactive exhibits across a building straddling the Charles River dam between Boston and Cambridge.
The Theater of Electricity is the signature: the world's largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator, built by Robert Van de Graaff at MIT, producing indoor lightning bolts several metres long in scheduled demonstrations that remain genuinely startling.
The Charles Hayden Planetarium, the Mugar Omni Theater, a butterfly garden, and extensive hands-on physics, engineering and natural science exhibits fill the rest.
It is emphatically a family museum and fills a full day with children, with separate ticketing for the planetarium and Omni films.
Allow four hours. Bookable options include skip-the-line private guided tours. Current availability is listed below.
Before you book
Where is Museum of Science?
Museum of Science is in Boston, United States. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Museum of Science?
Allow four hours. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Museum of Science in advance?
Skip-the-line entry is worth booking ahead here: the saving is the queue, which is exactly what sells out.
