Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Kansas City


Twin venues headline this striking complex. There's a varied schedule of theater, opera, ballet, music and more.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kansas City attractions

1. College Basketball Experience

0.5 MILES

Really a gussied-up basketball hall of fame, this interactive (and entirely overstimulating) exhibition lets you try free throws or pretend you're an…

2. Union Station

0.61 MILES

Opened in 1914, KC's Union Station is a sublime example of the magnificent architecture that once was the hallmark of American train stations. Today it…

3. National WWI Museum

0.9 MILES

Enter this impressive modern museum on a glass walkway over a field of red poppies, the symbol of remembrance of WWI. Through detailed and engaging…

4. Arabia Steamboat Museum

1.17 MILES

In River Market, this museum displays 200 tons of salvaged 'treasure' from a riverboat that sank in 1856 (one of hundreds claimed by the Missouri River).

5. American Jazz Museum

1.36 MILES

Learn about different jazz styles, rhythms, instruments and musicians – including Kansas City native Charlie Parker – at this interactive museum, at the…

6. Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

1.37 MILES

This comprehensive museum covers the lesser-known history of African American teams, such as the KC Monarchs and New York Black Yankees, that flourished…

7. Kaw Point Park

1.96 MILES

A hidden-in-plain-sight park with an important history: Kaw Point is where the Kansas River flows into the Missouri River. Lewis and Clark stopped here in…

8. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

3.26 MILES

Near the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Country Club Plaza, this museum is small and edgy with rotating exhibitions. The cafe is excellent.