Children's Museum

Connecticut


Founded in 1927 and relocated here in 1958, this not-for-profit museum aims to educate kids about science and nature in a fun, hands-on way. It features the museum itself, a planetarium, a wildlife sanctuary and Conny the Sperm Whale, a life-size replica of Connecticut's state animal. Behind-the-scenes tours for future veterinarians aged 10-plus are available with advance planning.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Connecticut attractions

1. Elizabeth Park Rose Gardens

1.33 MILES

Known for its collection of 15,000 rose bushes, the 102-acre Elizabeth Park was donated to the city by a wealthy industrialist, who asked that it be named…

2. Mark Twain House & Museum

1.9 MILES

For 17 years, encompassing the most productive period of his life, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910) and his family lived in this striking orange-and…

3. Harriet Beecher-Stowe Center

1.92 MILES

Hartford was home to Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the antislavery book Uncle Tom's Cabin. Upon meeting Stowe, Abraham Lincoln reputedly said, 'So this…

4. State Capitol

2.79 MILES

Built of New England granite and white marble and topped by an ostentatious gold-leaf dome, the Gothic palace that is Connecticut’s State Capitol (1879)…

5. Museum of Connecticut History

2.79 MILES

This museum, housed in the Connecticut State Library on Capitol Hill and renowned for its impressive genealogy library, packs a punch for US history buffs…

6. Bushnell Park Carousel

2.93 MILES

This vintage 1914 merry-go-round designed by Stein and Goldstein, in Bushnell Park, continues to delight young and old.

7. Bushnell Park

2.96 MILES

The Capitol overlooks the 37-acre Bushnell Park, the first public park in the USA built with taxpayers' money. It was designed by Jacob Weidenmann and…

8. Center Church

3.21 MILES

Established by the Reverend Thomas Hooker when he came to Hartford from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1632, this church still holds services each Sunday…