Are you looking for the best museums in Cleveland to visit?
Cleveland, Ohio has vibrant history and culture that is showcased through the city’s many museums. Whether you’re interested in history, art, music, or science, you’ll find a museum here to suit your tastes.
Here are the best museums in Cleveland that you need to check out.
The best big museums in Cleveland
Here are the bigger museums in Cleveland – you’ll need a couple hours to fully explore most of these!
1. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is one of the most popular museums in Cleveland. It celebrates the history of rock music, and includes exhibits with costumes, instruments, and other memorabilia from some of the biggest rock and roll legends of all time.
Before you go, check out these tips for visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Hours: Open daily, hours vary seasonally
Tickets: $35 for adults, $25 for children, $30 for Northeast Ohio residents, first responders, military, and college students, free for City of Cleveland residents
Website: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2. Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland is home to a world-class art museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, which is consistently ranked as one of the best in the United States.
The Cleveland Museum of Art houses an extremely diverse collection of more than 45,000 works from all around the world. It’s known for its collections of Asian and African art, as well as notable works by the likes of Picasso, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Rubens, Dalí, Matisse, Renoir, Monet, van Gogh, and more.
Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. (open until 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday), closed Monday
Tickets: Free admission (special exhibits may have a charge)
Website: Cleveland Museum of Art
3. Cleveland Museum of Natural History
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History was founded in 1920 for education and research in geology, paleontology, biology, and astronomy, among many other fields of science. Now CMNH is home to exhibits ranging from dinosaurs to evolution to animals of Ohio. There are lots of unique artifacts on display here, plus a planetarium and an outdoor habitat that’s home to native Ohio animals.
The museum underwent a massive renovation project from 2022-2024, and is basically a brand new museum now!
For more tips about visiting, check out this guide to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., closed Monday
Tickets: $28 for adults ($25 in advance), $21 for seniors, children, and veterans ($18 in advance), free admission on Saturdays and Sundays for residents of the City of Cleveland, East Cleveland, Brooklyn, Euclid, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, and Warrensville Heights
Website: Cleveland Museum of Natural History
4. Cleveland History Center (+ Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum)
The Cleveland History Center is a great museum to check out if you’re interested in the history of Northeast Ohio. The museum houses exhibits that tell the story of the region through items, artwork and artifacts across multiple buildings – including two former mansions. This is also where you can ride Grand Carousel from the former Euclid Beach Park.
The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum within the Cleveland History Center contains exhibits around the history of transportation, with 170 antique automobiles, 12 aircraft, and more on display.
Hours: Open Thursday from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Tickets: $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $12 for veterans, $10 for college students, $8 for children, free for active duty military
Website: Cleveland History Center
5. Great Lakes Science Center
The Great Lakes Science Center is a science museum and educational facility on the lakefront in Cleveland. Many of the exhibits document the features of the natural environment in the Great Lakes region of the United States. It’s also home to the NASA Glenn Visitor Center.
Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays), closed Monday, and also closed Sundays when there’s a Browns home game
Tickets: $19.95 for adults, $14.95 for children
Website: Great Lakes Science Center
RELATED: Top 20 Kid-Friendly Things to Do in Cleveland
6. Children’s Museum Cleveland
One of the best family-friendly museums in Cleveland is the Children’s Museum Cleveland. This museum promotes learning through play using innovative and interactive exhibits, making it a fun family outing.
Hours: Open Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Sunday from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; closed Thursday
Tickets: $15 for all
Website: Children’s Museum Cleveland
7. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
Finally, the Maltz Museum is a great Cleveland-area museum that is dedicated to building bridges of understanding between people of all faiths, races and cultures, with a focus on Jewish heritage and the history of the Jewish community in Northeast Ohio. It’s located in the suburb of Beachwood.
Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. (open until 9 p.m. on Wednesday); closed Monday
Tickets: $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, $5 for children
Website: Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
The best small museums in Cleveland
1. House from A Christmas Story
Fans of the classic holiday film A Christmas Story will be delighted to know that you can visit the Parker family home in Cleveland. Although the movie is set in a fictional small town in Indiana, Cleveland was one of the movie’s filming locations.
The house that was used for exterior shots of the Parker family home has now been transformed into a museum dedicated to this iconic Christmas film. Visits included a guided tour of the house (the interior looks exactly as it did in the movie), plus a visit to a small museum with props and photos from filming.
Hours: Open every day from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. (usually with extended hours around the holidays)
Tickets: $20 for everyone; under 5 free (digital tickets now required)
Website: A Christmas Story House
2. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland
Another great art museum in Cleveland is the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA). Originally founded in 1968, the museum is dedicated to showing the best contemporary artwork, with a variety of changing exhibitions and programs.
The museum usually has 1-3 exhibits on at a time.
Hours: Open Thursday and Friday from 1-8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., closed Monday through Wednesday
Tickets: Free admission for Ohio residents; $10 for out-of-state visitors
Website: Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland
3. Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick
For a more quirky and offbeat museum in Cleveland, you can’t miss the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick. This museum is dedicated to the history of witchcraft (Wicca) in America and beyond, as told through items collected by Raymond Buckland.
Visits usually include a guided tour through the exhibit
Hours: Open daily except Wednesdays. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. until 7 p.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m.
Tickets: $8 online in advance (highly recommended, as tickets are timed), or $10 at the door
Website: Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick
4. Museum of Illusions
You may have seen this museum chain in other cities, but Cleveland has its very own downtown! The museum uses lights, mirrors, and forced perspective to display 60+ different optical illusions, many of which are hands-on or immersive. Each display has a sign explaining how the illusion is working to trick your brain, too, so it’s educational along with being fun.
Definitely bring your camera here and plan to take lots of fun photos!
Hours: Open daily; hours vary
Tickets: $25 for a regular timed ticket; $29 for a flexible ticket
Webiste: MOI Cleveland
5. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Money Museum
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Money Museum is a great educational museum for all ages. Featuring interactive exhibits and hands-on components, visitors will have fun while learning everything about money at the same time. You have to see the “money tree!”
Hours: Open Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tickets: Free admission
Website: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Money Museum
6. International Women’s Air & Space Museum
A unique museum in Cleveland that is worth a visit is the International Women’s Air & Space Museum. The mission of the museum is to collect, preserve, and showcase the history and culture of women in all areas of aviation and aerospace.
The exhibits of this museum are spread out across inside of Burke Lakefront Airport.
Hours: Open every day from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Tickets: Free admission
Website: International Women’s Air & Space Museum
7. Dittrick Medical History Center
The Dittrick Medical History Center is part of Case Western Reserve University. The museum is dedicated to the study of the history of medicine through a collection of rare books, artifacts, and archives that are open to the public.
Hours: Open Fridays from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.
Tickets: Free admission
Website: Dittrick Medical History Center
8. Baseball Heritage Museum
Located at League Park (the former home of Cleveland baseball) in the city’s Hough neighborhood, this museum celebrates the history of diversity in baseball. Exhibits cover the Latin and Caribbean leagues, the Negro and Women’s leagues, and more that helped shape the sport of baseball.
Hours: Open Wednesday-Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; docent-led tours on the hour starting at 10 a.m.
Tickets: $10 per person; kids under 9 are free
Website: Baseball Heritage Museum
BONUS: USS Cod
I’m including the USS Cod Submarine Memorial here because while it’s not a “museum” in the usual sense, it’s still a very cool thing to see in Cleveland!
The USS Cod is a military submarine built in the 1940s. She served in WWII and remained in service until 1971. Today, the USS Cod is a National Historic Landmark permanently moored in Cleveland on Lake Erie. You can tour the submarine and learn about what it was like to live on a sub like this. The interior looks just as it did when the sub was in service.
Just note that you do have to climb up/down ladders to enter the sub, and that some of the passages inside are very narrow.
Hours: Open daily April-November from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; sometimes open during the winter depending on weather
Tickets: $15 for adults; $13 for seniors and veterans; $9 for kids; pay at the entrance gate
Website: USS Cod Submarine Memorial
Which Cleveland museum is YOUR favorite?
Amanda was born and raised in northeast Ohio, and has always been a fangirl of her home state. Now, she’s sharing her love of the Cleveland area, highlighting all the best things to do, see, and eat in the CLE. She’s been running Cleveland Traveler since January 2019.
Great list. The money museum also has some really nice outreach activities for schools, they do a great job with financial education for kids.