Phoenix, Arizona, is a great venue for museum hopping, especially if you’re constantly seeking to learn something new. The city is home to numerous museums of different types, but you’ll want to put the most interesting ones at the top of your list. Before your visit, make sure to have an advance booking for your hotel in Phoenix so you can settle in and get right to the museums when you arrive. Here’s a sample route to take for an exciting day of museum hopping in Phoenix.
Musical Instrument Museum
Musically inclined people will surely have a great time at the Musical Instrument Museum at 4725 East Mayo Boulevard. Here you’ll find special exhibitions and collections like the mechanical music gallery, the experience gallery, and the target gallery. The conservation lab is also a fascinating area to get a glimpse of how the museum maintains and preserves its collections.
If you’re fortunate, you may have the chance to see a concert in MIM’s 300-seat musical theater. General museum admission is $20 and free for children aged 3 and under. You can book your ticket in advance on the museum’s website.
Heard Museum
A 20-minute drive from the Musical Instrument Museum is the Heard Museum, located at 2301 North Central Avenue. The museum focuses on cultural collections from the Greater Southwest and modern art from North America. The Heard Museum is home to nearly 4,000 works of American Indian art from the 20th century.
If you plan to visit, get a peek at the collections on the museum’s website. The Heard Museum is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park
At 4619 East Washington Street, just 7 miles from the Heard Museum, is Pueblo Grande Museum & Archaeological Park. The site is also close to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Here, kids can learn how Native Americans lived by walking through the museum’s outdoor exhibits. You can spend around 30 to 45 minutes marveling at the historical trail.
At times, the museum holds activities for kids like sand painting, carving petroglyphs, crafting mud bricks, and hiking to the top of the largest mound structure on the site. The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. The trail closes at 4:30 p.m.
Hall of Flame Fire Museum
Last on the list is the Hall of Flame Fire Museum in Papago Park, a 10-minute drive from Pueblo Grande Museum. Here, you can see how firefighting developed from the early years to today. The Hall of Flame Fire Museum documents the early days of firefighting, starting with a 1924 Type 12 American La France fire engine from Wisconsin.
To honor volunteers and career firefighters, the museum opened a National Firefighting Hall of Heroes in 1998. It recognizes firefighters’ acts of valor and those who died on the line of duty.
Museums are interesting places to explore and include on your tour itinerary. You may experience information overload at times, but taking the time to roam around these museums will give you an interesting introduction to Phoenix.
