The 5 Best Museums to Visit in Tampa, FL

Heading to Tampa on your vacation? If you are a museum lover, you are in luck! Tampa is home to several great attractions, including fabulous museums, and all are wonderful ways to spend an afternoon. When you visit, check out these gems…

The Henry B. Plant Museum

The first of these is the Henry B. Plant Museum. This museum can be found in the 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel, which is a National Historic Landmark. It was built by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant, and was the most astonishing hotel of its day. He filled it with treasures from around the world and opulent furnishings, used Moorish architecture (which the area had never before seen) and designed a spectacular tropical garden to go with it. It has been authentically restored, and is located on the University of Tampa campus. The museum puts on various exhibitions throughout the year, and offers several different rooms for visitors to enter and explore. The admission is $10 for adults and $7 for children and the museum is open 12 months of the year, Tuesday through Sunday, and closed on major holidays.

Tampa Museum of Art

The Tampa Museum of Art is one of Tampa’s great attractions, and it is a wonderful art lover destination. It is new to the city, and is located right downtown (and about two minutes from the Henry B. Plant Museum). The museum’s exhibitions change throughout the year and their collection features Greek and Roman Antiquities, sculpture, paintings and photography. There is a café and museum store, and admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. Children under 6 are free. The museum is open seven days a week, but hours vary.

MOSI

Another must-see museum in Tampa is MOSI—or the Museum of Science and Industry. This is another of Tampa's fun family-oriented attractions. They feature an IMAX dome which shows regular movies and nature related flicks. MOSI houses the nation’s largest science center, a planetarium, a Science Works 3-D theater and a butterfly garden, along with dinosaurs, exhibitions designed to teach kids about the human body and Disasterville—a 10,000 square foot exhibition on hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.

Dali Museum

A very artsy stop on your trip should be the all new Salvador Dali Museum. This museum just opened (re-opened after a move and expansion) and is actually located in St. Petersburg, just a hop, skip and jump away from Tampa. The new Dali Museum has 20,000 square feet of gallery space, so that visitors can—for the first time--see all 96 of Dali’s oil paintings, plus a selection of his drawings, videos, photographs and Surreal Objects. The exhibits at the museum change regularly. The museum is open seven days a week, with varying hours and admission is $21 for adults and $7 for children.

Museum of Fine Arts

Additionally in St. Pete is their Museum of Fine Arts. The Museum of Fine Arts has the only comprehensive art collection on the Florida west coast that extends from antiquity to the present. There are many events and exhibitions at the gallery all through the year. Their permanent collection is made up of the European Art Collection, American Art Collection, Photography and Greek, Roman Antiquities, Pre-Columbian and Asian Art. They are open every day and admission is $17 for adults and $10 for children.

With all these museums, museum lovers simply cannot go wrong with a visit Tampa!