The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

I came for the Harry Potter experience and stayed for the rest of the museum. And I would say as an adult on my own, that took me about half a day. If I had kids, it would take significantly more, I think. The Harry Potter experience takes a solid hour or so to go through. You check in and get a wristband that you can tap throughout the experience to earn points for your chosen house. It's beautifully lit and designed, with several interactive bits and photo ops. I loved most the port key and the dueling wands! From HP, you can more or less make your way from the top of the museum to the bottom, via a large central stairwell featuring Foucault's Pendulum, proving the rotation of the earth on an axis. There's a kinetic energy area great for little kids, a sport zone where you can test your skills, a 3D printer in a tech studio, walk inside a giant heart (adults can totally fit!), play with electricity, stand on a map of Philadelphia, pretend to do a weather forecast, climb into a fighter jet, and see a humongous steam train up close. It's mostly aimed at kids, but I still enjoyed walking around and touching stuff. I even caught a fun theater show about liquid nitrogen. If you're an adult and interested in Harry Potter, you might want to just do that, but if you've never been to the Franklin Institute, it's definitely worth walking around the rest as well.

I expected that our group of six would enjoy our time at The Franklin Institute, but I can truly say that it exceeded our expectations. This is not your average science museum. I think the main difference and why it’s so delightful is because it offers lives shows and hands on exhibits. The lives shows are designed to keep even the smallest of children engaged, laughing, AND learning. The hands-on exhibits provide children with the ability to learn through visual displays and touch. As an adult, I was incredibly impressed to see how the exhibits help you visualize and understand concepts that you may think you already know. This museum isn’t cheap, so make sure to schedule the most from your visit by prioritizing the live shows and then exploring the hands-on exhibits on your own time.