We’re all familiar with the big four museums around Rochester: Rochester Museum and Science Center, The Strong National Museum of Play, George Eastman Museum, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
Those are fabulous museums—incredible!—but now it’s time to explore some lesser-know, off-the-beaten-path, and odd-collection museums.
Conventional, just out of town:
- National Comedy Center + Lucy-Desi Museum
- Albright-Knox Art Gallery
- Explore & More Children’s Museum
- Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park
- Buffalo Museum of Science
- Museum of Science and Technology
- Museum of the Earth
- Sciencecenter
- The Buffalo History Museum
- Everson Museum of Art
- Ferguson Planetarium
- UB Anderson Gallery
- Arnot Art Museum
- Corning Museum of Glass
- Livingston Arts Center
- The Rockwell Museum
Living History Museums around Rochester
- Genesee Country Village & Museum
- Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes
- Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village
- Historic Fort Ontario
- Old Fort Niagara
- Newtown Battlefield
- Hill Cumorah Visitors Center
- Ward O’Hara Agricultural & Country Living Museum & Dr. Joseph F. Karpinski Sr. Educational Center
Less-known in the Rochester Area
Unconventional collection museums around Rochester
- Brain Museum at the University at Buffalo
- Lackawanna Steel Museum
- Jell-O Gallery
- Rochester Medical Museum & Archives
- The Peppermint Museum
- All Things Oz Museum
- It’s a Wonderful Life Museum
- Salt Museum
Transportation & Innovation museums around Rochester
- Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park
- Herschell Carrousel Factory
- Salamanca Rail Museum
- Buffalo Transportation Piece Arrow Museum
- Edgerton Model Railroad Room
- Sam Patch Erie Canal Boat Tours
- Sims’ Museum
- Arcade & Attica Railroad
- Medina Railroad Museum
- New York Museum of Transportation
- Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum
- Niagara Aerospace Museum
- Hornell Erie Depot Museum and Toy Soldier Museum
- Rochester Auto Museum
- National Warplane Museum
- Antique Wireless Museum
- Niagara Power Vista
- Glenn Curtiss Museum
- National Soaring Museum
- Erie Canal Museum
- Martisco Station Museum
- Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum
- Erie Canal Discovery Center
Historic Places
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House Complex
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff Estate
- Elbert Hubbard Roycroft Museum
- High Falls Center & Interpretive Museum
- Ganondagan Historic Site
- Clara Barton House
- Seward House & Museum
- Corning’s Gaffer District
- National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
- Letchworth Museums
- Millard Fillmore House
- Granger Homestead & Carriage Museum
- Holland Land Office Museum
- Livingston County Historical Society Museum
- Historic Palmyra
- Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Area
- Lewiston Historical Association
- Women’s Rights National Historic Park
- National Women’s Hall of Fame
- Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Museum
- Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum
- Skä•noñh – Great Law of Peace Center
- Emily L. Knapp Museum
- Fairport Historical Museum
- Hoffman Clock Museum
- Stickley Museum
- Military History Society of Rochester
- Webster Museum
- Stone-Tolan House
- Tinker Homestead and Farm Museum
- Harriet Tubman Home
- Seneca Iroquois Museum
- Witter Agriculture Museum
- Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
41 Quirky Roadside Attractions
Spend a day checking out these unique and unusual roadside attractions, like shoe trees, a skeleton army, and a metal dragon, within 2 hours of Rochester.
Rochester Railfans: Trains, Depots, Rail-Trails, Models, & Clubs
Rochester railfans are incredibly lucky that passionate preservationists before us saw the value in retaining structures we can still appreciate today.
40 Public Gardens Around Rochester
Enjoy a peaceful afternoon at one of these arboretums, labyrinths, estate gardens, or botanical gardens, all within a 2-hour drive of Rochester.
Street Art: Exploring Rochester’s Murals & Graffiti
The term street art means different things to different people. Here, we interpret street art to mean any outdoor, free, public wall art.
Where are your favorite museums around Rochester?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments. Your insight and experience is invaluable!