Feed your curiosity for free by visiting one of these history, art, and military museums in Virginia.
Given its unique history and culture, it should come as no surprise that Virginia has a wide range of museums that spotlight topics such as history, art, and the military. Luckily for those looking to feed their curiosity for free, many of these museums offer free admission. Here’s your guide to having a free outing at your local museum.
History museums
Lynchburg Museum
Location: 901 Court St., Lynchburg
Learn how Lynchburg, which is sandwiched between the James River and Blue Ridge Mountains, made a name for itself by visiting the Lynchburg Museum. Exhibits explain how the city was named after Quaker abolitionist and businessman John Lynch, who started a ferry business in the area in 1757 before going on to become a major tobacco manufacturing hub.
The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and 12 to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Salem Museum
Location: 801 E. Main St., Salem
The Salem Museum is the place to go if you’re looking to learn about more than 300 years of Blue Ridge Mountains history. The exhibits touch on such topics as history, art, and sports. Notably, “Through Their Eyes: The Moments That Made Salem” looks back on the 16 major events that shaped Salem and the Roanoke Valley starting in 1671.
The museum is free, but $10 per adult and $5 per child guided tours are offered for those looking to make the most of their visit. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Botetourt County Museum of History & Culture
Location: 26 East Main St., Fincastle
Visit the Botetourt County Museum of History & Culture to learn how the county stretched all the way to the Mississippi River when it was first created by the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1769.
Visitors are welcome to stop by the museum for free Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.
Avoca Museum & Historical Society
Location: 1514 Main St., Altavista
Learn more about Altavista’s origins by visiting the Avoca Museum & Historical Society, which is in Avoca, a circa-1901 American Queen Anne-style house that serves as the town’s major architectural and cultural landmark. The museum also tells the stories of Col. Charles Lynch, a local Revolutionary War patriot, and James Dearing, a local Civil War brigadier general.
While the museum is free, it appreciates donations. It’s open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Robert Russa Moton Museum
Location: 900 Griffin Blvd., Farmville
Go to where the American student-led Civil Rights movement began by visiting the Robert Russa Moton Museum. The museum is in the former Robert Russa Moton High School, where 16-year-old Barbara Johns led a student strike that produced plaintiffs for the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court desegregation decision. Exhibits spotlight the school’s history and the court ruling.
The museum is open from 12 to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Blue Ridge Institute & Museum
Location: 20 Museum Dr., Ferrum
Learn about Appalachian folklife by visiting the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum at Ferrum College, which offers free admission.
“Full Throttle: Racing and Rodding in Southwest and Central Virginia” is a standout exhibit. It chronicles the region’s early 20th-century love affair with fast cars, including cars used to transport moonshine.
While the museum is temporarily closed for the reorganization of artifacts, visits can be made by appointment.
Manassas Museum
Location: 9101 Prince William St., Manassas
Whether you’re a Manassas resident or a tourist looking to learn more about the city, the Manassas Museum is worth a visit given its free admission. For example, look for the newly opened “Open for Business” exhibit, which chronicles businesses, such as restaurants and shops, that operated in the city during the first half of the 20th century. Check out the recreated barbershop
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from 12 to 5 p.m.
Art museums
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum & DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum
Location: 101 Visitor Center Dr., Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg offers two free museums, including the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, featuring whimsical folk art by amateur artisans, and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, featuring useful yet beautiful objects. The museums also display antiques and decorative art of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century American and British origins.
The museums are open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
Location: 400 Worrell Dr., Charlottesville
As the only museum outside Australia dedicated to Indigenous Australian art, the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection houses a unique range of items aimed at furthering cross-cultural dialogue.
Check out the current “Color Is Life: Women’s Work Today” exhibit, which celebrates the work of female artists across Australia.
Offering free admission, the collection is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.
Fralin Museum of Art
Location: 155 Rugby Rd., Charlottesville
The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia has a collection of roughly 14,000 objects featuring European and American paintings, photography, and African, Asian, Pre-Columbian, and Native American art.
Plan your visit on Aug. 29 or after to see the much-anticipated “What Was Built, What Was Born: Labor, Land, & the Body in 20th-Century American Art.” With the country’s 250th anniversary in mind, it considers what it means to build a nation.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays, and 12 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is always free.
Chrysler Museum of Art
Location: One Memorial Pl., Norfolk
Spend an entire afternoon wandering the 50 galleries that make up the Chrysler Museum of Art to see as many of the 30,000 objects that call the museum home as possible.
“Imperial Colors: Chinese Glass at the Chrysler Museum” is a standout exhibit, offering a glimpse into the world of Chinese glassmaking from 1750 to 1950. The exhibit runs through Sept. 13.
Offering free admission, the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Institute for Contemporary Art
Location: 601 W. Broad St., Richmond
Explore the art that defines our current world for free by visiting the Institute for Contemporary Art at the University of Virginia. The four galleries rotate pieces from artists from around the world. Currently on display, “Fertile Resistance: Kadist Collection-In-Residence” is a collection of film screenings that consider the ideas of memory, belonging, and resistance.
The institute is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Location: 200 N Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts offers a world-class gallery experience while still having a hometown feel to it. Its permanent collection consists of more than 50,000 works.
The museum’s current can’t-miss exhibit, “Promise and Peril: Recent Acquisitions in American Landscape Photography,” runs through Oct. 4. It looks at both the promise and peril depicted throughout the past 160 years by the photographic medium.
Offering free admission, the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.
Taubman Museum of Art
Location: 110 Salem Ave. SE., Roanoke
Known for its unique architecture, including its 77-foot glass atrium, designed by Randall Stout, the Taubman Museum of Art offers free admission thanks to support from AEP.
It has an extensive collection of 19th- and 20th-century works from regional, national, and international artists on display throughout its 10 galleries.
Check out its current exhibit, “75th Anniversary: New Visions for the Permanent Collection,” through Aug. 16. It highlights the fact that the museum’s current collection is always evolving, while looking back on the pieces that shaped its past.
The museum is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m.
Military museums
National Museum of The United States Army
Location: 1775 Liberty Dr., Fort Belvoir
The National Museum of the United States Army tells the stories of the soldiers who helped form and defend the country. Exhibits run the gamut, ranging from “Founding the Nation,” which looks at 1607 to 1835, to “Changing World,” which looks at 1990 to the present.
The free museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hampton Roads Naval Museum
Location: One Waterside Dr. Ste. 248, Norfolk
Learn about more than 235 years of U.S. Navy history in Hampton Roads by visiting the Hampton Roads Naval Museum. The free museum is only one of a handful of U.S. Navy-accredited museums.
It’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Location: 14390 Air and Space Museum Pky., Chantilly
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the place to go in Virginia for aircraft enthusiasts. The center features more than 3,000 objects, including 200 aircraft and spacecraft.
Learn about the rise and fall of the Luftwaffe in the “World War II German Aviation” exhibit, or check out the Discovery, the third space shuttle orbiter vehicle to fly in space, which was in service from 1981 to 2011.
Admission is free, as well as the guided tours offered by volunteer docents. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
