Looking to try the best museums around?
Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top museums in Charlotte, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the must-see spots for visitors and locals alike.
1. NASCAR Hall of Fame
Topping the list is the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Located at 400 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. in downtown Charlotte, it is the highest-rated museum in the city, boasting 4.5 stars out of 161 reviews on Yelp.
Visitors can expect a high-tech venue that includes artifacts, hands-on exhibits, a 278-person state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor, NASCAR Hall of Fame Gear Shop and NASCAR Productions-operated broadcast studio, according to its website. It has an attached parking garage on Brevard Street.
2. Levine Museum of the New South
Next up is uptown's Levine Museum of the New South, situated at 200 E. Seventh St. With 4.5 stars out of 85 reviews on Yelp, the museum has proven to be a local favorite.
Current exhibits include "Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers," an interpretation of post-Civil War Southern history featuring more than 1,000 artifacts, images, video clips, music and oral histories. Other exhibit descriptions can be found here.
3. Discovery Place Science
Discovery Place Science, located at 301 N. Tryon St. in Derita-Statesville, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the museum four stars out of 135 reviews.
The museum features hands-on exhibitions, live animal encounters and IMAX films. Current exhibits include "Think It Up," in which kids experiment and solve problems; and "Being Me," celebrating human biology through everything from anatomical specimens to virtual reality, per its website.
4. Carolinas Aviation Museum
Carolinas Aviation Museum, a museum at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, is another much-loved go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 45 Yelp reviews.
According to its website, the spot was founded in 1992 and is home to aircraft and artifacts from the advent of aviation, including the iconic award-winning “Miracle on the Hudson” exhibition featuring the famed passenger jet that crash-landed safely in New York’s Hudson River in 2009. Head over to 4672 1st Flight Drive to see for yourself.
5. The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture
Then there's The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture, which has earned four stars out of 29 reviews on Yelp.
The center offers early childhood and K-12 guided tours and workshops for independent and public schools and home-schoolers. A variety of exhibits on African-American history, art, culture and that of the African diaspora are also available. You can find the museum at 551 S. Tryon St.
