Prowl down the river in a riverboat, explore the Joslyn Fine art Museum which houses works of art from effectually the world, stroll through the Old Marketplace area, visit the zoo and aquarium, view unique exhibits at the Bemis Middle for Contemporary Arts, and acquire well-nigh Omaha'south history at the Durham Museum. The beautiful and romantic Lauritzen Gardens are not to exist missed and you can grab an outdoor operation hither during the warmer season. A visit to the Omaha Children's Museum and the OPPD Arboretum is i of the best things to practice in Omaha with younger kids.

We recommend that yous call the attractions and restaurants alee of your visit to confirm electric current opening times.

1. Joslyn Art Museum

Joslyn Art Museum

© Joslyn Art Museum

The Joslyn Art Museum has been delighting art-lovers since 1931. Over the years, the museum's collections have grown to include over 11,000 pieces of art and historic relics. In that location are pieces by artists from around the world, and they cover a vast array of time periods. Some of the most popular exhibits include fine art by Veronese, Claude Lorrain, Jules Breton, and Auguste Renoir.

The museum also displays 18th and 19th century American fine art, works from the 20th century, and exhibits featuring ancient art from around the world. This is just a sampling of all the fourth dimension periods you will travel through on your visit to the Joslyn Art Museum. Special exhibits are on display Tuesday through Lord's day, and so be certain to cheque those out.

2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, Nebraska, Phone: 402-342-3300

2.Old Market, Omaha, Nebraska

Old Market, Omaha, Nebraska

© Old Marketplace

The Old Market place surface area is the place to become when you want to find something for everyone in your group. This area has practically annihilation you could imagine, including clothing shops, bookstores, fine art galleries, and shops for furniture, jewelry, and much more. If yous enjoy spending time in museums, yous will be pleased to acquire that there are three different options, including a children'due south museum.

Should you want to accept a stroll around the expanse and learn about the history of Omaha at the same fourth dimension, you tin take a walking tour and find out everything there is to know. You might also want to take a trip to the Orpheum Theater or the Opera House if there happens to be a show or performance playing. There truly is something for everyone in the Old Market place area.

3. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

© Courtesy of Krzysztof Wiktor - Fotolia.com

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium has a staggering 130 acres exterior and 7 acres within, total of exotic animals from around the world. In fact, the zoo is so large that information technology is home to America's largest indoor rainforest, where playful gibbons (a type of ape) swing from tree to tree.

Relish a visit to the Hubbard Orangutan Wood, where orangutans hang from the banyan copse, or cease past the largest indoor desert in the earth where yous'll find fascinating creatures. Wander through the chilly polar regions and travel down the shark tunnel – y'all'll end up at the aquarium, where you can discover extraordinary marine life from upwardly close. This is just a gustatory modality of what y'all will experience during your visit to the zoo, which is open every twenty-four hour period of the week.

3701 S. 10th Street, Omaha, Nebraska, Phone: 402-733-8401

4.The Durham Museum, Omaha, Nebraska

The Durham Museum, Omaha, Nebraska

© The Durham Museum

The Durham Museum has a unique set of galleries that contain a well-rounded array of exhibits, each of which tells its own story from Omaha's history. Permanent exhibits feature model trains, which visitors can enter and explore, as well equally a streetcar from the 1940's.

The museum has several fascinating displays, including a documents and money collection and photographs and artifacts from the Trans-Mississippi and International Exhibition of 1898. While these are but a few permanent collections on display, the museum hosts various temporary exhibits throughout the year, ensuring you lot volition learn something new with each trip. The museum is i of the all-time best things to do in Omaha for art lovers.

801 South 10th Street, Omaha, Nebraska, Phone: 402-444-5071

v. Things to Do in Omaha: Lauritzen Gardens

Things to Do in Omaha: Lauritzen Gardens

© Courtesy of LaVerne - Fotolia.com

Visit Omaha's gorgeous Lauritzen Gardens, a botanical garden where you can admire a diverseness of blooming flowers, trees, and shrubs and meet impressive animals such as elephants, rabbits, deer, and bears. If you take a dog, you lot tin can bring them forth and give them a dainty workout at the Leashes at Lauritzen area.

At that place are numerous events and performances held at the gardens, so check their site to make sure y'all catch one. Lauritzen Gardens likewise hopes to go along yous on your toes and engage your mind and curiosity; they offer educational programs for adults and children, and summertime camps are available too.

100 Bancroft Street, Omaha, Nebraska, Telephone: 402-346-4002

6. Omaha Children's Museum

Omaha Children's Museum

© Courtesy of Arkady Chubykin - Fotolia.com

At the Omaha Children's Museum, kids will take the opportunity to really explore the centre and participate in plenty of hands-on action. At that place are interactive exhibits such as Maker-Space, where kids learn how to use tools and materials to create works of their own.

Future auto mechanics will find themselves in heaven at the Walker Tire and Car Service Heart, where kids can larn about and work on cars. Artistically minded children will dearest the Creative Arts Center, where they can make an array of handcrafted fine art. The museum is open from Tuesday through Sunday.

500 South 20th Street, Omaha, Nebraska, Phone: 402-342-6164

seven.The OPPD Arboretum, Omaha, Nebraska

The OPPD Arboretum, Omaha, Nebraska

© Courtesy of Marek- Fotolia.com

The OPPD Arboretum is an outdoor education area where visitors acquire all nigh electrical safety and the ways in which yous tin can avoid hazards related with electricity. Y'all will learn of import steps to take when planting trees, plants, or gardens, and which copse can be safely planted virtually power lines.

As you wander around this outdoor classroom, y'all will also come across some plants and trees that were purposefully planted to attract some of the local wildlife. This beautiful outdoor arboretum provides visitors with an enjoyable feel in which they tin can gain new cognition and admire the lovely scenery.

The arboretum is located at 108th and Blondo streets in Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, Phone: 402-536-4131


8.Omaha Culinary Tours

Omaha Culinary Tours

© Courtesy of Esme7 - Fotolia.com

Omaha Culinary Tours are the perfect way to go to know the Omaha food scene. Omaha natives created these tours to introduce visitors to the best culinary delights in the area and evidence off the city's unique culinary style. Over 50 businesses partner with Omaha Culinary Tours, so yous will actually care for your palate to a gustatory modality of fantastic food.

The dishes won't disappoint and they have all been created with their own special flair. Each tour highlights interesting historical points that you will learn as y'all walk or take the jitney to the next stop on your 5-7 spot sample tour. They also offer classes for those who are interested in preparing a few culinary masterpieces at their own tabular array (402-651-0047).

ix. Things to Do in Omaha: Bemis Heart for Gimmicky Arts

Things to Do in Omaha: Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

© Bemis Heart for Contemporary Arts

A group of iv artists opened the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in 1981 with a mission of providing art past artists for artists. Mayhap information technology seems like a relatively elementary argument to brand, only this philosophy and the resulting museum have been a huge success in Omaha. They started in a warehouse, with artists experimenting at industrial sites.

Today, they take pride in their outstanding residency programs and the fact that they support research and experimentation in the arts and fine art pedagogy. Naturally, they are equally enthusiastic virtually furthering the art scene in the customs. Bank check their website to come across what they are featuring on a particular day, or simply show up and allow yourself be surprised. Their displays and collections are constantly changing, something that keeps their visitors coming back time and fourth dimension again.

724 South 12th Street, Omaha, Nebraska, Phone: 402-341-7130

More holiday ideas: Best Romantic Getaways in Nebraska.

x.River City Star, Omaha, Nebraska

River City Star, Omaha, Nebraska

© River Urban center Star

River City Star, the city'southward only riverboat, has been operating since 2009, and information technology offers passengers the unique experience of exploring the great river city that is Omaha on a stylish 1940'southward era boat. You have the option of taking either a public or a individual cruise along the river.

The riverboat has 2 decks, 1 inside bar surface area with modernistic facilities and enough of windows, allowing passengers to admire the passing scenery. Relish a crisp, fresh breeze from the upper deck, which has plenty of room for special events. Another fun destination is the Kon-Tiki-O boat, which remains docked and serves an array of delicious cocktails.

151 Freedom Park Rd, Omaha, Nebraska, Phone: 402-342-7827

More vacation ideas: 17 Beautiful Places to Stay in Nebraska.


12 Fun Things to Do in Omaha, Nebraska


  • Joslyn Art Museum, Photo: Joslyn Art Museum
  • Quondam Market, Omaha, Nebraska, Photograph: Old Marketplace
  • Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Photo: Courtesy of Krzysztof Wiktor - Fotolia.com
  • The Durham Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, Photograph: The Durham Museum
  • Things to Do in Omaha: Lauritzen Gardens, Photograph: Courtesy of LaVerne - Fotolia.com
  • Omaha Children's Museum, Photo: Courtesy of Arkady Chubykin - Fotolia.com
  • The OPPD Arboretum, Omaha, Nebraska, Photo: Courtesy of Marek- Fotolia.com
  • Omaha Culinary Tours, Photograph: Courtesy of Esme7 - Fotolia.com
  • Things to Do in Omaha: Bemis Middle for Contemporary Arts, Photo: Bemis Middle for Gimmicky Arts
  • River City Star, Omaha, Nebraska, Photo: River Metropolis Star
  • Cover Photo: Courtesy of Esme7 - Fotolia.com

More Ideas: Fort Omaha

Located in Omaha, Nebraska, Fort Omaha is a sometime U.s. Army supply installation that served a significant role in the Indian War. Today, several structures of the fort take been converted into a museum and library archive center run past the Douglas Canton Historical Club, which seeks to preserve the political and social history of the greater Douglas County area.

History

The Fort Omaha surface area was get-go established as a armed services campsite and supply depot in 1868, originally chosen Sherman Billet, in honor of Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman. A decade later, the army camp was designated as Fort Omaha, serving every bit the headquarters for the US Army's Section of the Platte from 1878 to 1881. Throughout its history, it has housed Navy, Regular army, and Marine units, and is the former site of the Fort Omaha Balloon School, which operated from 1907 to 1917. Though the Fort was officially closed in 1973, the complex grounds even so house several United States military facilities.

Fort Omaha played a major part in a number of American conflicts, including the Indian War, the Spanish-American War, and World Wars I and 2. The site is perhaps best known every bit the detention center for Principal Standing Bear and 29 other members of the Ponca tribe prior to 1879's historic Standing Bear v. Cheat trial, which established Native Americans as persons with right to citizenship for the first time in U.s.a. history. For this and other contributions to American war machine history, the site was dedicated as a National Register of Celebrated Places historic district in 1974.

Historic Facilities and Museum

Since 1974, much of the quondam Fort Omaha land has been occupied by the Metropolitan Community College. A Navy Operations Support Center, along with Marine and Army Reserve units, still operate as military facilities, with six preserved buildings comprising the historic district, including the General Cheat House, a Quartermaster's function, a commissary, a bastille, an ordnance mag, and mule stables.

Congenital in 1879, the General Crook House is the oldest private residence building in Omaha. The two-story Italianate-design edifice was the home of General George Crook, then Commander for the Department of the Platte. The house served as the residence of Fort commanders until 1905, when it was temporarily converted into a mess hall and officer's club, but functioned again equally a commander's residence from 1930 until the Fort'south closing in 1973. Information technology was added to the National Annals of Historic Places in 1969, and in 1970, was named a Nebraska Land Historical Site.

In the 1980s, the Douglas Canton Historical Society converted the business firm into a museum, fully restored with Victorian-era furnishings. The business firm's elaborate grounds at present serve every bit a living history museum, showcasing flow costumes and antique dwelling house items in its rooms. Guided docent tours of the house are offered, as well as afternoon tea and borderland dinner experiences for small groups.

An Heirloom Garden surrounding the house features more than than 100 varieties of plants, many originally carried to the Nebraska area via wagon trains or purchased from mail-order catalogues in the 1880s. From Apr through August, the garden is in total bloom, serving every bit a popular site for special events and wedding ceremonies.

Adjacent door to the Cheat Firm is a Library Archives Center facility, established in 1982. As the Douglas County Historical Club'south official research and educational center, the library is domicile to important historical documents detailing Omaha's history, including newspaper articles, books, and regime records. Materials are bachelor for copying or scanning upon asking, with Historical Social club staff bachelor to assist in research. Archival replication and genealogy research and preservation services are likewise offered through the library.

Ongoing Programs

The Historical Society presents a series of classes every Tuesday and Thursday, centering on topics of genealogy, preservation, and history appreciation. A History and Appreciation of Antiques grade encourages participants to consider the economic and sociological impact of artifact preservation with hands-on exam of some of the museum's collection. The popular monthly Reader'southward Circle volume lodge highlights authors from the Douglas Canton area. Hourlong Second Sun lectures are held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Community College, highlighting topics relevant to Nebraska's history every bit well as electric current social issues of the surface area, and a Speaker's Bureau is bachelor for bookings for offsite lectures on a variety of historical topics.

In addition to standard museum tours, the Historical Society too offers Step-On Tours, guided bus and walking tours of the Fort Omaha facilities and other historical sites in the greater Omaha area. Bout guides offer lively and often humorous facts during these customizable sightseeing excursions for small groups and organizations.

5730 N. 30 Street #11B, Omaha, NE 68111, Phone: 402-455-9990

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More than Ideas: Omaha Old Market

Located inside downtown Omaha, Nebraska, the Old Market neighborhood is a historic retail district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, featuring upscale shopping and dining options within a turn-of-the-century surroundings with brick-paved streets, horse-drawn carriages, and street performers and vendors.

History

The expanse that at present encompasses Omaha, Nebraska was the traditional dwelling of several ethnic North American tribes, including the Ioway, Pawnee, Otoe, and Sioux tribes, who comprised the Omaha Nation past the early 19th century. European settlement of the area began with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804, with the Corps of Discovery establishing a camp near the present-mean solar day city of Bellevue and noting exploration of sites located within the nowadays-day bounds of downtown Omaha and meetings with Otoe tribal leadership. Four million acres of the Omaha Nation'south tribal land was sold to the United States in 1854, allowing for the establishment and settlement of the Nebraska Territory. Omaha Metropolis was established the aforementioned year, retaining apply in its naming of the Sioux word meaning "dwellers on the barefaced."

The city was chosen as the territory'south capital and saw expansion throughout the late 19th century with the advent of transcontinental railroad development, which aided the city'south development as a major transportation hub of the American Great Plains. Many of the buildings of the Old Market commune, which spans from South 10th to 13th Streets to the east and w and Farnam and Jackson Streets to the north and south, were constructed throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1979, the Onetime Marketplace neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, ensuring preservation of its historic buildings and landmarks.

Attractions

Today, Omaha's Onetime Market district retains much of its late 19th century appearance, featuring cobblestone streets and brick buildings with cast-fe facades and rock trim. Metallic sidewalk coverings still remain along some buildings, forth with horse-drawn carriages bachelor for rides, embarking from the intersection of Howard and 11th Streets. Street musicians, performers, and artists are usually constitute throughout the neighborhood at all times of the yr, and many buildings characteristic public fine art and sculptures.

The district's plentiful restaurants, breweries, and bars make it a bustling nightlife spot. Alive nightlife entertainment is offered at Backline Comedy Theatre, which showcases stand-up comedy, improv, and sketch comedy shows, and the Dubliner Pub, which hosts alive Irish gaelic folk musicians on select nights. During the mean solar day, visitors can shop the commune'southward broad variety of boutiques, with many featuring vintage, local, or unique items, and stop in at the coffee shops and bakeries. Unique retail attractions include the historic Hollywood Candy and Fairmont Mercantile, a bootleg and retro candy store, antique store, toy shop, print shop, quondam-fashioned diner, and classic movie theatre all in one. The diner, chosen the Fairmont Diner, features a archetype soda fountain, ice cream specialties, and other archetype diner fare, while the movie house, the Hollywood Theater, hosts gratis weekend showings and is bachelor for rentals.

The district is likewise dwelling house to nine arts galleries, all open to the public. Several arts cooperatives showcase the piece of work of local artists, including the Artists' Cooperative Gallery, which has been open up since 1975, highlights more than than 35 local artists with displays that modify monthly as the artists create new works. The Sometime Market Artists Gallery features works in a variety of media, including glasswork and jewelry, from 12 artisans, while the Passageway Gallery showcases 24 local artists working in mediums such as watercolor and woodcarving. Housed in three refurbished warehouses, Kaneko's gallery spaceis also dedicated to exploring creativity across disciplines, with new works displayed on a continuing ground.

A number of galleries feature the work of artists from beyond Omaha, including the Anderson O'Brien Fine Arts Gallery, which houses new works from Midwest regional artists and offers design and appraisal services. The Bemis Heart for Contemporary Arts takes an international focus, hosting an internationally-acclaimed artist-in-residency plan creating new and innovative works and offering educational community outreach programming. The MANGELSEN Images of Nature Gallery features the piece of work of celebrated wild animals and nature photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen.

Ongoing Programs and Events

One time a month, the district's art galleries host Showtime Fridays, a free evening issue featuring live music, opening receptions for new collections, and a chance to meet and greet with gallery artists. Transportation between the district's venues is provided for free on Omaha's traditional trolley, Ollie the Trolley.Almanac public special event programming also includes the annual Summertime Arts Festival, showcasing the works of over 100 artists every June, along with live music and a children'southward action surface area. In December, ice skating and caroling are offered throughout the district as office of Omaha's annual metropolis-wide vacation celebration.

PO Box 8733, Omaha, NE 68108, Phone: 402-916-1796

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More Ideas: Joslyn Castle

Located in Omaha, Nebraska'south Gold Coast Historic Commune, the Lynhurst mansion, commonly referred to as the Joslyn Castle, is a Scottish Baronial mansion and the former home of newspaper magnate and borough leader George Joslyn, at present open for tours every bit a living history dwelling house museum. Throughout the first two decades of the 20th century, George and Sarah Joslyn were the wealthiest residents of the state of Nebraska.

History

Every bit an entrepreneur in the newspaper business organization, George was the possessor of the Western Paper Union, which became the United States' largest supplier of ready print newspaper by the turn of the 20th century, serving most 70% of the country's population past 1900. As noted philanthropists in the Omaha area, George and Sarah were active founders or donors for a number of area charities and nonprofit organizations, including the Lath of Charities, the Child Saving Constitute, and the Humane Society. George was also a major donor for the University of Omaha, providing $25,000 for the funding of the academy'south offset permanent location. Post-obit George's death, Sarah funded the creation of the Joslyn Memorial in honour of her husband's memory, which has grown today to become the Joslyn Art Museum.

Upon their move to the Omaha expanse in 1893, George Joslyn began to landscape a subcontract expanse nearly the metropolis's outskirts. In 1903, the Joslyns hired builder John McDonald to blueprint an estate for the farm named Lynhurst, inspired by the Scottish Baronial mode of compages. McDonald'south design was completed 11 months afterward for $250,000, a cost equivalent to $6 million in modern currency. Post-obit minor additions in 1906, the habitation's foursquare footage totaled 19,360. After Sarah Joslyn'south death in 1940, the home was used every bit the headquarters for Omaha Public Schools until 1989, when it was purchased by the state of Nebraska for the purposes of celebrated preservation. In 2010, the Joslyn Castle Trust purchased the abode from the state and opened it to the public for historic dwelling house tours.

Permanent Attractions and Tours

Today, the four-story Joslyn Castle is operated equally a living history museum, open to the public for guided tours. Equally the namesake of Omaha'southward Joslyn Castle neighborhood, the home is an Omaha Landmark Historic Structure and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The castle's grounds are also preserved within the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum.

The 35-room mansion has been restored to its original plow-of-the-century condition, featuring period-advisable effects, including original possessions owned by the Joslyn family. Rooms within the mansion's interior include a ballroom, music room, reception hall, drawing room, and library. A railroad vehicle tower house tower fabricated of Kansas silverdale limestone is also featured, completed two years prior to the home'due south construction. Preserved detail work includes stained glass windows, carved wood, chiseled stone work, and a large wrought fe forepart door weighing more than than one ton. Five acres of landscaped formal gardens, also as greenhouses and a conservatory within the house displaying exotic plants, were designed in 1913 by landscape architect Jens Jensen.

Public drop-in tours of the home are available weekly on Mon mornings, as well as every first and 3rd Sunday forenoon and afternoon, excluding major national holidays. Individual group tours may also be scheduled for groups and organizations, including curriculum-incorporated tours for school groups. All castle tours include docent-led exploration of the home's first and 2nd floors and grounds, and may include tours of the third floor when possible.

Ongoing Programming and Education

Following in the tradition of George and Sarah Joslyn'south delivery to educational philanthropy and public service, the Joslyn Castle is the host for a wide variety of public educational and cultural programming throughout the year. Many events include special opportunities to tour areas of the mansion not generally open up to the public, including the Joslyn Castle Unlocked event, which allows attendees to tour the mansion's basement and explore historic photographs and architectural drawings continued to the home's construction. Ticket sales include a group dinner and a cash bar available for beverage purchases. In November, a Historic Dwelling Tour and Boutique event provides opportunities to explore other nearby historic properties, including the Pittack and Doyle Homes and the historic Augustana Lutheran Church.

An almanac Halloween Masquerade at the Castle effect offers tarot carte readings, dancing, and a costume competition, along with holiday-themed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. On Thanksgiving, a Joslyn Castle Turkey Trot 5K Walk/Run is held at Omaha'south Turner Park, offering trophies for the top 10 male person and female finishers and raffle prizes from local businesses. The Joslyn Castle facility may also be rented for private special events for upwards to 125 guests, including weddings, receptions, and concern gatherings.

3902 Davenport St, Omaha, NE 68131, Telephone: 402-595-2199

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