Museums in Fairfield, Connecticut range from fine art to circus history

Dedicated to the life of circus imnpresario Phineas Taylor Barnum and those who were influenced by his presence in their lives. 1892 building houses exhibits including a miniature circus model, ancient mummy, historic costumes, Tom Thumb carriages. Museum store. Hours: Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission: Adults, $8; seniors over age 65 and and children age 4 to 17, $5; students, $5. Information: www.barnum-museum.org.

Historic museum highlights natural history of the state with dioramas, wildlife exhibits, and dinosaur footprints. Adjacent 6-acre sanctuary with trails.
Hours: Open Monday-Friday, 9am - 5pm. The six-acre Birdcraft Sanctuary is open daily, year-round, from dawn to dusk.

Explore the world through the lenses of art, science and natural history at the magnificent Bruce Museum. The museum’s vast and growing collections include minerals, fossils, history, art, textiles, science, animals and ethnology. Visitors, through docent-led or self-guided audio tours on their phones, can marvel at dinosaur tracks or mounted extinct species like passenger pigeons or become lost in the paintings of Childe Hassam, the sculpture of Auguste Rodin or the photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Decorative arts include French art glass, art pottery and Staffordshire puzzle pipes. There are ladies’ gowns and accessories from the 19th century, crystals and meteorites, shells from around the world and so much more.

Stamford Museum & Nature Center is a place of nature expressed in art and art expressed in nature. The Knoblock Family Farmhouse is an indoor gathering space for the cold months, where children’s programs like What’s For Dinner? and Family Farm Fridays will happen. The Bendel Mansion, built in the 1920s, is now a historic home and gardens that visitors may tour. Heckscher Farm is a 10-acre learning site about rural and farm life. The institution has a nature center and nature trails, an otter pond, an observatory and planetarium, and wheelchair-accessible trails through the woods. Learning opportunities and celebrations take place all year, for all ages. - Trail Map (PDF)
Admission: Adults $14, Seniors $12, Students 18+ with ID $10; Ages 4-17 $8. Free admission for children 3 & under or those who present a transit bus pass or transfer.