Are you looking for Free Ann Arbor Museums? We found 5 ways to visit Ann Arbor Museums for Free. Check out always free museums, special free days, and other ways to get free tickets. We also have suggestions for visiting museums for free beyond the Ann Arbor area.
1 – Free Ann Arbor Museums
Here in Ann Arbor we have several great museums that offer FREE admission. Instead, they recommend a donation. The best free admission museums are on campus at the University of Michigan.
University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History reopened in their new building in 2019. Admission is free, although they suggest a $10 donation. The museum also offers free tours and talks. There is a fee for planetarium shows. Check out our profile on the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History.
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
My daughter has always loved the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. Stop in and see their child mummy and other Egyptian artifacts. Watch for their story times, family days, and kid-friendly tours. Check out our review of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Stop in at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and browse the galleries with your kids. They also offer storytimes and family art workshops. The family art workshops reach capacity, so register early!
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Matthaei Botanical Gardens
The University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens has free admission. Visit the indoor Conservatory. Play at the outdoor Children’s Garden. Then, walk through the outdoor grounds. Check out our review of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
While admission is free, there is an hourly parking charge at Matthaei Botanical Gardens of $2, with a max of $5/day.
2 – Free Museum Admission Days
A number of museums offer free admission days throughout the year. There are national free museum programs like Smithsonian Museum Day and Bank of America’s Museum on Us. Also, individual museums offer free admission days.
Smithsonian Museum Day
The Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day is usually in September. In September 2022, several Michigan museums participated. The list was longer than 2021, but still considerably less participants than in 2019.
Check out the Michigan museums that participated in 2022
- Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills
- Grand Rapids Public Museum – Grand Rapids
- Little Traverse Historical Museum – Traverse City
- Michigan Maritime Museum – South Haven
- Midwest Miniatures Museum – Grand Haven
- Plymouth Historical Museum, Plymouth
- Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm, Rochester Hills
Bank of America Museums on Us
Bank of America offers Museums on Us as a benefit for their cardholders. Each cardholder receives two free admissions to select museums on the first full weekend of each month. The dates for 2023 are:
- March 4&5
- April 1&2
- May 6&7
- June 3&4
- July 1&2
- August 5&6
- September 2&3
- October 7&8
- November 4&5
- December 2&3
If you have a Bank of America Card, check out one of the local participating museums:
- Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn
- Arab American National Museum, Dearborn
- Michigan Science Center, Detroit
- Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit
Check out more details from Metro Detroit Mommy:
FREE Metro Detroit Museum Admission from Bank of America
Other Free Museum Days near Ann Arbor
Some local museums periodically offer free admission. Henry Ford Museum and Michigan Science Center have regular free days. Henry Ford Museum often offers free admission on Martin Luther King Jr Day and other federal holidays. After a COVID break, Free MLK day admission returned to the Henry Ford in 2023.
Upcoming Free Museum days are:
3 – Michigan Activity Pass
The Michigan Activity Pass (MAP) provides free or discounted admission to locations throughout the state and is available from the library. The Ann Arbor District Library offers passes for each branch. If the branch you selected first is not available, check another branch.
Local Museums participating in Michigan Activity Pass: – Updated February 2023 – The list does change, so be sure to check before your visit
- Yankee Air Museum, Belleville
- Washtenaw County Historical Society Museum, Ann Arbor
- Argus Museum, Ann Arbor
- Saline Railroad Depot Museum, Saline
- Belleville Area Museum, Belleville
- Hack House Museum, Milan
- Hamburg Historical Museum, Hamburg
- Lost Railway Museum, Grass Lake
- Howell Nature Center, Howell
- Hidden Lake Gardens, Tipton (Irish Hills) – Buy One, Get One Free
- Mill Race Historical Village, Northville
- Old Mill Museum, Dundee
- Wayne Historical Museum, Wayne
- Holocaust Memorial Center, Farmington Hills – 2 Free Admissions
- Arab American National Museum, Dearborn – 2 Free Admissions
- Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills
- Willam V Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center, Detroit
- Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD)
- Detroit Institute of Arts – Buy One Get One Free
- Outdoor Adventure Center, Detroit – Buy One, Get One Free
My daughter and I used the MAP for free admission to the Yankee Air Museum in 2018. It was a very easy process. The day before our trip, I requested our tickets online. There was a limit of one ticket per library card. But, we were able to each get a pass with our library card.
4 – Museum Memberships
Join a Local Museum
Visit your favorite local museum for free all year by buying a membership. We have had memberships to Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum (AAHOM), Toledo Zoo, and Henry Ford Museum.
Did you know that the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum membership includes admission for grandparents? Henry Ford Museum includes admission to Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.
Reciprocal Membership Perks
Even better, many of your museums had an added benefit – reciprocal membership. With reciprocal membership, visit museums across the country (and beyond) for free or discounted admission.
Over the years we have used our AAHOM membership through the ASTC reciprocal program in:
- Grand Rapids – Grand Rapids Public Museum
- Chicago
- Field Museum
- Museum of Science & Industry
- Adler Planetarium
- New Mexico
- Albuquerque
- Explora, a Children’s Museum
- New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
- National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
- Los Alamos – Bradbury Science Museum
- Albuquerque
- Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia
- Franklin Institute
- Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
- Reading
- Reading Public Museum
- Philadelphia
- Delaware – Hagley Museum, Wilmington
- New York –
- New York City – Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum
- Toronto – Ontario Science Center
The ASTC free admission does have one big restriction. You can only use it at museums more than 90 miles from both your home and the museum that you belong to. However, many museums inside that radius offer discounts. Over the years we have received discounts at Imagination Station (Toledo), Michigan Science Center (Detroit), and Impression 5 (Lansing).
Reciprocal Membership Benefits in Ann Arbor
If you are visiting the Ann Arbor area, you can use museum benefits from your home museum memberships at Ann Arbor Museums.
- ASTC (Science Museums)
- Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum, Ann Arbor
- Yankee Air Museum, Belleville
- Michigan Science Center, Detroit
- ACM (Children’s Museums)
- Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
- AZA (Zoos)
- Detroit Zoo – Royal Oak
- Toledo Zoo – Toledo, OH
5 – Free Museums Beyond Michigan
Check out these free museum options from my friends across the country.
- Illinois
- Chicago Free Museum Days- Toddling Around Chicagoland (some of these days are only for Illinois residents)
- Plus, check out where Chambanamoms used their ASTC & ACM reciprocal admissions.
- Indiana
- New Jersey – Jersey Family Fun
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
- Milwaukee – Milwaukee Art Museum – Go Valley Kids (Free Kids Admission)
BONUS – Discounted Admission for SNAP/EBT and WIC Cardholders
Are you a family on a limited income that receives SNAP/EBT or WIC benefits? A number of museums offer greatly discounted admission as part of the Museums for All program.
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum offers EBT/WIC Card holders $3 admission for up to 6 people per card. Make sure to bring your card with you to the museum.
On February 9, 2022, The Henry Ford announced that they have joined the Museums for All Program. This provides SNAP/EBT or WIC cardholders with $3 admission for up to 4 individuals for both Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Show your card at the ticket counter.
The Museums for All website shows several other local museums that participate in the program. Note: The University of Michigan museums are all listed, but provide free admission to all so I am not including them here.
- Yankee Air Museum – Belleville
- Arab American National Museum – Dearborn
- Belle Isle Aquarium – Detroit
- Michigan Science Center – Detroit
- Cranbrook Institute of Science – Bloomfield Hills
- Cranbrook Art Museum – Bloomfield Hills
- Cranbrook House. & Gardens – Bloomfield Hills
- Ella Sharp Museum – Jackson
- Flint Children’s Museum – Flint
- Flint Institute of Arts – Flint
- Ford House – Grosse Pointe Shores
- Impression 5 – Lansing
- Air Zoo – Portage
- Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park – Grand Rapids
- Grand Rapids Children’s Museum – Grand Rapids
Our Favorite Ann Arbor Museums
Check out our Favorite Ann Arbor Museums for Kids.
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