A free museum day is just about the only thing that's better than a regular day at one of the great museums in Los Angeles. If you have a large family, museum tickets add up fast—which gets particularly frustrating if you need a hasty retreat to avoid a meltdown. Los Angeles has some fantastic museums with free general admission every day of the year, including The Getty, California Science Center, and The Broad. As for the rest of them, many LA museums and gardens have monthly, or even weekly, free days or evenings, and we collected a list below for easy reference.

Go ahead, bring the extended family, meet friends, or check out a place you have never been before—all for just the price of parking or Metro tickets. And if there's a meltdown? At least it's free. 

Remember, these are just the museums where you will have to mark your calendar for the monthly free day. Los Angeles is filled with fabulous museums for kids that are free every day, and museums that are free up until a certain age. You'll find these, and more free adventures, in our Guide to Free Things To Do in Los Angeles with Kids.

Looking for free museums in Chicago? We have a list of Chicago's best free museums, plus free museum days at other top museums.

Chicago's museums, zoos, and parks rank among the best in the country—and lucky for busy, cash-strapped parents, many museums, zoos, gardens, and cultural institutions offer FREE or reduced admission at least once a month. Plus, many of the "grown-up" museums let kids in for free year-round, such as the Art Institute of Chicago. And most of the big institutions, including the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, and the Field Museum, host popular free days just for Illinois residents throughout the year.

It can be hard to keep track of when and where these freebies are available, so we've compiled a list of reduced or free admission days and times at favorite Chicago cultural spots. Read on to find out when you can go to these fabulous Chicago museums for free. 

If you're staying in town and plan to visit multiple attractions in the Chicago area (we’re looking at you, people with visiting relatives you’ll be squiring around town), it’s worth it to look into a Go City - Chicago  sightseeing pass to save money on entrance fees to attractions like the Navy Pier, Field Museum, the aquarium, and the planetarium.

Entertaining kids can be exhausting and expensive—why not leave it to the experts and take the kiddos to FREE museums in Orlando?! Orlando museums are a great way to open children's eyes to the world around them, offering lessons in history, art, and science without them even realizing they're learning. And by focusing on museums that feature free admission throughout the year or on certain days, these centers offer limitless opportunities.

Orlando obviously does theme parks and big ticket attractions well, but these magical spots can really empty anyone's wallet. Free museums in Orlando focus more on the small picture and how to introduce kids and adults to new and interesting subjects...without the financial drain. 

Free museums and free museum days abound at Philly's finest institutions. Browse our list of all the times museums in Philadelphia are free. 

Making a museum visit a part of your family's routine is easier than you think! Philadelphia and its suburbs are chock-full of amazing institutions with lots of opportunities for free admission. Whether your little ones are interested in art, science, or history, there's something here sure to ignite young imaginations without stretching the wallet too thin. Get ready for some incredible fun at no cost.

Take note that this list features museums that are always free, or offer regularly-scheduled free or what-what-you-wish days. Other museums in the area often offer free entry on national holidays or as part of special events like Wawa Free Museum Days each summer. Keep an eye on our events calendar to see when museums are offering free admission throughout the year. 

For more free fun, browse our Free Things To Do with Philly Kids Guide, featuring our favorite free indoor playspaces and more. Don't miss our Guide to Philly Museums for Kids, filled with reviews and roundups of the city's amazing museum scene.

Looking for FREE museums and museum days in Westchester and the Hudson Valley? Check out our exhaustive list below!

Westchester and the Hudson Valley are rife with enrichment opportunities, and some of the best places for these experiences take place in our area museums. While frequent visits can get costly, many of the museums on this list are FREE or have FREE days or times. Others are FREE for kids under a certain age, so we have broken those down by age group. Some programs still require registration, so we suggest you check with the museum before you head out. 

Reminder: In addition to the days and times listed here, many libraries offer a number of FREE museum passes as well. 

Get more ideas for FREE fun delivered to your inbox by signing up for our newsletters, and discover all the FREE events and activities near you in our Westchester Guide to Free Things To Do with Kids.

The cut-off ages imply that once children reach that age, they no longer qualify for FREE entry.

Looking for FREE museums and other attractions in New Jersey? Read on for our list of some of the top options in the Garden State.

New Jersey is home to many wonderful attractions for kids—the state’s museums, zoos, farms, and lighthouses are all great venues for family outings. And many of NJ's top destinations offer FREE admission for kids under certain ages, so we've rounded up more than 50 for them here. Keep this post handy, and make sure to strategically plan your visit before your child ages out, or it'll cost you! 

Discover loads more FREE events and activities near you in our New Jersey Free Things To Do with Kids Guide.

When it comes to saving money on culture, there are tons of free museum days and free admission hours offered at a wide variety of New York City's top museums, zoos, gardens, and cultural institutions. Many of these local cultural hubs offer free or reduced admission on certain nights, days, or hours at least once a month—a city perk no busy, cash-strapped parent should miss! Plus, many grown-up museums let kids in for free year-round.

It can be hard to keep track of when and where these free museum days in NYC are available, so we've compiled an exhaustive list of reduced or free admission days at our favorite NYC cultural spots from the Bronx Zoo to the Brooklyn Children's Museum and every free museum in between.

As always, you can visit our Family Activity Calendar for more budget-friendly kid activities every day or visit our NYC Museum Guide for the latest kid-friendly exhibitions in NYC. Also, don't forget to put your library card to work for free admission at many of these same places!

When it comes to kid-friendly things to do, the Bronx may be the city's most oft-overlooked borough. After all, when is the last time you visited the Boogie Down with your kids? If you can't remember, we're here to convince you that a visit to this diverse, culturally rich hotbed of activity is in order.

The Bronx overflows with kid-friendly fun from classic kid destinations like the 100-plus-year-old Bronx Zoo to the newly opened Bronx Children's Museum, and we've rounded up 46 fun things to do in the borough. Once you've sampled the fun in the Bronx, check out our top picks for must-do's in Brooklyn, Queens, and all of NYC.