This is the top museum in every New England state

New England is full of fascinating and historic museums, but six are major standouts, according to Conde Nast Traveler.

The travel publication released a list of the 51 best museums in the United States, one for every state plus Washington, D.C., and included the following in New England: The Museum of Fine Arts Boston in Massachusetts; McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in New Hampshire; The Portland Observatory in Maine; The Breakers in Rhode Island; Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home in Vermont; and The Mark Twain House in Connecticut.

“If you’re looking for a cerebral, creative, fun-for-all ages way to tour through the nation’s best cities and most charming towns, plan your journey by road tripping your way through our picks of the best United States museums,” wrote Conde Nast Traveler.

At the Museum of Fine Arts, which the publication called “the crown jewel of Boston’s art scene,” guests enjoy the only permanent exhibition for ancient coins in the nation, one of America’s largest collections of ancient Egyptian artifacts, one of the best collections of Korean and Japanese art, and more.

Guests can check out various educational experiences and a state-of-the-art planetarium with rotating shows at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, named after Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 and astronaut Alan Shepard, a New Hampshire native.

At the 1807 lighthouse-shaped Portland Observatory, America’s last remaining maritime signal tower, former sea captain Lemuel Moody once monitored the harbor, wrote Conde Nast Traveler.

In Newport, The Breakers is an opulent Gilded Age mansion built in 1895 where guests can wander the halls where the Vanderbilts once lived and hear stories of their lives via guided tours and self-guided audio tours.

Visitors at Hildene: The Lincoln Family Home in Manchester, originally owned by Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln, can not only tour the massive home, but explore the gardens, trails, an agricultural center, and market.

Finally, educational talks and exhibits take place throughout the year at The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, where the author lived from 1874 to 1891.

Check out the list of 51 best museums in the United States.

Kristi Palma

Culture writer

 

Kristi Palma is a culture writer for Boston.com, focusing on New England travel. She covers airlines, hotels, and things to do across Boston and New England. She is the author of Scenic Six, a weekly travel newsletter.