8 Fun Ways to Explore Kansas City
Only in KC:
City of fountains, barbecue capital of America, jazz and blues mecca… a visit to Kansas City would be incomplete without enjoying some of Kansas City’s sensational signatures and the landmarks that celebrate them.
Start at 18th & Vine with a visit to the American Jazz Museum and take in live jazz at the Gem or the Blue Room.
Kansas City knows barbecue, and that means sweet, tangy sauce, dripping from ribs and burnt ends with a side of slaw and pit beans. Every local has a favorite, from Fiorella’s Jack Stack Bar-B-Q to Gate’s to Oklahoma Joe’s.
The Country Club Plaza, modeled after the architecture of Seville, Spain, is one of Kansas City’s most recognized landmarks and home to many of the city’s most beautiful fountains and ideal backdrops for family photos.
Old meets new in the Kansas City Power & Light District, where the greatest in live theater, concerts and shows perform at the Sprint Center, Municipal Auditorium and The Midland. Adding to the city skyline’s beauty, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts celebrated its grand opening in 2011. Delight in live shows from the Kansas City Ballet, Lyric Opera, Kansas City Symphony and touring productions in this state-of-the-art facility.
Seasonal Traditions:
Kansas City is no longer the cow town it once was, but it holds its cowboy heritage dear with many local traditions. Most notable is the American Royal, which hosts rodeos, agricultural competitions and education through programs and the American Royal Museum. The American Royal also hosts the world’s largest barbecue contest and an annual parade.
Kansas City sparkles with lights throughout the holiday season, and there are many displays to enjoy with our Guide to the Best Christmas Lights in Kansas City. But the holidays simply wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Country Club Plaza Christmas lights (from Thanksgiving through mid-January).
Children will see sugarplums dancing in their heads after a Christmas candlelight tour at the John Wornall House Museum or Missouri Town 1855. Walk through a winter wonderland on a luminary walk at the Overland Park Arboretum, Powell Gardens or the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Call the sites for a schedule.
Every year, the Kansas City Ballet performs The Nutcracker to the delight of thousands of visitors. The Kansas City Repertory Theatre brings A Christmas Carol to stage, a celebrated tradition in Kansas City for decades.
Kansas City's Celebrities:
Kansas City was home to the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman. Learn about his childhood at the Truman Farm, his humble lifestyle at the Truman Home in Independence and his presidency at the Truman Presidential Library, where visitors participate in interactive exhibits including a replica Oval Office and Truman artifacts.
The First Lady of Flight, Amelia Earhart, was born in Atchison, KS. The Amelia Earhart Birthplace tells the story of the legendary lady and her childhood adventures. While you’re in Atchison, make a point to take a trolley ride and enjoy other attractions.
America’s most notorious outlaw, Jesse James, grew up in Kearney, MO, where his story is shared at the Jesse James Farm.
Missouri was home to many famous artists, and you can tour their homes today. The Thomas Hart Benton Home and the Bingham-Waggoner Estate, former home of artist George Caleb Bingham, are two museums sharing the personal histories of two of Missouri’s most influential artists.
Kid-Sized Fun:
Dining out with children can be unforgettable at one of Kansas City’s family-friendly restaurants, where you will enjoy delicious meals and fun food!
Start at one of Kansas City’s landmark restaurants, Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant, where model trains deliver food right to your table, and children receive their own engineer caps!
Little ones will enjoy the KidScape exhibit at the Johnson County Museum, a hands-on child-sized suburban streetscape, where children role-play as community figures in educational environments.
It’s no coincidence that our readers always rate Kaleidoscope as one of the best kid-friendly destinations in Kansas City. Imaginations know no limit as kids create jigsaw puzzles, glow-in-the-dark art, crowns and more at this hands-on art center.
Also at Crown Center, visitors enjoy two of the city’s newest attractions, the Sea Life Aquarium and the Legoland Discovery Center. Sea Life features a huge tropical ocean tank with a walk-through underwater tunnel and an enthralling 2- to 3-hour journey from the fresh waters of the Missouri River to the deep, dark abyss of the Atlantic Ocean.
Based on the ever popular LEGO brick, the Legoland Discovery Center provides a range of interactive play areas, including a 4D cinema, classes, an exciting LEGO ride and one-of-a-kind Lego exhibits.
Make It, Take It:
Create family keepsakes at Paint, Glaze and Fire, Ceramics Cafe and more paint-your-own pottery shops. Patrons select and paint their own ceramic masterpieces—anything from piggy banks to plates, mugs to picture frames and many holiday pieces, as well.
BYOB paint-your-own-canvas shops are one of the newest trends across the city, each offering diverse calendars with a variety of masterpieces you can create following simple step-by-step instructions. Customers sign up for a class, bring their own beverage and spend an evening creating a personal work of art to take home and display. Read more about them here.
Kookiedoodle Crafts in Downtown Overland Park is a one-of-a-kind arts and crafts shop were children purchase kits and make masterpieces all within the store walls—no mess at home, only a take-home masterpiece. Kids will enjoy painting, felt pillow projects, wooden crafts and more.
It seems that every celebrity wears her own signature scent, and now you can too! Perfect Scents stocks more than 250 perfume oils, including essential oils and designer oils. Customers select favorite fragrances to be blended into lotions and oils to create their own “custom scenting.”
City Nights:
The glitter of the night sky is best enjoyed at Powell Observatory in Louisburg, KS, where visitors view the constellations and planets through the largest telescope in the 5-state area on weekends. Enjoy an incredible view of the night sky in the city at the planetarium located at Union Station’s Science City, also home to many hands-on science exhibits. This year, Union Station is also hosting “Real Pirates: Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship,” an interactive historical exhibit telling of the recovery of a real sunken pirate ship from the depths of the sea and its new life as a museum artifact.
Miniature golf, go-karts and arcades are all the rage at Cool Crest and Paradise Park. Couple dinner with games at Dave & Buster’s, an arcade-restaurant where you’ll find everything from classic to interactive to video.
Enjoy laugh-out-loud fun at a local comedy performance. Comedy City is a live family-friendly improv comedy show where every show is clean, funny and one-of-kind. Two comedy teams take suggestions from the audience to create hilarious sketches as they compete to earn your laughs. The Kansas City Improv Comedy Club at Zona Rosa (816.759.5433) features the funniest magicians in Kansas City.
Autumn Splendor:
Autumn and apples…the two go hand in hand! Kids love taking a trip to local farms to pick their very own fruit, and moms love the prices, which are significantly less expensive than at the local grocery store. In the fall, enjoy apple picking at Alldredge Orchards in Platte City, Schweizer Orchards in St. Joseph, the Wagon Wheel Orchard in Gardner or the Weston Red Barn Farm in Weston. For a behind-the-scenes apple outing, visit the Louisburg Cider Mill, where you can watch cider and apple cider donut making while enjoying autumn attractions, including farm animals, a corn maze, the pumpkin patch and country store.
Enjoy the crunch of crisp autumn leaves beneath your feet at local nature centers, many of them offering terrific fall events. Make it an annual tradition to attend Magic Woods at Lakeside Nature Center, where the forest comes to life at night with costumed characters. Take the family for a hayride at Paradise Park or participate in an educational program at Burr Oak Woods. Or take a starry night hike at George Owens Nature Center.
Let It Snow:
Sledding, skiing, skating, sleighs… let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Kansas City boasts many terrific sledding hills all across the Metro! Over the years, our loyal readers have shared their favorites, and you can learn about all of the best sledding hills in KC!
Take a spin on the ice at one of the local outdoor rinks, The Ice at Park Place and the Crown Center Ice Terrace.
Sleigh bells ring at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop, where you can enjoy horse-drawn sleigh rides on snowy Saturdays throughout the winter. The historic site offers tours and programs all year, including stagecoach rides and a working blacksmith shop.
Meet exotic animals at the Kansas City Zoo, where Nikita and Berlin, Kansas City’s resident polar bears, especially love winter weather. And this year welcomes the brand new Helzberg penguin exhibit—a much anticipated attraction! The zoo is open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, and the animals are more alert and active in the autumn and winter months when the weather is cool—and as a bonus, the zoo is less crowded.
If you’re craving snow, but can’t find any locally, you don’t have to drive to Colorado to enjoy snow skiing. Weston’s Snow Creek is a short 45-minute to one-hour drive from downtown KC, appealing to skiers and snow boarders alike.