Delaware History Museum gallery (photo by Gregory Coin)
The Brandywine Valley, which stretches from southeastern Pennsylvania through Wilmington to the Delaware River, is home to more world-class museums, historic sites and public gardens per capita than anywhere else in the country. And they are all within a 25-minute drive of Wilmington!
The Delaware History Museum on the Wilmington Campus of the Delaware Historical Society is located in the Lower Market Street National Historic District, just five blocks from Amtrak Station, the historic Hotel Dupont and the Christina Riverwalk. The Museum houses a permanent exhibition that traces the history of Delaware, as well as a special exhibition gallery for changing exhibitions and a large museum store. Admission is $4 for adults with discounts for students and senior citizens. ING Direct Fridays are FREE.
The Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts is just a short Trolley ride away. There, colorful and highly eclectic exhibits change regularly, and be sure to check out the Center's award-winning museum shop. Admission and parking are FREE at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, and you'll be within easy walking distance of waterfront restaurants on the Christina Riverwalk.
The Delaware Art Museum, known internationally for its Pre-Raphaelite and Howard Pyle collections, is about ten minutes from downtown, just east of beautiful Rockford Park. The admission fee (which includes entry to all museum galleries) is $12 for adults with significant age-based discounts. BUT you can buy a family pass (good for two adults and up to four young people) for just $25. Or better yet, the Delaware Art Museum is FREE on Sundays and parking is always free!
The Delaware Museum of Nature History is just ten minutes up Kennett Pike from the art museum, and there's no telling what life forms you'll encounter there -- dinosaurs, scorpions, crocodiles, jaguars, giant clams and more! The creature features are almost endless so the museum is a GREAT place to bring kids.
Winterthur, which modestly bills itself as "An American Country Estate" is just down the road from the Natural History Museum. The 1,000-acre estate is home to the largest collection of American decorative arts (antiques) in the world. Much of the collection is on display in the 175-room mansion, which is attached to a large exhibition gallery for changing exhibitions. They operate one and two-hour tours on a variety of themes, and you definitely don't want to miss the icons of any Winterthur visit – the majestic Montmorenci staircase, the extraordinary wallpaper in the Chinese Parlor, and the fabulous du Pont dining room. Garden tram tours are also available. The Winterthur Garden Restaurant is also a great place for lunch.
The Marshall Steam Museum at Auburn Heights houses the largest collection of operating steam-powered cars in the world. On selected Sundays throughout the spring, summer and fall visitors can ride on a Stanley Steamer, a steam-powered bus or a 1/8th scale steam train. You can also see the grand daddy of today's big ransportation fad, a 1916 electric car, on the grounds of the Marshall family estate before moving on to their three vintage Packard touring cars. Call ahead or see their website to find out when they are open to the public.
It's just a few more minutes to the last major museum in Wilmington's Brandywine Valley – the Brandywine River Museum just over the state line in Pennsylvania. Exhibiting American art in a 19th-century grist mill, the Brandywine River Museum is internationally known for its unparalleled collection of works by three generations of Wyeth family artists and its extraordinary collection of American illustration, still life and landscape painting. The museum is part of the Brandywine Conservancy that has protected more than 43,000 acres of picturesque countryside in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware.
Although not a "gallery" museum like those described above, Hagley Museum & Library deserves to be included in any list of world-class cultural attractions in Wilmington. Hagley is the ancestral home of the du Pont family in Delaware and the site of the first du Pont powder mills.on the banks of the Brandywine River. The estate is bucolic and well worth the $11 admission fee (plus significant age-based discounts). And be sure to spend a few munutes in their small but interesting museum store.
Of course there's lots more than museums in the Brandywine Valley – thousands of acres of public gardens, the largest colonial tall ship in the world…I could go on and on. But hopefully this will wet your appetite to visit Wilmington in the near future. And speaking of "appetite" you may want to read my two articles on Wilmington's wonderful restaurants and eateries before you arrive: Wilmington
Restaurants: More Choices Than Ever and Waterfront Restaurants in Wilmington, Delaware!
TravelTip: Although some of Wilmington's best hotels, restaurants and museums are within easy walking distance of AMTRAK Station, you'll need a car to reach many other of our world-class venues, and Wilmington's taxi "fleet" is more of a squadron than an armada. So if you aren't driving in, seriously consider renting a car. Budget, Hertz and Enterprise are all near AMTRAK Station and the
Philadelphia Airport.
A complete list of articles by the Wilmington Tourism Examiner can be found at
http://www.examiner.com/x-25324-Wilmington-Tourism-Examiner.
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