Houston Museum of Natural Science and Cockrell Butterfly Center

Once you enter the museum, you'll have the option to visit numerous permanent exhibits including North America's largest dinosaur hall and one of the most extensive gem and geode collections in the United States. The museum is perfect for families, tourists, and locals and offers refreshments and food at the cafe. Your ticket also grants you access to a 3-story glass structure filled with butterflies built around a 50-foot waterfall. This simulated tropical rain forest is filled with exotic plants and thousands of live butterflies. As you walk through at your own pace, feast your eyes on a rainbow of color provided by the thousands of live, fluttering butterflies and exotic flowering plant species. Absorb all the beauty of the living rain forest, and then make your way to the Brown Hall of Entomology and witness astounding living insects, spectacular mounted specimens, larger-than-life models, and interactive games.