American Museum of Natural History

If you're not into the Jurassic or the Cretaceous, chart the development of world cultures as displayed in life-sized dioramas on the second floor or dodge the 90-foot blue whale suspended from the ceiling of the first-floor. The Alexander White Natural Science Center, the museum's only room holding live animals, explains the ecology of New York City to children, while the Discovery Room gives them artifacts they can touch. The museum also houses an Imax cinematic extravaganza on one of New York's largest movie screens---four stories high and 66 feet wide. But perhaps the most impressive part of the museum is the sparkling Hayden Plantarium within the Rose Center for Earth and Space. The sheer size of the 87 ft. (26.5m) sphere that holds the planetarium is awe-inspiring enough to make one appreciate the wonders of space discovery. And the view of the Planetarium from the outside at night, in which the sphere looks like it's floating within a glass and steel box, is nothing short of spectacular.