South Carolina State Museum

What an absolutely overwhelming experience this museum is. We spent nearly 3 hours exploring and only saw maybe half of what there is to see. It has everything from history to science, to amazing planetarium shows that are worth every penny. I can't wait to make it back to Columbia to see the rest!

Really enjoyed the museum. The telescopes were some of my favorite things but I really loved seeing a piece of the moon! Really interactive parts and a great mix of science, history, and nature! I would recommend this place to anyone and I would especially encourage checking out one of the shows in the large dome.

You can tell it's built with huge budget. It doesn't have expensive dinosaur bones.
However, they managed to make it look interesting and diverse.
It definitely shows quality and character

My son and grandkids live in Irmo. We were visiting from NY and found this museum and planetarium a fantastic place. We arrived for the 1:30pm show and it was OK. But the history in the museum was amazing. We only had a couple of hours to go through the museum but you really need half a day to take eveything in. When we return we will certainly come back again and spend more time.

Wonderful and so full of interesting South Carolina, natural, and technology history (radio, TV, automobile) and earth science that we couldn't finish. Fascinating telescopes, a small cafe, and dioramas too. Great for all ages.

Ever since I can remember I have loved coming to the museum! I love the exhibits, even the ones they've had for years and years! There's so much to see and do and I learn something new each trip. I'm excited (and also slightly sad) that they are updating some of the older exhibits. I'll miss the old classics but I'm looking forward to whatever is next!

It is always a great place to take friends and family from out of town. Fun and educational. 4D educational films are available also. The NASA exhibit is really cool.

Great museum with multiple levels of interesting exhibits to view. Short historical movies were free for viewing. Great lunch cafe if you’re hungry and gift shop on first floor. Would recommend to others.

The state museum really is a Columbia treasure. I've been going my whole life and now take my kids, ages 6 and 8. They are just now getting to the age where they understand and appreciate what they're seeing. I'd say any younger than 6 it's probably a better idea to check out the children's museum across the street, Edventure. This museum is definitely geared towards ages 7-8 and up, in my opinion. You can easily spend 3-4 hours at the state museum, especially if you stop to read things. There's so much rich history in SC! The planetarium theater is awesome and we've enjoyed the different shows featured over the last year or two. The 4D theater is cool, but if you have a little one scared by sudden noises, feels, etc I'd skip it. Certain films have effects where they may mist you with water, the seat may vibrate, or you may feel some other sensation. So just know that in advance. My Boys love the military exhibits, dinosaurs, and space exploration exhibits the best. There's also a very impressive telescope collection, lots of prehistoric animals, a look at transportation and daily life over the years, life of the early Native Americans, and so much more!

My daughter and I had a wonderful time exploring the exhibits. Make sure you plan to spend the entire day as there is a lot to see. My daughter really enjoyed the fossils, space, and habitat exhibits. We visited on a Friday and had very little traffic in the exhibits. There were a handful of other guests and one field trip. Something of note, the bathrooms are being renovated so they are few and far between. We ate lunch at the cafe, which had a small wait but was fair priced.

Amazing museum, we enjoyed every moment of it!
We started on the 4th floor and worked our way down.

Awesome museum with a full history of South Carolina, from the 1600's to today. Great 4D experience and the planetarium was cool, too!

Love first Sundays! Discounted entry fees. On this trip we did the planetarium Aurora show and 4D sensory show complete with bubbles. We paid to go to through the Confederate Relic and Military Museum for a few dollars per person. It was a nice exhibit. The museum store had a nice variety of items. Overall we had a really nice family day out!

Rudolph in 4D was so cute, such a Christmas classic with a few surprises! This is just a fun place to spend a few hours!

We visited with our 3 children and wasn't sure if it would keep their attention. We were pleasantly surprised as they had a great time. Their were so many awesome things to see and so much history there. We also really enjoyed the planetarium as well. The staff was also very friendly and was very helpful and the bathrooms were very clean.

Really awesome museum! I highly recommend visiting! Probably plan on showing up earlier in the day if you do plan to go.

Great place to explore. The building itself is cool. The planetarium is a great experience. Also do the observatory. Impressive telescope and knowledgeable staff. The other displays throughout are fantastic, but there isn't much change. Still, I enjoyed repeated visits. The manually powered submarine model is fascinating. We went this last time for the eclipse. The staff members really make you feel welcome.

We had a great day at the museum with our 5 yr old grandson! We had a nice lunch at the Cafe and watched the 2 4D films in the theater. The staff in the telescope area were very interactive and helpful.

Wonderful experience. If you want to see everything plan on spending the day. All the employees were super friendly and helpful. We will definitely be going again. We went on a Sunday as the first Sunday of every month general admission is $1 per person.

We love this museum. It’s big, has plenty of interactive exhibits, a nice gift shop and snack area. The exhibits rotate frequently so we’ve been several times and are never bored. The space ones are my favorite and I think the ones most dedicated but the whole museum is wonderful. The planetarium is really nice, every show we’ve seen here has been great, and the prices are so fair. It’s much cheaper to book tickets for the museum and a show than it is the zoo. Covid precautions were enforced and some of the touch exhibits had been removed but I have confidence one day they’ll come back. The art gallery in here is also a must see.