Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport, NY 11721

"I bought tickets for the Planetarium without doing much research and unknowingly booked tickets for the Sesame Street show! Wish that information about the shows was easily available from the ticket website. We couldn't change times because we had to catch a train, so we sat through Big Bird and Elmo's adventures in Sesame Street, China, and the moon. It was cute, but I really wish we saw an adult show! We then made our way to the museum portion, and did a quick pass through some rooms. There were a ton of taxidermy animals, preserved marine life, insects, artifacts, and more. We didn't have time for the tour, so walking through the rooms felt like we were missing important information. Good to kill a few hours though."

"Lovely place, but honestly I’m disappointed. A lot of people, including commercial photographers (in my opinion they need to book some separate time. Today it was few photoshoots and I couldn’t walk through some spots because they were occupied with equipment). Also mansion tour was very unclear. We wanted to purchase tickets for house tour and lady in reception said it’s all included in general admission. We only saw few rooms that were open for public and were highly disappointed, thinking it’s all that’s left from the mansion. In reality there is more to see, but it’s separate tour with a guide and I don’t know how it works. I saw in other comment last tour is at 3:30, and that’s the time we arrived. But nobody explained us anything. The rooms that were open though, had that “old” smell. Probably it wasn’t restored in a while. I think it worth a visit if you live nearby, but try to go early in the morning t avoid crowds and make sure you know how to get that mansion tour, and hopefully you will get better experience than I did. Update: I came back 4 months after original review. This time my experience went much better. I got to go inside the mansion with a tour. It was really interesting, great tour guide and amazing history of the place. Also, this time I visited in September and it was way less people than in June. So if you could, I recommend to go “of season” to avoid crowds. So overall I got satisfied with my experience. The main thing is - do research before you go. First time we were not properly explained, that there is few open rooms in mansion, and it’s not the whole house. To see the whole house you need to book a tour with tour guide and the last tour of the day at 3:30. So make sure you know all of that and don’t get disappointed like I did the first time!"

"I visited this museum for the first in July, and I fell in love with it. It has a beautiful ground with a great view of the Long Island Sound, and there are multiple museums within it. The planetarium shows are ok. I highly recommend the mansion tour. Our tour guide was great and kept the group interested. I purchased a membership for two after my first tour. It really pays to be a member. I've made three trips so and it already paid off. Planetarium shows and mansion tours are included in the admission fee. I also like that there are carts that can take visitors and members from the Planetarium to the mansion if they are unable to walk the distance. It is also a nice place to have a picnic. Parking is free, and there is no admission fee to visit the grounds."

"This is a hidden gem. We stopped here unplanned after seeing it on Google maps. It's a beautiful Spanish revival style mansion and planetarium. We bought a 11 dollar ticket for a cool one hour show. It was neat. After we self toured the mansion which includes a collection of taxidermy, specimens, and even a mummy. It was a fun way to spend a Sunday."