Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science: Entry Ticket

If your heart flutters at the idea of exploring a magical butterfly kingdom, it's time to plan an expedition to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Get your Cockrell Butterfly Center tickets (including the Brown Hall of Entomology) and visit the home of some of the world's most wonderful winged creatures, both alive and preserved.

It's hard not to feel a sense of awe when you enter the museum's three-story glass rainforest conservatory. It's a tropical trail of exotic plants and countless unique butterflies large and small, with a 50-foot waterfall to boot. Don't be shocked if the inhabitants decide to land on you – you're in their home after all.

Having marveled at the wildlife, it's time to get scientific in the Brown Hall of Entomology. The upper level concerns the Amazing World of Arthropods, where you can delve into the creeping, crawling world of insects. From leaf-cutting ants to crime-fighting critters (really!), you'll have a new-found respect for six-legged creatures.

Find educational games and activities in the Land of Beeyond, where there's a giant beehive the little ones can buzz around in. Discover how insects are vital to humans inside Insects and Us. There's even an insect vending machine if you fancy trying a lollipop with a worm in it – words we never thought we would write!