Go to a science museum or a planetarium

A science museum or a planetarium is where you press the buttons, lie back under a dome full of stars, and leave understanding something you didn't that morning. They're built with children in mind, but adults get as much from them, especially on adults-only evenings.

Where to do it

Royal Observatory Greenwich, United Kingdom

Stand on the prime meridian with a foot in each hemisphere, see John Harrison's sea clocks, and catch a show in the Peter Harrison Planetarium. London's Science Museum, free to enter, makes it a two-museum day in the United Kingdom.

Deutsches Museum, Germany

Founded in Munich in 1903, it's one of the world's great museums of science and technology: aircraft, ships, a recreated mine and much more. You won't see it all in a day in Germany, so pick a few halls.

Musée des Arts et Métiers, France

In a former abbey church in Paris, Foucault's pendulum swings to show the Earth turning, among early flying machines and scientific instruments. Across town, the Cité des Sciences adds more hands-on halls in France's capital.

City of Arts and Sciences, Spain

Valencia's futuristic complex of white buildings holds a science museum, the Hemisfèric planetarium and cinema, and an aquarium. In Spain, it's as much an architecture visit as a science one.

Griffith Observatory, United States

On a hill above Los Angeles, with free admission, the Samuel Oschin Planetarium and public telescopes on clear evenings. In Arizona, Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered in 1930, runs night viewing too, so the United States can fill a stargazing trip.

Miraikan, Japan

Tokyo's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, on Odaiba, is known for robots and for Geo-Cosmos, a huge globe of the Earth hanging in the atrium. Exhibits in Japan are labeled in English as well as Japanese.

Questacon, Australia

Canberra's National Science and Technology Centre is built for hands-on play: free falls, lightning and earthquake rooms. It's a family favorite in Australia's capital.

Nikola Tesla Museum, Serbia

In Belgrade, the museum holds Tesla's papers, inventions and the urn with his ashes, and staff demonstrate a Tesla coil. It's small, so join a guided tour in Serbia's capital.

How to make it happen

• Book planetarium shows ahead. They run at set times and smaller domes sell out.
• Look for adults-only evenings. Many science museums run "late" nights with talks and a bar, a different visit from a school-holiday afternoon.
• Avoid the school-trip rush: weekday mornings in term time are busy; afternoons are calmer.
• Check for free entry. Some, like London's Science Museum and Griffith Observatory, are free; others have free days.
• Combine with a night sky viewing at an observatory on a clear evening.
• For the photo, take one at the entrance as well as inside, where a phone's location can drift.

See the real sky at night in your own city, or chase a total eclipse. More ideas: the Close to home chapter.