Pittsburgh Attractions Take Center Stage in USA Today's 10Best Travel Awards 2025

Another year, more big wins from USA Today for Pittsburgh's top attractions

Pittsburgh is in the national spotlight again in USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards! People from around the country came together and voted some of the Steel City's staple locations the best at what they do and are, including a repeat first and second place finish. Here are some of the highlights:

Best History Museum

Heinz History Center (#1)

For the second year in a row, the Heinz History Center has been voted the #1 History Museum in America by readers of USA Today!

The contest featured museums from as far as Kansas that were chosen by an expert panel and voted by readers as the best in the United States.

The Heinz History Center, which was also voted "Pittsburgh's Best Museum" in 2022, is Pennsylvania’s largest history museum where you can see Smithsonian artifacts daily throughout six floors of engaging exhibitions, perfect for visitors of all ages.

The museum’s flagship exhibit, Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation, is where you can flex like Rosie the Riveter, learn about the region’s contributions to the Apollo 11 moon landing mission, and see how Pittsburgh transformed from a steel-making industrial powerhouse to a worldwide leader in technology, medicine, and education.

The Heinz History Center preserves the history of Western Pennsylvanians and helps educate visitors with six floors of interactive exhibits. A highlight is the "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood" exhibit — the show was filmed in Pittsburgh — which displays the welcoming living room set, the Great Oak Tree, and King Friday XIII’s Castle.
USA Today

Best Specialty Food Festival

Picklesburgh (#1)

This is kind of a big dill. After finishing in second place last year, Picklesburgh came back for vengeance and claimed the top spot in USA Today's 10Best ranking of Best Specialty Food Festival for 2025! In 2024, 250,000 people came to Pittsburgh to partake in the fermented fun in Downtown. The food-centered festival will be held from July 11 through July 13 for 2025.

Picklesburgh bills itself as 'the destination for all things pickled.'
USA Today

Best Children's Museum

Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (#2)

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is also a repeat winner, taking home second place for the second year in a row in USA Today's 10 Best Children's Museums in the United States.

Each museum nominated offers interactive and engaging experiences that enthrall and educate kids and adults alike.

The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh provides innovative and inclusive museum experiences that inspire kindness, joy, creativity and curiosity for all learners.

These experiences are all thoughtfully designed to inspire kindness, creativity, curiosity, and joy for all learners.
USA Today

Best Film Festival

Pittsburgh Short Films Festival (#4)

The Pittsburgh Short Films Festival made the short list on this year's USA Today 10Best Best Film Festivals in the country, placing fourth! Perfect for those who can't find the time to sit for hours of feature films, the Short Films Festival lasts four days at the landmark Harris Theater in downtown Pittsburgh. This is the second year in a row the Short Films Festival has made USA Today's List.

The festival is diverse, mixing local and international shorts, and hosts a filmmaker conference, red carpet interviews with guest filmmakers, and live readings by local actors of the festival's script competition winners.
USA Today

Best Botanical Garden

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (#7)

Just in time for spring, Pittsburgh's Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens took seventh place in USA Today's 10Best Best Botanical Gardens in the country! Located in Schenley Park, Phipps is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered a City of Pittsburgh historic landmark. Stop by for an impressive display of orchids, palms, cacti, bonsai and more.

Visitors are consistently awed by the impressive Orchid Room, as well as the renowned collections of palms and cacti.
USA Today

Best Renaissance Festival

Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival (#8)

Huzzah! The Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival took eight place in USA Today's 10Best Best Renaissance Fair voting! Nominated by a panel of experts and voted by readers among the best in the country, the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival, which is tucked away in West Newton (about 40 minutes from the city), allows patrons to fully immerse themselves in a time period from long ago. Featured events include sword swallowing, witch trials, fire-breathers, and medieval foods and refreshments.

Pennsylvanians can step back in time for the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival, where King Henry welcomes all for six weeks of entertainment.
USA Today

Best Art Museum

The Andy Warhol Museum (#10)

The Andy Warhol Museum, located in Pittsburgh's North Side, was named the 10th best art museum in the country by USA Today's panel of experts and voters.

The museum features a diverse collection of art by renowned artist (and Pittsburgher) Andy Warhol.

Warhol's work challenged traditional ideas about art as personal expression and the value of originality. Known for bright pop art pieces, Warhol is considered one of the most important artists of the second half of the 20th century.

At The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, visitors have access to the world's largest collection of Warhol art and archives. Spread across eight floors, the collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, illustrations, prints, and photographs covering Warhol's career from his early days as a student to his last years.
USA Today

Honorable mentions

Van Gogh Exhibition: The Immersive Experience took fourth place in USA Today's Best Immersive Art Experience list. The exhibit features multiple locations and came through Pittsburgh in 2021.

In the same category, Wonderspaces, an interactive and immersive art show that aims to empower people to connect with art and each other, took seventh place. While Pittsburgh isn't one of the multiple locations they're in, there is a Pittsburgh-area artist featured in the show. Ian Brill created Plume, an interactive dome of synchronized light and sound, with support from The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Still time to vote...

More Pittsburgh attractions were nominated for various categories that haven't crowned a winner, and there's still time to vote for your hometown favorites!


Best MLB Stadium: PNC Park
Best Road Cycling Event: Dirty Dozen
Best Food Fall: Federal Galley

Taylor S.

Author

Taylor S.

Content Development Manager

A friendly neighborhood Pittsburgh transplant. Probably at book club, a local coffee shop or thrift store. Tell your pet I said hi.

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