Are you looking for ideas on how to spend a weekend in Omaha with kids? Look no further, this is the perfect family-friendly weekend itinerary. In fall of 2021, a couple of months after our last baby was born, we decided we needed a weekend getaway before my oldest started her last year of preschool. We wanted somewhere within a few hours of home, with lots of things to do to keep our 2 & 4 year old entertained. So we settled on a long weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.
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If you have spent much time exploring the Midwest, you have probably heard about the fantastic Omaha zoo. And let me tell you, it is fantastic! But Omaha has so many other things to offer as well! If you are looking to plan a weekend in Omaha with kids, read on to see our full itinerary and recommendations on things to do and see.
We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in downtown Omaha. We got a 2 bedroom suite, which fit our family of 5 perfectly. The location was great, and we were within walking distance to several restaurants and cafes.
Lee Simmons Wildlife Safari Park is located on Highway 80, about 45 minutes south of Omaha in Ashland, Missouri. Since we would drive right past it on our way into town, we decided to spend our first afternoon here. We left our home in Wichita on Thursday morning, and arrived early afternoon to the park.
The Wildlife Safari Park is a 400-acre drive thru adventure zoo that takes visitors through several different “lands”, including wetlands, an aviary, Jurassic adventure, bison plains, prairie dog town, and more. The animals roam freely throughout the park, which gives you the chance to see some of them up close and personal.
The road through the park is not paved, but the speed limit is only 7mph, so we let our kids unbuckle from their car seats so they could have a better view out of the windows at some of the animals. We saw elk, bison, bald eagles, deer, and so many prairie dogs! There are several places along the path to get out of your vehicle and view animals up close.
There is a short, kid friendly hike through some of the wooded area that takes you up to a lookout tower over the river, and a small enclosure up by the visitors center with several different species of animals in cages. We got lucky and were there when they were feeding the owls, which my kids loved.
There’s a kid friendly playground right next to the visitor’s center, and they do sell snacks and drinks there. There are several statues for photo ops as well. We had a great time here, and my kids loved how unique of a zoo it was. We spent about 3 hours here, and then loaded up and headed on into Omaha.
Things to know:
If you have never been to Omaha, you need to plan a trip just to visit this incredible zoo. Seriously. By far the best zoo I have ever been to.
Also note that this zoo is huge. We are pretty efficient in making it through 90% of any given zoo in a day, but this zoo was the exception. If you want to see everything, you definitely need 2 days to visit. My recommendation is to pick the exhibits top on your list and make sure you hit those first. I will cover our favorite parts of the zoo in this post, since we definitely didn’t make it through everything.
We started our morning here by checking out the aquarium, which is right by the main entrance. They have an awesome touch tank, where my kids loved touching different kinds of starfish. Don’t miss this adorable photo opportunity right outside the aquarium with these giant sea turtles!
The butterfly and insect Pavilion was gorgeous, and one of my very favorite parts! Make sure you stop here, especially in the summer! The flowers were gorgeous, and there were butterflies everywhere.
The sea lion exhibit was another family favorite! If you are there at the right time, you can catch them performing a show. Then make sure to walk to the other side of the exhibit to view them swimming under the water. Right outside the exhibit is an amazing splash pad, if you need to cool off on a hot, Midwestern day! By the time we made it to this exhibit, it was pretty close to closing time, so we didn’t let our kids get wet. But it looked so fun, and they were definitely disappointed that they didn’t get to play!
Make sure you check out the rainforest exhibit also. It’s the largest indoor rainforest in the US, and has animals from Africa, Asia and South America. We loved trying to spot the hippos from the walkway up above, watching the monkeys and parrots in the trees above us, and admiring the large waterfall.
The dessert dome is another can’t miss. The enormous 88,000 square foot dome is separated into 2 levels, with the desert on the upper level, and Kingdom of the Night, the world’s largest nocturnal exhibit, on the lower level.
Entering the desert dome feels like you are entering a whole different world. It’s spectacular. There is a giant mountain in the middle of the dome separating different sections of the desert. You will find all kinds of desert vegetation, along with snakes, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and so much more.
I cannot wait to go back to this zoo someday! We spent the entire day here, from open to close, and still did not see everything we wanted to see. Definitely bring lots of water, snacks, sunscreen and a wagon or stroller for your littles. There is a ton of walking. We took a midday break on the train, which was loved by all, and was a great way to see parts of the zoo we didn’t make it to.
Admission:
If you are traveling with littles to Omaha, the Children’s Museum is a must do!
They have tons of exhibits that your kids will love, so prepare to spend the whole day here! We started off at the Imagination Playground, where my kids were obsessed with the pretend grocery store and restaurant! There is also a bank, car repair shop, hospital, barn and huge water table. They seriously spent so much time here pretending, it was so much fun.
There’s an amazing art and creation exhibit, a huge area dedicated to STEM and science, a splash pad and playground, and a working carousel upstairs. They also have rotating exhibits that change out every few months, so check their website to see what’s new before your visit.
We ate lunch at their little cafe upstairs, and they had a decent selection of kid friendly meals at a good price if you don’t want to pack your lunch.
We spent the entire day at the museum, and our kids were sad to leave when it was closing time.
Admission:
After we left the museum, we headed back to our hotel to find some dinner. We ended up at Blatt Beer & Table, which was a quick, 5 minute walk from our hotel. The food and atmosphere were great, and they had lots of kid friendly items to choose from on the menu.
On our last day in Omaha, we headed to the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge. It’s a massive, 3,000 foot pedestrian bridge that crosses the Missouri river. One side of the bridge is in Nebraska, and the other side is in Iowa. We had fun walking across and straddling the line, standing in two places at once.
If you walk all the way across the bridge to the Iowa side, make sure to check out River’s Edge Pavillion. There are some really neat statues, a great playground, and a restaurant to stop and grab lunch.
After you cross the bridge and come back to the Nebraska side, make sure to check out Omar the troll underneath. He is an iconic character of the area, so be sure to grab a photo with him. There is also a visitor’s center, and several other neat statues to check out.
After we finished checking out the pedestrian bridge, we headed to the Omaha Union Station. This is a really neat, historic museum in downtown Omaha that used to be the main transportation center of the city.
Start by enjoying the stunning architecture of the main room before you head into the exhibits. They have several permanent exhibits, such as a prairie town and grocery store, model trains, and real trains that you can tour. They also have rotating exhibits that change out every few months; you can check on the current exhibit on their website.
We spent about 2 hours here, and my kids really enjoyed watching the model trains drive around, and wandering through the real trains and streetcars. The museum tells about the rich history of trains in the city, and we found it to be a great stop where we learned a lot. If you’re looking for somewhere to spend a couple hours with your littles, this is a great stop.
One of our favorite things to do when visiting a new city is to learn some of the history behind it. We love to take guided tours to see the city while we learn about it. So we decided to take a riverboat tour up the Missouri river. We booked our tour through River City Star.
The tour was just over an hour long and took us on a 1940’s era paddlewheel style riverboat. The lower deck was fully enclosed, and the upper deck was partially shaded.
There wasn’t a ton of commentary on this family-friendly tour, so unfortunately we didn’t feel like we learned a ton of history about the city, but the views were nice and our kids thought riding on a huge boat was the coolest thing ever. We paid $20 a ticket, so not sure we really got our money’s worth on this adventure, but it is a neat memory to have.
After our boat docked, we headed back to our car to start the 5 hour drive back to Wichita.
We had such a fantastic weekend in Omaha, and it is such a great place to see in the Midwest. If you are visiting Omaha with kids, there are some really great things to see and do here. I can’t wait to go back! Do you have any family-friendly favorites in Omaha? Let me know in the comments!