An Honest Review of Wichita, Kansas

After spending 9 months on a work assignment in Topeka, Kansas, we eventually made time to check out Wichita over a three-day weekend. And while we’re going to highlight the 8 Best Things to do in Wichita, Kansas because we don’t want to be guilty of false advertising, we’re also going to tell it like it is because we’re mostly honest people.

This is a hell of a way to begin an article. We are the Hoffmann’s. If you’ve never read one of our pieces, we enjoy being harsh when it’s due. While we typically highlight sights and attractions pleasingly, some places just rub us the wrong way. In those cases we write an Honest Review, which means we say things we might normally leave unsaid. So if you’re looking for an uplifting, gushy review of Wichita, this won’t be it.

Ask anyone in Kansas and they’ll badmouth Wichita. Words like lame, dull, boring, dump, etc., are commonly used to describe the largest city in the state. I’ve met plenty of people who live there or have done so in the past and none of them speak fondly of the town. Wichita is tolerated, at best.

For a city of almost 400K people you would expect quite a bit more fun and excitement. Perhaps you’d anticipate a more vibrant downtown in the largest city of any state. I don’t know. By comparison, Topeka is absolutely riveting and is home to about 1/3 the population.

To denigrate Wichita even further, the nearby town of Hutchinson (only 30 minutes away) has two better attractions than anything Wichita can muster, and it houses but 1/10th the population!

Wichita is like the regrettable boyfriend you kept around during that post-college depression. Set your expectations low, accept the pajama pants and stubble, because Wichita isn’t trying to impress anyone.

Now in All Fairness…

There are some agreeable excursions to spend a bit of time exploring in the “Air Capitol of the World.” However, since we’re being more frank than usual, even the places we’ve chosen to highlight will be tinged with disparagement.

Hold On Now: Before you run off to a less piquant article, be sure to learn about all the best things to do in the state of Kansas. Just because Wichita struggles to merit the weight of its salt doesn’t mean the state of Kansas fails to deliver the goods. Quite the opposite, actually. As I recently read on a t-shirt, Kansas: It isn’t all that bad! True story and truer statement.

Here’s one last attempt to calibrate your expectations. You know how when you first see a city and something catches your eye? Perhaps it’s a skyline or a glorious bridge, or maybe it’s the backdrop of a mountain. Well, that isn’t going to happen here. Nothing in Wichita catches the eye. Nothing looks shiny, stately, or curious (except what you see in the photo above). In no way will you be visually stimulated by this sprawling, proletariat abode.

Get used to it. You’re in Wichita, Kansas now. You’re going to have to work for your eye candy here, and that’s where the Hoffmann’s come in. What follows are what we believe to be the 8 Best Things to do in Wichita, Kansas as part of our honest Wichita, Kansas review. We hope you enjoy.

One last thing… if you decide you enjoy these Honest Reviews, we’ve written a few of them over the past couple of years. We’ll post links at the bottom of the article. In addition to that, we’ll answer the age-old question, Is Wichita worth visiting?

Botanica, The Wichita Gardens

We had the splendid fortune to visit at a time when the butterflies were migrating south to Mexico. It was quite an incredible experience.

This is a smaller botanical garden in the grand scheme of what we’ve witnessed in other cities around the nation. What they do have is very nice and makes for a pleasant stroll for 2-4 hours.

Highlights are: The Margie Button Fountain Garden; the Downing Children’s Garden; the Carousel; and the area around the Jayne Milburn Aquatic Collection.

Related Article: Complete Guide to Topeka, Kansas

Museum of World Treasures

Dr. Jon and Lorna Kardatzke of Wichita, Kansas, are the founders of the Museum of World Treasures. He started his collection of historical artifacts when he was 16 years old, and through the years, they visited a vast number of historical sites and added to the collection. 

This place has a little bit of everything and is definitely worth visiting. Every major war war since the Revolutionary War is represented with a wide array of artifacts, as well as an assortment of artifacts for ancient Egypt and Asia.

Highlights are: Dinosaur skeletons; collection of coins from ancient Rome representing most significant emperors; rocks and minerals collection; and an impressive collection of US Presidential letters and sentiments.

Frank Lloyd Wright Allen House

Frank Lloyd Wright was a true architectural master and genius, and this is one of the finest single family dwellings he ever conceived. At one point in time Mr. Allen had presidential aspirations, so these were pretty important people in the region.

This was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s last prairie-style homes and exemplifies Wright’s philosophy of living in harmony with nature and his interest in Japanese design. The house’s living and dining rooms wrap around a sunken garden with a pond and Japanese koi fish. And speaking of the living room… it might just be the single finest room I’ve ever laid eyes on. I wanted to move into that room for the rest of my life.

Allen House tours last 2-3 hours. If you’ve never taken a tour of a Frank Lloyd Wright house, this is a good one to catch. Here’s a LINK to the website.

If you love to travel, we have something we would like to give you. It is our professionally designed e-book and it is FREE of charge. We think it’s pretty great, and we’re hopeful you’ll like it, too. It’s called, “Cultivating a Lifetime of Travel”. Click HERE. and we’ll send it on over!

Naval Aviation Museum: Wichita, Kansas Review

This is a fine little aviation museum at the old Wichita Airport that is certainly worth the $10 admission. Here you will find placards that elucidate on the history of aviation, Wichita aviation, including how women and minorities gained their place in the story.

Throughout the facility are an abundance of old planes taking up most every square inch of their respective rooms. Outside on the airfield are an assortment of planes, some commercial, some military, that you can peer into or even walkabout inside.

Don’t forget to find your way to the tower to get the best view in the house!

Exploration Place

Exploration Place is Wichita’s rendition of a children’s museum science center. The reviews were strong so I anticipated perhaps a bit too much.

The Good: The structure itself is something to behold and makes for an interesting scramble to work your way through the exhibits. The aviation section of the museum is fantastic. We absolutely loved the flight simulator despite our inadequacies keeping our bird in the air. And the collection of nebula photographs was mesmerizing.

The Bad: Overall it left things to be desired. Maybe this is top drawer for Wichita, but it falls short of other science center-type facilities we’ve encountered in other cities.

Related Article: Things to do in Lawrence, Kansas

The Arcade: Things to do in Wichita, Kansas

If arcades are your thing (or you love your children), then this is a great place to take the family. They have over 100 classic arcade games in full-working order (link to list of games). The cost is $12 per adult and $10 for kids 10-and-under to play unlimited games from open to close.

It’s a really good deal. And they also have a surprisingly good pizza restaurant, too!

Hours are: Monday – Thursday: 5pm – 11pm; Friday & Saturday: 11am – 1am; Sunday: 11am – 11pm.

Walk Along the River

So we’re starting to wind down in the more effusive praiseworthy destinations and just filling the space with merely adequate ones.

Wichita has clearly put in effort to beautify the riverside part of the city. Perhaps this is the only part of the city to receive this sort of treatment. Mostly the city is old and haggard. That’s the reality of Wichita.

But here along the river you can stroll alongside the city and take in some adequate views. You’ll get an excellent look at Exploration Place, with it’s unusual design. And of course the Keeper of the Plains statue standing 44-feet tall is a noteworthy highlight (see top photo).

Old Town / Downtown: Wichita, Kansas Review

Honestly, there’s not much here and it isn’t much to look at. We walked all over this town to catch the vibe and see what we could see, and a couple hours later we left perfectly whelmed.

The Old Town part of downtown Wichita has some appealing character and a smattering of bars and restaurants. The Museum of World Treasures and The Arcade are found here.

The rest of downtown is mildly stimulating, but fails to deliver as much as expected from a town of 400,000 residents. I guess the people in Wichita just spend their evenings at home. While there’s nothing wrong with that, Wichita, Kansas doesn’t provide much excitement for visitors.

Related Article: A day in Manhattan, Kansas

An Honest Conclusion: Things to Do in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas is a weird little town (that’s not so little), and is clearly a working town more than a tourist stopover. We’d argue that it’s a fine place to live and raise kids, but no one is saying that in Eastern Kansas.

So what are we left to think? There’s not much to see. Apparently it’s not a great place to live. There aren’t many places nearby — Oklahoma City is two hours south; Topeka is two hours north; Hutchinson and Emporia are within an hour, but ain’t nobody clamoring for that.

To be fair, Hutchinson’s Salt Mine and Cosmosphere are both incredible. The town is just ok.

But Back to Wichita… If you come to town be sure to see the Frank Lloyd Wright Allen House (if that’s your sort of thing), and the Botanic Gardens, Naval Aviation Museum, and Museum of World Treasures are fine ways to distract yourself for a long weekend.

If you find yourself here due to work, heaven help you, we hope you are blessed with a community of fine people to pass the time. And If you’re just moving on through, take a gander at what’s available and don’t lie to others about what you saw.

But if you have options — and I mean ANY options — seek entertainment elsewhere. If that isn’t clear, let us put it this way: Is Wichita worth visiting? No. It most certainly is not.

We say this will all due respect for the people who live in Wichita, Kansas. Chances are they would agree with our assessment.

Thank you for stopping by our website! We are the Hoffmann family, a full-time RV family that has split residence in Seattle, Washington and San Antonio, Texas. We have special needs children that we homeschool, and work travel assignments for the Veteran Affairs Hospital. If you would like to learn more about us, check out our Start Here and Biography pages. In the meantime, God bless and travel happy!

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