A family night at the museum — sleepovers and culture after dark for tots to teens

From drifting off beside a dinosaur skeleton in London to watching dancers on the streets of the Maltese capital Valletta, there are plenty of ways for families to extend cultural fun beyond normal daytime hours and into or even through the night.

1. Natural History Museum, London

Best for: animal fans
Just down the road from the Science Museum, the popular prehistory-themed Dino Snores sleepovers for seven- to 11-year-olds sell out fast. Families get to explore galleries by torchlight, create a dinosaur T-shirt and watch a child-focused show by a resident scientist. VIP (Very Important Palaeontologists) ticket-holders also get a camp bed near Sophie the Stegosaurus, access to an animal-handling show and a snack box for late-night munchies.

2. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Florida

Best for: space nerds
NASA’s epic visitor centre at Cape Canaveral, home of many of the US’s space launches, runs sleepovers in two different but equally thrilling locations: a defunct space orbiter vehicle called Space Shuttle Atlantis or the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where a Saturn V moon rocket is displayed. The experience is aimed at small groups of 10- to 14-year-olds travelling with a chaperone, and has educational elements including STEM-based challenges and scavenger hunts.

3. Science Museum, London

Best for: aspiring astronauts 
Designed for seven- to 11-year-olds, this vast museum dedicated to human ingenuity runs space-inspired Astronights. The experience includes workshops, science shows and sessions in both the museum’s IMAX cinema and its Wonderlab, which has seven zones dedicated to scientific phenomena. If you upgrade to a VIP ticket, you get an airbed instead of a camping mat, plus extra treats at breakfast.

4. British Museum, London

Best for: history-lovers 
Created for eight- to 15-year- olds, the nocturnal adventures at this vast repository of artefacts from around the globe have a changing historic theme. Workshops, activities and storytelling help bring the past vividly to life. Families then bed down in the Egyptian and Assyrian galleries, surrounded by kings and gods from the ancient world. After breakfast the next morning, guests are privy to an exclusive gallery trail before the museum opens to the public.

5. National Museum Cardiff

Best for: budding palaeontologists
As an alternative to the popular Natural History Museum experience in London, this Welsh venue invites kids aged six to 12 on sleepovers centred around its geology and natural history exhibits. It includes a torchlit tour, craft workshops inspired by fossils from the collection and a pre-bedtime movie. VIP ticket-holders also get a visit from ‘Ranger Chris’ with one of his reptiles, time with a palaeontologist and a peek into the museum’s store of dinosaur bones.

6. Grand Théâtre, Geneva

Best for: drama students 
A Swiss institution built in 1879, retaining its original beaux-arts facade, this opera house and ballet venue organises sleepovers open to all ages. Stays include a tour of the building and its maze-like backstage areas, set to a soundtrack of music from days gone by. Afterwards, you’ll bed down with your sleeping mat, sleeping bag or blanket, pillow and teddy bear in the grand foyer with its chandeliers, gilded surfaces, frescoes, wood panelling and lavish paintings.

7. Intrepid Museum, New York City

Best for: Top Gun fans
Travellers to the Big Apple can sleep over in this museum on the Hudson, housed inside a Second World War aircraft carrier. The exhibits focus on American military and maritime history, and Operation Slumber gives families with kids aged six to 17 the opportunity to delve deeper into what it takes to live, eat and sleep aboard an aircraft carrier. The experience includes a torchlight guided tour of the flight deck, unlimited simulator rides and a pop-up planetarium.