19 Fun & Best Things to Do in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is a vibrant city in the south-central part of Kansas, about 139 miles south of Topeka. It sits at the crossroads of Interstate 35 and State Highway 400, making it easy to access.

What is Wichita, Kansas, known for? Wichita is known by many as the Air Capital of the World. It first earned the moniker in 1928, when the city’s 16 aircraft companies, including Cessna, Boeing, Beechcraft, and Steerman, manufactured over120 airplanes weekly. By the early 1930s, one in four of all planes built in the US were built in Wichita!

What else is Wichita, Kansas, known for? Well, apart from being Kansas’s largest city, cold sufferers everywhere thank Wichita and A.A. Hyde for his discovery of Mentholatum in 1894. The Mentholatum Building still stands in recognition of this unique product, although the company is long gone.

First settled by the Wichita Indian Nation, the city of Wichita was founded in 1864 as a trading post. The Texas Cattle trade fueled the city’s rapid growth, and Wichita eventually became a part of the Chisholm Trail. Wichita was also a stop on the westward bound Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, which ferried settlers from the east into the rapidly expanding western United States.

There are dozens of fun things to do in Wichita and many small museums celebrating the city’s accomplishments. The Pizza Hut Museum chronicles the birth of Pizza Hut restaurants. And the Wichita Toy Train Museum and Great Plains Transportation Museum herald the importance of railways to the region. 

This mid-western city is peppered with urban green space. There are 144 parks and over 5000 acres of parkland throughout the city. The parks range from community-focused to the Arthur B Sims Golf Course. The city has many accommodations, from simple and family-friendly suites to upscale old western style.

Wichitans have a word for the feeling of their city; “Doo-Dah.” It is meant to express feelings of a happy home, good friends, and good food, making Wichita one of the best places to visit. So without further ado, here are some of the best Wichita attractions to hit up.

1. Hotel at Old Town
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Looking for a hotel that’s right in the heart of all the action in Old Town Wichita? Look no further than Hotel at Old Town! This hotel offers turn-of-the-century style furnishings with all the modern…