Natural History Museum

🤓Tours

Skip the maze and do the Natural History Museum with a guide. You’ll follow a smart route through the best rooms, meet icons like Sophie the Stegosaurus, get close to the Dodo skeleton, and catch standout pieces like Iguanodon teeth and Darwin’s first edition of On the Origin of Species.
From £83
Natural History Museum
#10

⭐ Highligts

Hintze Hall Whale

Iconic blue whale skeleton

Suspended in 2017, the 25-metre blue whale ‘Hope’ replaced the famous Diplodocus cast to highlight ocean conservation.

View from the balcony first, then stand under the jaw curve.

📍 Hintze Hall, central nave

Dinosaurs Gallery

Crowd-favourite fossils

From a roaring T. rex to fossil skulls, this gallery traces 230 million years of evolution and extinction.

Go early; pause at the moving T. rex for photos.

📍 Blue Zone, Ground Floor

Minerals and Gems

Stunning crystals and meteorites

Thousands of specimens reveal Earth’s chemistry, including iron meteorites that travelled millions of kilometres.

Find the giant amethyst geode; compare natural vs cut facets.

📍 Red Zone, Upper Floor

Darwin Centre Cocoon

Behind-the-scenes science

Opened in 2009, this eight-storey ‘Cocoon’ houses 22 million specimens and working labs visible to visitors.

Follow the spiral path to peek into real collection stores.

📍 Orange Zone

Earth Hall Escalator

Journey through the planet

A glowing escalator carries you through a metallic globe into galleries on volcanoes, quakes and deep time.

Ride up, then turn back for a dramatic photo of the sphere.

📍 Red Zone, entrance

Opening Hours

Sunday: 10:00 – 17:50
Monday: 10:00 – 17:50
Tuesday: 10:00 – 17:50
Wednesday: 10:00 – 17:50
Thursday: 10:00 – 17:50
Friday: 10:00 – 17:50
Saturday: 10:00 – 17:50

The Natural History Museum is a cathedral to nature, housed in Alfred Waterhouse's terracotta dream. In Hintze Hall, a 25-metre blue whale called Hope sweeps overhead, replacing the beloved Diplodocus cast to spotlight ocean conservation. Nearby, dinosaurs roar for children and fossil lovers alike, while minerals and meteorites shimmer with Earth's geology. The Darwin Centre's eight-storey Cocoon reveals how scientists actually work, storing millions of specimens for future research. It's free to enter; book a timed ticket in peak months. Map your visit by colour-zoned wings-Blue for life, Red for Earth, Green for birds and ecology-and start early if dinosaurs are a must. Bring water, take balcony views of Hope, and allow two to three unhurried hours.

📖 Wikipedia🌐 WebsiteGoogle Maps

🤓 Fun Facts

The museum opened in 1881 and now holds about 80 million specimens.

‘Hope’ the blue whale measures around 25 metres and was installed in 2017.

The Darwin Centre Cocoon, opened in 2009, stores 22 million insect and plant specimens.

In 2023 the museum welcomed roughly 5.7 million visitors, among the UK’s busiest attractions.

The museum’s Romanesque building by Alfred Waterhouse uses 12 million terracotta tiles.

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