Natural History Museum

What it is and what you see

The Natural History Museum is London's natural science museum and the most visited attraction in the UK: in 2025 it received more than 7.1 million visitors. It holds some 80 million specimens. The building is already part of the visit: it was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the Romanesque style, opened in 1881 and is clad in terracotta, chosen to withstand the soot of Victorian London. No wonder it is called the "cathedral of nature".

The must-sees:

• Hintze Hall. The great entrance hall, with the skeleton of Hope, a blue whale of about 25 m, hanging from the ceiling since 2017. It replaced Dippy, the diplodocus replica that stood there for 112 years.
• The dinosaur gallery. Skeletons and fossils and a life-size animatronic tyrannosaurus. Go first thing.
• The Earth galleries. You go up an escalator that passes through a great sphere representing the Earth.
• The Darwin Centre. The giant cocoon-shaped building where researchers work and the preserved collections are kept.

Opening hours

Open every day from 10:00 to 17:50, with last entry at 17:30. Closed from 24 to 26 December and the odd day (in 2026, 9 October): check the website before you go.

Entry and booking

The permanent galleries are free. Some temporary exhibitions and activities are paid. You can book a free timed ticket on the museum's website: it is not compulsory, but it guarantees access, and those who have one skip the queue. Bags are checked at the entrance.

How long

Two to three hours for the hall, the dinosaurs and one or two more galleries. With small children, more than three hours is a long time: choose beforehand what you want to see.

Getting there

It is on Cromwell Road, in South Kensington (SW7 5BD). The Tube station is South Kensington. You pay with contactless or Oyster, as we explain in Oyster and contactless. Under-11s travel free with an adult.

With children

It is the London museum for small children: the dinosaurs, the whale and the Earth escalator work from 3 or 4 years old. The tyrannosaurus impresses some little ones: warn them beforehand. There are cloakrooms, toilets, cafés and quiet areas; the museum has accessibility information on its website.

Combine it

The Science Museum is next door, on Exhibition Road: one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, or one each day. For the afternoon, the Uber Boat to Greenwich takes the children out into the fresh air.