Natural History Museum

Overview

The Natural History Museum is a beautiful, cathedral-like architectural masterpiece housing an awe-inspiring collection of life and earth sciences, focusing intensely on dinosaurs, paleontology, and spectacular geology.

Highlights

• Hope the Blue Whale: The breathtakingly massive 25-metre real blue whale skeleton diving down from the ceiling of the stunning Hintze Hall.
• The Dinosaurs: Incredibly popular, heavily atmospheric darkened galleries packed with complete skeletons and a brilliantly roaring animatronic T-Rex.
• The Architecture: Alfred Waterhouse's stunning "cathedral to nature," a highly detailed Romanesque masterpiece entirely clad in beautiful terracotta specifically to withstand harsh Victorian smog.

History

Originally functioning strictly as the heavily cramped natural history department within the British Museum. It required its own building, spearheaded by superintendent Richard Owen, finally opening its ornate doors to the public in 1881.

Visitor Tips

• School Groups: Avoid arriving early on weekday mornings, as the massive halls will be decidedly swarming with incredibly loud primary school children.
• Earth Hall Entrance: Intentionally skip the famously brutal main Cromwell Road massive queue and use the significantly quieter Exhibition Road entrance.
• Duration: 2.5–3 hours.