A Day At The MUseum (Natural History Museum (Salzburg))

Member Name: Jamie73

Product:	Natural History Museum (Salzburg)
Date:	24/02/07 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Full of information and great interaction diplays

Disadvantages: Not very good disabled access

Me and my girlfriend went on holiday to Salzburg Austria recently. So it has given me the chance to do a review on another local tourist attraction that we went to while we stayed there.
This review is on the Salzburg Nature Museum, and as we both share an interest in animals and nature it was an ideal place for us to visit.

Getting There.

The Salzburg Nature Museum is situated in the City centre of Salzburg. By bus from our hotel it was only a 20 minute journey to get to the relevant stop on the bus route to jump of and walk the short distance by foot.
You can if you wish get a bus direct to the Museum, but we are quite fit and it was a lovely day, we decided to walk the short distance through the City to get there.
The Museum is situated in the Griesgasse region of the City and is very close to the River Boat Cruise pier.
When you get to Salzburg you can easily pick up City maps denoting the location of the Museum, so you will have no trouble finding it I'm sure………we didn't!

On Arrival
As you approach the Museum you are greeted by steps to the entrance although there is a disabled concrete entrance to the left to use as well. You enter through a large heavy set of double doors, with nice brass handles which had a motive of a T -Rex on them, which I thought was a nice touch .

The Ticket Booth is on your right, and here you pay to enter and are asked in what language you want the guide to be. We got in for free as we had purchased a Salzburg card which enables you free entry to many attractions throughout Salzburg, and surrounding areas.

The Ground Floor
On the ground Floor is a spacious room which does have a full life figure of a T-Rex and a Triceratops, and a pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling too. The T-rex does actually move at the head and roar to really give you the desired effect.

The First Floor

Turning left up a few steps was my favourite part of the Museum which housed the Aquariums.In the centre was a very large Aquarium with an array of fish inside ,some with outstanding colour and character.My favourite in this tank was the Stingrays which gratuitously swan around the bottom of the tank.
Around the perimeter of the room were tanks everywhere with so many fish in them I couldn't begin to mane them all(I'm not that good on my tropical fish).But I could of sat here forever and lost myself with my thoughts as I watched them swimming about their tanks.
There were cold water tanks housing salmons and also a Discus tank housing beautiful Discus Fish. There was also Piranha tanks, Lobster tanks, and tanks with corals and the native species that inhabit these corals too.
The main tank on this Ground floor section of the museum housed the 'Marine tank' which had a central coral column and had Sharks in as well.

The Second Floor

On this floor was the Universe section. This gave you a complete tour of the universe and the planets.Here you could stand on scales to see how much you would weigh on each of the planets, and I must say standing on Pluto I was a very stick like 2 stone! It also told you about space exploration and the lunar landing etc.I found this a very interesting floor indeed.

The Third Floor
This comprised a number of sections. These were the Nature section, which made you walk through areas of simulated woodland and caves. Here you could see stuffed animals and press a lot of buttons to make the animal calls of the associated animals on display.
There are plenty of information boards in English for you to read on your way round this section. Which are very educational?
Also on this floor was a section about the Alps, and how it has developed over the centuries as a living area, and the flooding that has occurred over the years from glacier melts. There are so many interactive areas to get involved with here, so it was again a very informative and educational floor to look through.

The Fourth Floor.

This housed the reptile Zoo, which we both loved a lot. Now my girlfriend keeps reptiles herself so it was of great interest to her and to me.
Here you had many vivariums housing snakes and lizards of many desciptions.
I loved the big Crocodile tank on this floor, with two crocs inside just lazing on the bottom of the tank hoping probably someone would fall in!
There were various snakes including Adders, Rattle Snacks and Grass snakes from many regions of the world.
We were disappointed that half this section was closed on our visit for cleaning, but we never the less saw a great deal in this section of the Museum.

On this floor also was a Forest section, which showed you how the Forests of the world have changed over the Milleniums and how fossilised tree remains are study to help us determine the environment of the Planet at the time of the Dinosaurs.

Top Floor
On this floor was a small restaurant serving snacks, cold and hot drinks. We never ate or drank here, but looking at the menu board behind the counter the prices was reasonable to say the least.
On walking past the restaurant you enter a Local animals and insect section.

Here you will find a array of stuffed animals form regions throughout the world from Camels,Zebra,Wild Dogs,Lions,and Polar Bears to name a few.
The insect section was very interesting as it showed you how the butterflies and moths develop from a caterpillar through its cycle of change.
It has an Antery and a Wormery which is interesting to view, and I found this section very educational.

Now I have probably missed out a section or a small percentage of the Museum as it was so vast, but when you visit I would allow at least 3-4 hours to tour the museum.
The access as I mentioned earlier is suitable for the less abled bodied and there is a lift adjacent the main staircase which gives you access to each floor too.

Prices
Adult entry is 7.60 euros.
Children entry is 2.50 euros.

But with the Salzburg card it is entirely free, although we did attempt to go to it twice and the lady on the desk explained that we had already had our card swiped so we couldn't really go in again! We both gave her a smile and acted like thickos and she let us in again, so we actually went here twice!

Opening hours of the museum is 9am to 5 pm and last entry to the Museum is 1 hour before closing, but this just wouldn't give you enough time to do the Museum in full.

Many thanks for reading this review, and I hope it encourages you to visit should you go to Salzburg on any holiday whether a week or over a long weekend.

Summary: A great educational day out for people of all ages.