A Museum Full of History (Natural History Museum (London))

Member Name: AJ26

Product:	Natural History Museum (London)
Date:	05/02/09 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to see, free admission, great for all ages, great exhibits

Disadvantages: Might get busy at peak times

The Natural History Museum is located on Cromwell Road in London and is near to the South Kensington tube station. We visited the museum via the tube station and there is an underground subway which takes you almost to the museum and then you only have a 2 minute walk to the door. Which was great for us as the day we visited it was pouring with rain. The same subway also takes you right into the V&A museum and to the Science Museum too.

If you want to travel by bus the buses that stop near by are the 14, 49, 70, 74, 345, 360, 414 and C1. There isn't much car parking nearby so they advise you not to come by car.

Admission to the museum is free although children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. You are encouraged to give a donation and there are plenty of boxes in which you can do so throughout the museum.

We visited London for a holiday recently and this was one of my top museums that I wanted to visit. The fact that it was free was a big deciding factor as we were already spending quite a bit on going to the theatre so being able to save some money during the day whilst visiting things was a bonus.

The Natural History Museum is situated in an amazing large old building. When you enter the security ask to check your bag and ask if you have any sharp implements. There are guidebooks for sale or you can just pick up one of the free maps giving information and a map.

The museum is separated into four coloured zones.

The Orange Zone consists of the Wildlife Garden which is situated outside but which we were unable to visit because the gardens were closed as they were preparing for Fashion Week and some events were happening outside. It also was very wet on the day we visited so probably would not have gone outside anyway. The other feature is the Darwin Centre however this is only available for tours so we could not visit this.

The Blue Zone includes the Dinosaurs, Human Biology and Mammals amongst other things. The Dinosaur zone is probably the feature that the museum has spent most money on recently. It is quite a big zone and well set out with a mixture of moving models, real bones and casts of dinosaur skeletons. The exhibits are well set out with information and easy to read information points for children too. The exhibit has high walkways to view the exhibits from different angles. I like the T-Rex moveable exhibit which was quite fun to watch. I also learned an interesting fact should I ever need to escape from T-Rex that if he had tripped and fallen the fall would have killed him because of his height and weight. Worth knowing if you ever have to run away just trip him up!

I also enjoyed the mammal zone although some of the exhibits do look a little dated. Seeing the size of a blue whale was quite amazing they really are huge.

The Human Biology exhibit was also really interesting especially as they have lots of interactive things for you to play with. The museum has also updated this fairly recently they still have the old interactive exhibits which look quite dated compared to the new mainly computer based interactive features. There are lots of buttons to push, quizzes to do, psychology and memory tests, lots of fun to keep all ages occupied.

The Green Zone lets you find out about planet earth and our environment and includes a big collection of birds, creepy crawlies and minerals which are still displayed in their original Victorian cabinets.

Then finally is the Red Zone includes the earth lab, restless surfaces and earth today and tomorrow. We ran out of time in these zones so didn't go round them all. That's for another visit.

Facilities

There are plenty of toilets situated at several locations around the museum including disabled toilets and baby changing facilities. There are also various food and drink facilities including a self-service restaurant, café, snack bar and a sandwich shop.

No museum is complete without the necessary gift shop and the Natural History Museum boasts three shops, the museum shop, the Dino Store and the Earth Store. I did note that the Dino store is conveniently located right outside the exit of the Dinosaur exhibition so kids come out and then beg Mum or Dad to take them into the shop and buy an overpriced dinosaur!! I did enjoy a look round but wasn't tempted to part with my cash although some of the cuddly dinosaurs did look quite cute!

Opening Times

The museum is open daily between 10am and 17.50pm. The last admission is at 17.30pm. The museum is closed between the 24th December and the 26th December.


My Thoughts

I loved this museum, it really is a great place to visit and you could spend so much time here or visit on several occasions and still not see it all. If I lived in London it's a place I would go back to time and time again because it is just so interesting. There were lots of mums (or nannies?) with young children and it seemed a great place to keep youngsters entertained. The fact that it is free is just amazing and great as it means everyone is able to go and see it whether they have lots of money to spend on sightseeing or not.

There is something there for all ages from the youngest to the old. We came across a few school parties who seemed to be having a great time in the human biology section playing on the interactive games and also having a childish giggle at the pictures of the bodies!

The exhibits are really interesting but even if they weren't its worth going just to look at the amazing building housing the museum and the architecture. The stonework is amazing with carved animals and birds adorning archways and pillars. It's really quite breathtaking.

We visited on a weekday in January and arrived shortly after the opening time, we didn't have to queue to get it and although there were a fair number of people there it didn't seem very busy as its such a big museum. We did get stuck behind a school party in the human biology section and then it was harder to see things and also very noisy as they ran from one thing to the next, so we sped past them and enjoyed the rest of the exhibit in relative peace and quiet. I can imagine that on weekends and holidays it would get really busy so it might be best to try and go early in the day or later in the afternoon or just be prepared for it to be really busy.

I really enjoyed myself and I will definitely go back for another visit sometime. If you find yourself in London with some time to spare go and check it out for yourself I am sure you will be impressed (and if you're not then you won't have wasted any money!) The museum is also located very close to the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert museum and all three are accessible from the South Kensington tube stop and by walking through the subway. So it's a great way to spend a morning or a whole day.

Summary: A museum in London full of history and things to see and do. Well worth a visit.