From the outside, the facades of the Natural History Museum are already an eye-catcher. But if you take a look inside, the museum not only reflects different eras of evolution, but also impresses with a variety of objects.
Facts
The Natural History Museum in London has been around since the 19th century and is one of the largest natural history museums in the world. Admission is usually free, but a donation is requested at the entrance. Sometimes there are temporary exhibitions for which you have to pay – but these only take up a small part of the museum. It’s open daily (with the exception of the Christmas holidays from 24.12- 26.12) from 10am to 5:50pm, with the last admission at 5:30pm. You could spend a whole day visiting the museum, taking a break in one of the cafés or bistros, or buying some souvenirs in the shop.
The museum is easy to reach. A pedestrian tunnel takes you from South Kensington metro station (Piccadilly Line, Circle & District Line, Zone 1) directly to the gardens in front of the building.
Exhibition
The museum contains approximately 70 million different exhibits. In order to keep track, the permanent exhibition is divided into four different areas – Blue Zone, Orange Zone, Red Zone and Green Zone.
Blue Zone: The Dinosaur Zone
This area is world famous and one of the main attractions. Here you will not only find the skeleton of probably the oldest dinosaur species, but also the first T-Rex skeleton ever discovered. There is also an animated, 8-metre-long model of a T-Rex that can roar and move.
Orange Zone
The Cocoon was opened in 2010 as an extension of the Darwin Centre. This is an 8-storey building that stores millions of insect specimens and plant samples. The two upper floors can be accessed by visitors. On the fifth floor you can find, among other things, tarantulas and butterflies, and in the Darwin Centre courtyard, you will find the wildlife garden.
Red Zone
An earthquake simulator, a 3.5 ton meteorite, jewels, minerals and moon rocks. The Red Zone includes not only the Earth Hall, but also the Volcano and Earthquake Gallery and the From the Beginning Gallery, which is mostly about the universe.
Green Zone: Whale hello there!
This zone is about the evolution of our planet. A 25.2-metre-long skeleton of a blue whale or that of a dodo, minerals, reptiles and many other fossils can be found here.
