Natural History Museum
About the Museum
The Natural History Museum in South Kensington holds about eighty million specimens gathered over more than two and a half centuries, from the first fossils and pressed plants of Sir Hans Sloane to the meteorites and deep sea creatures collected today. It began as a department of the British Museum and moved into its own building on Cromwell Road in 1881. That building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, is itself one of the great exhibits: a cathedral of terracotta in which every column, arch and window is decorated with sculpted animals and plants, living species on the west side and extinct ones on the east.
The collection is arranged in four colour coded zones. The Blue Zone covers dinosaurs, mammals and marine life; the Green Zone has birds, fossil marine reptiles, minerals and the Treasures gallery; the Red Zone, entered from Exhibition Road, tells the story of the planet, from volcanoes and earthquakes to the origins of life; and the Orange Zone holds the Darwin Centre with its working scientists and the wildlife garden.
A first visit should begin in Hintze Hall, where a blue whale skeleton dives from the ceiling, and then follow whichever zone suits your interests. The museum is free to enter, extremely popular with families, and calmest early on weekday mornings during school term. Allow at least three hours, and do not forget to look up.
Before You Go
- General admission is free; only some temporary exhibitions require a ticket, and booking a free timed slot online lets you skip the longest queue.
- The Cromwell Road entrance leads straight into Hintze Hall; the Exhibition Road entrance into the Red Zone is usually quieter and takes you up an escalator through a giant metal globe.
- The Dinosaurs gallery in the Blue Zone is the busiest room in the building; go there first thing or in the last hour before closing.
- The Treasures gallery on the first floor balcony holds twenty two of the most important single objects and is easy to miss; the Vault, with the coloured diamonds, is off the Minerals gallery nearby.
- Photography without flash is allowed throughout the permanent galleries.
- Cloakroom facilities are limited and large luggage is not accepted, so travel light.
Collection Areas
Highlights
12 works. Each work has a full written and audio guide.
