Unofficial visitor guide · London
Official audio guides · English Yes · 1 language · Free
The Natural History Museum in South Kensington cares for more than 80 million specimens, from Hope the blue whale in Hintze Hall to the Dinosaurs Gallery, and general admission is free. Its audio guides are free too, and they are in English: you play them on your own phone. Personal photography is allowed, so you can photograph a label and listen to it in your own language.
Independent guide by the makers of Tales of Museums. Not affiliated with the Natural History Museum.
Checked on 21 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Natural History Museum website before you go.
Checked on 21 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Natural History Museum website before you go.
Swipe for the works and stories worth knowing before you go.
The 25-metre skeleton is a young female that stranded on a sandbar near Wexford, Ireland, on 25 March 1891. The Museum bought the skeleton for £250 and it reached London in 1892. Since 2017 it has hung in a diving pose with the mouth open, as if lunge feeding on krill.
nhm.ac.uk: Hope the blue whale · nhm.ac.uk: Hintze Hall audio guide transcript
In 1840 the showman Albert Koch built a 'Missouri Leviathan' twice the real size from these bones, with extra vertebrae and tusks set sideways. Richard Owen bought it in 1844 for $2,000 plus $1,000 a year for life, then remounted it correctly. It was the first accurate mastodon mount anywhere.
Found on the Isle of Wight by Reginald Hooley in 1914, this dinosaur was known for more than 80 years as a species of Iguanodon until it was renamed in 2007. The skeleton is 80–90% real bone, and moved from the Dinosaurs Gallery to Hintze Hall in 2017.
This four-metre fish was found on a beach in South Wales in 2016, the first complete blue marlin washed up on British shores. Blue marlin live far out in warm seas, so the Museum's fish curator reads the find as a possible signal of climate change.
Look for part of the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered and the first Iguanodon skeleton known to science, as well as a Triceratops skull and the armoured Scolosaurus. Families come for the roaring animatronic T. rex.
nhm.ac.uk: Dinosaurs Gallery · nhm.ac.uk: Family favourites self-guided tour
Three metres tall and almost six metres long, Sophie is one of the most complete Stegosaurus skeletons on display in Europe. She stands in Earth Hall in the East Wing, and the Museum's guided highlights tour starts with her.
nhm.ac.uk: Earth Hall and Stegosaurus · nhm.ac.uk: Museum Highlights Tour
A small triangle of 296 naturally coloured diamonds, from yellow-green to pink, assembled over years by the New York collectors Alan Bronstein and Harry Rodman. Only about one diamond in 10,000 counts as 'fancy' coloured, and several in this set glow blue under ultraviolet light.
nhm.ac.uk: how do coloured diamonds form? · nhm.ac.uk: The Vault
London Zoo's much-loved western lowland gorilla now stands at the right-hand entrance of the Treasures Gallery, at the top of Hintze Hall's grand staircase. The Museum calls him its visitors' favourite in the gallery.
nhm.ac.uk: twelve highlights of the Treasures Gallery · nhm.ac.uk: Treasures in the Cadogan Gallery
This Late Jurassic fossil, sometimes called the earliest bird, is the first Archaeopteryx skeleton ever found. It is the type specimen, the one every other Archaeopteryx is compared with. A cast is in the Birds Gallery.
Workmen digging out the filled-in moat of the Tower of London in 1937 found this skull. The lion lived in the royal zoo at the Tower about 700 years ago, and it is the oldest lion found in the UK since native wild lions died out.
Tales of Museums reads the label in front of you aloud in your language, for any label you can photograph. The Museum lists free Wi-Fi in its cafés and restaurants, so bring mobile data for the galleries too, and your own headphones.
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Only in English. The Museum's 24 audio guides are free and you play them on your own phone, either in the Museum or at home. The best known is the audio-described tour of Hintze Hall narrated by Sir David Attenborough: 24 stops, from the blue whale to the ceiling and the architecture. For Spanish speakers, the paid one-hour guided Museum Highlights Tour (£20, Members £16) also runs in Spanish. nhm.ac.uk: accessibility at South Kensington (audio guides) · nhm.ac.uk: Hintze Hall · nhm.ac.uk: Hintze Hall audio guide transcript · nhm.ac.uk: visitor admissions policy · nhm.ac.uk: Museum Highlights Tour
Yes, for your own personal, non-commercial use, and that includes filming. Follow any restriction shown next to an object or at an exhibition. Flash, extra lighting, tripods, monopods, camera stands, gimbals and selfie sticks are not allowed without permission. Do not photograph identifiable children without the accompanying adult's consent, or anyone, including staff, without their permission, and do not film guided tours. nhm.ac.uk: visitor admissions policy
General admission is free, and you can book a free entry ticket online. At weekends and in school holidays you may have to queue to get in; ticket holders and Members skip the queue, and a free ticket guarantees entry. Tickets are for personal use only and cannot be resold. Some exhibitions charge for entry: Wildlife Photographer of the Year (16 October 2026 to 11 July 2027) starts at £17 for an adult off-peak ticket. nhm.ac.uk: plan your visit · nhm.ac.uk: ticketing terms and conditions · nhm.ac.uk: visitor admissions policy · nhm.ac.uk: Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Every day from 10:00 to 17:50, with last entry at 17:30. Staff may start asking visitors to leave up to 20 minutes before closing. The Museum is closed 24–26 December. Galleries and lifts sometimes close for maintenance, so check the Museum's gallery closures list before you go if you want to see a particular gallery. nhm.ac.uk: visitor admissions policy · nhm.ac.uk: plan your visit · nhm.ac.uk: map and attractions
The nearest Tube station is South Kensington (Piccadilly, District and Circle lines), about five minutes' walk away. The station is not step free; from it, the subway tunnel gives step-free access to the Central Entrance through the Subway Gate. Gloucester Road station is about 12 minutes' walk from the Central Entrance. There are three entrances: the Central Entrance on Cromwell Road (step free with a ramp), the East Entrance on Exhibition Road (with a lift up to the galleries), and the West Entrance on Queen's Gate, open until 17:00. There is no parking on site. nhm.ac.uk: getting here · nhm.ac.uk: accessibility at South Kensington
Yes. You can eat it in the Picnic Area on the lower ground floor or outside in the gardens. In term time the Picnic Area is kept for school groups on weekdays from 11:00 to 14:00. Food and drink are not allowed in the galleries. nhm.ac.uk: eat, drink and shop · nhm.ac.uk: visitor admissions policy
The Museum's Family favourites self-guided tour takes about two hours. It starts with Fern, the 24-metre bronze Diplodocus in the Evolution Garden, then goes through Hintze Hall to the animatronic T. rex in the Dinosaurs Gallery, the Mammals Hall, the earthquake simulator in Volcanoes and Earthquakes, and the Stegosaurus in Earth Hall. Children under 14 must be with an adult. Wheelchairs and folding stools can be borrowed free from the cloakrooms, first come, first served. nhm.ac.uk: Family favourites self-guided tour · nhm.ac.uk: visitor admissions policy · nhm.ac.uk: accessibility at South Kensington
Yes. Hintze Hall, where the 25-metre skeleton of Hope the blue whale hangs, and the Dinosaurs Gallery with its roaring T. rex are free, permanent galleries at the Natural History Museum, open daily except 24–26 December. You can walk in without a ticket, but at weekends and in school holidays a free entry ticket guarantees entry and skips the queue. nhm.ac.uk: Hintze Hall · nhm.ac.uk: Dinosaurs Gallery · nhm.ac.uk: plan your visit
The Natural History Museum has 5 places to eat with no reservation needed: the T. rex Restaurant off the Fossil Marine Reptiles Gallery, the Central Cafe behind Hintze Hall, the Earth Hall Cafe, the Shake Bar next to the Dinosaurs Gallery and the Garden Kitchen near Fern the Diplodocus in the gardens. All are family-friendly and offer vegetarian and vegan options. Afternoon Tea in the Anning Rooms must be booked in advance. nhm.ac.uk: eat, drink and shop
Yes. The Natural History Museum is wheelchair accessible, with lifts and step-free access to most areas, and a limited number of manual wheelchairs can be borrowed free from the cloakrooms, first come, first served. Some lifts are occasionally out of service, so check the Museum's maintenance list before you go. Staff can fast-track entry for anyone with access requirements, and the Museum does not ask for ID or proof of disability. nhm.ac.uk: accessibility at South Kensington · nhm.ac.uk: facilities
Yes. Baby-changing facilities are marked on the Natural History Museum's map, and the T. rex Restaurant, the Central Cafe and the Earth Hall Cafe each have a baby care or baby change room. High chairs are available at the Central Cafe and the Garden Kitchen, and the T. rex Restaurant serves kids' meals. nhm.ac.uk: facilities · nhm.ac.uk: eat, drink and shop
The Natural History Museum's self-guided tours take about two hours: Family favourites, for families, and Exhibits with impact, for adults and solo travellers; Hidden treasures, through lesser-known objects, takes about 90 minutes. If you only have half an hour, the Museum suggests getting to know one gallery, such as the Dinosaurs Gallery or Fixing Our Broken Planet, and if you have all day, it suggests taking the Museum map and ticking off the galleries as you go. nhm.ac.uk: galleries and Museum map (self-guided tours, 'Tailor your visit') · nhm.ac.uk: Exhibits with impact self-guided tour · nhm.ac.uk: Hidden treasures self-guided tour · nhm.ac.uk: Family favourites self-guided tour
Tales of Museums is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Natural History Museum. Translations, narration and the extra facts use AI and can contain mistakes, so for anything important, check the museum's official information and the linked sources. Please follow the museum's photography rules.