5 Best Natural History Museums
In the rooms of these wonderful enclosures we can learn a lot about the flora, current and ancient fauna. They are included within the typical tourist routes, especially if we travel with children. In this article we will tell you which are the best natural history museums in the world. Do not miss them!
What are the best natural history museums?
Some need days to go through them completely, others specialize in a particular time and there are those that exhibit ‘a little of each thing’ in their rooms. Either way, these are the best natural history museums in the world:
1. Natural History Museum, London
It is one of three museums in the Kensington area – the other two are science museums and the Victoria and Albert museum – and has a collection of 70 million specimens and objects within zoology, paleontology, botany, mineralogy and entomology.
The Natural History Museum in London –the photo that opens this article– houses several of the specimens that were studied by Charles Darwin during his travels, and which resulted in his theory of the evolution of species. In addition, it offers a room with different fossil remains and dinosaur skeletons. And of course it draws attention to the great Chilean mastodon at the entrance.
2. American Museum of Natural History (New York)
It is not simply one of the best natural history museums, but also one of the most famous and largest in the world. It is located opposite Central Park on the island of Manhattan, and in total it has 27 buildings connected to each other.
The American Museum of Natural History has 46 permanent exhibition halls, a library, and research laboratories. The collection is made up of 32 million specimens – they are not all exhibited at the same time – and it was founded in 1869. One of its best known sectors is the entrance because it houses several dinosaur skeletons.
3. Smithsonian National Museum (Washington)
We continue in the United States, and an hour by train from the previous one, to visit this impressive national museum of natural history, which contains 125 million specimens including plants, fossils, animals, rocks, minerals, meteorites and cultural objects of human beings.
The main collections are located on the ground floor, with its room for naturalized mammals from all over the world. On the first floor we can find dinosaur fossils and skeletons, a collection of gems and an insect zoo. In the basement you can see a collection of 100 regional birds.
4. National Museum of Natural History (Paris)
This museum is a public scientific research institution in France and, although it is located in the capital, it is not usually as visited as other attractions in the city. It can even be visited in different locations within Paris: in the Garden of Plants, the Zoological Park, the Institute of Human Paleontology and the Museum of Man.
The facilities open to the public are the Animal House of the Garden of Plants (second oldest zoo in the world after Vienna), the Great Gallery of Evolution (naturalized animals) and the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy (large fossil skeleton ).
5. National Museum of Natural Sciences (Madrid)
We finish this ranking of the best natural history museums with the one located in the Spanish capital, specifically in the old Palace of Industry and Arts on Paseo de la Castellana.
It was founded in 1815, closed during the Civil War and restructured in 1984. Within its collections we can find six million specimens divided into sections : biogeography, biodiversity, environmental biology, evolutionary ecology, geology and paleobiology. It also offers educational workshops, a media library and a library.
