Natural History Museum Reviews 

Why do you have to queue for a museum that is free to enter?! I mean the people who prebooked online should not have priority over those waiting in line without prebooked tickets, after all the museum is FREE ENTRY so why not make every one queue together in one line to make it fair on a first come first serve basis. If we had to queue for security reasons i.e. bag checking, wanding, x-raying to check for prohibited items such as weapons, drugs, alcohol etc. the queueing would make more sense, but did i get searched nope, the queue was for nothing. Also the barriers they set up the width is too narrow in some areas and i witnessed a child trip and scrape his knee because of this. It is also way too crowded and you do not get to look at much as there are people constantly pushing past you/out the way. It is honestly hell. If you are ok with queueing for the sake of queueing, fine with bad health and safety risks and fine with d*ckheads shoving you out the way then this is the place for you. If not AVOID!!!!

Looked forward to this for literally years. One of the highlights of visiting London... I thought. I know it's free, which is a good job as it was such a disappointment. It was absolute chaos. Too many people, unable to stop to read or look at anything without someone bumbling in front of you, mothers pushing prams into you, kids running in to you, screaming or crying (I can sympathise with that!). I've just had new hearing aids, the noise was overwhelming. Thank God I was carrying Paracetamol in my bag. The main escalator was out of order (I have crap knees) the loos were out of order - joy for a weak bladder (there were alternatives to be found thank goodness) the Cocoon was closed, the exhibits were run-down and in serious need of some TLC. Even the Panda was grey! When I remember going in the past it had been wonderful, almost magical; now..? There seemed less dinosaurs, mammals etc than I remember, but an abundance of rocks, stones & gems everywhere. The little Earth Hall Cafe however, was great. Great, efficient service, delicious cake & coffee and we were able to refill our water bottle, the only reason, that and the amazing staff on duty who bravely remained upbeat and helpful - despite having no escape - I've given 3 stars and not 1 or 2. Please limit the amount of visitors, ensure all your facilities are in working order and attractions open and please, give the mammal exhibits the TLC they so badly need. Charge if you have to. I would gladly have paid to avoid disappointment after looking forward to it for so long.

Such a beautiful museum with lovely staff.

We prebooked tickets so did not have to queue which was good. Once we entered the building it was impressive but really busy. We literally saw the dinosaurs and then left. My 15 year old was expecting it to be like the museum in the film 'Night at the Museum' but it was all rocks, gems etc. He was not impressed and asked if we could leave.

Bought tickets to the Our Story by David Attenborough show. It was the only way I could get in as the free tickets had gone for the day we wanted to go and I didn’t want to queue outside for ages and possibly not get in! So expensive and it was incredibly underwhelming!! £25 per adult for only 50 minutes! Was so disappointed. Also the rest of the museum was not as good as I remember. Not as many exhibits etc. I would not recommend.

Amazing historic building, and learning experience. I would definitely recommend to all. The only issue we had was we visited on a slightly warm day (28 degrees) and it was unbearable inside the museum - I would not recommend it on a hot day, it was like a sauna - more fans are needed at least with the building being old). Staff were lovely, the cafe had some air con or ventilation which was a saviour but more could be done in the actual museum.

Do not order anything from the shop. I received damage items so I returned the item and I have been waiting for a refund for months they ignore my emails. I have never had such bad customer service

Pure chaos. People moving around everywhere. I would recommend a strict number, that can visit the museum to a certain time, of course you do not get any charges of money, but it is very stressful, because you can not read or look at things long, you have to follow the line instantly.

Really disappointing visit. I know the entrance is free and thank goodness as it was such a let down. Much smaller than we expected and a lot less exhibits - where are all the dinosaurs?
Not recommended

They have literally kept my money for about two months even though I’m owed a refund and have emailed countless times. I am wanting to escalate this because this is ridiculous. I went out of my way to post this stuff back to not even get my entitled refund for a damaged product which you now have in your possession

The Pokémon pop-up shop was a disgrace and reflects badly on the NHM. NHM took no responsibility for any of it, saying all enquiries had to go to a third party called See Tickets, who have no phone number and are virtually impossible to contact. The pop-up shop itself began with a small corridor with posters and TV screens (which were impossible to view due to the tight corridor). While we were in the corridor area trying to see what little there was, security guards came down telling everyone to move up and forcing us on - very unpleasant. The shop was sold out of all standard t-shirt sizes (M, L) and had no special edition plushies. The merch was average at best but had no relation to anything in the NHM. Overall a big disappointment. Appears to exist solely as a money-grab. If something like this is repeated, I really hope it's given more thought and consideration!

I visited the museum today with my family. 3 adults and 2 children. We had prebooked our tickets. We were all very disappointed with the visit. I appreciate that entrance is free but was amazed at the number of people allowed entry. The tour was chaos. Poor signage and people moving around in all directions. I even saw 2 children riding around on scooters. Absolutely ridiculous to allow such a dangerous thing.There was no time or space to look at the exhibits properly or read the labels. I definately feel it is unlikely that I will visit again. I believe it would be better to charge a small entrance fee and restrict admission numbers. This would enable visitors to explore the exhibits fully and gain the knowledge on offer.

Awful experience, I'm deaf and non-vocal with limited mobility, I'm a wheelchair user.

Lack of signs, difficult to navigate, couldn't locate lifts.

The only places which were sign posted and accessable was the shop and cafe, no surprise there!

If you're wheelchair bound there's better places to go with a far better experience.

My wife took me to the Natural History Museum for my birthday to see the space exhibit .
Luckily she got tickets so we went strait in passing 2 very long ques of people waiting to get in.
We went to information to ask how to get to the exhibit as there were NO signs to follow.
We got a Museum book with a map which was in 3D so it was hard to follow .
We had to go to the Blue Zone so the instructions were :- Go down to the end of the corridor turn left , Then go to the end of that corridor and then turn left ,then when you get to the end of that corridor turn left, then at the end of that corridor turn left and the blue zone is at the end of the corridor.
At this point for people that have NOT been to the Museum it is a square building.
and THIS was the information we got from 3 different information points.
so round and a round we went.
We did finally found some one that took us to the room we needed.
To say i was NOT a happy teddy was an under statement also remembering the place was packed push chairs running into us , back packs swinging around hitting you, children running round shouting and screaming and treating the exhibit like toys.
If only coloured tapes had been put on the floor to follow or maybe put up signs to follow I may have had a better experience.
Then to top it all of when we went to go home some one decided to shut the station.
We found out later it was because there was too many people passing through the station BUT NO note on the gates to tell you WHERE the next closest station was.

Very bad lines if you dont have a ticket, which is free!!!! I think that more advertising about booking tickets for free online should be given. We waited in the freezing cold, whilst those who know about the tickets get tp go right through. THIS TICKET SYSTEM IS A SCAM!!!!!

It’s free, I mean that’s good but it gets so busy and the items you can buy from the gift shop are rubbish! They break apart so easily. Also very expensive!

Really enjoyed the experience

I went to see Our Story with David Attenborough at the Natural History Museum and left feeling disappointed. For something so heavily promoted and associated with someone as influential as David Attenborough, the experience is surprisingly mediocre and not well curated.

The space itself is small and feels unfinished — the ceiling isn’t even covered, so you can clearly see lighting rigs and cables overhead, which really breaks the immersion. The choice of imagery is also underwhelming; considering the extraordinary archive and storytelling available, what’s shown feels safe and uninspiring. Sound quality is another issue — at times David Attenborough’s narration is difficult to understand, which is frustrating given that his voice is central to the experience.

For the price of an adult ticket, this is simply not good value.

That said, I went with my 4-year-old daughter and she absolutely loved it — and watching her enjoy it was genuinely lovely. For young children, it works, and they seem captivated by the visuals and atmosphere.

Conclusion: only worth considering if you’re going with kids, and even then the ticket price still feels too high for what’s offered. As an adult-focused experience, it’s not worth it.

The Pokemon exhibition is a disgrace, it was a small corridor with 2 TV screens and a couple of wall posters. There were no interactive consoles, video games, guides dressed as Pokemon or life-size Pokemon to have your picture taken with. This was an obvious money making scam, the merchandise area was 5 times the size of the exhibition with over priced tat featuring only a couple of the characters when there are 100's. I thought nothing was priced until I was shown a minuscule number next to the barcode, this sharp practice should not be allowed. There were no Pokemon books, I was hoping to purchase the latest latest ones. This exhibition is not for fans or collectors and must be just for tourist who don't understand the exchange rate.

I get it’s free and they rely on donations but something really needs to be done about the amount of people in at one time. Can’t see half of the exhibits because you’re spending your time trying to negotiate a path through people.

The exhibits are amazing and really interesting when you get to properly concentrate on them.