American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
About
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition. The Museum is renowned for its exhibitions and scientific collections, which serve as a field guide to the entire planet and present a panorama of the world's cultures.
Duration: More than 3 hours
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₹2,656.72
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Upper West Side
Nestled between Central Park and the Hudson River, the Upper West Side offers iconic architecture and a quiet, residential respite from the buzzing energy of downtown. Along Central Park West are many of the city’s most iconic apartment buildings, as well as the American Museum of Natural History, which has been welcoming visitors to its historic exhibit halls for over 140 years. Culture fans will love Lincoln Center, home to some of the world’s best opera, dance, film, and theatre performances, all centrally located around a beautiful fountain. Spanning the entire length of the Upper West Side, Riverside Park is ideal for a long, leisurely stroll in a quiet green space.
How to get there
- 81st St – Museum of Natural History • 3 min walk
- 86th St • 8 min walk
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See what travellers are saying
- Noza SNew Hyde Park, New York4 contributionsMust see place in New York cityOne best spot to spent family time in cold weather of NYC. My kids love this museum & dino bones, we can be there whole day. must see museum of NYCVisited February 2024Travelled with familyWritten 22 February 2024
- Natalia K3 contributionsNotesI especially liked the planetarium (1st floor). The children and I were delighted. I was left with a lot of impressions from viewing the dinosaurs and the skeletal section of animals. You need to plan at least 3 hours. The room is very warm.Visited February 2024Travelled with familyWritten 23 February 2024
- Boyd JMaleny, Australia1,773 contributionsFascinated by the Dinosaurs ExhibitA rainy Sunday in New York, the museums were very popular. The line up outside the Natural History Museum stretched back past the subway station. We were prepared in that we had pre-booked tickets and this shortened the amount of time it took to get in considerably. We weren't aware that some of the best experiences (National geographic movies etc) required additional tickets. It didn't matter , the museum is mammoth and the scale of some of the panoramas is astounding. My main reason for wanting to go was the Dinosaurs floor. The best collection I've ever seen, and the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton on display anywhere in the world - worth the price of admission alone.Visited November 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 28 February 2024
- PattyMargate, Florida649 contributionsWooow amazing museum!! Definitely one of the best ones in the world!!Woooow what an amazing museum!! Definitely one of the best one in the world!! This museum have such an incredible collection of everything i surprised about the the archaeological remains of Peru that they have is surprising! And the dinosaur skeletons are amazing!!Visited October 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 11 March 2024
- Travel25346533585940 contributionsOne of The Worlds Great MuseumsThis is Truly one of the Worlds Great Museums. I was fortunate to visit this Museum as a school boy of 8. I feel equally fortunate to visit it again. The Museum has wonderful exhibits and has been featured in several Major Motion PicturesVisited November 2023Travelled with familyWritten 26 March 2024
- IambicVancouver, Washington511 contributionsGreat Place to LearnThe museum is a fabulous place to learn—about anything you could want. A must-see for adults as well as children. We recommend spending more than a day if you want to see everything. You could spend all day, but you’d be exhausted. Alternatively, you could plan ahead of time to visit certain exhibits. We enjoyed most (1) dinosaurs and other extinct animals, and (2) human origins. The butterfly pavilion, for which you have to pay extra, is worth the extra. It’s a joyful experience to be around so much fluttering beauty. (The vivarium is warm—so be prepared to deal with that.) We found the signage and maps hard to follow. We recommend asking a staff member to help you plan your routes Some of the exhibits are dated (because not incorporating recent knowledge or because the information has been worn off a display by many hands). But, all in all, we learned a lot. The only downside to the museum is the cafeteria. Avoid it. We had to pay nearly $70 for three bad packaged sandwiches, chips, drinks.Visited March 2024Travelled with familyWritten 27 March 2024
- JuanMarco31Toulouse, France14,938 contributionsThe Largest and Most Beautiful in the WorldFacing Central Park, this natural history museum is certainly the largest, most beautiful and most documented in the world. Between the rooms dedicated to our dear planet, the rooms devoted to the animals that travel the world and those that enlighten us on prehistory, there is something for all tastes and all ages. Also take a look at the room of butterflies that flutter around you. A great moment of relaxation and education.Visited April 2024Travelled with familyWritten 21 April 2024
- Cheryl PLittle Rock, Arkansas43 contributionsFantastic ExperienceThe American Museum of Natural History is amazing! From the T-Rex skeleton to the Hall of Biodiversity, every exhibit is fascinating and informative. The layout is easy to navigate, and there's something for everyone. It's a must-visit for anyone curious about the natural world.Visited May 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 1 May 2024
- AnnisaLong Island, New York12 contributionsA must-see for all agesThis museum is captivating! I gained a thrilling exploration of our planet and universe. From the dinosaur exhibits to the strange stone from outer space. I couldn't help but was left in wonder and curiosity. Def come back to explore more areas.Visited February 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 19 May 2024
- Indah EdlightzOntario, Canada4,292 contributionsFantastic Museum .. a must goAbsolutely amazing Museum. This museum puts DC's Smithsonian to shame. Such great exhibits and amazingly presented. Not sure if its because there is a fee to enter compared to Smithsonian, but $100 for a whole family is not much and you can easily spend most of the day in here. We were her in the summer and it was not that crazy busy.. first you need to avoid the long lineup at the Central Park door and go to the back where there is never a line.. Also, the parking below is easy and cheap and it saves you tons of time walking around. Kids loved seeing all the places that were in "Night at the Museum" movies and just an overall great place to spend a day.Visited July 2023Travelled with familyWritten 20 May 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
26,398 reviews
Excellent
15,419
Very good
6,483
Average
3,036
Poor
966
Terrible
500
Exploration698712
6 contributions
Dec 2019 • Family
We visited on a rainy day before New Year’s Eve so our experience may have been atypical. However, we arrived by subway a few minutes before the open time and found there is an entrance accessible directly from the subway; unfortunately, there was a huge line that stretched all the way out to the street and around to the next block. There was no one from the museum directing people and very little information posted; there may have been another entrance but with literally no one providing information I don’t know. From the subway entrance it took us 45 minutes to get into the security area. We were using city pass, which it turns out was a mistake at this location. If you had tickets you purchased from the museum directly (on your phone or printed) you could bypass the line once you made it inside; if you had city pass or New York pass you had to wait in the line. Ultimately, it took us until 11:00 to get into the actual museum. In addition, there are 4 exhibits that require a separate ticket-planetarium, movie, butterflies and trex. We were assigned the planetarium show at 1:30 (not sure how-we didn’t select the experience or time-it was just printed on our tickets), which meant we couldn’t access the butterfly exhibit, the movie or the trex experience without additional tickets. I would recommend buying tickets from the museum directly so you can choose your experience. The museum itself has a lot to see but honestly there is very little that is interactive for children. I was expecting more hands on experiences but there were lots of displays. We ate in the main level cafeteria and had a good but pricey lunch. There were refillable fountain drinks, which was nice. The blue whale was really neat and my kids, ages 7 and 12, enjoyed the planetarium show. There were origami demonstrations as well and my kids loved making cranes. There are lots of wonderful things here so if you can visit on a day that is less crowded and have a faster entrance to the museum I’m sure your experience would be better than ours!
Written 1 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jim V
1 contribution
Jun 2021
The museum needs to staff their admission desks with respect for their visitors. They should be embarrassed about the waiting times they're forcing on people who've made reservations in advance. We had a noon reservation and, after waiting on a line outside, then had to wait an hour inside. There were a few hundred of us with just two staff people (and sometimes just one) to turn our reservations into actual admittance into the museum. That was a totally wasted hour that we could have spent going through the exhibits. If you truly want to visit this museum, I suggest you consider finding a way to show up with your tickets in hand. For NJ,NY, and CT residents that means foregoing the "pay what you want" option because it involves making a reservation -- which puts you on that dreadful and disrespectful line.
Written 24 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
docbruce
Massachusetts714 contributions
Feb 2020 • Friends
Revisiting this amazing museum is necessary because it is always changing and improving. It is always worth the modest admission fee.
We came this time to see the new, incredibly interesting Tyrannosaur exhibit. It shows the whole history of the genus from it’s humble beginnings to the catastrophic demise, with plenty of fossils to show key features. It takes at least 40 min to see the exhibit thoroughly, and the reserved time slots are an hour apart. Featured is a complete replica of one of the two T. rex adults in the museum’s collection, a bone-chilling life size 3-D recreation (feathers and all), and a short life sized video of a mama T. rex checking on her oldest baby. If you like dinosaurs, this is not to be missed.
We came this time to see the new, incredibly interesting Tyrannosaur exhibit. It shows the whole history of the genus from it’s humble beginnings to the catastrophic demise, with plenty of fossils to show key features. It takes at least 40 min to see the exhibit thoroughly, and the reserved time slots are an hour apart. Featured is a complete replica of one of the two T. rex adults in the museum’s collection, a bone-chilling life size 3-D recreation (feathers and all), and a short life sized video of a mama T. rex checking on her oldest baby. If you like dinosaurs, this is not to be missed.
Written 29 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katy R
Bradford, UK68 contributions
Feb 2020
Went early (10.15) on a February weekday so expected it to be fairly quiet but It was already very busy. Paid the 'pay what you want' donation, $20 for my teenage daughter and I, which wasn't bad at all for what's on offer. The museum is enormous and is literally rammed with thousands of artefacts, exhibits and treasures. its huge and easy to get lost. We spent about 2 and a half hours in there but my daughter was getting tired and hungry so we left and there was still loads to see! If you really spent time in there looking at everything you would need 2 days! Particularly loved the dinosaurs/ ice age specimens and the room with the Native American exhibits. Only disappointment was that it wasn't how i imagined it (I blame Night at the Museum for that!). Found the Easter island statue eventually ( 'give me gum gum' haha) but Rexy isn't in the lobby and the whole museum is way bigger and far more modern than the movie suggests....yes i know its only a movie but it was one of the reasons we went. There is a T rex in the hall of dinosaurs but don't expect much more from the movie.
Written 24 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Claire M
Sydney, Australia3 contributions
Jan 2020
The general admission price is a suggested donation making it difficult and distressing on how much to pay. It was a confronting and stressful experience. They donation shamed us.
Other than that all exhibits were great and the staff were very helpful and informative. Highly recommend the butterfly room. Allow as much time as possible as we did not get to see the whole museum. More than five hours at least.
Other than that all exhibits were great and the staff were very helpful and informative. Highly recommend the butterfly room. Allow as much time as possible as we did not get to see the whole museum. More than five hours at least.
Written 16 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Maurice P
Califon, NJ104 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
The museum and exhibits are excellent but it so falls short in managing visitors’ experience.
We entered direct from Subway and maybe that was a mistake. There was no signage to speak of and a long line to join a second long line. Only after 15 minutes did we discover these were both ticket lines and we could have by-passed them as we had purchased tickets in advance online.
The signage throughout the building is poor. Sometimes it takes time to work our even what floor you are on!
Toilets not clean and not many of them.
Perhaps the Saturday after New Year is the busiest day of the year, but it is predictable!
The exhibits are really good and interested our young grandchildren a lot.
We entered direct from Subway and maybe that was a mistake. There was no signage to speak of and a long line to join a second long line. Only after 15 minutes did we discover these were both ticket lines and we could have by-passed them as we had purchased tickets in advance online.
The signage throughout the building is poor. Sometimes it takes time to work our even what floor you are on!
Toilets not clean and not many of them.
Perhaps the Saturday after New Year is the busiest day of the year, but it is predictable!
The exhibits are really good and interested our young grandchildren a lot.
Written 5 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mojca
Ljubljana, Slovenia76 contributions
Feb 2020
The great thing about the museum is that minimum admission fee is 1 penny per person, so it's one of the cheapest attractions you'll see in New York City.
The museum is a bit boring, mostly showing displays of different stuffed animals and native's tools and clothing. I missed some update on the Caucasian race.
The museum is a bit boring, mostly showing displays of different stuffed animals and native's tools and clothing. I missed some update on the Caucasian race.
Written 28 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mich J
Palmetto, FL29 contributions
Feb 2020
We came in off the subway and maps of the museum were not made available to us. The museum was quite overwhelming and lacking in signage and visible personnel to adequately guide you in the direction of the exhibits available and their locations. Did not like enough to return.
Written 9 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lane the English traveller
Huddersfield, UK564 contributions
Sept 2019 • Couples
I was very much looking forward to this museum when visiting New York. It is well set out and has some fantastic exhibits. Like all museums, you have to pay extra to see special exhibits. We didnt bother as there was so much to see as it were. I would plan to be here about 4 hours. A bit of a queue to enter but they are quite quick getting you through.
Written 22 May 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RoyalMom8
New Delhi, India30 contributions
Jul 2019
The place is huge. For me and my teens, one full day is even not enough. Suggest to visit from morning so you have enough time. Food inside is a bit pricey and per weight. The souvenir shop was great. They have items from budget to expensive, and so many to chose from. Great but bad for the budget. ;P
Written 10 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi we are visiting new york on the 20th October for 6 days, it is our first time and was wondering should we book tickets in advance? Assuming it won't be sold out in the week. Thanks
Written 8 October 2024
Definitely book tickets in advance. It allowed us to skip the long line in the morning! Use the app as well to track where to go and which exhibits you want to visit. The extra exhibits are always worth it if they are of interest to you.
Written 11 October 2024
I need to change my day that we choose for our tickets due to a change in fight departure. Does anyone know if that is possible?
Written 2 March 2024
I called and while I didn;t stay on long enough, the options were if you are late that day, contact visitor services person for help on entering (if they don;t just let you in), and the other option was if you need to exchange or cancel tickets. So it looks like they can help you arrange to exchange the ticket for a better date and time. Hope it helps!
Written 4 March 2024
Do they have discounts for teachers?
Written 19 August 2023
Hello, which entrance is best to use when you have reserved tickets online?
Written 14 August 2023
This has changed since you can now book and pay online. I like the entrance on Columbus Avenue (empty cuz nobody knows about it) but even the one on Central Park West shouldn;t be as bad now.
Written 4 March 2024
It is not free any days, ticket is $28 for adults and 16 for kids age 3-12. Only free possibility if you are living in New York, Connecticut or New Jersey. If not, you pay for your ticket. Book online in advance, you need to book a time slot that suits you, they still have timed entry tickets.
Written 7 August 2023
I found it comfortable and it was a warm summer day..
Written 30 August 2023
Yes, the bones are real. But when you see full skeletons, it is rare to find such skeletons complete. It is common to replace the missing bones with plaster or similar materiales to give the audience a complete picture. But the skeletons at the AMNC are among the best and most complete in the World.
Written 24 June 2023
Is a middle school or high school out of state student ID valid for student ticket price?
Written 11 June 2023
All valid current student ID card gives you the student ticket price. I see no reason why that should not be the case in this situation too.
Written 12 June 2023
I'm planning to go on in early April, but I read reviews about long lines. Are the lines for people that need to exchange vouchers for actual tickets? If I book directly online through the museum website, do I get to skip the long lines and just go in and get my ticket scanned? Thanks!
Written 31 March 2022
I had a timed reservation with a ticket and it was just scanned when I entered. This was in Oct 2021 and it wasn't that busy then.
Written 5 April 2022
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
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