Visiting America was one of our biggest dreams, which we realized in the summer of 2019. We chose New York as our main destination because we wanted to experience firsthand everything we had seen in the movies for so long. And the Big Apple won our hearts!
If you don’t already know, amongst the huge buildings and skyscrapers of this vibrant city, which some even consider the center of the world, stretches the lush green park, Central Park. We were lucky enough to stay next to the park, but even luckier that our accommodation was very close to the American Museum of Natural History. More specifically, the museum is located at 79th Street and Central Park West. The nearest subway stations are the 81st Street station, on the B and C lines, and the 79th Street station on the 1 line.
Check where we stayed in New York City
Many of you may have seen parts of the museum in various scenes from Hollywood movies. Featured films include “The Mummy”, “Men in Black 2”, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” and many others. Furthermore, the films “A Night at the Museum” 1, 2, and 3 were almost entirely shot in the museum.
Read how to get your ESTA
American Museum of Natural History tickets & prices
Tickets are available online at amnh.org or at the museum entrance. Book online to guarantee entry, especially on weekends and during school holidays.
| Κατηγορία | Τιμή |
|---|---|
| Adults | $25 |
| Kids (3–12) | $14 |
| Students (with ID) | $20 |
| Seniors (60+) | $20 |
| Under 3 years old | Δωρεάν |
| NY State Residents | Pay-What-You-Wish |
A visit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, then, is a highly educational and fun experience for adults and children alike. It provides a huge variety of exhibits, from the age of dinosaurs, insects, plants, human civilization, and the universe. It consists of 28 connected buildings housing 45 exhibition halls and over 33 million exhibits and finally it has a planetarium and library, which basically means you could spend over a year of your life living at the natural history museum and still not see it all.
Below, we’ll list some of the exhibits that left us speechless, and that made such an impression on us that we still retain vibrant memories.
The Milstein family hall of ocean life
This hall highlights the vibrant life of the underwater world, the diversity and complexity of this immersive environment. But the exhibit you can’t miss ( you simply mustn’t!) is the huge 29-metre blue whale. This particular mammal hangs spectacularly over the centre of the room.
The coral reefs, as one can see them from the bottom of the sea, the collision of the whale with the huge squid, and the huge dolphin and tuna exhibit are what we kept in our memory, among other things. During our visit to this particular hall, we also had a VR experience based on the underwater world. Similar themed events are held in other halls, so don’t miss the chance to try something similar if you get the chance.
Hall of Biodiversity
The Hall of Biodiversity presents most intensely and vividly the beauty and abundance of life on our planet, highlighting the different species and the factors that threaten them. The most impressive exhibit for us is the Dzanga-Sangha. A rainforest with its flora and fauna, and the exhibit The Spectrum of Life, which shows the evolution of different species from microorganisms to terrestrial and aquatic giants.
6 rooms with Mammal exhibits
The Akeley Hall with African Mammals is one of the most famous. One of the most famous is the Akeley exhibit. In the middle of the room is the exhibit with a family of African elephants. The other halls are the Primate Hall with monkeys, apes, and the evolution of man. Mammals of Asia Hall, focusing on the large mammals of India and Thailand. The room we unfortunately saw very hastily, due to a lack of time, was the North American Mammals’ room. There, one can see bison, bears, reindeer, and many more. Yes, we did see the latter in a hurry, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t impressed!
Fossil Halls
Of the 6 rooms housing exhibits with dinosaur fossils, we were blown away by the 37-meter Titanosaurus, which is so large that its tail and head protrude from the entrances of the room. In the Vertebrate Origins room hangs the skeleton of Pterosaurus, and the exhibit with the dentition of the famous extinct shark Megalodon.
Rose Center for Earth and Space
The Rose Center for Earth and Space includes the spectacular Hayden Sphere. There are also exhibitions exploring the vast range of sizes in the universe, the 13-billion-year history of the universe, the nature of galaxies, stars and planets, and the dynamic features of planet Earth.
Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway
This is a 110-meter educational pathway that exposes the 13,8 billion year history of the universe. Artifacts along the path include a meteorite dating back to the birth of our solar system, a specimen from the oldest rock formation on Earth, a trilobite, the first animal with eyes, and the fossilized tooth of a giant carnivorous dinosaur.
These were the highlights in our opinion and the ones that caught our interest during our visit. All of them have interactive educational exhibits in which you can learn a lot of information about the topic of each room. Inside the museum you will also find the three-storey shop to buy your souvenirs.
A visit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York will not leave you indifferent! You’ll leave with enough information to bring up in conversations with friends and kids for years to come!!!
American Museum of Natural History FAQ
General admission (suggested): $25 adults, $20 students/seniors (60+), $14 children (3–12), free under 3. New York State residents pay what they wish. Ticketed special exhibitions cost extra. Book online at amnh.org to guarantee entry.
Open daily 10:00 AM–5:30 PM (last entry 5:00 PM). Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day only. All other days year-round, no regular closure days.
Take the B or C line to 81st Street – Museum of Natural History station (the closest). Alternatively, take the 1 line to 79th Street (5-minute walk). The museum is at 200 Central Park West on the Upper West Side.
Yes, the Night at the Museum trilogy (2006, 2009, 2014) was largely filmed here. You can recognise the T. rex, the Barosaurus skeleton in the Roosevelt Rotunda, the African Mammals hall, and many other galleries.
Blue whale (Milstein Hall of Ocean Life), T. rex and dinosaur fossil halls, Hayden Planetarium Space Show, Rose Center for Earth and Space Cosmic Pathway, Akeley Hall of African Mammals, Halls of Gems and Minerals (Star of India sapphire). The Butterfly Vivarium requires an extra ticket, but worth it with children.
Absolutely, it’s one of the best family museums in the world. Children love the dinosaurs, the giant blue whale, the African elephant dioramas, and (with an extra ticket) the Butterfly Vivarium. The Discovery Room (ages 4–12) is open weekends 10:30–17:15. Under-3s are free.
