We visited the Natural History Museum at Tring this morning and loved it! I honestly wasn’t sure if Ashley would enjoy it when I booked the tickets but she was so excited running around looking at all the animals. LOOK MUMMY GORILLLLAAAAAASSSS!!!! Your little ones will absolutely love getting up close to the lions, tigers and crocodiles!
What’s is There to See?
The Natural History Museum at Tring was built in 1889 to house the zoological collections of Walter Rothschild. It still remains one of the largest private natural history collections ever assembled. The museum is home to one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles and insects in the United Kingdom.
Explore the Museum
Currently 5 of the 7 galleries are open (Animal Mummies and the Rothschild Room are closed). Ashley’s only 2 and a half so she was more than happy running round the museum looking at all the animals and picking out the ones she knows. However if you have older children then the museum have put together different activities to do on your visit:
- Self guided tour – download this and teach your little ones some interesting facts about animals around the museum.
- Gallery trails – these trails are available from the shop for £1. There is an ABC trail for children under 6 and Walter and his animals for children aged 6+.
- Makaton based gallery trails which include games like I spy…
Click here to view these.
Plan Your Visit
Tickets to visit the museum are free (they just ask for a donation) but you must book them in advance. Unfortunately at the moment they are selling out well in advance. At the moment you can book a week in advance to get afternoon tickets but for morning tickets you need to book at least two weeks in advance.
Your slot gains you entry to the museum for 1.5 hours.
Best bits: The sheer volume of animals, birds, fish, bugs, etc to look at is amazing! Our favourites were definitely the lions and tigers!
Worst bits: Having to book a minimum of a week in advance is a bit of a pain as it’s a great rainy day activity, but this means you can’t knowingly book it for a rainy day.
Cost: Free (but with a suggested donation of £5pp)
Tickets: Tickets must be purchased in advance at www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/tring
Pram friendly: Yes
Bike & scooter friendly: No
Social Distancing: Numbers are restricted for each time slot and there’s a one way system in place. When we visited it was practically empty, despite being sold out. I can only guess that most people were no shows as I only saw another 3 families in the whole museum during.
Location & parking: Akeman Street, Tring, Hertfordshire. There is a free car park for the museum, follow the signs for it’s location.
Sat nav: HP23 6AP
Baby in Bucks Top Tips
Extend your day out by combining it with a visit to Tring Park which is a 10 minute walk from the museum. It’s a beautiful place to go for a woodland walk, although with some fairly steep hills. The views from the top are worth it though!
