American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
4.3
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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RM 136.38
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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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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
4.3
26,432 reviews
Excellent
15,442
Very good
6,489
Average
3,036
Poor
968
Terrible
502
These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
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GAR
993 contributions
Jan 2025 • Solo
I made the mistake of visiting on a weekend, which meant the museum was insanely packed even in January. There were too many noisy children and I think they overfilled the museum. The exhibits themselves though, I can’t fault. Many interesting galleries. A highlight is the gems and minerals exhibit
Written 17 February 2025
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.
Sebastien_D54
Villerupt, France1,372 contributions
Dec 2024 • Couples
We had the pleasure of visiting this museum during our stay in New York. The museum is huge, with many different rooms dealing with many themes. The staging, especially of animals in their habitat, is very realistic. The exhibits are exceptional, to be seen absolutely, but plan to spend a full day there if you want to see everything. The Restaurant at Gilder located on the first floor is not bad either and allows for a quiet break during the day.
Automatically translated
Written 20 February 2025
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.
Beatrice V
2 contributions
Aug 2024 • Family
The museum is huge, and it will take up at least your whole day to see all the exhibits. There were some exhibits that were more popular than the others. I do like that there was available seating at these exhibit halls so one can rest and look at the display without walking so much. There are areas of the museum that are interactive, and those were fun. I didn't go to the ticketed exhibitions, but maybe I will next time I visit. The dinosaur wing was amazing.
Written 17 August 2024
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.
CarolusvL
The Hague, The Netherlands212 contributions
Jan 2025 • Solo
A wonderful museum, with an ongoing update to the Native American exhibits. Not much has changed since my last visit years ago, which was a bit of a letdown. Crowded due to school trips, and the food court is pricey, so bring your own snacks if possible.
Written 20 January 2025
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.
Andreas_aus_B
Berlin, Germany3,418 contributions
Apr 2024 • Family
It is best to buy tickets in advance, then you will be able to get in quicker. If there is a long line outside the entrance, where you have to queue even with a ticket, don't be put off, it moves quickly. In the museum itself there is an incredible amount to see, it is almost impossible to do everything in one day. You can either pick out interesting areas or just spend a short time in each room. The visit is even nicer if you know the "Night at the Museum" films. In any case, it is a great experience, especially if you have children.
Written 30 May 2024
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.
Kilian F
11 contributions
Aug 2024 • Family
Amazing museum. Tons to see, well laid out, easy to navigate. High quality exhibitions-we regularly go to the Natural History Museum in London and this tops it on many levels. Children loved the dinosaurs, rainforest, large stuffed mammals and Hayden Planetarium. Highly recommend spending 2h+ here.
Written 12 August 2024
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.
Iambic
Vancouver, WA512 contributions
Mar 2024 • Family
The 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.
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.
Written 27 March 2024
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.
Taylor B
Chicago, IL8,475 contributions
Jul 2024 • Couples
I love museums. Almost any kind of museum will attract my interest. Like the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Located at 200 Central Park West, at 79th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls in addition to a library and a planetarium. Established in 1869, the museum contains 32 million specimens of plants, animals, fungi, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains and human cultural artifacts. The numbers are awesome. The museum occupies more than 2.5 million square feet of exhibition space, has a full-time scientific staff of 225 and sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year. Open from 10 to 5:30 daily, visitors can see everything from centuries-old specimens to entirely new types of specialized collections like frozen tissues and genomic data. The museum's scientific collection features more than 32 million specimens and artifacts from an irreplaceable record of life on Earth, the span of geologic time and knowledge about one vast universe. See a rock that is 4.3 billion years old and fossils of extinct animals that lived 11,000 years ago in Indiana. See displays of Asian and African and North American mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, forests, environments and ocean life. Also Asian and African and South American and Pacific and Native American peoples. The museum was declared a New York City Landmark in 1967 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Written 16 July 2024
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.
I W
Leicestershire, UK353 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
We had a fantastic time spending about 3 hours looking around the museum on a Monday morning. We had a pre booked entry and entered through the northern entrance. Small queue at 10.00, but think our entrance was used for school groups, so might get busy at times. In fact, whilst we were exploring the museum, there were lots of small groups of school kids, so occasionally needed to wait for them to move on to view a display, but good to see enthusiastic kids! The displays are awesome!
Written 16 June 2024
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.
Viajando
Athens, Greece62 contributions
Dec 2024 • Couples
Excellent! If you don’t have time at NYK you have to choose which museum to go to, prefer it. In addition to the dinosaurs that seemed indifferent to us (because we had seen in another museum before), it presents animals from different continents in their natural environment and are so "real". It also exhibits artifacts from the people of Africa and Asia of previous centuries. In the basement is a tribute to the space and the rocks. It really is worth seeing. You will definitely need a three-hour for a quick passage.
Automatically translated
Written 24 December 2024
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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