Natural History Museum with Kids

[BlueShed]

Thinking of taking the DC, aged 5 & 3 in a couple of weeks, hoping it will be a relatively quiet time of year to go as we are restricted to weekends and school holidays.

I'm struggling with with website on a couple of things:

• the website says to book a (free) time slot ticket. What if we don't? We just have to queue? What if we miss our time slot? Trying to hit a specific time with the DC when we have to schlep into London might not go well.

• I assume we can take a push chair in?

Further, any or advice or tips would very welcome.

The NHM is a great place for kids, so much to see and do. It is busy all year round, this is probably the quietest
time of year to go but it will still be busy so be prepared for that, don’t panic when you arrive into the main hall at the entrance, it is always busy there but the crowds get sparser as you get further into the museum.

Yeah if you don’t book a slot then you will have to queue, I went at a weekend just before the summer holidays last year and queued about 45mins. So you might get lucky but there’s no shelter if it’s rainy and cold while you queue.

Im not sure what happens if you miss your slot, does it not specify that on the website?

Yes very pushchair friendly, although you may have a queue a bit for the lifts as the museum is over a few floors.

The dinosaur bit is usually the most popular, if you DC are keen to do that part then I’d aim to go earlier or later.

The cafe also gets busy and it can be tricky to find a table, so I’d suggest some snacks to keep the kids happy on the way round and plan to stop and eat before or after the lunch rush.

I hope you all have a great time!

There is a pretty big queue at weekends if you don't have a ticket, so I think I would try to book (and if you miss the slot you can always queue anyway). The ground floor is quite buggy-friendly and you could have a good visit just in that section. I would maybe give the Earth galleries a miss if your 3 year old needs the buggy. (Probably better for slightly older kids anyway.) The cafe is ok but quite overpriced for what you get (they do kids boxes which are ok but don't expect your visit to be a nutritional high point).

Thank you both very much! That sounds great. Push chair is really just in case... it will be a long day for us. If we have it with us, it will be a PITA and probably not get used, but if we don't, we'll likely wish we did!

For the 5 yr old and also the 3 yr old they should still have special kids packs at the counter / reception whatever inside the main hall

You get to borrow a backpack with pencils ✏️ paper 📝 inside to use and a safari hat

My DS loved this aged 4/5 and sat drawing ✍️ pictures in front of various exhibits, mainly dinosaurs very cute

I go quite often with my 3 year old on a weekday - normally book a time slot as when you get there there are 2 separate queues - one for those who have booked and the other for those who just turn up. Those with a time slot are prioritised so that queue moves faster.

Have taken a buggy several times without issue but as PP said can't get up to the earth bit as far as I am aware - unless there is a secret route I've not discovered!

The blue whale exhibition is closed - I think it said until March 2024 when I last went?? So maybe double check that on the site.

Im pretty sure you can leave your pushchair in the cloakroom bit for free, so you could always put it there to start with and do the less buggy accessible bits and then get it from the cloakroom half way through

Went recently. Was absolutely heaving but didn't even ask us to show tickets, we just walked straight in.

I would recommend whilst you are there to go to the science museum (it's next door) It was so so much quieter and much more fun for the kids.