American Museum of Natural History

About American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History sits on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, facing Central Park along Central Park West between 77th and 81st Streets. Founded in 1869, it has grown into one of the largest natural history museums in the world, a complex of interconnected buildings holding tens of millions of specimens and artifacts. Most visitors come for the dinosaurs. The fourth-floor fossil halls hold mounted skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex, a Titanosaur so long it spills out of its gallery, and many others, drawn from one of the most important paleontology collections anywhere.

Beyond the fossils, the museum covers a lot of ground. There are the famous habitat dioramas of African and North American mammals, the blue whale model hanging over the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, meteorites, gems and minerals, and halls devoted to human origins and cultures from around the world. The Rose Center for Earth and Space, with its spherical Hayden Planetarium, handles astronomy and the space shows. The newer Richard Gilder Center, opened in 2023, added more exhibition space along with an insectarium and a walk-through butterfly vivarium.

Plan on at least two to three hours, and realistically a half day or more if you want to see the planetarium show and the main halls without rushing. The museum is huge and easy to underestimate. The closest subway stop is the 81st Street station on the B and C lines, which connects directly into the building. Admission is a paid ticket, and some add-ons like the space show, the butterfly vivarium, and special exhibitions carry separate charges, so it is worth deciding in advance which of those you want.