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Horniman Museum

  • Things to do
  • Forest Hill
  • price 0 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
  1. Andrew Brackenbury / Time Out
    Andrew Brackenbury / Time Out
  2. Andrew Brackenbury / Time Out
    Andrew Brackenbury / Time Out
  3. Tove K Breitstein / Time Out
    Tove K Breitstein / Time Out
  4. Tove K Breitstein / Time Out
    Tove K Breitstein / Time Out
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Time Out says

4 out of 5 stars

The Horniman is an anthropoligical museum contained within an eccentric-looking art nouveau building with extensive gardens. The Natural History Gallery is dominated by an ancient walrus (overstuffed by Victorian taxidermists, who thought they ought to get the wrinkles out of the animal’s skin) and ringed by glass cabinets containing pickled animals, stuffed birds and insect models. There's also a permanent gallery dedicated to African, Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian art, and a collection of around 1,600 musical instruments, whose sounds can be unleashed via touch-screen tables. The museum’s popular showpiece aquarium is a series of tanks and rock pools covering seven distinct aquatic ecosystems. It provides extensive activities for families, including a nature trail, weekend workshops and a hands-on base where children can touch museum objects.

Read about our favourite exhibits at the Horniman or see more great museums for kids in the capital

Details

Address:
100 London Rd
London
SE23 3PQ
Transport:
Forest Hill Overground/176,185,197, 356, P4 buses
Price:
Free (permanent collection); admission charge applies for aquarium
Opening hours:
Daily 10am-5.30pm
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What’s on

Dinosaur rEvolution

  • Exhibitions

You can rarely go too long at the Horniman without encountering some form of prehistoric life: following its recent ‘Permian Monsters’ and ‘Brick Dinos’ exhibitions, 2024 sees it play host ‘Dinosaur rEvolution’. Based around five showstopping animatronic models – including a seven-metre-long T-Rex – the general idea is that it’s compliant with current scientific thinking on what these creatures looked like: so lots of feathers, basically, alongside quills, spikes and all sorts of vibrant colours. Alongside the moving monsters will be various games and activities, plus a smattering of casts of actual fossils, including skeletons of velociraptor and compsognathus. If you haven’t yet got the message that the Jurassic Park-slash-World films were very wrong about what dinos looked like, you hopefully will after this.

Horniman Spring Fair

  • Quirky events

The Horniman Museum and Gardens’ Spring Fair is maybe the most efficient way to cram as much Easter fun into a single day as possible. The gardens will be taken over by a ridiculously busy programme, with everything from a Spring Time Disco (11.30 am - 1.30 pm) to an Easter Bonnet Parade (1 pm). But there’s plenty more: think circus skills, singalongs, fete games and seed planting, all fuelled by some cracking cuisine from the roster of food stalls. Maame T’s African inspired food, Lapecoraso Churros and Picks Organic Farm are just some of the kitchens that’ll be rustling up food – you better grab your ticket!

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