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The Museum of Natural History was first recommended to me by a stranger in a coffee shop. I had a Vienna guidebook peeking out of my coat and my son was playing with a dinosaur transformer. The guy behind me in line said, “Well if you are going to Vienna and your son likes dinosaurs…” and the rest is (natural) history!
We took the red line on the underground train from our hotel and got off at the Volkstheater stop, which is the closest to the Museum of Natural History. Tickets are 10 Euros per adult and young kids are free!
There are lockers to store coats and backpacks, costing 3 Euros for the largest locker.
This is the view looking up from the cafe on the second floor. We took a break from walking the enormous exhibits to have some chocolate cake and coffee.
It seems like displays of rocks wouldn’t be that interesting, but it was actually really neat. It started as a personal collection and grew to be so large and diverse that it was eventually donated to the museum. There are meteorites, fossils, and every kind of rock, stone, and gem imaginable!
The quad/lawn in front of the museum has some gorgeous statues and trees. There are two other museums surrounding the lawn, but we didn’t wander into them.
We got my son a stuffed T-rex at the museum gift shop and I got some awesome postcards (I sent 10 from Vienna – check your mailbox)! They also have small fossils and meteorites for sale in the gift shop for a nice chunk of change.
We really enjoyed the 2 hours we spent exploring the Museum of Natural History and I definitely recommend it for all ages!
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There is nothing like seeing the excitement in your child’s eyes when they are exploring and seeing something that they enjoy. I’m sure you could feel the energy of times gone by as you looked at the displays and architecture of the place.This museum sounds and looks fantastic by seeing your pictures and reading your descriptions.
So true! He was so amazed and many of the exhibits. Especially the meteorite one because there were some video displays of planets and galaxies! “OUTER SPACE!”
Wow! You need a whole day to see everything. The best place to visit especially if traveling with children.
So true! We could have spent the whole day just exploring the museum, but after a couple hours my son was getting bored and tired of being quiet :) It really was a great place to visit with a kiddo!
Living in a small town right south of Vienna I visit this (and other) museums in Vienna every now and again, this one definitely among my favorites. I think the dinosaur exhibit is pretty cool, they even added (I think a year or two ago) an animatronics model of a dinosaur which is really neat.
Yes and I wish we would have known! My son FREAKED out when one of the huge dinos started moving. I literally had do pick him up and run out of the exhibit :)
What a great museum! My 28 year old husband would love the dinosaurs, too, haha.
lol I know my husband and I really enjoyed the big dinosaurs too :)
So cool! I love dinosaurs too… reminds me a lot of the Berlin museum (http://deutsch-bitte.net/2013/02/26/dinosaurs/). Gorgeous building too!
Wow, those are great photos! Thanks for sharing, we will definitely go there when we visit :)
Wow. Not only would visiting to see all the items in the museum the museum itself is a beautiful sight to see. How lovely. I love museums and would love to visit one day. If I ever get to travel it looks wonderful!
Thanks for reading, Jeanine!
When I lived in Cleveland, OH, we had a really nice Museum of Natural History. My mom would take my sister and I at least once a year as it was a favorite place for us to visit. This museum in Vienna looks like it is just so rich in history and exhibits.
That’s really cool your mom took you and your sister when you were younger! I bet that was really special for you guys :)
This sounds like it is an amazing museum. What a great learning experience. If I ever find myself in the area I am going to make sure that I stop by and check out all that it has to offer.
What a beautiful museum! It actually reminds me of the Museum of Natural History we have in NYC. It really is such a beautiful place to be at. You can learn so much, observe and really nurture your passion for history and archaeology. It looks like such a beautiful museum but historic artifacts!
I have never been to the one in New York, but I bet it’s gorgeous!
My husband gets a ton of miles through his job. He asked me the other day where I would like to go on a trip. I told him Austria! ( maybe because I love the Sound of Music) But you just gave me another reason to go there! What beautiful rich history!
What a coincidence! I totally meant to see the Sound of Music before we did our trip, but forgot :-/
I love visiting museums when we travel it’s always great to. This museum looks amazing and like a ton of fun to explore. The painting on the ceiling is amazing and very breathtaking to look at.
My son really loved startina at the ceiling. Especially after we told him someone had to go up there and paint it! My husband said he probably pictured someone crawling up the walls like spiderman :)
WOW, I would totally love to go there! So beautiful and I love history! I love the display of rocks! I mean that is truly amazing! I need realized there were so many kinds! Learn something new everyday! Thank you so much for sharing and I love your photos!! <3
Thanks so much Amanda!
Very cool! I missed this museum when I was in Vienna, but it looks like a very interesting one to explore! And the building itself looks beautiful too. Reading this is reminding me how I’ve been interested to see Paris’ museum of natural history and inspiring me to just go one of these days!
I hope you get a chance to see the one in Paris (me too for that matter)! It’s a nice way to mix in some history with sightseeing and you’re right the beautiful buildings are a plus!
What an absolutely beautiful area! I’ve never even been out of the country let alone to Europe, but I would absolutely love to visit Austria someday. It looks beautiful and so full of history! Museums are always a must when we do travel, though. I love learning about history!
Thanks Chelsea! I hope you get to travel to Europe one day – you will get to see a whole new world of museums :)
These are my favourite museums, we recently went to one that looked very similar to this in Ottawa – I just love dinosaurs!! The building is beautiful too x
Thanks Holly! It makes it more fun when the architecture is so gorgeous. Icing on the cake :)
Oh wow! Your pictures are incredible. I just love museums, but this is particularly grand. My kids and I have been to the Smithsonian and the Museum of Natural History in NYC. But this would be a dream come true. Putting this on my list for a dream trip someday.
Thanks so much much Melanie! Well I haven’t taken my son to those great museums in NYC yet, but hopefully one day.