American Museum of Natural History

Tickets, Dinosaurs, Planetarium & Visitor Guide to the AMNH

⏱ 3-5 hours👤 All ages$$

The American Museum of Natural History opened in 1869 and has grown into one of the world's largest natural history museums — 28 interconnected buildings filling five city blocks on the Upper West Side. The collection of 34 million specimens and artifacts spans every continent and every era of natural history, but the experience is anchored by a handful of unmissable installations.

The dinosaur halls (4th floor) are the museum's defining experience — the T-Rex skeleton in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs is one of the most-photographed objects in any NYC museum. The blue whale model in the Hall of Ocean Life is enormous and surprisingly affecting up close. The diorama halls (African Mammals, North American Mammals, North American Birds) feature meticulous taxidermy displays of remarkable craft — they look exactly like they did decades ago, which is part of the point.

The Rose Center for Earth and Space (the giant glass cube on the museum's north end) contains the Hayden Planetarium and rotating space shows. The new Gilder Center for Science (opened 2023) is a Jeanne Gang-designed structure with the Invisible Worlds immersive science installation, an insectarium, and a butterfly vivarium.

Pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents; standard admission for out-of-state visitors. The museum is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas; otherwise open every day. Plan a half-day minimum; full days are common.