Harvard Museum of Natural History

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Harvard Museum of Natural History

Photo: Unknown · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

🎨 Museum · Cambridge

2 hours · $ · No reservation needed

age fit
0–1 yr
★ 2.0
1–3 yrs
★ 4.0
3–5 yrs
★ 4.0
5–10 yrs
★ 5.0
  • 🚗
    About 15 min drive
    From Newton · Parking: Street parking on Oxford St or the Harvard campus visitor garage (weekend discount); or Red Line to Harvard and a 10-minute walk
  • 🍼
    Stroller-friendly
    Flat surfaces — bring the stroller
  • 🌳
    Lots of shade
    Rain-OK · Handles heat · Fine on cold days
  • ⏱️
    Typical visit: 2 hours
    Best seasons: Spring · Summer · Fall · Winter

An old-fashioned cabinet-of-specimens museum, which turns out to be exactly what little kids love: room after room of mounted animals (giraffe, gorilla, and tiger all together), huge whale skeletons hanging overhead, dinosaurs, and a whole wall of glittering minerals; the Glass Flowers, the only collection of its kind in the world, is more for the adults.

💡 Tips
Free for MA residents Sunday mornings 9–12 (year-round) and Wednesday afternoons 3–5 from September to May, bring ID. Admission is not expensive anyway and includes the Peabody archaeology museum next door. A 2-year-old can look at the mounted animals for an hour, and strollers are allowed.

What this place offers

✓Glass Flowers
✓dinosaur skeletons
✓mounted animals
✓whale skeletons
✓minerals
✓MA residents free
✓restrooms

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This weekend's weather in Cambridge

Forecast at the destination itself (coast and hills often differ from home)

🌧️
Sat 10/17
Rain · 39–62°F · 78% rain
🌤️
Sun 10/18
Partly cloudy · 38–59°F · 1% rain

Location

Cambridge, Massachusetts

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