Fun & Exciting for the Whole family
The Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest has exciting and educational temporary exhibitions every year.
on Ludovika Square
The museum possesses the most extensive collection on the natural history of Hungary and the Carpathian Basin.
It stands on Ludovika tér in district VIII. in the former Ludovika Military Academy.
The museum offers some intriguing exhibits and photo displays like the Ice Age, or the Giants of Patagonia on Dinosaurs.
It has some great hands-on displays great for educational purposes in a fun way.
The rich mineral collection is also worth a visit.
The giant rock formations in front of the entrance are from various geologic time periods from several parts of the country
One is from the Devonian era (420 – 360 million years ago) from Szabadbattyán (central Hungary).
Table of Contents
Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest
Location – Getting There
Getting to the Natural History Museum is easy either by public transport or by car.
- If you’re going to use public transport take the M3 (blue metro) and get off at Klinikák or Nagyvárad tér stations.
- By car: you have to drive along Üllői road and turn off at
There’s a spacious, free parking area by the side of Üllői út or you can leave your car in the museum’s parking lot.
Opening Hours, Tickets 2024
- Opening hours: every day: 09.00 – 17.00 (cashier closes at 16.30)
- Tickets: permanent exhibits: full price: 1 600 HUF, ages 6-26: 800 HUF, ages above 62: 800 HUF, free for children under 6 and people over 70
- Temporary exhibitions: full price:800 HUF, ages 6-26: 400 HUF, ages above 62: 400 HUF, free for children under 6 and people over 70
- Entrance fee to the Dino Garden: full price: 400 HUF, ages 2-26 and above 62: 300 HUF, free for kids under 2 year and people over 70.
TIP: For up-to-date information on ticket prices please visit the museum’s website.
Hungarian Natural History Museum – Exhibitions
Amazing Displays at Every Corner
The display area of the Museum occupies 5 000 square meters so devote at least a couple of hours to visiting the museum.
Not only the temporary exhibits but the permanent displays promise a fun way of education.
At the entrance of the Natural History Museum in Budapest a stone park greets the visitor.
The rocks weigh a couple of tons and they relate the Earth’s geological history stretching back several million years.
After stepping in the modern building of the museum a giant skeleton of a 2-ton fin whale draw the eye upwards.
The well-preserved remains of the animal is hanging up in the air of the main hall of the museum fitted at 10 points to a specifically assembled wooden beam structure.
This specimen displayed in the Natural History Museum in Budapest was captured in the Atlantic Ocean in 1896 during the heyday of industrial-scale whaling.
The burn marks on the skull was caused by a fire in 1958.
The bone structure weighs 2000 kg out which the skull alone measures around 1000 kg.
After admiring the skeleton, steps lead you down to the main hall where you can purchase your tickets.
Here you’ll find a mineral shop and a gift shop.
The lavatories are next to the glass doors leading to the exhibition halls.
While queuing in front of the ticket boxes, take a look at the tiles covering the walls. Some of the tiles are in fact stone reliefs.
Permanent Exhibitions in 2018
Colourful LIFE – Discovering Hungary’s Natural Landscape
The new temporary exhibit demonstrates biological diversity in Hungary.
- walk underneath an original giant jaw of an ancient shark
- go on hunting on a mammoth steppe
- relax in the most beautiful forests of the country
- see the the most beautiful habitats of today’s Hungary and its creatures from birds’ eye view!
Lost Worlds – the Age of Dinos in Hungary
It includes
- body reconstructions,
- whole dinosaur skeletons found in Hungary complemented with
- a unique interactive computer technology.
Secrets Underground
A display of the musuem’s mineral and rock collection of 450 pieces.
Visitors can also interactively examine the crystal structures and the materials forming the minerals.
The Marvellous Wildlife of the Coral Reefs
You can see a magical world 60 cm underneath the museum’s 122 sqm glass floor.
Fish and corals await visitors in the aquariums built in the walls.
Temporary Exhibitions
The museum has some exciting temporary exhibits each year.
Both the Ice Age and the Dinosaurs – the Giants of Patagonia exhibits were very popular, offering a great program for families with kids on rainy days.
Popular Past Exhibitions
Dinosaurs – Giants of Patagonia from till July 31. 2014.
Date: 28. September 2013 – 31. July 2014., every day (except Tuesday when the museum is closed): 10.00 – 18.00
Tickets: full price: 1 950 HUF, ages 6-26 and above 62: 1 050 HUF
The most ancient and largest dinos of the world came to Budapest again at the end of September 2013.
Visitors could view:
- Copies of skeletons,
- dino nests,
- fossils of eggs,
- playful hands-on displays.
Argentina is one of the richest area in the world regarding paleontology findings with 30 sites explored in the previous 3 decades.
We saw a large part of this 30-years work in the Hungarian Natural History Museum.
There is also a permanent exhibit on The Age of Dinosaurs in Hungary titled “Lost World” (see above).
If you or your kid is a real dino buff then do visit the small Dino Garden of the museum packed with life-size statues of dinos.
You need to buy separate tickets to visit the garden.
Ice Age (Jégkorszak) – A Spectacular & Interactive Exhibition
From 2nd April to 17th November 2008 the Ice Age temporary exhibition was the main attraction in the museum.
Besides having focused on the era of the last ice age, the exhibition also explained the facts behind global warming highlighting the responsibility of human activity.
This was a great informative display that helped children understand scientific phenomena related to climatic changes.
by using hands-on tools like touch screen monitors showing migration of animals during the glacial periods.
The star of the display was however Gyima, the mummified body of a 40,000-old baby mammoth found in Russia in 1977.
A gold-miner came across the finding in the frozen, upper layers of the Kolyma river in Siberia.
The 6-7-month old calf had probably fallen into a deep pit and was unable to climb out.
Hunger and the freezing temperature caused its death.
After the discovery the corpse was taken to the Zoological Institute in Leningrad when it was researched.
Besides the mammoth calf, you could see other long-extinct animals of the glacial era like
- saber-toothed tiger,
- woolly rhino,
- giant deer.
Before reaching the Ice Age exhibition you walk through a beautiful coral reef display arranged under 122 square meter glass floor.
With Teeth – With Claw: The World of Mammal Predators
The display in the main exhibition hall provided a glimpse into the life of predators that always triggered awe and fear in humans.
Texts in Hungarian and English told you about the main characteristics of these fearful animals including description of their habitats.
Browse our list of Museums in Budapest. See also more recommended things to do for kids in Budapest.
Related:
Hungarian Railway Museum – Zelnik István Gold Museum – Miniversum – Zwack Unicum Museum & Factory
