Museum of Natural Sciences
Museum of Natural Sciences
4.5
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Meet the famous Bernissart Iguanodons in the largest Dinosaur Gallery in Europe, learn about the human body and how we evolved in the Gallery of Humankind and go back in time in the Gallery of Evolution. You can also find out about urban species in BiodiverCITY, discover specimens which illustrate the Museum’s history in the 250 years of Natural Sciences hall, admire the magnificent crystals in the Mineral Hall, and experience something new every year by visiting our temporary exhibitions or by taking part in one of our Education Service’s interactive activities. During Belgian School Holidays: Tuesday > Sunday: 10.00 > 18.00 During the Belgian school year: Tuesday > Friday: 9.30 > 17.00 | Week-end : 10.00 > 18.00
Duration: 2-3 hours
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- Schuman • 9 min walk
- Maelbeek • 10 min walk
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4.5
1,686 reviews
Excellent
909
Very good
562
Average
160
Poor
36
Terrible
19
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Mia B
Oxford, UK16 contributions
Feb 2020 • Couples
The museum itself is nice, and the exhibits are good and well explained.
The exhibition wasnt worth paying for - if you can read French or Dutch you are fine, if you can only read English then there is no point, as this was not an option. We just looked at pictures and videos of penguins.
Our experience was ruined due to thousands of school groups/trips all over the museum. So many screaming and shouting children/teenagers made it hard to concentrate on reading the information.
(We went on a Tuesday morning as soon as it opened).
The exhibition wasnt worth paying for - if you can read French or Dutch you are fine, if you can only read English then there is no point, as this was not an option. We just looked at pictures and videos of penguins.
Our experience was ruined due to thousands of school groups/trips all over the museum. So many screaming and shouting children/teenagers made it hard to concentrate on reading the information.
(We went on a Tuesday morning as soon as it opened).
Written 18 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lawrence K
Norway3 contributions
Nov 2022
We spent all of our time in two exhibitions, the dinosaur hall and the rooms for human evolution and human biology, though we did spend a few minutes in the crystals exhibit as well. The former two are very modern, very well thought out exhibitions, and I highly recommend devoting significant time to each! I doubt you have seen better exhibits anywhere on these topics. 4/5 stars because it asks "Rate your experience" which I interpret broadly: there were swarms of children (class excursions) everywhere, resulting in quite a lot of noise and difficulties in viewing some exhibits (couldn't get near them). But on balance a positive and memorable experience.
Written 5 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Corinne W
Amsterdam, The Netherlands116 contributions
Feb 2022 • Family
My 9 and 12 yr old had fun doing the sauria tour...download the app on your phone and grab a map at the entrance. We'll do e except it can be hard to find what exhibits they are talking about (use the paper map for this). Took us a good 1-1.5 hours so kids werenot very interested in seeing the rest of the museum. We did walk through the body and evolution part and wish we would have spent longer. Great visit.
Written 28 February 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bubbles73uk
Weedon Bec, UK848 contributions
Jan 2020
Even those that don't usually like museums won't get bored here! The Museum of Natural Sciences features the largest dinosaur collection in Europe. Lots to see and do throughout, especially for kids. It's about 15 mins on the bus from the centre of Brussels.
Written 5 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Florian
14 contributions
Dec 2022 • Friends
Bad experience at the cashier, couldn't pay with physical cash and had to ask someone else to pay for me.
The order of displays/themes is nice, i enjoyed the section about human evolution and the on display hominids. As a fanatic of dinosaurs , I was of course delighted to see iguanodons and others, but felt let down by the outdated reconstructions given in the information plates. Skin-wrapped, wrists broken, skinny kind of images, completely off from all modern reconstructions, conservative or not. Some drawings resemble early 1900s concepts of the creatures.
The iguanodon skeletal displays were also updated (as their stance was mostly quad from recent studies) but that can be forgiven since it would be quite a bit of work to update, though would be preferable within the century for accuracy's sake.
The taxidermy section was impressive though, and realistic. Looked well after from what I could see. Unfortunately I visited on a sunday, so the museum visit only lasted about 2 hours before we had to leave. Most interactive items were either not working (the wooden skeleton puzzle in the human section) or were a bit confusing.
The aquatic display/stone impression section was enjoyable, and the sitting areas were much appreciated as walking got a bit tiring.
The gift shop is alright, while some things were still outdated its not as bad as the official display since its mostly directed at the eyes of children.
I liked the coin machine outside it, that was a great memorial touch.
Overall would give 3.5/5. It was my first experience in a while being in a museum, and while my review may be mixed, i still enjoyed the experience. I recommend if you enjoy science, but mayhaps not focusing much on modernity.
Cheers, Florian.
The order of displays/themes is nice, i enjoyed the section about human evolution and the on display hominids. As a fanatic of dinosaurs , I was of course delighted to see iguanodons and others, but felt let down by the outdated reconstructions given in the information plates. Skin-wrapped, wrists broken, skinny kind of images, completely off from all modern reconstructions, conservative or not. Some drawings resemble early 1900s concepts of the creatures.
The iguanodon skeletal displays were also updated (as their stance was mostly quad from recent studies) but that can be forgiven since it would be quite a bit of work to update, though would be preferable within the century for accuracy's sake.
The taxidermy section was impressive though, and realistic. Looked well after from what I could see. Unfortunately I visited on a sunday, so the museum visit only lasted about 2 hours before we had to leave. Most interactive items were either not working (the wooden skeleton puzzle in the human section) or were a bit confusing.
The aquatic display/stone impression section was enjoyable, and the sitting areas were much appreciated as walking got a bit tiring.
The gift shop is alright, while some things were still outdated its not as bad as the official display since its mostly directed at the eyes of children.
I liked the coin machine outside it, that was a great memorial touch.
Overall would give 3.5/5. It was my first experience in a while being in a museum, and while my review may be mixed, i still enjoyed the experience. I recommend if you enjoy science, but mayhaps not focusing much on modernity.
Cheers, Florian.
Written 9 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jbinnacle
97 contributions
Mar 2023 • Solo
I was drawn to "the largest dinosaur gallery in Europe", and I found it worthwhile. The highlight was the display of the Bernissart Iguanodons, and the explanation of how they were discovered, preserved, and why they remain inthe wrong position (don't forget to go to the basement to see the skeletons that have not been mounted yet and lie how they did in the mine). The dinosaur hall is a beautiful building in itself. Interesting to see a piece of the K-Pg boundary, too. The mosasaur room was also good, but the Allosaurus "Arkhane" is for some reason hidden away in a completely different part of the museum.
Other areas include a display of preserved animals, one of them with representation of their habitats. a ward on evolution and a study on humans. All exhibits had English explanations.
I found the museum a bit difficult to navigate, and it was full of schoolchildren running around and being loud - this made me skip the temporary exhibition as I did not want to get run over again.
Very good for a rainy day. If you're into dinosaurs, I think the iguanodons make it worth the visit. I paid 13€ for the ticket. The café was a bit on the expensive side, but nothing outrageous all things considered.
Other areas include a display of preserved animals, one of them with representation of their habitats. a ward on evolution and a study on humans. All exhibits had English explanations.
I found the museum a bit difficult to navigate, and it was full of schoolchildren running around and being loud - this made me skip the temporary exhibition as I did not want to get run over again.
Very good for a rainy day. If you're into dinosaurs, I think the iguanodons make it worth the visit. I paid 13€ for the ticket. The café was a bit on the expensive side, but nothing outrageous all things considered.
Written 29 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
immorissal
Belgium174 contributions
Jan 2021
A review of the ‘Living Planet‘ hall, at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels, visited in January 2021.
In September 2020, The Museum of Natural Sciences announced a new permanent exhibition called ‘Living Planet’. This addition even made the news. The museum is very proud of it.
Unfortunately, all I saw was a terribly perverted way of presenting ‘nature’ to an already vastly urbanized audience, with an emphasis on children. I found it utterly dystopian.
Taxidermic specimens are exhibited as if they’re part of a contemporary art show: isolated, without context, in a white, unimaginative space. The immense gap between the perception of us, humans, compared to the rest of the animal world is made painfully clear. Touch screens – probably broken within a couple of years – gave minimal information on the individual species or their relation. The installation looked more like a high-end shopping mall.
Compared to this presentation, a zoo seems like a reasonable environment for wild animals. For other parts of the exhibition an array of abstract video projections of water or fire and close ups of plants were used – again as if they were channeling Bill Viola’s work in an attempt to achieve ‘immersion’. Immersion in what? In videographic exhibition design? All this equipment and styling will be outdated within a blink of an eye.
Half baked, stylized references to the traditional natural history dioramas were put in place, without even trying to aim for any form of illusion of a species in their actual habitat. Perhaps the museum thought to emphasize the laboratory part of natural science, but this completely disregards the engagement of natural sciences with actual natural environments.
Animals are being cut loose from their landscapes, all references to endangered ecosystems are gone or at least filtered out by colored led lights, the space for that replaced with white void or exhibition design that looks like it was conceived by tv studio builders. Maybe they simply thought it was ‘edgy’, in which case I wouldn’t even know where to begin to address a shallow mishap like that.
This is not worthy for any museum of natural history or natural sciences of this scale. This is an attempt at turning natural sciences into a multimedia theme park, while increasing the already substantial distance between the audience and its relation to wilderness.
In any case, ‘Living Planet’ is the worst title for a department pretending to represent life in dead, technological spaces.
In September 2020, The Museum of Natural Sciences announced a new permanent exhibition called ‘Living Planet’. This addition even made the news. The museum is very proud of it.
Unfortunately, all I saw was a terribly perverted way of presenting ‘nature’ to an already vastly urbanized audience, with an emphasis on children. I found it utterly dystopian.
Taxidermic specimens are exhibited as if they’re part of a contemporary art show: isolated, without context, in a white, unimaginative space. The immense gap between the perception of us, humans, compared to the rest of the animal world is made painfully clear. Touch screens – probably broken within a couple of years – gave minimal information on the individual species or their relation. The installation looked more like a high-end shopping mall.
Compared to this presentation, a zoo seems like a reasonable environment for wild animals. For other parts of the exhibition an array of abstract video projections of water or fire and close ups of plants were used – again as if they were channeling Bill Viola’s work in an attempt to achieve ‘immersion’. Immersion in what? In videographic exhibition design? All this equipment and styling will be outdated within a blink of an eye.
Half baked, stylized references to the traditional natural history dioramas were put in place, without even trying to aim for any form of illusion of a species in their actual habitat. Perhaps the museum thought to emphasize the laboratory part of natural science, but this completely disregards the engagement of natural sciences with actual natural environments.
Animals are being cut loose from their landscapes, all references to endangered ecosystems are gone or at least filtered out by colored led lights, the space for that replaced with white void or exhibition design that looks like it was conceived by tv studio builders. Maybe they simply thought it was ‘edgy’, in which case I wouldn’t even know where to begin to address a shallow mishap like that.
This is not worthy for any museum of natural history or natural sciences of this scale. This is an attempt at turning natural sciences into a multimedia theme park, while increasing the already substantial distance between the audience and its relation to wilderness.
In any case, ‘Living Planet’ is the worst title for a department pretending to represent life in dead, technological spaces.
Written 2 November 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vale A
12 contributions
Mar 2024 • Family
The museum is very large, it takes about 3 hours to visit it. The itinerary begins with 'Giant', a temporary exhibition dedicated to the giants of the past. The part dedicated to evolution is also very interesting. For me the most beautiful and interesting part is the one dedicated to the dinosaurs, in fact the remains and reconstructions are very well kept.
Written 30 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Larisa O
8 contributions
Dec 2023 • Couples
An amazing museum, truly one of the best in Europe! The museum has developed several routes, each of which takes about an hour, however, I would recommend allowing more time. I really liked the design of the museum - it is really very beautiful and nice to look at. There is a cafe and a separate picnic area, very convenient. All signs are duplicated in English, French, Dutch, and German. The museum has an amazingly well thought out user experience. For example, the evolution gallery is organized as follows: first you can watch a film in a huge ball that tells about the evolution of life on Earth, and then, moving from one zone to another, study fossilized remains, stuffed animals, watch films and even play various games to consolidate knowledge . Museum 10/10!
Written 31 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ramon
735 contributions
Mar 2023 • Couples
If you like museums of natural history, then this one is definitely worth the visit. Entry price is definitely okay, but it's hard to properly do everything within 1 visit without rushing through certain parts.
The dinosaur hall is a standout in my opinion and a highlight of the museum. Surprisingly awesome was 'Luminopolis', an interactive hall where you have to solve little puzzles; had a bit of an escape room touch to it.
Otherwise there are free lockers, plenty of toilets and a cafe with basic meal options for a little bite.
Would gladly come here again, had a great time.
The dinosaur hall is a standout in my opinion and a highlight of the museum. Surprisingly awesome was 'Luminopolis', an interactive hall where you have to solve little puzzles; had a bit of an escape room touch to it.
Otherwise there are free lockers, plenty of toilets and a cafe with basic meal options for a little bite.
Would gladly come here again, had a great time.
Written 24 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Linnéa
Cologne, Germany
Gibt es Informationen zu den jeweiligen Exponaten auch auf Englisch oder nur Französisch/Holländisch?
Written 25 November 2024
Does anyone know if they allow to bring a dog?
Written 14 March 2023
The lockers have enough space for luggage? I'm planning to arrive directly from the airport.
If not, there are options nearby?
Written 9 August 2022
The lockers have enough space for luggage? I'm planning to arrive directly from the airport.
If not, there are options nearby?
Written 9 August 2022
Yes there is but I would recommend coming by public transport since the parking lot is not that large and it is really easy to get there by Metro and Train, they even have special prices at the railwaystation if you buy a combiticket: transport+ entrance
Written 3 January 2019
Здравствуйте. Прочитала, что в Музее разыгрывается для детей детективная игра. Во сколько и в какие дни?
Written 19 December 2018
Science-Museum-B
Brussels, Belgium
Hello,
With our free trail for Kids "Our Masterpieces" (in pdf), you can discover 12 of the must-see exhibits of the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
The trails (6-8 years and 9-12 years) are thematic routes through the Dinosaur Gallery, the Mosasaur Hall, the Gallery of Evolution, the room 250 Years of Natural Sciences and the Gallery of Humankind. Approximate duration: 60 minutes.
They are in Dutch, French, English, German, Russian or Spanish. Each of them is available in a pdf format.
You will find all links on our site naturalsciences.be in the category "Visits & activities for everybody/Open trails/Free trail for Kids: Our Masterpieces (6-8 / 9-12)" (sorry, website links may not be included in this answer).
6-8 : bit.ly/2S9fIZu
9-12 : bit.ly/2EFjy9A
You could also turn your smartphone into a video guide with the free izi.TRAVEL-app and check the 'Our Natural Selection' Tour. Animations and archive photos tell you the story of 6 of our must-see exhibits. Get to know them in a whole different way!
Featured in 'Our Natural Selection': the humpback whale in the entrance hall, the world famous Iguanodon of Bernissart, our “Sea rex” – a 12,5m long mosasaur! –, the primitive horse from Messel, the magnificent Mammoth from Lier and, last but not least, the Spy Man, a Belgian Neanderthal.
To watch these short videos on your smartphone or tablet, simply download them using the free izi.TRAVEL-app (there is a WiFi hotspot in our entrance hall). The app will lead you on a tour around the Museum for some 30 minutes and is available in EN, FR or NL. Or check our YouTube channel (link in the footer of our website).
You will find all links on our site naturalsciences.be in the category "Visits & activities for everybody/Open trails".
Have a nice visit at the Museum!
Written 20 December 2018
Dipende: ad esempio per i bambini ci sono anche molte attività interattive che possono portare via diverso tempo. Io direi comunque da un minimo di 2-3 ore a tutto il giorno. Noi, con 2 bambini, ci siamo stati circa 3 ore, ma alcune parte (ad esempio la bellissima parte sull'evoluzione umana) l'abbiamo dovuta fare un po' velocemente
Written 3 November 2018
Science-Museum-B
Brussels, Belgium
Bonjour,
Vous trouverez ci-dessous les 3 parkings les plus proches :
Parking Forte Dei Marmi : Avenue du Maelbeek 61, 1040 Etterbeek
Parking Tulipe : Rue de la Tulipe 39a, 1050 Ixelles
Parking des 2 Portes (Porte de Namur) : Boulevard de Waterloo 2, 1000 Bruxelles
Plus d'info (notamment sur les transports en commun) sur la page "Informations pratiques/Accès" de notre site (naturalsciences.be/fr/museum/practical-information/2#practical_information-page-2)
Written 2 January 2018
Bonjour,
Pouvez vous me dire si le musée est accessible aux enfants handicapés en fauteuil roulant ?
Merci
Written 30 September 2017
Accessible aux chaises roulantes et enfants de moins de 6 ans = accès gratuit.
Written 4 January 2020
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