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Houston Museum of Natural Science: General Admission
4.4
630 Ratings
Houston
Discover the wonders of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, from the largest dinosaur hall in North America to the stunning Smith Gem Vault. Don’t miss out on one of Houston’s top attractions!
Discover the wonders of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, from the largest dinosaur hall in North America to the stunning Smith Gem Vault. Don’t miss out on one of Houston’s top attractions!
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- The Houston Museum of Natural Science - The Houston Museum of Natural Science is located in the heart of the Houston Museum District across from Hermann Park. With world-class hospitality and knowledgeable staff, the museum will delight you with it’s easy to follow layout, clearly marked displays and beautiful exhibit halls. Whether you are…
- The Houston Museum of Natural Science - The Houston Museum of Natural Science is located in the heart of the Houston Museum District across from Hermann Park. With world-class hospitality and knowledgeable staff, the museum will delight you with it’s easy to follow layout, clearly marked displays and beautiful exhibit halls. Whether you are searching for the cafe or querying staff about the elemental symbol for gold, you are guaranteed to find whatever it is you are looking for with a minimal amount of effort and a substantial amount of excitement.
Your voucher to the museum should be exchanged for your ticket upon arrival. Once you enter, you’ll have the option to visit numerous permanent exhibits including North America’s largest dinosaur hall and one of the most extensive gem and geode collections in the United States. The museum is perfect for families and school groups, tourist and locals and offers refreshments and food at the cafe.
What's Included
- Local taxes
- Local taxes
What's Not Included
- The listed price does not include a parking fee, parking is payable upon arrival.
- The listed price does not include access to separate ticketed attractions such as films, the butterfly center, or traveling exhibits
- Food and drinks
- The listed price does not include a parking fee, parking is payable upon arrival.
- The listed price does not include access to separate ticketed attractions such as films, the butterfly center, or traveling exhibits
- Food and drinks
Additional Information
Discover one of the nation’s most popular museums at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Experience North America’s largest dinosaur hall, marvel at the stunning Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault, and explore much more. Frequently ranked among Houston’s top attractions, this is your opportunity to see why. A Permanent Exhibit Hall Ticket at the Houston…
Discover one of the nation’s most popular museums at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Experience North America’s largest dinosaur hall, marvel at the stunning Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault, and explore much more. Frequently ranked among Houston’s top attractions, this is your opportunity to see why. A Permanent Exhibit Hall Ticket at the Houston Museum of Natural Science grants access exclusively to the permanent exhibits.
- Please be sure to have a photo ID with you in order to redeem your voucher
- Admission to the Permanent Exhibit Halls is free to all from 5 pm to 8 pm each Tuesday.
Location
The Houston Museum of Natural Science
5555 Hermann Park Dr,
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.4
(630 Ratings)
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Dilankeshawa
Aug 24, 2025
The Houston Museum of Natural Science is truly worth a visit! - The Houston Museum of Natural Science is truly worth a visit! Specially for kids but equally enjoyable for adults. The museum itself has four floors each packed with fascinating exhibits.
On the first floor I loved the chemistry section and especially the amazing dinosaur skeletons and fossils some over 170 million years old!
The second floor is dedicated to gems, sparkling with incredible collections.
The third floor is absolutely marvelous with the Mummies and Ancient Egypt culture really interesting and full of history. Right next to it you’ll also find exhibits on the history of America.
The top floor explains everything about crude oil extraction procedures in detail which was very educational.
If you are someone who loves going deep into information this museum can easily take a whole day to explore properly. As I know, it’s also one of the most visited museums in the USA and I can clearly see why.
Highly recommended for families, students or anyone who loves history, science and culture.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
M9828rodonh
Jul 13, 2025
interesting place - Lots of interesting exhibits in the museum. One of more interesting is the butterfly area (which comes with an extra charge).
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jamie_h
Jul 3, 2025
Fun for our Kids and adults. - That it cost 30. dollars to park if you are non member. Lots for the kids to interact with and touch. Our four year old girls had a blast.
Review provided by Viator
Markht5589uw
Jun 19, 2025
Bring a small vehicle, allow 3+ hours - Better to bring a small vehicle if you want to park in the attached garage. Using that garage is a Houston driving test!
Great museum! A membership lasts a year and is worth it to cover the cost of parking. Easy to get overloaded with the sheer range of exhibits. The gem and dinosaur exhibits were amazing. The gem exhibit contains impressive natural specimens, art pieces including gems, and costly jewelry pieces. The dinosaur exhibit really brings each dinosaur to life in its life story.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Eduardodavidg701
Aug 27, 2025
Expensive parking and bad signage - Parking is very expensive ($30) and there is no place map. For certain moments you get lost in there. You have to have well-defined routes
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Violetphilly
Aug 26, 2025
A Must See in Houston: Dinosaurs, Gems and more! - I’ve been to many natural science museums across the country, including the ones in Denver and Philadelphia, but truthfully, I’ve never been more impressed than I was at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The exhibits were engaging and interesting on so many levels.
The dinosaur hall is by far one of the largest and most comprehensive I’ve ever seen, with an incredible variety and depth that kept me exploring much longer than I expected. I was equally blown away by the gemstone collection, which is both extensive and beautifully curated. One highlight for me was the series of gemstone animals created by the artist Dreher—stunning works of craftsmanship that I’ll never forget.
This museum sets a very high bar for what a natural science museum can be, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Houston.
One downside is the cost of parking. If you are not a member and you park in the museum garage, expect a sticker shock of $30 to park.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gatanne
Aug 12, 2025
Beautiful museum, complicated ticketing process - The museum was beautiful, particularly the butterfly exhibit, but I was surprised to discover that our general admission tickets purchased through trip advisor did not allow us to enter the museum directly. We had to go back through the lines at the box office to have our electronic tickets converted to paper. Apparently the only electronic tickets that are trouble free have to be purchased from the Museum's website.
Also, be aware that the most convenient parking is in the museum garage and costs $30.00 as a flat rate for nonmembers. Otherwise, a great experience for all ages of visitors.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carlohelmond
Aug 9, 2025
Once you get past the entrance it gets better - When we entered we just saw an area which contained all kinds of experiments for kids. There was a summer camp running around and for a moment I regretted coming here thinking it would be just all like this. But once we got past that initial area it got much better. We really enjoyed the dinosaur exhibition and the exhibition explaining all the different areas in Texas. The ancient Egypt exhibit was also very as well as the mineral exhibit. Keep in mind that there are some exhibits you have to pay an additional fee for. Consider wisely if that is what you need because there is already a lot to look at. There is a free parking lot 5-10 minutes walk away. The cafeteria is very small and provides no sitting area.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cathy_c
Jul 1, 2025
Disappointed Family! - Once we arrived at the museum it took 20 minutes standing at the ticket window to find out that the tickets only covered the permanent exhibits of the museum and not all the additional attractions such as the King Tut exhibit, Extreme Animals Alive, Audubon’s Bird’s of America or Death By Natural Causes. After spending some time with the ticket window agent. We decided to do only the King Tut Exhibit which cost $ 78.00 above the original ticket price. I did not see anywhere on the Viator website that “Special Attractions” would be more.
I am a travel agent and use Viator to purchase tickets, tours, etc. for my clients. I am very disappointed in the service I received and the overall experience. After doing the museum, lunch and 1 special attraction it cost me over $ 210.00 to take my daughter and two grandchildren to the museum. This was supposed to be a birthday present for my daughter and a fun activity for my grandsons. I had no idea that it would cost more. Nowhere in the Viator website does it say anything about additional fees for special attractions. The ticket window person suggested that I cancel my Viator tickets and repurchase the tickets directly from the museum. I told the person that I could not cancel them. She did everything she could to help me out with asking if I was military, SNAP recipient or WIC recipient. She was trying to look for any discounts she could so the price would not be as much.
Review provided by Viator
Kendra
Jun 14, 2025
Waste of money because they don’t disclose - First they had all of the parking blocked off. Second they didn’t bother telling us the exhibits would be closing so they could set up for a wedding. Literally kicking people out of dinosaur exhibit. Science exhibit closed before noon. Sign says they are closing at 330. We paid $150+ to get to have one minute in dinosaur exhibit. I would not have paid for entrance. I can’t walk long distances so was in pain by the time we got there. They don’t sanitize the 3D glasses after the movie. What a waste of my money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
