Naturalis
‘’Like a zoo, but all the animals stay very still’’
Location: Leiden, Zuid-Holland, The NetherlandsPrice: 17,- / Students 12,75Duration: 2 - 5 hours
Transport: 10-minute walk from Leiden Central train station Language: Dutch / English Activities: Look at taxidermy animals, skeletons, and fossils. And play interactive games. A T.REX Date of visit: Monday 3rd of April 2023 Expo at that time: Website *it's recommended to make a reservation on busy days, but it's not mandatory
For Free!
So the first part of the museum is called the LiveScience and is before the ticket scan. So you can walk around for free, and I really recommend doing so if you’re in the era. This first part has a set of taxidermy birds and insects, you can also see all kinds of stones and a meteorite. It also has a bit of a library where you can read books about animals and nature, books for all ages. In the middle is a drawing table where you can try your hand at making anatomically correct animal drawings of the animals in the middle. But the coolest part must be the researchers! In the back is the Dino lab where researchers are working on real dinosaur bones right in front of you, and you can go up to them to ask questions. Underneath that is also a lab of researchers with microscopes, on a screen you can see what they see under the microscope and also ask them questions.
Blathers Museum
Once you want to go up the massive stairs, you first need to scan your ticket. The building has about 8 floors with different rooms that all tell a different story (there's also a lift ofcourse). To me, it felt like walking thou Blathers museum, like from Animal crossing new Horizons. The way, you got immersed in the storytelling and the animals. It was set up beautifully. Also for kids, it's a sight to see as you are just allowed to touch anything (carefully), in one room you could just pick up and hold bones! There are a lot of fun interactive mini-games, so to say, and in one room where they explained how the layers of the earth move and make mountains using cooking videos. Interesting choice, but very fun to watch and understandable for all ages. And that's really what this museum is, for people of all ages, since you can choose how much you want to learn. You can only play the mini-games and play around, but deeper information can be found when you really look everywhere and even open some drawers. Also, once again the fun parts are not being ‘’gate kept’’ so to say, where in some museums they hide the mini-games and treasure hunts and only make them accessible by kids like I also like fun!!
If you love dinosaurs you came to the right place as they have a full T. rex skeleton and some others. You can even go through the dinosaur experience for an extra 2 euros, but I didn't do that this time as I am not a very big Dino fan, but my boyfriend is, so maybe I will go with him.
A lot closed off
It seemed like there were more rooms also called science labs, but I think you could do fun experiments there, that required the staff’s help. So that was all closed. This is probably because it was a Monday and on Monday most museums are closed. So I assume they just closed half of it. Or it is because it's a school week and those parts might be open during holidays when more people are coming. But I didn't mind, I mean I have a museum card, and I'm definitely planning to come back.
Would I pay the price: Definitely, I think It's actually very cheap for the experience. Would I revisit it: Absolutely! Who do I recommend it to: nature/animal lovers, families, tourists Interactive: 5 Educational: 4 Storytelling: 5 Price: 5 Memorable: 5 Total score: 4,8