Jurassic Oceans at the Natural History Museum: Opening 22 May
The Natural History Museum's big new exhibition opens a week today. Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep arrives on Cromwell Road on Friday 22 May, turning attention from the dinosaurs on land to the giant reptiles that ruled the seas. It lands just in time for the May half term, and for families living or staying in Knightsbridge it will be one of the easiest big days out of the summer.
What the exhibition is about
The show focuses on the marine reptiles of prehistoric oceans: ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs, along with the ammonites and giant fish they hunted. Ichthyosaurs were dolphin-shaped hunters built for speed, plesiosaurs paddled with four flippers, many with long necks, and mosasaurs were huge marine lizards that sat at the top of the food chain. Among the headline specimens are a complete plesiosaur skeleton and the tail fin of Leedsichthys, which measures nearly two metres. Art Fund's listing also mentions a predator known as a sea dragon.
The museum has leaned into hands-on discovery. Visitors can touch real fossils, including a mosasaur tooth, a cast of a Baryonyx claw and, inevitably the children's favourite, a piece of fossilised Jurassic poo. Full details are in the museum's press announcement.
Tickets and prices
- Peak: adults £17.50, children £8.75
- Off-peak: adults £15, children £7.50
- Members, patrons and children under four go free, and concessions are available.
Art Fund suggests the exhibition is suitable for ages eight and over, and National Art Pass holders get half-price entry to exhibitions; see Art Fund's listing. The exhibition is supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and an events programme for all ages runs alongside it. Early-bird tickets went on sale in March, so popular half-term slots may already be filling, and booking now is wise.
Planning your visit
The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5.50pm, with last entry at 4.30pm. Timed tickets are the way to go, especially during half term, when the museum's main hall can be extremely busy. Arriving for the first slot of the day gives you the calmest view of the specimens and the most time with the handling tables. Younger children may move through quickly, so plan a second activity in the museum to keep the day flowing.
Because general entry to the museum is free, it is easy to build a full day around the exhibition. Follow it with the museum's permanent dinosaur galleries for a land-versus-sea comparison, then walk back towards Knightsbridge along Brompton Road for a late lunch.
Getting there
The Natural History Museum is on Cromwell Road, SW7, around fifteen minutes on foot from Knightsbridge station and a few minutes from South Kensington via the pedestrian subway. Queues at the main Cromwell Road entrance can be long in the holidays, so check the museum's advice on which entrance to use. See our guide to the Natural History Museum for cafés and quieter galleries.
Lead image: srboisvert via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
