Good news for anyone planning a London city break: the Natural History Museum in South Kensington has reopened one of its galleries, adding another reason to carve out a few hours for this already-stacked museum. The news comes via Secret London, which flagged the reopening of the revamped space in the famous Alfred Waterhouse-designed building on Cromwell Road.
The Natural History Museum is one of those rare attractions that manages to be both a proper research institution and a genuinely fun day out. Even if you only have an hour, you can walk under the enormous blue whale skeleton that now hangs in Hintze Hall, say hello to the dinosaur gallery (the animatronic T. rex still gets a reaction out of most people), and browse the mineral and meteorite collections without spending a penny — general admission to the museum is free, though timed tickets are recommended at busy periods.
A reopened gallery matters for travellers because the museum's temporary and special exhibitions rotate through the year, and reopening dates like this can change what's worth seeing on your trip. If your last visit was years ago, the space won't look quite how you remember it — galleries have been progressively reimagined over the past decade, shifting from old-school specimen cases toward more interactive, story-driven displays on topics like evolution, volcanoes and the deep ocean.
The South Kensington location works in your favour too. The museum sits next door to the Science Museum and a short walk from the V&A, so you can realistically stack two or three major museums into a single day — or, more sensibly, do one properly and save the rest for another afternoon. Hyde Park is nearby if you need fresh air afterwards, and the tube station of the same name drops you almost at the door.
If you're travelling with kids, this is about as easy a win as London offers: free entry, dinosaurs, earthquake simulators and a gift shop the size of a small airport terminal. If you're travelling without kids, it's still worth the trip — go early on a weekday to have the hall more or less to yourself, and check the museum's website before you go to see which special exhibitions are on and whether they need a paid ticket on top of the free general admission.
For a city that can hammer your wallet, the Natural History Museum remains one of the best-value hours (or four) in London — and a freshly reopened gallery is a good excuse to go back even if you've been before.