Senckenberg Naturmuseum in Frankfurt am Main

If your kids like dinosaurs, they are going to love the Senckenberg Naturmuseum in Frankfurt!

But this natural history museum has a whole lot more than just dinosaur skeletons. We decided to start upstairs instead of heading straight for the dinos. For one thing, a large school group had just entered the dino room, and we wanted to avoid the crowd. It turned out to be a good idea. I think the boys (ages 8 & 5 now) had a lot more patience to look at all of the other fascinating animals than they otherwise would have if we’d let them look at “the good stuff” first. Kind of like waiting for dessert 🙂

There are almost countless animals to be seen in taxidermy. We found it so interesting because – unlike at a zoo – you can get right up close to them. There were so many birds – from penguins and gulls to flamingos, peacocks, and many colorful parrots and the like! Even some teeny, tiny miniature birds. There were turtles and snakes, moose, and bison. There was a rhino, a leopard, a baby giraffe, and elephants, too. And an enormous skeleton of a whale.

The exhibits focus on evolution and other scientific developments as well. There are small exhibits on volcanoes and space.

And we didn’t even make it through the entire museum! It’s HUGE!

But let’s face it. My kiddos wanted to see the DINOSAURS! The view from the floor above was great. Especially to see the flying dino (sorry, I forget which one it is exactly!). But it also gives a great view of the T-Rex. Other dino bones to be seen include triceratops, parasaurolophos, stegasaurus, brachiosaurus, and iguanodon. Some only have a partial skeleton, like the leg of the Supersaurus. There are more, but I didn’t catch all of their names.

I have to admit, I wasn’t too sure about going to see a bunch of skeletons, but it was quite astounding to stand under the enormous T-Rex or to check out the huge crest of the triceratops.

So if your kids are into dinosaurs, put this museum on your list!

Is it good for kids?

Absolutely! There are also two different kids’ guides that you can get. I was a little disappointed in the dino one. I had hoped it would be more of a scavenger hunt for facts of something. But it included questions like, what’s your favorite dinosaur and which dino would win if they competed in the Olympics? My kids weren’t interested in them. So they weren’t worth the few Euros extra to buy them.

What about the cost?

Tickets for adults, ages 16 – 66, cost €10. Kids ages 6 – 15 are half price. Kids 5 and under are free. They also offer family tickets for 2 adults and up to 3 kids (ages 6 – 15). And there are other discounts for students and seniors.

Where is it?

It’s about a 35-minute walk from the Altstadt (old city center) in the western part of the city. We chose to drive from out hotel near the Altstadt, and it took about 20 minutes, including parking in a garage. (They are having a heat wave here – temps in the 90s – so we didn’t want the kids out in the sun for too long.)