Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi: Tickets AED 70, Hours, Highlights

Four places to pair with the museum or use as an alternative

#1

Saadiyat Cultural District; five steel falcon-wing towers The UAE's own history, in the same district

Zayed National Museum

The museum's site lists it as open daily from 10:00 to 20:00, with an adult ticket at AED 70. The Natural History Museum is lending wild camel bones to its first temporary exhibition, due to open in early December. The two museums are close enough to be paired, and the Saadiyat pass covers both.

#2

The Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai Sea life without leaving Dubai

Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo

If you do not want a 3-hour round trip, our guide says the big viewing panel is free to watch from the mall floor, and a standard ticket is from about AED 150. Allow 1.5-2 hours for the paid route. It covers the sea, not the long story of life on land.

#3

City Walk, Dubai Children who like animals and plants

The Green Planet

A four-storey indoor rainforest with sloths, birds and reptiles, open daily 10 AM to 6 PM according to our guide. Adult tickets are roughly AED 150-175 and a visit takes 2-3 hours. It is a rainforest and not a natural history museum, but it fits a family day in Dubai.

#4

Dubai; open roughly October to May Animals outdoors in the cooler season

Dubai Safari Park

Entry is from about AED 50 for adults and AED 20 for children aged 3 to 12, and under-3s are free, according to our guide. It has 6 themed zones and a guided safari ride of about 35 minutes. It is outdoors, so go in the cooler months and early in the day.

Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi: the short answer

The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is on Saadiyat Island, opened on 22 November last year, and an adult ticket is AED 70 (about $19). Children under 18, UAE-based seniors aged 60 and over, and people of determination with their companions enter free. Visit Abu Dhabi calls it the largest natural history institution in the Middle East, covering more than 35,000 square metres.

The two big names are Stan, one of the most complete T. rex skeletons ever found, and a fragment of the Murchison meteorite. Most visitors spend 2 to 3 hours, and families with young children may want more. The museum's own website was not available to us when we checked on 2 November, so the hours and prices below come from The National's guide at opening and from Visit Abu Dhabi. The National still gave AED 70 for adults on 1 September. Check the museum's site before you go.

Opening hours and tickets

You book an arrival time slot and then stay as long as you like within the opening hours, according to The National. Hours for public holidays had not been released at the time of that guide, and Visit Abu Dhabi says hours can vary with the day and the season.

Hours and prices from The National's guide at opening and Visit Abu Dhabi, with AED 70 for adults confirmed again by The National on 1 September. Check before you go.

A discount of 30% for UAE residents ran until 30 September, according to The National, so it should have ended. Tickets are sold online. If you plan more than one Saadiyat museum, read the pass section below before you buy.

What to see: the galleries and the highlights

The National lists five permanent galleries: The Story of Earth, The Evolving World, The Lost World of Abu Dhabi, Our World and Resilient Planet. Together they follow the story from the origin of the universe over billions of years to the ecosystems of today, including polar regions, deserts and the deep ocean. The exterior is inspired by basalt columns formed by ancient lava flows, according to Visit Abu Dhabi, and the building has planted terraces and a canyon-like space inside.

• Stan: the T. rex skeleton, described by Visit Abu Dhabi as one of the most complete ever discovered. Khaleej Times described it as a 67-million-year-old skeleton.
• Murchison meteorite: a 1.3 kg fragment of a meteorite that contains material older than our solar system, according to The National and Visit Abu Dhabi.
• The Lost World of Abu Dhabi: a recreation of Abu Dhabi seven million years ago, when it was a green savannah, with fossils from across the UAE. Visit Abu Dhabi calls it one of the most compelling sections, because it is closer to home.
• The welcome atrium: a herd of sauropod dinosaurs stands in the entrance atrium, according to The National.
• Film: The National listed a 20-minute film, A Journey Through Time, in the theatre at opening.

With children: Dino Play and the Lego exhibition

Dino Play is designed for children up to age six. According to The National, they can feed a baby Spinosaurus, fly the wings of a Pteranodon and climb into a Diplodocus tree-house. There is also an education zone.

Until 8 November there is also Natural Brickstory, an interactive Lego exhibition on 13.8 billion years of natural history. It is included with standard admission, according to The National on 1 September. It combines large Lego builds, excavation-style areas, trails and workshops.

On the practical side, The National reports a single-floor museum with ramps, step-free access, lifts to the entrance and accessible facilities, free parking, two shops and the Nayzak cafe in the entrance atrium, before the ticketed area. Visit Abu Dhabi adds that Saadiyat is walkable, with the Mamsha Al Saadiyat promenade of restaurants close by.

How long to allow and when to go

Visit Abu Dhabi says most visitors spend 2 to 3 hours in the galleries, and families with children may want more time for the interactive exhibits. Because entry is by time slot, book the slot you want online. The Friday to Sunday hours run two hours later than Monday to Thursday, so a late slot at the weekend leaves time for a second stop earlier in the day.

Our advice, not a published figure: take the first slot at 10:00 if you want quieter galleries, especially with young children. In the cooler months, the walkable district and the Mamsha Al Saadiyat promenade are an easy follow-up.

The Saadiyat Museum Pass and pairing museums

The National reported in April that Abu Dhabi launched a Saadiyat Cultural District Museum Pass. It covers the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi and Zayed National Museum. The pass is from AED 120 for two museums and AED 170 for three, valid for 30 days from first use, and children under 18 enter free with every pass. You can buy it online or at kiosks.

Here is the arithmetic. With the Louvre at AED 70, as Visit Abu Dhabi lists it (see our Louvre Abu Dhabi guide), and AED 70 for each of the other two, three separate tickets cost about AED 210, so the three-museum pass saves about AED 40. Two museums cost about AED 140 separately against AED 120 on the pass, a saving of about AED 20. The pass does not cover teamLab Phenomena. For that, see our teamLab Phenomena guide.

Check before you go. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opens on 11 December, and we have not seen it added to the pass.

The Zayed National Museum guide covers the third museum, and the Saadiyat Island guide covers the beach and the district. The new Guggenheim has its own page: Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opening.

Getting there from Dubai

The museum is in the Saadiyat Cultural District, next to teamLab Phenomena and across from the Abrahamic Family House, according to The National. Visit Abu Dhabi says it is 15 to 20 minutes by car from the centre of Abu Dhabi. From Dubai, our Saadiyat Island guide allows about 1.5 to 2 hours each way by road, and our Dubai to Abu Dhabi guide compares the bus, taxi and car.

Our Abu Dhabi City Tour from Dubai does not stop at the museum. It is a 9-hour guided day from $45 per person, with an 8:00 AM hotel pickup, covering the Grand Mosque, BAPS Mandir, the Corniche and Heritage Village. If the museum is your goal, plan it as its own day, or ask us on WhatsApp about a private car, which is $245 for up to 7 people. Museum tickets are bought separately.

Is it worth the road trip? For AED 70 and 2 to 3 hours of dinosaurs, yes, if you are already going to Saadiyat or have children who like animals. If you stay in Dubai, the options in the cards above are closer and shorter.

FAQ

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