Reviews of Otago Museum. (Museum) in Dunedin (Otago).

Otago Museum

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Museum

419 Great King Street North, Dunedin North, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand

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Information of Otago Museum, Museum in Dunedin (Otago)

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Open hours of Otago Museum

Sunday

10am–5pm

Monday

10am–5pm

Tuesday

10am–5pm

Wednesday

10am–5pm

Thursday

10am–5pm

Friday

10am–5pm

Saturday

10am–5pm

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Reviews of Otago Museum

My daughters enjoyed the Butterfly garden, the planetarium shows and the Science Centre was lots of fun too. We dint have enough time to see anything else, as the amazing activities at the Science Centre, kept them glued. It is definitely one place you should visit while in Dunedin.

I loved the Museum! The butterfly and sea monsters exhibits were well worth the entry fee. We started by going through the science section of the Museum, which had lots of really exciting interactive exhibits that encouraged experimentation and play, even in adults. Highlights included the tornado machine, the bumpy slide (you’ve got to try it), the multiplayer pacman machine, and the colour-mood dome. After this, we went through the sea monsters exhibit, where you could see replicas of real fossils of giant sea monsters that have been uncovered around the world. It was awesome to see how big and terrifying some of them are. I also really enjoyed being able to draw and scan my own sea monster into the virtual tank! The butterflies were my favourite overall. You can go into a hot, humid room and let butterflies land on you! There were also lots of beautiful birds flying around, and a giant centipede! (Or was it a millipede?) Either way, a day well spent.

There were so many things to look at me and my partner loved it. All the old artifacts and relics were amazing wiuld definitely come here again the coolest thing I seen was probably the mummy amd the Ancient stone tablets with cool Egypt writing on it

Outstanding museum, the hands on kids area is awesome and loads of fun. The butterfly house is incredible too. Our kids really enjoyed the animals in the attic! There are some very old taxidermy animals up there. Also a huge whale skeleton!

The treasure hunt for the kids was great even the big kids will get you thinking. Well set out and interesting for all ages. Excellent activity for the school holidays or short break.

Amazing attraction during a wet cold day. The children enjoyed wondering through the exhibits and thoroughly enjoyed the science exploration section/butterfly house.

Couldn’t finish in one whole day, we had to come back on the next! Surprisingly big and amazingly detailed museum experience, particularly this whale skeleton, absolutely jaw dropping!

We always love coming back here every time we visit Dunedin. So much to learn. Lately, the Sea Monsters exhibition was very splendid. Whether a replica or a real fossil, it was a full size. And, I can compare my actual height to the size of these prehistoric monsters.

We swung by on a Sunday as a last minute idea and had a great time. The guy at the front desk was a ball of positive energy and you could tell he loved his job. Kudos to the team there.

Compared to other museums the Otago Museum isn't as big and doesn't have as many exhibits. That being said, in Jan 2022 they did have a big hitting Sea Monsters display that had some great pieces. The only problem here is that it cost us $35 for a family of four to visit; do I think it's worth that? No. We then went to visit the impressive Butterfly display, but before we got through the gates, we had to shell out another $40 to have a look at the butterflies. I wasn't happy having to pay $75. On the bright side, their kiwi displays are pretty good.

Large museum with a good range of exhibitions. Definitely worth going to the butterfly enclosure for the First Flight at 11am. You can get really up close with the butterflies. Some of the galleries are a little older, but still interesting

I only did the free tour as we arrived an hr before closing. Was underwhelming for me, got bored very quickly. Good for kids and people who are interested in animals, fossils, world clothing collection etc.

Various different exhibits to see. Friendly and helpful staff to point us in the right direction. Lots of stairs but there is a lift!

Brilliant place for big and small kids. Butterflies are amazing! Butterfly release at 11am every morning. Dino exhibition and alot more going on at any given time. Would save this for a rainy day if you were on a trip. Butterfly and other exhibitions cost between 10-15$ per adult and slightly cheaper for children 3+. Highly recommend.

The museum has everything ranging from historic to stars. It has different sections for various subjects. You can browse from historic times, get immersed into various science exhibitions and gaze into the stars and whatnot in planetarium. There is a cafe which is reasonably priced and gift shop in there too.

The Team there are amazing my Grandson is ASD they were very accommodating and the Museum as always great for an afternoon with the grandchildren. The Butterflies and Children's Science well worth the time spent 💖

We went specifically to the Tuhuru Science Centre and to view the release of butterflies. It was such a fun and exciting experience for children and adults. My 3yo daughter loved exploring and playing in the science centre and she learnt so much from it. I would highly recommend to stop by and look around. We would definitely be coming again.

A very good museum. The butterfly exhibit is amazing. The dinosaur exhibit was very good. Overall an afternoon well spent and different from the settlers museum do no worries there.

Great natural history and interactive exhibits! Also a beautiful, live tropical butterfly and bird exhibit. There are also cultural exhibits, but we didn't have time to go through them all. You can easily spend 2 or 3 hours here.

Amazing Museum definitely a place to visit when in Dunedin so much to see we needed 2 days to look at the whole Museum. So much Amazing things from the planetarium to a full size finn whale.

(Jan 2020) When I thought I've seen everything what NZ can offer I entered this beautiful place. It is so dang big you can spend hours just wondering around and admire all the collections!

Spend 2 days in the museum a must see attraction great informative place. Thank you all so much for all the effort you put into it. Planetarium only one of the highlights

Wow! What a great Museum. Came here to see the Butterfly sanctuary and ended up spending a good few hours exploring around the different exhibitions! definitely it needs a lot of time to go through every exhibition from science to history. Well mentained and good place to know about New Zealand history in every aspect. Science exhibition is also there which is very exciting and knowledge giving. If you are in Dunedin please go and have look.

Excellent place. The museum is free. There are also sections which you have to pay for but you can get a combination ticket and the value for money is really good. I would definitely go to the butterfly and science section, lots of experiments you can do on your own and many butterflies to see.

Most of the museum is free. You can buy tickets for butterfly and sea monster. You have a choice. Good for tourists and children. We enjoyed our time here.

Getting up close and personal with the butterflies was great. Get there early for the release of any new butterflies. It is humid so be prepared. As for the rest of the museum, awesome hands on science area... Great for the kids to learn and have fun!

Incredible collection! Would recommend to everybody and anybody. At least a day's worth of sightseeing and activities in the science centre. The butterfly garden is also spectacular.

I love going to museums around New Zealand and this is by far the best museum I've been to. I recommend going to the paid exhibits because they're really cheap, around $10 per person and they're super interesting. I had fun checking out the butterfly room they had.

The best museum in all of New Zealand by a long shot. I used to come here heaps as a kid before I moved cities and it’s just as I remember it, which goes to show it stands the test of time. Such iconic things here such as the crocodile, the moa, the whale and the butterfly house. It was so awesome to go back and see it all again.

This place always amazed our boy. Whenever we visited Dunedin we always come to the Museum and purchased Family combo entry that comes with viewing at Planetarium, Science center and Rain Forest entry

Butterfly rainforest was so amazing. Beautiful. You have to go. Great Cafe with great food and staff

The Otago Museum is such a great place for the whole family. Their are multiple different areas in the museum including an awesome butterfly house and the Planetarium. The prices for these are really good value and there is also a cafe which has lots of yummy food and museum. Definitely worth a visit!

I went there to see Sea Monsters exhibition. Not bad for a rainy day activity.

Butterfly area can get extremely hot- recommend summer heatwave clothes and be wary it can be slippery. Quail are free roam so watch were you step. They have several historical items from many cultures and the science centre is very interesting and contains many intriguing objects and illusions. The staff are friendly and helpful- if you're lost you can just ask and you'll be right. Overall a great experience and I highly recommend you tip as they offer this all for free.

Kia ora .What did I love about the place. Were do I start the butterfly house Planetarium there is so much to see there words fail walking to a place when an adult man can look at a place with the wonder of a child and ill will be back for a second look because there is still so much to see in there. My suggestion to anyone is get there early to the butterfly house as the butterflies active in the morning

Far better than Auckland museum. The kids discovery area was great for the adults as well. Fantastic time in the butterfly experience although the humidity was a killer! We almost didn’t visit this place and are so glad we did!

Can be crowded during the weekend. The general admission alone has great collections and informations. Worth a whole day visit, free fast wifi and clean toilet.

Wonderful museum and so much bigger then expected. I could have spend a full day here, but I'm a museum enthusiast. The displays are detailed and very informative. I enjoyed the variety as well. Definitely worth to visit.

Initially I just went through the free exhibits, and they were great! But I saw some glimpses of the science exhibit thing. We paid for the admission and it was definitely worth it! So many fun interactable exhibits! And the butterflies were incredible! Super impressive and worth the trip!

First off, please know that the museum is free. You want to see the butterflies, you gotta pay 15NZD. It's located in the science Discovery section, which is really aimed towards kids and middle school to high school dating ideas. There's a lot of interesting and awesome exhibits. Who knew birds were actually that tall a long time ago? The even have the fossils of a Pleisiosaurus ( it's basically the loch Ness monster) that's was awesome. I realized being there just how many animals can kill a human being. Of course there are many places that do that, but for some reason, being up close to the stuffed animals, and seeing the fossils of ancient wildlife was eye opening. Go here. Get learned.

The first time a blue butterfly landed on me, it's very warm and humid in the butterfly habitat so we have found asthmatics can find it difficult breathing. An awesome experience though. The kids discovery section is great.

Butterflies are so lovely 🤩

You honestly need a few hours to get around the place. So much to see and do. Kids loved it.

Love this board the most HAHAHAHA. Where people can drop questions to ask about dinosaurs and the expert will answer them. Love how most of the answers actually went beyond from text explanation. So adorable! Side note: there’s a locker near the glass entrance doors. $2 for 4 hours if I’m not wrong...

It was a great museum to see while we were there on our day trip off the cruise ship, my son and I had a good time looking at all the old items on display. It was very reasonably priced for a small Museum. 👍👍😀

A fantastic place, to know and interact with science. I spent a whole day here, and would not want to leave when 5pm, the museum closed.

This is a pretty great museum, especially because of its science area. Lots of very cool physics demo equipment and also a butterfly house. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable. The main museum is free but the science area has an associated cost of $15 per adult. Beautiful building. Worth checking out the second floor lobby area where they often have craft workshops.

Always good for the family to do and enjoy. An interactive museum. We enjoyed the planetarium theatre prior to entering the amphibian display. The theatre was a novelty for me looking at prehistoric like from a different angle as the screening was on the dome ceiling. Thought this was well done but felt overbearing on the odd occasion. The amphibian display was interactive and the kids loved the robotic animals roaring at them as they approached. The 2 displays has an entry fee family of 5 $60 .

Great exhibits. Enjoyed the butterfly room. Great place to take the family

Always love coming here. The exhibits are getting better as the years go on. Great place to take the kids. Best to give yourself a couple of hours at least to really explore the place. I've been countless times and always seeing things I'm sure I've never seen or noticed before.

Awesome place and great for kids 😀 spend the extra and do full experience with butterflies and planetarium they'll love it and so will you ... highly recommend

Great place to spend a few hours. The science centre is great for kids and adults alike and the butterflies are great to observe. The coffee leaves a bit to be desired.

A great collection of items and educative place. Don't forget to check the maori and Polynesian areas, the animals and the different culture items stored at the this amazing museum. The science area is worth the ticket price and kids will surely love it. The temporary expositions are always interesting as well. After your visit don't miss have a coffee at the Museum cafe.

I love New Zealand's history and culture on display. Oh, the butterflies 🦋 are cool.

Butterfly hose is great big multi level atrium lots of butterflies even before the release at 11am. Big waterfall if you got too hot could go down to the lower levels.

I love it. You can see many kind of galleries for free it’s amazing 😉 also you if you pay a bit you can enter this lovely butterfly area. I love it you have to check it out. It’s so hot inside so I recommend you wear a t shirt with a jumper and you can keep your jumper outside of this area. You should be love it.

The Otago Museum is world class. Of particular interest is the collection of moa skeletons and the Egypian/Greek and Roman artifacts. Don't forget the long running live butterflys. Plenty to see and do that will keep you coming back.

Very nice museum! It has even a Planetarium and very interesting exhibition objects. Worth a visit if you’ve time.

When we arrived in Dunedin, everyone told us that one must go was Otago Museum and they were absolutely correct. To start, the bagels of the museum’s cafe are the best we ever had. Don’t miss the chance to try! After an amazing breakfast, it was time to explore the whole museum for around 2h. The staff was super helpful and professional! Beyond the free (awesome) exhibitions, butterflies space, one floor just about the NZ’s animals (including Moa and Albatrosses) and planetarium, they were with a special Titanic exhibition (extra fee) that we loved it, with 3 special videos explaining about the “Titanic’s world” even like James Cameron journey to the most deep point in the world. We loved everything and for sure Otago Museum it’s an attraction not to be missed and we highly recommend it when in Dunedin!!! We’re very excited to explore again the museum next time in the city. Thanks, guys :)

The butterflies were cool and all of the animals in the animal attic were so life like, they had a huge variety of them.

It was nice to see this place and all of the different exhibit. If you go to see the butterfly be aware it is very warm in there.but very awesome to see the different types.

SUPER LOVE THIS MUSEUM !!!!!!!!!! Holy smokes where to begin, this marvelous museum has something for everyone and then some :) The monumental magnitude and multitude of the exhibitions and artifacts here are just so fantastically done and an absolute wonder and awe inspiring to behold. Soooooooo many wonderful things to see and do here, hands down one of New Zealand's Finest Treasures !!!

Magnificent museum which is generally for public with few sites that you need ticket. Perfect place to get immersed to NZ culture.

Butterfly experience was fun but hot. Butterflies landed on you if you were still. highly recommended.

A great place to learn about the history of New Zealand, and Dunedin is a typical migration city, the gold-rush and fusions between different cultures, all these stuff makes this museum trip attractive. One of the best museums in NZ.

Fabulous museum, lots of ever changing exhibits. Really amazing child/family/kinesthetic learning play space, worth the money

The Otago museum is quite spectacular. It has a wide range of interesting topics to learn about. Such as the Maori history key part to New Zealand’s heritage. Learning about the Maori people comes with videos, statues and original pieces. Via entry of the building there are gift shops and a cafe to treat yourself to some lollie cake and a coffee. There is a part that most kids and adults enjoy, it has a slide, fun games, demonstrations of tornadoes and optical illusions. The part that I found the best was the butterfly sanctuary where you could walk through the lush green garden and hear the waterfall hitting the water while admiring the stunning butterflies and birds.This review states three of the many fun things to do at the museum. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and was very convenient because it was a rainy day, so it was the right thing to do.

Great museum for all ages. Could have spent much longer there, missed the science part, which is apparently best :(

One of the best attractions in Dunedin. Definitely worth a visit. We attended the Permian Monsters exhibit, which was pretty cool. Loved the animal attic and the Butterfly House. Will definitely visit again!

Always worth a visit, good displays and special presentations. Good areas for children's activities.

Really cool, so much to do you need a full day to get around but alot of the stuff is free so you could come for a few hours and come back another day for the paid admissions. Food from the cafe is really good too actually

A fantastic place to spend the day. My favorite place is the Butterfly houses

Good free attraction and something's look the same for when I was a kid over 30 years ago. The kids love the whisper dishes, ships and animals.

The science area is incredible and fun. The butterfly area is amazing. Well worth the visit!

Amazing so much to see, really loved this museum, also great shop and restaurant

Loved the butterflies at the museum so many different colours and a, beautiful tropical garden.

Enjoyed the exibitions on show and had a great lunch at the Cafe. Staff were really helpful whenever we asked questions

Very interesting, friendly and knowledgeable staff. A lot of NZ history there. There are wild life exhibits, cultural exhibits, industrial exhibits and sea faring exhibits. There was even a wee lizard hanging out.

Nice history museum. Fun play area for the kids. There is a butterfly area.

Fantastic museum. A must see. Several floors of amazing and interesting exhibits. A much better museum than a city of that size would normally have. Very modern. Amazing butterfly house. Hugely varied and often interactive exhibits. Something for everyone.

A great place to visit as a family covering things from dinosaurs to wakas. Different populations and lots of well preserved taxidermied animals. Entry is free to the majority of the displays. Spent just over an hour here as a last minute visit prior to leaving Dunedin and enjoyed whizzing around the place.

Great Customer service however did not know about bookings available on their own website. Sea Monsters exhibition brilliant

So much to see and experience. Everything is very user friendly, staff are friendly and the butterflies were really just fantastic.

Awesome museum!! Spent 5 hours there and could have stayed longer!! Definitely be back!

Massive, world-class museum for free! Huge displays of New Zealand history, as well as animals from around the world. Really high quality exhibits.

Great place to go on a cold and wet day. Can spend all day there looking around and there is a Cafe if you feeling hungry

First time visiting with my daughter. We have lots of fun

Awesome place to take the kids! Lift is tiny though so not ideal if you have a big pram or lots of kids (like me haha)

Such an incredible museum with so much to do and see! We paid extra to see a live show at the planetarium and it was worth every penny!

Several floors of exhibits, with lots of fun stops for the kids, and detailed exhibits for us more inclined to read. ^_^

We went to the Otago museum and the grandchildren loved it we paid to get into the butterfly enclosure and their was also the interactive science room where their are set up activities for children to do these are fun educational also there was a high slide like a hydroslide without the water which has a scare factor for the more adventurous child There are other really interesting activities like the planetarium I've been to all of these universal amazing shows for the + 5 yr olds .and Adults very educational.

A lovely museum with extremely, well done and highly informative displays.

Loved all the interactive things you can do. Went for the butterfly experience and was not disappointed. Magical is all I can say. Be prepared it is very hot and moist in there so if taking photos you will need to wait until your camera lens adjusts to the temperature.

Must visit with the kids. Infinity room and Planetarium are must. Butterfly park is with the tickets.

The ambience is really good, And on Wednesdays they have JP services on the ground floor.

A cool experience with lots to see and do. There's an area for kids young and old as well as the things you would expect to see in a museum. There's also a butterfly enclosure with up to 1000 tropical butterflies. Great for the kids.

Went with my 10 year old son over the school holidays. Had a great day. So much to see & do. We didn't even get through it all, you could easily spend a whole day there & not be bored. The science discovery zone is excellent & he really enjoyed that. And the butterflies are incredible as always. The turtle was hard case too! The other exhibit that we paid for was the planetarium show. It was amazing. Highly recommend this. It was so worth the money & an amazing experience. A bit underwhelmed by the dinosaur exhibit however. It really wa just some skeletons & dinosaur models. Took about 10 minutes to look through & there's nothing interactive to do in it. Didn't think that was worth the money & wouldn't pay for that. But the rest of the museum was great.

I find this museum to be very informative. You could spend a day in here if you wanted. There’s a cafe which has food to survive the day, and you can try and figure out how we even have fossils from 70 million years ago. It’s a gold coin donation to enter the building, Scitech costs more but I did not go there as I had already spent my time on the main attractions.

It’s one of our favorite museums in NZ, history, nature, people, Maori and the pacific. Fantastic! we also loved the Tuhura center and its amazing butterfly forest with 17 species and a super cute little Chinese quail roaming around! Be sure to checkout the first flight at 11.

The animal attic is the best! Lovely to wander around and spend some time. Used to go and waste time between lectures years ago when at uni. Disappointing you have to pay to see the butterflies as have no interest in the other area you get access to as well. Maybe it was just me but i found the map confusing, especially as i was trying to avoid interrupting a concert /competition that was going on.

Excellent little museum, a real treat. The kids science section was a thorough joy to experience.

Otago Museum is a great place to visit. The museum pieces are great and numerous and the main museum is free and usually quiet and not crowded. In front of the museum there is a parabolic reflector, you can hear someone whispering from 20 metres away. Great for children. Exhibits include maritime, Maori carvings, and Dunedin history. However, the science centre and planetarium are usually loud and busy. They also cost money to enter, with the science centre costing $15 per adult and $10 per child, with the planetarium shows costing $10 per adult and $7 per child, and children can only go alone if they are over 14. This is only a small part of the museum, and you can enjoy the other parts for free. There is also a café at the museum. Overall, this is a great place to go.

Nice free museum. If you want to visit the science museum or planetarium you have to pay extra. We did just the free part and it was perfect for a rainy day. Learned a lot about the NZ animals and culture. Well worth a visit.

Was great to see so much cool stuff

Wow!!! Didn’t expected so much and was blown away! Super interesting topics, fantastic exhibitions, interactive and located absolutely central. This museum Is a must for everybody!

We went to see the butterflies they were amazing. Well worth the visit to see these exotic creatures.

Loved it. The Animal Attic was worth a look. The Pacific Cultures and Tangata Whenua exhibits were amazing. Southern Land,Southern People...great Otago history.

Really cool place. We went here while there is a butterly exhibition and it was pretty cool. Recommended for a visit if you are ever in Dunedin and have some time to kill.

It's a great museum, and the butterfly house is almost as impressive as the one in Changi airport

There are more collections than settlement museum here. I will go back to see again.

Very historical , kids defiantly they will enjoy scientific and don’t forget to visit butterfly garden

Brilliant. Loved the Butterfly House! Well staffed and lots of information. The butterfly information was incredible and we all learnt heaps. The children's discovery area was so well set up and even though it was very busy, there was still lots of space and the children thoroughly enjoyed this space!

The cafe was lovely, friendly staff and good food.

One of the best museums, with a world class array of permanent exhibits and travelling exhibitions.

In general, it's a classic exhibition - nice but boring. I like when all the exponates are interactive. However, there a science paid zone - it's the most interesting part, especialy I liked the Plannetary and the butterfly room!

The Science Center located with the Otago Museum is fantastic. It is so interactive and interesting for everyone. My kids and I spent 5 hours at the Science Center. The cafe at the bottom gets busy during lunch time, so plan your meal time. The butterfly release happens daily at 11am and is worth the time, even if they are releasing onmy a few butterflies. Entry to the museum is free but you need to pay to visit the Science Center within.

Omg had a drink here, was amazing. Staff were so happy. Loved my time here.

Full with treasures and kind staff. Cafè was very well stocked. Must see in Dunedin.

Butterfly house was the best I've visited so far and the rest of the museum , well worth the visit.

The kids had a blast especially on the slide. It would be so helpful to us parents if there were lockers to put our bags and coats in, just so we can be more hands on. Gets really hot in discovery world so small breaks in and out worked well for us. Love the otago museum tho always a delight to be there.

Really a well appointed museum. You can easily spend a half day if you are keen.

Excellent museum which gave me great memories to always look back to. This museum has a large variety of different, entertaining topics. From history (people, animals, etc) , to science, to seeing real beauty nature of butterflies and plants from a tropical country. It also has a great cafe.

Fantastic place to spend a few hours. Cafe food is great as well

Excellent museum with well constructed exhibits and activities for kids.

Really good place to visit, entry to tue science exhibition / butterfly's is well worth it. Will visit again when I have more time

The dinosaur exhibit would be great for younger children. One of the mechanical dinosaurs needed a bit of oil (squeaky neck!). The exhibit may prove a bit short for adults. As for the rest of the museum, would definitely recommend for tourists, and I have very fond memories of Discovery World as a child!

The museum is such a great place to explore for all ages.

Really small unless you're prepared to pay for some selected exhibitions. All in all a good experience.

Excellent! I spent most of my day enjoying the neurological information and talks and I even read a couple of my own poems in front of a group of people who came in to listen. Lunch and coffee was tasty too and it was a mild day! Ta, Keri

A quick visit before closing. Loved it. Butterfly house was fun. The museum part for the kids was cool. Needed more time to explore though.

Informative.fun.and the place is big.lotsa historical and facts to learn.this place is really doing its best to welcome newcomers.dont miss the butterfly park.worth every penny!

went to explore abit in the museum. paid $15 to see butterflies. had a lot of interesting stuff to play with. i would recommend coming here!

My favorite museum in the country! Awesome artifacts from both past and present, local and afar. Must sees include the animal attic and butterfly house.

An amazing place, so much to look at and so much for the kids to do

Excellent friendly helpful staff.A wonderful idea to have a seniors day

Cool interactive exhibitions. Helpful staff.

The ideal place to while away a wer Saturday afternoon

Great place. Very well presented. Some really good activities. The butterfly enclosure is a really cool experience, rather warm though. Some very good interactive things good for both kids and adults. Really helpful and friendly staff

Amazing, amazing, amazing. I was very enjoyed in this place. I recommend everyone to visit.

Brilliant! Don't miss the coconut fibre and fish skin armoured warrior in the Pacific section!

Very well set out and interesting. Great place to meander and educate yourself. Wonderful coffee shop on the ground floor.

Best museum I have been too, blew me away how quick time went in this place. We only left when we did because our cars parking time was running out! Must do for NZ history.

went to see the butterfly's this time. Loved it

Enjoyed by all ranging from 5 to 65 years old, the butterfly release was a particular highlight. Free entry to many exhibits.

A great way to spend Teachers Only Day! Lots for the kids to explore and learn.

Butterfly garden and rotating exhibits are legit! Interactive room is great for the kids!

The Otago Museum is a great free place to spend hours with the young ones, plus learning alongside them. Wow! Amazing place, full of creativity, activities and more. Make this a day out , you certainly will NOT REGRET IT.

Went to view the moa foot prints but they are not on display. Have tried several times to see them but lack of parking is a real problem in this area

The museum is well worth going and it's fun. As to the current extinct dinosaur exhibition (finishes Feb 2021): We were thoroughly underwhelmed. $35 for a family of four is just too much for what is offered (a handful of skeletons and some slightly moving rubber models). You do well if you stay for more than 10 minutes in there. It became a joke with the kids to ask whether they want to see the dinosaurs again (they hated it)...

One of the best museums of its class in the world.

This place has a real MUMMY! Incredible museum with excellent histories of New Zealand, and then BAM! A real dead Egyptian. I didn't expect that at all. Well worth your time when in Dunedin, especially with young children.

Great exhibitions and cool butterfly house. Quite busy

It was quite good,could have given us more information about the textiles

Great museum, a must stop if visiting our in Dunedin.

This has to be one of the premier museums of New Zealand. Otago prehistory section was very informative. We also found the Pacific display first class. I studied Pacific prehistory at university and wish there had been such a well ordered and coherant collection such as OM's in my local area.

Really enjoyed it my little ones loved the water fall most of all. Butterfly museum cost $25 for two adults and two preschoolers which I thought was reasonable

Love the various exhibitions worth a look.

This is a go to as a stay at home mum. Wonderful free experience. The animal attic is a firm favourite for the kids. Cafe is lovely and pricing is reasonable. If you want to pay a little more and experience the science as area and butterfly house then I highly recommend as it is a lot of fun. Just be prepared for the heat of the butterfly house compared to a cold Dunedin day.

A great place to take the family. Whether you're just browsing the museum or going to Tuhura (formerly Discovery World) for a small fee where you can easily spend a couple of hours playing with all the interactive contraptions while learning about science and then go see the butterflies, fun for all. If it's a nice day pack a picnic and make use of a big grass field right in front, that's what we did but they also have a cafe. Parking on Great King Street either on the side of the road or the public carpark opposite (fees apply for both).

So great for kids! Love the butterfly house

Great exhibition of art work and floors of different historical backgrounds intriguing And fascinating It’s better to come on days off where you can spend time exploring and getting to know the origins of the real artefacts on display Cafe is great wee on the high end dollar Value but, comfortable sitting arrangement downstairs Mini gift Shop is great to browse things and to shop as u may discover interesting souvenirs items to collect for own selves or for others give aways Parking can be tricky around that place

First time to this Museum.. Do not miss the Planetarium really worth it with excellent narrative: The Butterfly enclosure was also a Must visit... Will go back and view more exhibitions

Amazing exhibits especially of all the different Pacific island tribes

I love going to the Otago Museum and especially when there are some great exhibitions on worth seeing. I visited the Scientific Festival first, had lunch @ the cafe(excellent, variety of food) in the Museum then saw the excellent photos later that were also on display in another area of the Museum. It turned out to be well worth it.

Always a great visit! A dynamic array of displays, Planetarium is a must see! Book now, don't regret it. Museum Cafe has some EXCELLENT food too! Great coffee ☕😁

i wish i HAD visited there...however The BUTTERFLY enclosure is very special..would LOVE to sing at the museum.. place looks amazing at night from outside.. see you @ The Bog tonight where I may hum a tune or 2..😉

Great museum, small fee to get into discovery world but otherwise free. Heaps to do and plenty of exhhibits to look at. We went during level 2 lockdown so some of the interactive displays were closed. Cafe and gift shop on site and plenty of toilet blocks around the place.

Enjoyed the wander around. Some really cool things I had forgotten all about

Make sure you have a lot of time, it's great value for money. Interactive section with science based activities for kids is awesome, as is the butterfly house. Be prepared to have easy to remove layers (which you can store at cubby holes) before going into the butterfly house as it is hot and humid. Animal attic is really cool too. Great fun for families.

We popped into the museum today to visit the Planetarium. I love it. Saw the Universe 3D show this afternoon. It was pretty cool if you're interested in our solar system and the planets in general. Always have been a big kid with stuff like this. So happy to be able to see another show in this awesome place. We had a coffee and cake after the show in cafe. You can get small size sweet treats which I reckon is brilliant. While I always want the bigger size it's do much better for the waistline to have a smaller size. Service was friendly and quick too. Really enjoyed it!

The museum was really good and I'm interested all butterflies forest because I just loves all different kinds of butterflies is so pretty 🦋 and beautiful. I'm coming back to stay with all butterflies forest for 2 hours.to try put butterflies from rounds to put them on trees either on my hand or arm or my back. That butterflies can leads on me for a while then I had to gets staff to takes butterflies off me and going back in other room to cool down by fan heater and drink water 💦 💧 before coming back to butterflies forest to be closer with all butterflies were so pretty 🦋 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋 and so beautiful and I loves it. It was my favorite spot to be with all butterflies alots. Thanks for giving me few butterflies to play with them. Cheers Amanda.

Good place for a visit in Dunedin. Open free to the public. Pacific culture and wild lives of New Zealand.

That was amazing. Go inside, when you visit Dunedin. 10$ is nothing.

It would be fairly easy to miss out on the wonderful experience that the butterfly enclosure truly is - well worth the price of admission (just don't dress too warmly)

First time out since lockdown. Went and saw the butterflies and birds which are a new addition since we were last here. Went to the Planetarium which was great. I liked the way it was personalized to Dunedin and that you could pick your own favorite part of night sky to have a closer look. Tuhura, the science exhibition is really cool and interactive. Stephen from the museum was really good at showing and explaining...I loved seeing how the plasma worked lighting the light through a human... well worth a visit. We will come back another day to see the rest of the museum.

Visited the free/donation only exhibits when we visited, though the planetarium sounded great! It's more of a traditional museum with a focus on natural history (the kind with lots of taxidermy!) which isn't perhaps my preferred area but still interesting to learn about pacific and Māori culture and the geography of NZ. The staff were also so friendly and welcoming and I imagine very helpful if you had questions - created a really nice atmosphere!

Good way to waste an Arvo, butterfly room is super cool

The room that we paid tickets for for myself and my family to go through and explore the wonderful activities and resources were amazing. Just the space was a bit confined and not much areas for younger babies/children to use and explore, but apart from that, my family and I enjoyed our time there

A fun visit with plenty to see! Most of the attractions are free but there are some rooms you must pay to get into such as the science center and 3D movie. Which was fun but 3D hurts my head, and the science center was more geared towards children but still fun to go through.

So big I was tired to explore everything but we managed to venture into the hands on science area which was alot of fun and then the butter fly exhibition was beautiful, hot but cool

I was really quite astounded by what this museum had to offer. I've been to a number of museums across this country over my years, and this one really blew me away - I highly recommend the Pasifika/Melanesia and Tangata Whenua areas as spots that really stood out to me - and the rest of the museum is just as quality. Stop by and pop in if you get the chance :D

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Not Berry big but good variety of displays. Did the family tour, guide Alice is very knowledgeable and friendly. Kids loved it!

So fancy really enjoyed this mussem. Lots for the kids too a dinosaur part and butterfly exhibit

Do it ! It's Awesome! Very humid conditions, Lovely and warm to keep the Butterflies alive. Walk around the small area, down past the Waterfall, along the track past Quail in the foliage, Butterflies of amazing Colours flying around You. Wow! Walk up the stairs to the swing bridge and gaze down on everything. Really Awesome.

Very nice museum, with a lot of different periods and culture represented, the maori culture, the pacific islands peoples, ww1, ww2, history of the nz marine, nz wild life, and a lot of pieces of history from a lot of countries (japan, egypt, china, turkey, ... Très beau musée qui couvre une large période, il y a vraiment de tout, à voir absolument

Lovely and warm compared to the cold wind outside. We tried to complete the children's matariki hunt, but gave up quickly. The clues were too vague & just too hard. Between 3 of us we couldn't get any. The cafe was almost full at morning tea when we went at morning tea. I was glad to see a smaller size of the caramel slice as the large one was just ginormous! Hot drinks were nice. The science room was great fun! A good mix of activities. We enjoyed the animation makers & the "big bang" room the most. We also went to the butterflies. I was so scared of them landing on me but the others I was with got butterflies to land on them, so they were happy. When we went to the cafe for lunch, it was equally full. Still found a seat. The other people I was with enjoyed their meals & scoffed them down. I got the soup of the day, cream of mushroom, and the bowl of soup that came out was bigger that the small bowl of fries we ordered as well. I barely had any as it was very filling but I finished all of the lovely bread that came with it. All in all, a pretty good visit.

Great place to drink coffee, attend a conference, learn about history, nature, science or special topics during special events. Highly recommended!

Café was wheelchair friendly. Staff were very helpful. Enjoyed exhibits. Easy to get around with my wheelchair. Bathroom excellent. Very enjoyable experience.

I didn't go to otago museum. Was just near there.

Beautiful and very educational displays!

The animal attic is the best! Lovely to wander around and spend some time. Used to go and waste time between lectures years ago when at uni. …

Informative.fun.and the place is big.lotsa historical and facts to learn.this place is really doing its best to welcome newcomers.dont miss the butterfly park.worth every penny!

Butterflies were very beautiful. Other displays also very good.

went to explore abit in the museum. paid $15 to see butterflies. had a lot of interesting stuff to play with. i would recommend coming here!

Nice place, and it's free at the time of my visit

Always a great experience. About time they fixed the skeleton on the bike tho ... not a good look that it has been left like this for so long considering it's position

A great place to visit. Definitely a must do for everyone.

Loved the sciencey bit not a big fan of the museum side of it though kids loved the butterflies

What a great museum. Lots to see, love the exhibits with the animals plus general admission is free so why not

Big eclectic collection, with at least two galleries with a period Victorian ambiance. Strongly recommended.

What a fantastic way to spend the day. So much to see and do. Butterflies area fantastic, recommend this as a must see when visiting. Definitely go again

Interesting with a good range of exhibits.

A great place to spend a few hours. The new science area is well worth a visit with the kids and reasonably priced. The main exhibits have hardly changed in 20 years but there is always a seasonal exhibition that gives us locals a reason to keep going back. Today I was impressed by the wildlife photography.

They had a wee treasure hunt that lead you through the whole museum the kids loved every minute of it

Better than Te Papa. We are from Welly but this museum is far superior. Interactive and awesome with a cafe I would eat in every day happily. Loved it!

Great atmosphere and loved the cultures.

Butterflies were properly stunning, and the staff even showed us some caterpillar's!

Very cool place, the science room and butterfly room were worth the money, lots of fun for four 23 year olds 😆 lots of interactive games etc & tones of beautiful, massive butterflies everywhere, one was very friendly and kept landing on us, wear a red shirt if you want that, they seemed to be very attracted to it

Really cool museum! Loved the butterfly enclosure 💖🦋

Was amazing. So great to space where kids could come make things, plus the shows that where on. Only had a quick look around

The Otago Museum is great, the displays are very good and educational. Some are old and haven't changed for decades (not that this is necessarily a problem). The butterfly room is magical but expensive. It comes as part of the science centre which is interesting but a bit underwhelming. Lots of great stuff in the shop, but again far too much money is expected for these things. We wanted to do the planetarium, but it was full, hopefully next time

This moderately interesting museum is located next to Otago University. It’s easy to spend a couple of hours in there looking at all the exhibits. We did however find the presentation to be a little dated, could be so much better in some parts - for instance the ancient objets, porcelain etc - that was presented on shelves - no context at all. Our favourite area was the maritime exhibit, with the fin whale skeleton and all the model ships. We found the Victorian taxidermy room (AKA The Animal Attic) was super interesting and all the more so for being presented in the old style (funnily enough). Despite a sign warning parents to keep their kids under control (or they’ll be fed to the lions), we had to leave in the end as one dad was trying mightily to get his rambunctious son to pay attention to every single exhibit - at the top of his voice. In this instance it was the adult who should have been using his inside voice. The cafe (which is no cheaper than anywhere else in Dunedin... thus ‘expensive’) was packed at 2 pm and resembled a child care centre - at least 30 under fives spread around the tables. So perfect if you have a young family... Obviously a function of visiting on a weekend - but probably best to head back into town if you fancy a quiet coffee after a stroll around the museum’s offerings.

Good free museum with lots of interesting exhibits including an interesting bit on Site Edmund Hillary

The staff here are amazing, knowledgeable, friendly and helpful! Absolutely loved my visit here. And the butterflies are definitely worth $15.

Was really surprised by this museum. We were in Dunedin on a day trip and popped in here with the kids as it was raining. The museum is deceptively large and very interesting. our 6 year old loved it and in addition there is a lovely cafe and shop. There was also a paid for science exhibition but we did not visit that part.

Always a great experience. About time they fixed the skeleton on the bike tho ... not a good look that it has been left like this for so long considering it's position

Great displays, free admission to most areas.

Really nice museum and it was free. Lots of history.

It has so much. 8free galleries 3galleries where you pay. But the most exciting is the butterflies and the experience of the planetarium.. I loved everything I saw One can't finish the tour in one day.youll need an extra 3/4days

The dinosaur exhibition was fantastic! Though its hard to imagine T Rex with feathers!!!

Clean, safe, & professional museum. Gift shop is affordable with a variety of items for all ages of tourists or locals. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, neutral, positive, & thorough. I had the best nachos I've EVER eaten at your snack bar. Thank you for providing another wonderful experience while visiting your beautiful country.

The Cafe does descent hot drinks. Great things to see in here. Really like the discovery world and the current dinosaur exhibition is absolutely amazing!

Very cool Discovery area. Loved the room of mirrors

Going back after 50 years a very impressive collection. Especially amazing was the dinasaur exhibition with moving reptiles showing their ancient relationship to birds in firey colour. A new look thanks to DNA.

Beautiful and very educational displays!

Kids had a ball. Enjoyed everything

Must visit. Always something new to see. Good cafe. Science world/butterflies well worth the entry cost as is the movie theater. My kids loved the museum (still do) and their kids now love it too. I am disappointed however, that despite knowing that the reflective floor in the toilets totally removes privacy by revealing the occupants reflection to those outside the cubicle, that management have not rectified this! I reported this and was told by help desk attendant that this had been reported by staff and nothing done. Maybe if more people were to say something...?

Highly recommend checking out the butterflies. There are also a lot of fun science games that are great for kids, but ultimately anyone can enjoy them. Also highly recommend seeing a planetarium show, they have multiple types but the one that explores space is awesome.

Beautiful Butterflies. Lovely staff

Nice place to visit. Loved it.

Impressive! So many interesting displays

A wonderful museum with a great variety of attractions, mostly all New Zealand historical displays (including natives, as well as settlers), but also stuffed animal exhibits, a kids area, and a live butterfly house. The museum was modern, the staff were friendly, and the exhibits were well presented. Would definitely recommend paying to see the butterfly exhibit, as there were literally hundreds of butterflies to see, even landing on our clothes as we walked around. Everyone was enthused and informative, and we could easily come back again. Well worth it in all regards, one of the best museums we have visited.

Incredible place, definitely a good activity to do in Dunedin.

Heaps to keep the kids entertained. Easy way to spend a few hours on a rainy day. Prices are fair and very reasonable...our kids love the butterfly area and science interaction area.

Awesome place. Took the kids to the new discovery world there and it blew their minds. Has an amazing dna slide which is even fun for an adult. Butterflies are back and amazing also. The whole museum is a cool place for the whole family.

Great museum in a historical building. Frequent new instalments and special exhibits all the time to give more reasons for frequent visits. The museum has a cafe with children's play area which makes the whole location very friendly and handy for parents with children, especially for free admission too.

Absolutely fantastic museum! From outside the door, the first step to discovery begins. Excellent butterfly enclosure where you get to experience the environment of the butterflies, feel and see them fly for the first time. Many different segments of the museum, but second best would have to be the interactive science department that is fun and educational for all ages!

Loved the sciencey bit not a big fan of the museum side of it though kids loved the butterflies

We visited Dunedin for a day from a cruise ship. While wandering around beautiful Dunedin we came across the Otago Museum. we sat and had a drink and snack at their cafe there was very nice, well priced and fresh but not much seating. We walked into the museum and was pleasantly surprised a great display that was much larger than it looks from the outside. Lots of local history of Dunedin. Would recommend a visit

Cool place checked out the Tūhura interactive science place, that was pretty fun the Butterflies and little Finch and Quails were lovely also great, friendly and helpful staff absolutely love coming here

Great place to take the kids and fun for adults too. Most of the museum is free. You only have to pay to see the expeditions and the butterfly sanctuary. Yummy cafe on the ground floor with plenty of food to choose from.

Took my kids and my dad to the museum and we had a great time especially seeing the butterflies and in the science room

We were pleasantly surprised at the exquisite displays and variation in themes. Usually museums are boring with too much emphasis on one thing, but it was exciting and well laid out. From

Amazing science expo interesting for all ages!

I liked it but it hasn't changed to much over the years. It's really interesting in the dinosaurs part. A bit toooo big had really sore feet by the end. Maybe wheelchairs near for those are disability to make it more easy would be helpful.

Great place to go with kids. They loved the science center and the butterflies.

The discovery space is amazing. The kids and adults in the room all enjoyed interacting with the displays. The rainforest apiary was an unexpected surprise and a highlight for us all. It would be easy to stay and enjoy this museum for hours and return regularly to your favorite displays.

I like the fish Skelton as it is huge, and looks good

Great asset for Dunedin. Acoustics great. Was listening to a Kapa Haka group last night. Thier group performance was absolutely fantastic.

Excellent museum for young and old. Took my kids (3 and 5yo) through the science exhibition (there is an amazing slide) and the butterfly house - they absolutely loved it!

Could have spent all day there but did not have the time. The butterflies are lovely

The museum has an excellent science center with a planetarium, there's a lot of interactive activities and some brilliant displays. Great to visit particularly on a rainy day. The museum shop and cafe are also excellent. The director Dr Ian Griffin is a very interesting sort of chap himself, well worth following on Twitter.

This place is amazing!. I really enjoyed reading about all different birds and animals that are displayed in each section. There is a souvenir shop and the cafe to have coffee afterwards.

My family enjoyed a recent visit to the Planetarium to celebrate a significant birthday. We had a private show at very reasonable cost and this was tailored to the night sky of the date of birth of the birthday boy. An excellent commentary by the presenter. A great addition to the Otago Museum. Very comfortable seats also.

Good place to visit if you are staying in Dunedin.

Very fun. Tuhura is great and the mini planetarium also makes for a fun trip. Would recommend.

Visifed the butterfly exhibit. Amazing experience. Not suitable for those with a hear sensitivity. It is very warm and very humid.

The James Cameron Exhibition was well worth the visit. Unfortunately the lighting was not great. Trying to read some of the information was difficult because of the way the lights were set up. When you stood in front of the information you caused a shadow which meant you could not read it.

Butterflies were very beautiful. Other displays also very good.

Butterflies! It's an amazing museum and if you pay just a little extra there's a lot more to it!! The science area has a lot of interactive exhibits.

Awesome place lots of things to look at

Good museum. Clean and friendly staff members. In some sections, displayed items were a bit crowded. Will be a good place for tourists who wants to know about NZ & Maori history and culture.

Great entertainment and if you've got spare money the butterflies is well worth the money

Great place! Educational, has history, has a few sections/floors to choose from . Has great exhibitions. Great place to take kids. Entry to museum is free...some exhibitions may have an entry price though. Enjoy going :)

Although not as flashy as newer museums (in the free section), it does contain many pieces that would prove educational and interesting especially for kids. It's a three storey building and the design is a bit old which gives it much charm and allows the younger generation to have a feel of how museums used to be. A cafe is at the ground floor in case you get hungry and a gift shop is also by the entrance for those who may want a souvenir!

Went to view the dinosaur display. Excellent Got an open pass and have already been twice. Highly recommend if you like dinosaurs

A must see museum that has a much better variety than must. From ancient fossils to Rome and Egyptian artefacts. Definitely worth a visit.

The staff very friendly Museum is huge if you need to finished it Do you need to take at least half day...

Awesome exhibits! Went in, and from first impressions, was underwhelmed, but everything is just hidden away! Once you actually go up to the exhibits, they're really cool and have lots of variety. The animal attic all the way at the top is a must see!

Awesome museum, helpful staff. Definitely need 1/2 day to see everything. Real asset to coty and country

Visited the museum last year when I visited, however was pleasantly surprised to find that they keep things fresh by changing exhibits. One thing I would recommend is make sure you find the Egyptian section and get a look at the mummy. Unreal.

A wonderful museum with a fantastically diverse collection. It's a shame that many of their exhibitions are paid entry. While understandable in terms of costs V funding, it keeps the access to special knowledge as elite. And that's just plain wrong.

Excellent facility well laid out helpful staff somewhere to spend hours on cold winters days or you can defrost in the butterfly enclosure

This was a fantastic place to bring kids. My 4 yo loved it and we had to go back twice. Check out the movie times too before you go. We missed it unfortunately..

Good exhibits with detailed descriptions. Wide range of exhibits covering maritime, natural history, local culture and science/planetarium. It even has an indoor green house garden with butterflies and spiders.

Brill free entry. Air conditioned. Well laid out and INTERESTING! Great cafe attached. Need to log out a full day of your holiday at least. Possibly the best museum I've ever been in.

Hands on interactive museum that kids enjoyed

Nice place, super tropical museum of butterfly

Fabulous - as an event venue as well as for its exhibits. The observatory offers a spectacular look at our solar system and the interactive science section has activities and experiments galore to try. The butterfly rain forest is a must-see.

Loved the interactive science displays and spent more time in there than anywhere else. Fabulous museum and excellent staff service right across the facility

Such an awesome place for people of all ages. My favorite place is the Southern Land, Southern People section where they focus a lot on Dunedin's history. There are other cool things to see and uncover here like the Maori and Pasifika section and the animal attic at the very top. Below there is a cafe, although there isn't a fee to enter the museum a donation appears to be appreciated.

So many exciting things to see and my granddaughter loved it as well.the butterflys were amazing as well and the planeterium was so cool too.you have to go its a must

Free museum, with great multimedia interactions and informative exhibits, then you can relax and have a coffee and cake afterwards. Allow yourself plenty of time, there's no rush and a lot to see Well worth an afternoon look see.

Nice iced coffee (a bit on the sweet side) and hearty egg bene. Friendly service with quick service - can be very busy between 11am and 2pm when the kitchens open. Great for taking a break from looking around the museum or just for a coffee and bite of food.

Pretty fun for a couple of hours pottering around. Interesting, some nice attractions. Butterflies were very cool.

Wonderful experience. Fantastic staff. Really beautiful butterfly experience

Good place for a rainy day - but avoid weekends as gets swarmed with kids. Same exhibitions are pretty good (Pacific islands) though lack a bit of depth. Could be more interactive. The special Wilde life photography exhibition was disappointing - unless you like your aunt photos of her cat... sort of Dunning-Kruger effect in action.

Great museum. Took my 1 year old there and he really enjoyed seeing everything especially the butterflies and animals. Friendly staff, great facilities and even breastfeeding friendly. Would definitely go again!

Great place to go, layout is great. And many activities inside to see and do, they hold many exhibitions during the year and they tend to run for a long period. Sadly you'll need time to find a park if your driving, especially when it's busy or something else is on.

Always love coming and the kids have fun. Also were amazing to deal with when hosting an event at the museum. Also got the geologists to examine a piece for me, they were so knowledgeable and helpful!

I visit the museum regularly but until now have not filed a review and thought it was time I did so. I consider The Otago Museum one of the best in New Zealand and it certainly has a very significant collection of Maori artefacts. The museum also has a planetarium, butterfly house and a fantastic science gallery which is great for young children.

We had a fantastic time today at the museum. The children aged 8 and 6 loved the Planetarium and especially the science centre. Would thoroughly recommend!

Always a happy place to be with so much to see.

Awesome museum! Free entry for all ages and a cool chance to see New Zealand's history and fauna. Cool trip for anyone and you are bound to learn something new about our unique history as a country!

I absolutely loved this museum! Their Maori art and information is really good, and beautiful. They also have other expositions that are worth it. We didn’t go to the science/planetarium part as we didn’t have time, but it looks really good. I’d recommend it if you have kids. The staff was nice and the cafeteria downstairs has great coffee.

Loved the butterflies, absolutely recommend

Wow! What an entrance, love the beautiful big cafe, friendly staff and amazing food for the healthy and unhealthy. Dropped a rock off to investigate. Quick response, (possibly Jurasic) very friendly ser vice and I felt special by the museum staff. A must see!!!

Great setup for children. Awesome range of hands on activities for kids (big kids will also enjoy) in Tūhura. The butterfly garden is also a must see in Dunedin. The 'free' exhibits are on par with any of NZ's other museums and also worth a look. The 'southern land southern' people is particularly well presented.

Great museum, free admission

Otago museum is a great place to take the kids. It's full of interesting things for the whole family.

I Love this place...always have. Great for young and old. Nice bathrooms, great cafe lots of animals in the attic but my favourite is the butterflys! Discovery world has something for ages too.

Interesting place to visit if you have couple spare hours. Butterflys well worth a look if you're into nature.

Excellent. Paid exhibits well worthwhile especially for entertaining kids during school holidays.

Xmas Dinner event, organised space and keep distance. 😊👍

This is a fun museum with interesting feature exhibitions. I particularly enjoy wandering through their shop: I go there often to find gifts for my family and friends, and enjoy looking through their stock as an activity in itself. They have many locally produced artisan items, and many items that are distinctly Kiwi without being tacky. There's also a selection of fun, science-themed toys for young 'uns, but these tend to be somewhat naff.

Fun experience, the kids really enjoyed the Butterfly's being released (cost to get in but worth it) The museum has plenty to keep the kids and the adults engrossed for hours. We had lunch in the café, the food and coffee was good.

An excellent museum with a lot of very nice exhibits on New Zealand topics. It is especially nice they can offer this experience for free. Overall I liked and learned more from the Otago Settlers Museum down the road, but this is definitely worth a visit, and the topics don't overlap. A few hours is enough to see most of the interesting parts of this museum.

Was good. Very busy over school holidays

Really great museum. Amazing range of displays. Really good for families especially young children. And the cafe is great. Good food and good coffee. Nice relaxed place. Highly recommend for anyone visiting Dunedin.

Great place to explore. So much to learn and see. We loved the butterflies enclosure. Be aware it's tropical inside, so leave warm clothes behind, for a better enjoyment.

Amazing facility. We love coming here as a family - so much to explore & learn. The new Tuhura Science Centre is phenomenal! Could spend a whole day there 😊 Well worth a visit if you are in Dunedin.

I mostly went to look at the Butterfly House but really enjoyed some of the other exhibits. The butterflies are well worth going to see. Their environment is really well done and enjoyable to explore

Dunedin is a walking city so location is ideal, has very good facilities - cafe, toilets (with a surprise) and excellent gift shop. Interesting, interactive displays set out with lots of room to be able to take your time. Love the Hillary steps display.

The Otago museum is a favourite for parents of young children. Wet weekends can be spent here exploring the interactive exhibits and the butterfly house, while the temporary and permanent exhibitions are always worth a look for the grown-ups.

What a fantastic free way to spend a morning. There are paid exhibits too but I could have easily spent a whole day there if it weren't for my kids getting bored of me taking so long

Loved the butterfly enclosure 👍👍

The butterfly exhibition is amazing. The science area is a lot of fun. Cant wait to go back and see more of the exhibits

An amazing experience.. thanks Otago Museum and Sandra Djekic... great stuff

Enjoyed our visit, paid extra for the science and dinosaur exhibitions which were good. Cafe is nice too.

Worth the visit. Free to enter. Laid out well on 3 floors, with mezzanine floors. A lot about Sir Edmund Hillary. The Maori area was especially interesting. Area duplicating New Zealand wild life. More for adults than younger children. They also have special exhibition's that are pay to enter.

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When it is rainy day it is good option to go in. It is free. Beautiful and interesting. There is everything. Animals, maritime, cultures, Egypt...

Really enjoyed this museum, good for kids and adults alike. Interesting displays about NZ history, past and present wildlife (best part), and culture. Quite big. There is a café and a little gift shop.

Great museum. New displays and interactive showpieces are regularly available (hear that canterbury museum?). Staff are always friendly and helpful. The Cafe serves nice food. Worth a visit!

Great food, coffee and service.

I love Museums on any given day - but myself and my two young boys especially liked the Butterflies. Just a beautiful place and very well wot=rth the visit. A must see.

It was ok. Parking out front wasn't that expensive but the service charge on top of the parking fee was a bit tough. The midterm itself was ok. Nothing stood out for me. The visit really highlighted to me how violent man kind is and has always has been. Most or at least many of the artifacts are weapons of some kind or another. The big moa at the front door is good as is the audio concentrator on the front lawn

Easy museum to look around

Went with family and <2 yr old, loved it, did the Butterfly rainforest and loved the sciency stuff in Discovery world . Excellent food and coffee to top it off, the Otago Museum is a jewel in Dunedin's ever expanding crown of must see and must do places

A great place to visit. Lots of free fascinating exhibitions and a few amazing paid exhibitions. If you go you must go to the tropical forest. Unbelievable. Packed with beautiful colourful butterflies.

Nice place, and it's free at the time of my visit

Free unless you want to see special expositions. Highly recommend. Very beautiful and big space with so much history that you can not leave disappointed or having learn nothing. It's very interesting and beautiful at the same time. So many objects, anecdotes and stories from before!

Without researching much about what the museum has to offer, we went there planning to spend 1 or 2 hours max. At the end, we spent close to 6 hours touring d museum. It has a very comprehensive coverage of almost everything from d history of Otago university, everything about New zealand to everything else around d world. The planeterium interactive session are good exposure to astronomy for all ages. Not to mention it has also a real nice scince centet for the kids to spend their time around. All in all, it is a must go

One of the best museums in NZ ..

It’s very rare to see it in my life.

We did the science center and if you enjoy interactive exhibits this is a must go. Tons of fun, great wildlife habitat and Physics displays.

Great place to learn more about NZ history. Stunning sculptures with detailed descriptions. Free entrance to most of the exhibits. Would love to go there again :D

Went to see the James Cameron Exhibition. Was pretty cool. Not as big as I was expecting though. Was quite pricey too. But the museum itself is awesome! Definitely recommend. 😁

Not first time..but made special trip to Dunedin for the "challenging the deep" exhibit was an amazing experience. Because we are not local to Dunedin we missed the documentary screenings so will have to come back

Very nice museum, not large but well laid out and with some interesting areas. Well worth a visit and it's also warm and dry. Not bad coffee and a good choice of food and other interesting goodies.

Excellent experience. Allow a couple of hours to enjoy all that's on offer.

We had free tour and still good enough. It takes a couple of hours at least to wonder around in the museum. So make sure you have enough parking. It's got parts from other countries as well. Like Egypt, Persia, Japan, Rome and pacific islands.

Perfectly everything you want from a museum, had your dinosaurs and your science, it had allot as a museum should but unfortunately the little cafe down the bottem was a little pricey

Interesting, good for kids. Fairly expensive if you want to do any of the optional activities like the forest, science area, exhibitions

Considering the size of Dunedin rate payer base this museum does really well. The exhibition on southern people is interesting for those who haven't come from the area or even those that have. Some good Maori artifacts too

Monarch butterflies turtles frogs etc. Scientific experiments for children to participate in. A great all round rainy day activity enjoyed by adults and children

Went to kill a few hours..ended up dragging the kids away after 6!and need to go back as did not see lots of rooms. The tropical house and planetarium were our kids favourite. Advice-give yourself lots of time

Planetarium is fantastic, except for watching movies. We recently attended a screening of Aliens, and it was very, very loud. Unfortunately, the speakers are not set up for movies with intense action scenes.

It's got a great range of material in it. The exhibitions they on at various times are world class. The museum continues to undergo improvements and modernization and its getting better and better.

Great collection on display, Moa birds and geological history of Otago wad very neatly presented. Recommended

Great exhibits to have a look around at. Was a great way to spend our last few hours in Dunedin before heading to the airport

There is no entrance fee! Great for a visit, no matter wether you are a student, a family or grand parents. You will find well designed interesting exhibitions. The Planetarium is also worth a visit, but costs extra.

Very expensive but tasty pies! The kids and I love it. A very good mix of displays both static and interactive. Highly recommended especially on a day when the weather isn't too flash

Wonderful collections, special exhibitions, butterflies and planetarium. A great place to visit whether, academic, student or family. Lovely food in the cafe to eat and finish off with a souvenir from the gift shop☺

The interactive science stuff for kids is great and we loved the butterflies.

An amazing museum which is brilliant for families and children. Can't say enough about how child friendly and family friendly this place is. Great value for money with hours of exporing and entertainment available.

For a small city this is a very good museum. So many things to see and do. The every changing exhibits ensure you can come back again and again. For a free day out you can’t go wrong

A museum for everyone, especially for people with disabilities. The displays and exhibitions are of high quality. Customer service is great and museum staff are very helpful. Always around to lend a hand. The cafe has a delicious menu and a good for meet ups. Free wi-fi access once inside the museum. A jewel Dunedin is proud of.

Wow, amazingly well laid out and heaps to see. Love the dinosaur exhibition, learnt so much and the kids loved it as well

This is a wonderful museum. So much to see! We will be back for sure.

Absolutely brilliant museum. Spent a good three hours here and could easily have sent a few more. Well maintained, lots of displays to keep even little people absorbed. Really well done.

Lots of very fine exhibits covering wide range of natural and human history topics. Tremendous learning opportunities presented in a compelling fashion. Highly recommended...We spent a wonderful rainy afternoon here!

Love the first release at the butterfly house. The Hillary artifacts really interesting. Fantastic little gift shop with great quality merchandise... Not too kitschy. Really enjoyed our day here.

Focuses pretty heavily on Otago specific things, like the gold rush. I was personally hoping for more natural history with animals, which I found to be a bit lacking. Not a bad museum though, the free exhibits are worth it if you're looking for something to kill an hour or two with.

1st time here & it's very interesting & great for the kids. The Butterfly house is fantastic. Going on a planetary tour soon & that's exciting thinking about it.

Great place, well worth a visit

I love this Museum in Dunedin, South New Zealand.

The activity centre is amazing, not just for kids either. There were heaps of adults trying the science activities too. The place was humming yet there was space for everyone.

We have visited the Otago Museum twice now. Our family can spend hours looking around and exploring the hands on experiences. We love the butterfly room. A place to visit in Dunedin.

Took my great-granddaughter to the Museum for an outing to cheer her up when she was sick. We went into the butterfly house when they were releasing more butterflies.

The museum had very interesting exhibits and a surprising amount of quality content. Best of all, it is all free. if you have a day or several hours to kill, come here. It was good cheap fun.

Fantastic! Butterfly enclosure well worth a visit, even if it's the only thing you do in the museum. You could spend the whole day looking around here

Awe-inspiring exhibitions to keep you occupied for hours. The best part is most of them are free and those which aren't are fairly priced. It's a place worth visiting.

Very happy with my visit . And free entry into the main museum . Was very impressed

Top notch museum. While you have to pay to enter the tropical butterfly exhibition it is well worth a visit. Seniors receive a discount. There is an interesting section on early shipping in New Zealand. Another item worth seeing is exquisitely carved Maori canoe/Waka from Wanganui/Whanganui.

A great place to visit. Definitely a must do for everyone.

Quite a lot of interactive exhibits

Was some real cool stuff in there we hung out mainly in the kids zone as we had a we one with us was real worth the time we were there.....

A seriously beautiful museum. Our kids loved the interactive science area, the planetarium and butterflies. We went back for a second visit the next day.

FABULOUS museum. One of the favs for my now 17 yo son. Discovery World and the Butterflies are a real highlight for the kids. Although neither my son or I like the butterflies fluttering... I have no idea why...lol! The Museum shop is fab too; got some really cool stuff. Definitely worth a visit.

Was a short visit unfortunately pushed for time amazing displays cafeteria full customers all seemed happy

Lovely museum with a huge collection. The butterfly exhibit is particularly cool! You can spend a whole day here easily.

Lovely museum with gift store and cafe. Definitely worth a visit. The only problem can be parking.

One of the better Natural History Museums I have seen so far. I especially liked the attic animal room with the old glass cabinet displays. That's what a Natural History Museum should look like.

Just a little bit of donation will take you to this amazing museum. I could see lots of interesting animals and learn lots of knowledge of human history globally. Good for family and tourists.

Easily spent half a day here with 2 young kids. It was great! The kids even asked to go again the next day!

I went for The Sky Tonight show at the planetarium which was amazing and I learned a lot about the constellations. A stroll through the sections about Maori and South Pacific peoples proved very informative and nicely put together as well.

Super friendly & helpful staff. Learnt lots of new things today!

Juliet and Brian were legends by pushing our coffees to the front of line because we were in a rush. Thank you. We will be back :)

The science exhibition is fun, entertaining and educational. The garden was beautiful. A good place to visit especially for kids and kids at heart.

Cool museum, check out the animal attic and try out the Green Turtle shell. Fun butterfly house for the little ones (but this is in the paid area). Good shop, proceeds go to supporting the museum.

Certainly a pleasant enough venue, not massive. Some parts are a little tricky to navigate. The special event exhibits are worthwhile, but one seemed a little small to me.

Great place to take the kids on a wet afternoon

Great time at the museum

Our family loves this facility. Always something different to learn and see so is worthwhile repeat experience

First time here since the upgrade to science world . New upgrades were amazing so much more exciting new things to do. The butterflies were amazing as always and the addition of the quails were cute

Loved it. The butterfly room is amazing, there is so much to see and lots of interactive stuff for the children.

amazing place to visit. I hadn't been there since I left Dunedin in 1970 so was excited to see the changes. Wonderful exhibits as always.

Just loved the butterfly room made me understand why some of my plants fail learned about habits and habitat

Parking during the week is hard and dangerous on the right hand side on the street. The butterfly enclosure is worth the money ! Don't go if you don't like hot and humid conditions.

Absolutely brilliant! So much to see, you really need to give yourself a full day to explore and absorb everything. Take a lunch break at the cafe, food is delicious! Definitely recommended!

Great place to visit. We take the kids here all the time. Also has butterfly house, science area and planetarium. Butterflies, Science Area and Planetarium cost to get in.

We visited Tuhera (excuse the spelling) the Science Area including the Butterfly House - was amazing fun and enjoyed by miss 4 and miss 6. Was disapointed that we weren't thorough enough in our research as we read butterfly house was free but this is incorrect as you have to pay for Science Area and this includes the Butterfly House ($15 per adult $10 per child or $45 2Adt/2Kids or 1Adt/3 kids) having said this it was amazing but we were looking for free activities as we were on a tight budget. But having promised the butterfly house we didn't want to go back on this. Given the time we were there and the range of options on offer it does represent good value for money. You get a wrist band so can go in and out all day.

Really good, a bit crowded, to be expected in school holidays. Lots and lots to do. We didn't cover it all with a 4 and 6 year old. Well priced yummy cafe too.

Always a lovely place to visit to see the exhibits and to enjoy a lovely coffee

The Science room is well worth the money, we spent the whole day there.

We spend over 6 hours here with 3 children. Sublime. We rate the Otago museum over Te Papa in Wellington. Love the butterflies and the science Centre.

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