Dinosaurs in London: Where to See Them With Kids (A Parent's Guide)

Some kids go through a dinosaur phase. Others never come out of it, and if you're reading this, you probably live with one. The good news is that London is a brilliant city for dinosaur fans. You can stand under a roaring T. rex, say hello to a 24-metre bronze Diplodocus, and walk around the world's first life-size dinosaur sculptures, and the biggest highlights won't cost you anything to see. Here's our guide to the best places to see dinosaurs in London, with practical tips from one dino-loving family to another.

Dinosaurs in London at a glance

• Natural History Museum Dinosaurs Gallery (South Kensington): fossils, a Triceratops skull and the famous animatronic T. rex. Free.
• Fern the Diplodocus in the Natural History Museum gardens: a full-size bronze dinosaur outdoors. Free, no ticket needed.
• Crystal Palace Dinosaurs (Penge side of Crystal Palace Park): Victorian sculptures on lake islands, plus a dinosaur playground. Free.
• Grant Museum of Zoology (Bloomsbury): skeletons, dodo bones and extinct animals for kids who love bones. Free.

1. The Natural History Museum Dinosaurs Gallery

This is the big one, and for most families it's the reason for the trip. The Dinosaurs Gallery is a free, permanent gallery on the ground floor of the museum's Central Building on Cromwell Road. Among its star specimens, the museum lists part of the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered, the first skeleton of Iguanodon known to science, the skull of a Triceratops and the huge armoured dinosaur Scolosaurus.

Then there's the moment every small visitor is waiting for: the roaring animatronic T. rex. It moves, it roars, and it's the museum's own suggested photo stop on its family tour. Some kids need to watch from a safe distance first, and that's fine.

Tips for the museum:

• The museum says it's open daily 10:00–17:50 (last entry 17:30) and closed 24–26 December. Check its site before you go in case anything changes.
• The galleries are free, but weekends and school holidays get busy. The museum suggests booking a free entry ticket to guarantee entry, and its visual guide warns the Dinosaurs Gallery is one of the busiest, so you may queue at peak times.
• Want more? The museum runs Out of Hours Dino Tours and Dino Snores sleepovers for kids on various dates. For prices and dates, check the venue's site.
• Don't skip the Fossil Marine Reptiles Gallery, also on the ground floor, for the sea monsters that lived alongside the dinosaurs.

A museum day means lots of walking, so comfy layers matter. Our Fossil Hunter youth hoodie has a vintage dig-site badge with a T. rex skull fossil, which feels about right for the occasion.

2. Fern, the bronze Diplodocus in the museum gardens

Before you even go inside, head to the museum's Evolution Garden. That's where Fern lives: a full-size, 24-metre bronze Diplodocus standing among tree ferns and cycads, with a small herd of bronze Hypsilophodon grazing nearby. The gardens are free and you don't need a ticket, so this is a great stop if you're short on time or the queue for the museum is long.

Tips: the museum says the Evolution Garden is open daily 10:00–17:50 and that you can enter through the East Gate or Tunnel Gate. Ask the kids to find the real fossil ammonite they're allowed to touch.

If your child already says they're going to dig up dinosaurs when they grow up, the Future Paleontologist tee makes it official.

3. The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

If the museum is the science, Crystal Palace is the history. The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs were first unveiled in 1854. They were created between 1853 and 1855 by the artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, and the park describes them as the first attempt to model extinct animals at full scale based on fossil evidence. There are around 30 figures, including amphibians, reptiles and mammals, set across islands in the lakes on the Penge side of the park. They're completely free to visit.

Here's the fun part for kids: the sculptures don't match what scientists know today. They show how Victorian scientists imagined these animals, so turn it into a game. Which ones look "wrong"? What would you change? Look out for the Megalosaurus, the Iguanodon and the Hylaeosaurus.

The sculptures are Grade I listed, and a big restoration project has recently finished. According to the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs charity, the old fencing has gone, all the paths have reopened and the four dinosaur sculptures have new paint schemes.

Tips for Crystal Palace:

• The sculptures sit on islands in the Lower Lakes, in the south of the park below the athletics stadium. The nearest entrance is Penge Gate.
• You view them from the lakeside paths, not up close, so a small pair of binoculars is a nice extra for little explorers.
• The Friends' guide says the site is step-free on an unpaved footpath. It lists Crystal Palace, Penge West and Penge East as nearby stations, and the closest car park is a paid one at the Penge entrance off Thicket Road. The park's website says that from 25 October, car parks close at 5pm.
• Everything here is outdoors, so dress for the weather. A warm hat like our embroidered Fossil Hunter beanie helps on a grey autumn walk.

Don't miss the Dinosaur Playground

Save some energy for the Dinosaur Playground, close to Penge Gate. The park says it's free and open during normal park hours. There are dinosaur skeleton climbing frames, slides with claw-mark details, a giant dinosaur footprint sandpit and accessible swings, with toilets, a café and picnic seating nearby.

For a playground day, stretchy and washable wins. The Museum Dinosaurs kids leggings have natural-history-style dinosaur illustrations, like a page from an old museum guide, and the Neon Fossils sundress works over leggings or tights when it's chilly.

4. The Grant Museum of Zoology

There are no dinosaurs here, but if your kid loves skeletons, it's worth the trip. The Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL in Bloomsbury holds around 100,000 specimens from every animal group, packed into old-fashioned cases. Kids who've just learned the word "extinct" can look for the dodo bones in the extinct and endangered case near the entrance.

Tips: entry is free and you don't need to book unless you're a group of 10 or more. The museum opens in the afternoons, Tuesday to Saturday, so check the venue's site for current times before you go.

Our Multicolor Dinosaur Skeleton shirt is covered head to toe in bright bones, so it fits right in.

One to watch: the Horniman's new Nature Gallery

In Forest Hill, the Horniman Museum and Gardens is redoing its natural history displays. Its new Nature Gallery, with more than 2,300 objects including the famous walrus, is listed as opening from 5 February 2027 and free to visit. It's not a dinosaur gallery, but the Horniman's collection includes British fossils, so keep it on your list for next year.

Planning a dino day out

• Pick one big stop per day. The Natural History Museum and Crystal Palace are on opposite sides of town, and both deserve a full morning.
• Go early or late. Popular galleries are calmest near opening time.
• Pack snacks and layers. Kids run out of energy before they run out of dinosaurs.

Planning a longer visit? Here are more family things to do in London to fill the rest of your trip.

And if your little explorer wants to dress the part, browse our kids' dinosaur clothes, kids' dinosaur hoodies, girls' dinosaur apparel and dinosaur backpacks. There's also the Dinosaur Hunter kids hoodie for younger fans, and a Museum Dinosaurs beanie for the grown-up carrying the bag.