Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford

What a stunning old building providing free access and activities for children. It has that wonderful atmosphere born of a different era, even though all of the stuffed animals are kind of sad too. It is a great place for small children - very welcoming. There are touchable displays of large crystals and furry animals. There is also a display of a tuna skeleton, which is incredible. The added bonus is that another museum, the Pitt Rivers, is accessed via this one, so you get two for the effort one visit. The Pitt Rivers is a very dense museum and takes hours to look around properly so be warned and make sure you get enough parking.

Being a museum worker myself I do enjoy visiting other museums. This one is particularly stunning with its high, green house style ceiling in the main hall. You could spend hours in just this room alone. There is a lovely cafe that overlooks the main hall from up high, a great location for a cafe. You can see a lot more detail in the ceiling from there so don't miss that opportunity to take some snaps. They have some truly stunning items in this museum, one of my fave places is a very small darkened room where they show off some gem stones under a black light. Their T-Rex takes pride of place in the main hall and does not disappoint. I think my favourite area though was the Pitt Rivers Museum, which is inside the museum of natural history. In there you will find some of the most interesting, weird, wacky and fascinating items. Do not miss that area! I would point out that due to building works we ended up walking around for some time, looking for the entrance which for some reason is not signed posted anywhere. If you go onto their website and look at a map they have provided, (my visit was planned by a friend who knew the area so I hadn't thought to go and look myself) you will find it much easier to get to the entrance.