Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum
3.5
Natural History MuseumsLibrariesHistory Museums
About
Founded in 1880, this museum features an exhibit of the popular Dodo, the flightless bird that has been extinct since the end of the 17th century, and a vast library collection of more than 50,000 books.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

3.5
3.5 of 5 bubbles175 reviews
Excellent
43
Very good
57
Average
51
Poor
10
Terrible
14

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Rooombiter
Isle of Wight, UK876 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2024 • Couples
The Natural History Museum is worth a visit, it’s not very large but we spent a couple of hours looking around, we could have done it quicker but I like to read all the information about the exhibits.

The museum might seem a bit old fashioned to some people, it’s more like museums used to be in the old days without fancy interactive displays, my kind of museum.
There are several rooms, each with a theme such as marine life, mammals and lizards etc…maybe not too exciting except for the fact that this museum has dodos!

The Dodo Gallery displays the the only complete dodo skeleton in the world (others in existence are made up of bones from several specimens apparently) which is pretty cool and I gained a better understanding of the reasons for the birds extinction.

There is also a display area upstairs which gives information about the role of Mauritius in both the World Wars which was fascinating.
I reckon that the Natural History Museum of Mauritius is well worth a couple of hours of your time.
Written July 5, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

flo
Quatre Bornes7 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2024 • Family
Visited the natural history museum with two young kids (7&3). It’s a small museum, mostly stuffed animals displayed in 3 sections (land animals, oceanic creatures, and a whole section dedicated to the Dodo bird). Interesting but not a large collection and the entire visit took us only 30-45 mins. Worth a visit if you happen to be in Port Louis but wouldn’t plan a day around it.
Written April 22, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Princes of travel
Paris, France7,543 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2023 • Couples
Entrance to the Natural History Museum is free. The museum is located in Port-Louis, in the city center. Possibility of parking nearby.

The museum occupies the ground floor of a colonial-style building and displays local and global species. We go there above all to admire the only complete skeleton of a dodo that has been found on the island. A lot of information comes in addition to the skeletons.

The whole museum is quite dated, with slightly shabby windows, but the whole thing remains entertaining because we discover quite a few things about Mauritius. Upstairs is a museum section on Mauritius through the two World Wars and the island's independence.

Small shop on site, smiling staff. Allow 1 hour
Google
Written December 27, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

EmJ
London, UK6 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022 • Couples
Small but perfectly formed, taking half an hour to visit this museum is worth it for the only dodo skeleton in existence of a single individual - all others elsewhere are composites. Free entry. Easy walk from the waterfront where you can park the car.
Written November 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NauticalVoyager
Durbanville, South Africa1,470 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022 • Family
You can’t get better value than free. Small but excellent exhibits. 4 rooms : birds and small mammals / marine / insects and finally, dodo. My young son especially loved the marine exhibit which also includes two fish tanks. Information is concise and exhibits are in good condition. Parking in the area is a problem and there is no parking on site, so we parked at the waterfront and walked. I would suggest this attraction needs 30 mins to an hour to give it justice.
Written May 13, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kato122
Cambridge, UK334 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Family
Interesting museum with some very interesting facts about the Dodo and other now extinct creatures, local butterflies, plants, animals and fish. It is near a park with lots of flying fox fruit bats roosting. Close to the Waterfront complex.
Written September 10, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

khursheed1
Gaborone, Botswana150 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
If you happen to be in Port Louis and passing by, stop over. Note that for those shopping at the Caudan waterfront, you can walk there through a tunnel access. Best to drive there though due to the heat of being in town.

Big plus: free entry.

Another big plus: good aircon in the port louis heat. Interesting for a quick visit with kids, as you learn a lot about the sea creatures, dodos, butterflies of Mauritius.

Unfortunately no wifi access at all, despite the numbers of visitors and tourists, which is a great pity.

Nice little garden to relax in afterwards. Try your luck and park a few steps away on the road parallel to the museum, by the museum entrance (make sure you have a parking card purchased from any petrol station). There is a KFC across the road, but rather buy a "roti" from Aka roti and drinks, and then go to the little shaded park with benches opposite the museum and have that, for a more authentic Maurician experience.
Written February 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Aberdeenyummymummy
Bunbury, Australia136 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2023
Worth a quick visit and with only 4 rooms and a gift shop the size of a broom cupboard (closed for lunch when we went) it won't take you long. Stuffed birds and authentic marine animals models (thankfully not all to scale). Plus an entire room devoted to the Dodo and how humans had a key role in their extinction.
Written January 19, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

PrestonGuild
United Kingdom56,181 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2022 • Couples
The museum has had a refurbishment since our last visit. There has been some interactive stuff installed. An upstairs part which examines Mauritius during the war.

There were familiar elements from previous visits here. I spent more time on the upstairs segment which was informative.
Written September 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

navina
Mauritius1,470 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Business
It was an interesting and enriching experience for all the kiddos but also for those visiting it.It has free entrance.No entry fees to be paid.inside there is a large varieties of exotic and endemic animals.The pupils were impressed once in the insectorium section.They could see different and beautiful insects.inside we could see the statues of aquatic animals ranging from tiny to very large animals.finally there was the history of the extinct birds of dodos and Red rails in Mauritius as well as the Solitaire in Rodrigues.A bisit which impacted positively in the mind of each and every one.👍
Written December 5, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Natural History Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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