Visiting the Manchester Museum with kids

The Manchester Museum reopened in February 2023 after undergoing a £15 million renovation. We went along at the start of the Easter holidays to check it out. The Manchester Museum is one of our favourite free things to do in Manchester with kids.

Where is Manchester Museum?

Manchester Museum is located in Manchester on Oxford Road as part of the University of Manchester campus.

There is a good transport network of tram and bus stops nearby as well as car parks (see below).

The address is Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL.

Manchester Museum parking

There 6 car parks on the University campus and some of them are open to the public. There is also the aquatics centre car park nearby which is where we parked. It is a very short walk to the museum.

Is Manchester Museum free?

Yes, although donations are welcome to support their work.

What age is Manchester Museum suitable for?

The museum is suitable for children of all ages. Different sections of the museum can be enjoyed by different age groups and families with older children will probably spend longer here but every child and family is different. I’ve included a section below about the best sections for kids below.

Manchester Museum galleries

The Manchester Museum is part of the University of Manchester. There is a mix of national history, human cultures, anthropology and archaeology collections.

Manchester Museum is one of the biggest university museums in the country. There are a number of exhibitions over several floors and two buildings joined together by bridges on the upper floors. It’s a stunning building with lots to explore.

There are over 4.5 million objects on display! They have the largest collection of Egyptian and Sudanese objects in the UK. You’ll also find almost 100,000 fossils of various sizes including a huge fossilized tree stump and root system.

The first galleries you enter are The Belonging Gallery, Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery and the  South Asia Gallery.

The South Asia gallery is in collaboration with the British Museum and the UK’s first permanent South Asia gallery. There is a stunningly decorated rickshaw at the centre of this exhibition.

There is also the Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibition which is still free but you do need to book a ticket online in advance. It’s well worth a look around. I would love to have spent longer in this gallery than my kids allowed!

Other galleries are the dinosaur exhibition which is quite small but fascinating. There is lots of information displayed in a way that is accessible to children and a microscope that you can use to examine fossils. My kids loved this.

The T-Rex skeleton is in the gallery next door “fossils”. This was another gallery that I would have liked to spend more time in. There are loads of fossils and skeletons from across history.

There is also an archaeology gallery which is packed with artefacts to learn all about.

The nature gallery and the Living World exhibition are closely linked with a giant whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling. These areas contain 100s of taxidermy animals and some of them are a little eccentric like the goat in a jumper!

The vivarium is involved in conservation work and is a popular area with visitors. We loved the cute little frogs including the bumblebee frogs.

How Long do families typically spend at Manchester Museum?

This will really depend on the interests of your family. We spent 2-3 hours there but my kids are still in the “run through a museum” stage and don’t really let us spend a lot of time reading the information or looking at the exhibition.

I’m sure some families will spend half a day or longer exploring the museum.

Best bits of the Manchester Museum for families

My kids particularly enjoyed the Vivarium (with live frogs and lizards), the dinosaur exhibition, the fossil gallery (with Stan the T-rex) and the nature library. The Egyptian exhibitions will be particularly relevant if your kids are studying this period of history at school.

All exhibitions have something for families to enjoy. I will say that there aren’t a lot of interactive elements for children but there are some, especially in the dinosaur area. The exhibitions are displayed in a way to excite and inspire adults and children alike.

On the day we visited there was a free kids’ activity on the top floor to make badges.

Accessibility and facilities at Manchester Museum

Accessibility of the museum has really been thought about in the renovation of the museum. There are ramps to the main entrance and lifts to all floors. You can even borrow wheelchairs and walking frames if needed.

There are plenty of places to sit around the museum, a quiet room and a prayer room. You can borrow ear defenders and sensory bags for those who need them too. Find out more about accessibility here – Access – Manchester Museum.

There are toilet facilities on most floors. There is a buggy park on the ground floor but we did see a few being pushed around the museum too.

Cafe at Manchester Museum

There is a cafe serving freshly prepared food on the ground floor. There is also a coffee bar on the ground floor, this was very busy on the day of our visit but the cakes are delicious!

You are free to bring your own food but you are asked to only eat it in the picnic area to keep the museum clean. There is a lovely indoor picnic area which even has a microwave and sink. Each table also has a children’s book on it which is a lovely idea. There are also highchairs available and waste and recycling facilities.

Start planning your visit by visiting their website to check opening times – Home – Manchester Museum

Where to next?

Looking for somewhere else to go whilst you are in Manchester? Z-Arts is about a 20 minute walk away and it is a fantastic place for families. Find out more here – Z-Arts Manchester.

There is a fantastic family escape room. Find out more here – Z-Arts family escape room

Another free museum is Science and Industry museum Manchester.

Find more free things to do with children under 5 here – Free things to do in Manchester with toddlers

Find more great dinosaur days out across the region here – Dinosaur days out north west

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