Fantastic and free museum in the neighborhood. I found the natural history and anthropology really interesting and well presented, really a jewel in South London. Music section was nice too especially the samples of music from the different instruments. Didn't get to see the gardens due to the rain, but will definitely return

Excellent museum let down by unruly children. This is an excellent museum where you could easily spend the whole day. Free entry to the museum with certain sections such as aquarium requiring payment. Nice cafe but go early as post lunch most of the cakes were sold out. Lovely seating area in the conservatory. Nice gardens with trails. Museum itself is excellent with three exhibitions - natural history, world culture and musical instruments. Plus an exhibition (currently) on the history of tea. I can see who this was voted the best museum in the UK and I can heartily recommend it for its well curated collections. However, it was heavily let down by its acceptance of out of control, unruly and screaming children everywhere. A moving floor visual in the world culture section made this whole area unbearable as it encouraged running, jumping and screaming from children. Parents exerted no control and not did museum staff. The museum really needs to address this as it made the museum inaccessible for the disabled. I would advise those with neurodiversity, autism etc to carefully consider visiting as you need noise cancelling headphones.

A day out with the grandchildren and a bit further afield. We travelled by train to South London and the Horniman Museum. We booked our visit in advance and also paid to see the butterfly house. It is a short walk from the station. There is a good café there. The butterfly house was a big hit with the children, and they were thrilled when butterflies landed on them. The butterfly house is small, but we were surprised that we spent an hour there. We had a picnic in the gardens and from the top of the hill we had some great views of London. The weather clouded over in the afternoon so we spent time in the museum. The over-stuffed walrus was a must see. The children enjoyed the musical instruments section - it do not realise there were so many brass instruments. We left mid-afternoon to miss the evening rush. All in all and very good day out.

This has been on my list of “place to visit” since just before the pandemic. I had chosen it because it sounded different from the normal museum We travelled to the museum by train (3 each way) and a walk from the station. We had a quick visit to the cafe for a hot drink and cakes. Excellent choice of cakes and they were lovely. Café was clean with a seating area outside. If it had been a sunny warm day it would have a lovely to sit outside. We had limited time there so only visited the natural history and world culture exhibitions and an exhibition (currently) on the history of tea. It was here that I found some information about its founder. Also there were activities which I did which related to tea. There were lots of children there as part of a school visit but they were well behaved and there was plenty of space I so enjoyed the world exhibition which is different as it had lots about the “lost history” of Africa. It was some recognition of the narrative white people created and set out to change this. I like that it tackled issues e.g. migration, slavery, etc The exhibits of different native clothes and artifacts from around the world were interesting. It was intriguing walking around the displays taxidermised animals (birds, fish, etc). We are so used to seeing them on TV in natural history programmes. It was quite quaint looking at them as innate objects. We then did a quick visit of the garden. Because of the time of year there was not a lot to see and some parts were closed off as work was being carried out. But I did enjoy walking around the outside animal enclosure with goats, alpacas and various other animals including the largest rabbit I had ever seen. We did have an amazing view of central London and because of the weather it looked a surreal grey/silver. I would visit again as I know I missed parts. Also assume that the museum hosts other exhibits sometimes.

I went here for a school trip I would not recommend it for you if they you are afraid of stuffed animals because it is full of them. you learn a lot here and I really enjoyed it for my school trip and it was really nice. They also have a petting zoo and there are REALLY fluffy bunny’s!

Visiting the Horniman Museum and Gardens was a delightful experience! The museum is full of interesting artifacts from around the world, and I especially enjoyed the natural history exhibits. The gardens are stunning, with beautiful flowers and relaxing pathways to stroll along. I loved sitting by the pond and watching the colorful fish swim by. Overall, it's a wonderful place to spend a day exploring and enjoying nature and culture.

Even with some of the areas closed for renovation, this is one of the best museums and gardens I've visited, especially with adults and children. The natural history and world history and culture areas were fascinating. Not too big that it takes ages, but enough detail to suit all levels. Lots of hands on activities for children, especially the musical instruments area. It's free to enter, but you pay to go into some areas. Knowing we would return, we just paid this time for the aquarium, which was great - informative and well laid out, though didn't actually take long to go around. The gardens are fabulous, not too far to walk around and interspersed with areas of interest for kids, like the musical garden and the animal walk (llamas, rabbits etc). The cafe is good with seating inside and out. Not a huge choice but reasonable prices for this type of place. Be aware the kids' pizza is big - easily enough for an adult. There's no parking, but we drove around the housing estate and found a place easily. We will definitely return, especially when the renovated areas are open.