VISIT THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Oxford University Museum of Natural History is located in the centre of Oxford on Parks Road, OX1 3PW. It is a five-minute walk from the Bodleian Libraries and in the same building as the Pitt Rivers Museum. The Museum encourages visitors to make use of Oxford's excellent green travel provisions, including Park and Ride services and cycle routes. For more information, see below.

Bus

There are regular buses from Oxford station that stop within walking distance of the Museum. From Bus Stop R4 at the train station, take the 500, 14 or 14A. Alight after eight stops at the Keble Road bus stop. For further information on buses please refer to bus company websites, Oxford Bus and Stagecoach. Both companies offer day tickets which can provide a cost-effective way to travel around Oxfordshire.

Bicycle

There are cycling lanes on Parks Road and throughout Oxford, allowing you access to the Museum by bicycle. Please use bike racks available on Parks Road or outside the Robert Hooke building (on the right side of the Museum, as viewed from Parks Road).

Train

The Museum is a 20-minute walk from Oxford train station (Oxford Parkway station is further from the city centre). Directions for walking from the train station:

1. Take the pedestrian crossing and walk up Beaumont Street. You will see the Ashmolean Museum on your left and the Randolph Hotel on your right.
2. Once you get to the end of Beaumont Street, you will see a junction and a series of pedestrian crossings. First, cross the road so that you are on the same side as the Randolph Hotel, then take the pedestrian crossing to your left – towards the Martyr’s Memorial. Cross over the bus lane, so that you are back on the pavement.
3. Walk up this street, with the Ashmolean across the road on your left, until you come to an archway alongside the Lamb & Flag pub. Enter the archway and walk along the narrow passageway past the tree. This will open out into a larger street, which you should follow until you see a pedestrian crossing at the end of the road.
4. Cross the road and you will immediately see a large Gothic building with large oak doors; this is the Museum. Enter through the front doors.

Park and Ride

Oxford is well served by a number of Park and Ride services from different parts of outer Oxford, with City Centre stops within walking distance of the Museum. There are five Park and Ride car parks (on the A40 at Headington; Redbridge, Abingdon Road, near Kennington; Pear Tree Roundabout, Woodstock Road; Oxford Parkway, Banbury Road, Kidlington; and Seacourt at Botley). 

Coaches

Before your visit to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, please read this information and share it with your coach driver:

Please do not stop on Parks Road for school drop-offs and pick-ups.

Due to extensive construction work taking place on Parks Road (the road on which the Museum is located) you must not stop, drop off or pick up your school party on this road. The increase in large construction vehicles outside of the Museum, along with the road works and alterations to the cycle lane, makes it very dangerous for coaches to stop on Parks Road.

Please use Keble Road for school drop-offs and pick-ups.

We have identified Keble Road as the safest place for coaches to drop off and pick up school parties. This is just to stop for a brief amount of time. It is best to approach Keble Road from North Oxford, travelling through Summertown and the Banbury Road. After dropping off/picking up your school party, you can exit Keble Road by making a loop round to the left, turning down Blackhall Road then Museum Road. Please see the map below for the route to take. The map also shows the walking route for school parties, including where to cross at the pedestrian crossing to reach the Museum.

Car

There is no parking at the Museum (except limited blue-badge parking), so we recommend you use public transport or a Park and Ride. 

Parking is available in Oxford at the Westgate Shopping Centre.

There is also pay and display parking close to the Museum on Mansfield Road, Keble Road and Blackhall Road. 

There are charging points for electric vehicles located on Keble Road and Bevington Road. Please see this map for more details on charging your electric vehicle.

Visitors are welcome to bring their buggies, prams, or scooters, but please note that we are unable to store them on your behalf.

Visitors will need to keep their buggies with them at all times whilst inside the Museum. 

About our Cafés

Eating is permitted in the Café area of the museum and outside on the front lawn. Please do not eat or drink in the rest of the museum, except for bottled water.

Why can't I eat or drink in the Museum?

Consumption of food and drink leaves traces that attract insect pests that can damage our collections. Organic matter also brings ‘pedestrian’ insects into the building. Pedestrian insects are not collections pests and will not damage specimens, but when they die or produce frass (insect poo) they are increasing the load of organic matter in the Museum. This becomes another source of food for harmful species, such as Anthrenus (carpet) beetles and their larvae, and attracts them into the building.

What do you do to control insects in the building?

Have you ever seen a little black box, white triangular cage or green cardboard tube whilst walking around a museum or historic building? If so, you have probably spotted an IPM monitoring trap. IPM stands for Integrated Pest Management, and this is the process employed by most buildings housing historic and valuable collections. There are a wide variety insect pests that can damage papers, glues, feathers, furs, textiles, woods and dried organic matter. These include species of booklice, moths, silverfish, carpet beetles and a few others.

It is because of these insect pests that we kindly ask you to not eat or drink around the museum outside the Museum Café area, which is not amongst any of our major exhibitions and is rigorously cleaned daily so we can be confident that it is not posing a risk to any of our collections.

Harmful pest populations will increase in the Museum if food and drink are consumed outside of the designated Café area, which increases in the risk of causing irreversible damage to our precious and historic exhibitions and collections. We want to preserve our specimens for future generations to enjoy. We ask you to please help us in this task by not eating or drinking around the museum and not moving or disturbing any IPM monitoring traps you may find during your visit.

Non-commercial photography is welcome at the Museum. For any commercial photography or filming please make an enquiry in advance. The use of tripods is not permitted in the Museum without prior arrangement.

We encourage visitors to draw in the Museum, but only graphite pencils are permitted. Other art materials can cause a conservation risk to the building and specimens. 

The Museum does not have facilities for storing coats or bags. Visitors must keep their belongings with them at all times.

Sadly, the Museum can’t accept visits from pets as ‘passenger’ insects that travel in or live on animals pose a threat to our taxidermy specimens.

The Museum welcomes visitors with assistance animals. If you are visiting with an assistance animal, please note the following:

• We request all assistance animals to be on a lead where possible and expect them to not wander freely throughout the Museum.
• We politely request that assistance animals wear a harness or jacket whilst in the Museum to help identify them to staff and visitors.
• If you are planning to make a visit with an assistance animal other than a dog, we would be grateful if you could contact the Museum in advance to let our Visitor Experience team know to expect you: foh@oum.ox.ac.uk
• For more information about Museum accessibility, please visit our accessibility webpage.

Have you been to the Museum recently, or otherwise interacted with us and our digital offerings, and would like to share your feedback? Whether you had a fantastic experience or one that you thought could have been better, we would love to hear from you in order to improve our customer service.

All feedback will be handled sensitively and completely confidentially, following any relevant data protection requirements.

View our full complaints and feedback policy.

Oxford University Museum of Natural History encourages children and young people to be independent and follow their own interests. However, we ask that visiting children under 11 are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Children between 11 and 13 are welcome to visit without a parent or guardian as long as they are accompanied by another person aged 11 or over.

Children over the age of 13 are welcome to visit on their own.