Natural History Museum

Lonely Planet review

Dusty, weird and utterly compelling, this window into Victorian times has barely changed since Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone opened it in 1857. The creaking interior gives way to an overwhelming display of stuffed animals and mounted heads, crammed in like something from a Hitchcock movie. Of the two million species on display in the museum, many are long extinct.

Entering the National History Museum is like stepping into the year 1857, the year phlegmatic explorer David Livingstone gave the inaugural lecture.

Scarcely changed since then, this museum of pure kitsch flaunts its outdated displays with outrageous pride and provides a wealth of information on the kind of bizarre exhibits your average Victorian found interesting.

Of the two million species on display, around half are insects and many - such as the giant Irish elk, the dodo bird and the Tasmanian Tiger - are (probably) long extinct.

It's a great place to take the kids; they'll be entranced by the giant sunfish, elephant skeleton, spiky porcupine fish, Great Irish Wolfhound and large basking shark.