Hi friends, welcome back! I’ve officially crossed off the first item on my 2026 Bucket List: visiting the Museum of Natural History. Jon and I last went in 2019 and since then they’ve opened a new wing called the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. This addition took nine years to complete and opened in 2023. It is designed to resemble a canyon and adds over 230,000 square feet to the museum. Included in this new wing is the Davis Family Butterfly Vivarium that I’ve been wanting to see.
You need a separate timed entry ticket to visit the butterflies that is an extra $5 a person. The room is quite small, so this helps with crowd control. It’s also worth noting the room is 80 degrees inside. This was a welcome reprieve on a cold winter’s day.
This exhibit has over 80 species of butterflies and it was fun to see all the butterflies flitting around the room. I wore red in hopes of a butterfly landing on me, but I had no such luck. The workers were very helpful at pointing out the different species and could answer any possible question you’d have.
Feeding stations are set up throughout the exhibit to get a closer look at the butterflies. These are Owl Butterflies, a Paper Kite Butterfly, and the Scarlet Swallowtail Butterfly.
This tube featured two Atlas moths, some of the largest insects in the world. Their wingspan can be up to 10 inches. I would not want one of these flying around my room!
We also got tickets (an extra $5/person) for the exhibit Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs. I didn’t read carefully and I thought it would be new dinosaur bones, but it was as the name implies, about the end of the dinosaurs and a bit depressing.
Afterwards we strolled through the dinosaur room and it’s always impressive seeing the size of them.
We spent about two and a half hours here before we got museumed out. Violet had the best seat in the house and fell asleep on the way home. A lot of excitement for her!
The Museum of Natural History is a must see in NYC and I’d highly recommend adding on the tickets to see the butterflies. The museum is open every day except Christmas and Thanksgiving from 10:00am until 5:30pm.
Our biggest regret is never visiting this museum on either of our 2 trips to NYC. There was just so much to do around the city. Looks like a great tour and the butterfly addition is always entertaining, especially if they land on you. Violet looks enthralled, much as our grandchild M is with any museum display. Have a great day Lyssy. Allan
It’ll always be there if you make it back! It’s hard fitting it all in in a big city. That was her first museum so she was taking it all in. It’s fun to see the wonder in kids eyes. Wish I could send you all our snow!
I’m glad Violet (and you two) enjoyed it. The butterflies looked amazing in your photos.
We really enjoyed seeing all the butterflies flitting about.
Wow, the architecture of the museum is stunning – absolutely stunning. I love those cave-like features. It would most certainly spark my curiosity and make me feel like I was a little insect inside a huge nest. Those colourful butterflies are wonderful too, especeailly a they offer a tranquil, nature-focused experience. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
It is a very cool looking addition! You are right, it does have a feeling like that. The butterfly room was so much fun! They really should add some benches so you can sit and take it all in.
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Butterflies are magical creatures, aren’t they? We used to have a Butterfly World quite close to my UK home xx
They really are! If the room was bigger and with some benches we could’ve stayed in there for hours.
I’m trying to think back to when we visited the museum – maaaaaybe 1999 ish! I’d love to visit again- even to just see that new wing – it looks stunning…
Sounds like you need a trip to NYC soon 🙂
Definitely! I don’t think we’ve been there since pre covid? That’s the longest gap in over 45 years of travel!!
Definitely due for a trip!! You’ll have to visit in the fall to see all the fun decor
I love butterflies and a visit to this museum would be very appealing. I’m sure that Violet was enthralled with all the.vibrant butterflies fluttering by! Are you snowed in? I saw in the news about the latest snowstorm.
You’d love the museum. It was cute watching her watch the butterflies. We got about 19 inches of snow, but it’s warmer than last time so a lot of the snow is cleared. It seems like the last snowfall took longer to recover from. We’ve really had a brutal winter!!
And where would these new dinosaur bones come from 😂love, mom
A different museum on exhibit!
A wonderful museum and butterfly houses are always captivating. Hope you’re managing to stay safe and warm, that’s some weather in your part of the world just now.
It is such a great museum and the butterfly room really is special. Thank you! It’s been a crazy winter! It actually seems like they got most of the sidewalks and roads cleared. Guess they had a lot of practice from the last round of snow we had, but thankfully this week is all above freezing so it can melt quicker. Going to be a messy few days!
What a great addition! I really like the bright blue and green butterflies.
I liked those ones too! I’d never seen any like them before.
It looks great and the butterflies are so beautiful. I can imagine Violet loved seeing them. It looks busy though and a huge museum so I can totally see why museum fatigue hit!
I hope lots of butterflies visit your gorgeous garden! The dinosaur room really should be a lot more spaced out because it’s so popular.
The first few photos make the butterflies look massive, but maybe that’s just your zoom lens? I will also pass on the Atlas moths. The tops of their wings have the look of serpents – kind of eerie. So here’s a maybe-silly question. Are the skeletons in the dinosaur exhibit made from real bones or are they recreations? You hear about dinosaur bones being discovered here and there around the planet but I’m assuming we’ve never found full sets of bones like these exhibits would suggest.
Yes I just cropped those, I think they were the size of Monarch butterflies. You’re right, I can see the serpents in the moth wings. No thanks! It said that 85% of the dinosaur bones are real, the rest are casts. The big one that takes up a whole room is entirely a full reproduction. Apparently the T Rex was discovered in Montana.
This museum looks so cool, and I love the butterflies!
It’s a great museum! Butterflies are so cool.
The butterfly room is awesome I hope it’s a permanent exhibit. Maggie
It is now! It used to be temporary but with the new addition it’s here to stay.
Butterflies are always fun to watch, they look so fragile. It’s well worth the extra cost.
The Museum of Natural History looks pretty amazing! Glad to hear your little one enjoyed it. No wonder she fell asleep on the way home!
Gorgeous!
What a wonderful place to go especially this time of year. Glad you could warm up inside. The butterflies are spectacularr!
Wow!! What a lovely place to spend a day. The butterfly bit looks like a real treat 😀