Iconic Scottish museum named among the world's top-rated dinosaur museums
With Jurassic World: Rebirth roaring into cinemas this July, travel insurance specialist InsureandGo has unveiled the world's top-rated dinosaur museums, perfect for fossil enthusiasts eager to explore prehistoric wonders.
Edinburgh's National Museum of Scotland claimed an impressive seventh place, outshining London's Natural History Museum and New York's American Museum of Natural History.
While it may offer fewer dinosaur exhibits than some global giants, the museum's vast collection spans from dinosaurs to space exploration, including Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. Visitors can also enjoy panoramic views of Edinburgh from its rooftop terrace, along with dinosaur-themed workshops and trails that engage younger visitors.
Reviewers praise its wide-ranging displays, noting it has 'everything from dinosaurs to the moon landings.'
Jurassic World: Rebirth, widely tipped as the summer's most anticipated movie, marks the seventh chapter in the Jurassic Park franchise.
Starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey, and filmed across Thailand, Malta, and the UK, the film has already sparked excitement among fans worldwide.
Topping the list is Canada's Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, based in Drumheller, Alberta, which boasts a staggering 97.3% of reviews awarding it four or five stars. Home to over 130,000 fossils, the museum features the famous 'Black Beauty' T. rex skeleton and the most complete tyrannosaurid ever found, a predator predating T. rex by around 10 million years.
The site also gained fame as a filming location for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Visitors recommend setting aside a couple of days to fully explore the museum and hike the scenic Badlands nearby.
New Zealand punches above its weight with two museums in the global top ten. The Tūhura Otago Museum in Dunedin, now renamed in 2022 to reflect its Māori roots meaning 'to discover, investigate and explore,' is home to New Zealand's largest fossil plesiosaur and one of the finest moa remains collections, moa being a giant flightless bird that went extinct roughly 600 years ago.
The museum also features an immersive tropical rainforest butterfly house.
The UK's highest-rated natural history museum is found at Oxford University, outscoring London's iconic counterpart.
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History houses the only soft tissue remains of the extinct dodo and is architecturally designed to showcase geological diversity, with columns crafted from different British rocks.
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Letitia Smith, Communications Manager at InsureandGo, said: 'We all travel for different reasons, whether it's sampling new dishes, swimming in turquoise waters, or exploring fascinating cultures. For many people, that includes visiting a fascinating destination, like a dinosaur museum.
'With the new Jurassic Park movie on the way, we wanted to highlight the museums that truly capture the awe of natural history, based on real visitor reviews. If your summer plans take you near these top-rated museums, it's the perfect chance to experience some of the world's most top-rated prehistory.
'Thankfully, dinosaurs are no longer a threat, but travel can still be unpredictable. So, protect yourself with comprehensive travel insurance, and keep your adrenaline fix within the museum!'
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