Museum of Natural History and Planetarium — Attraction in Providence

Soon after you step into the Museum of Natural History, you will inevitably be caught in an old-school vibe: the architecture, the furniture, and the way of displaying combine to create something sort of a "cabinet of curiosities" that dates back to Western museums' infantile times. In fact, the Museum makes this clear in one of their exhibits, "Natural Selections: Museum’s Victorian Past to the Present".

The Museum is open everyday (aside from about dozen special days), but it closes earlier than most other museums of its kind. Gift shop is extremely limited, and seating is almost non-existent on the second floor (with the exception of two benches in the JWST exhibit).

The long-term exhibits have apparently not been updated in years. In "Circle of the Sea: Re-Visited and Re-Imagined", for example, Kiribati is still labeled as "Gilbert Islands" (which may not be wrong in some contexts, but seems outdated here). In addition, none of the artifacts in this exhibit have a native name. I would have also appreciated if they provided pamphlets with information about the functions of the artifacts on display (they have info sheets for some of the animal specimens).

Despite the issues mentioned above, I believe the Museum makes good use of a very old building. Admission is only $2, which itself constitutes a time-travel experience. If you happen to be exploring the Roger Williams Park, it is worth spending an hour or so here to see a vanishing style of natural history museums, as well as to be educated about astronomy, wildlife, and...

We visited on a early Saturday afternoon in mid-June 2025.

There was a small parking lot on the side of the building and it was about 2/3 full. There was also street parking. It was also a overcast and drizzly kind of afternoon.

The sidewalk was being repaired at the time of our visit so we had to walk through the grass to get around.

There is a cost ($2) to enter. The tickets can be purchased online (just give them your name) but also at kiosk to the right when you enter. You kind of get what you pay for here. This is also the merch kiosk and it's kind of small and didn't really have anything with museum's name on it. Just kind of generic museum merch. The lobby was very large and a cool mural if you look up at the ceiling.

The bathrooms are also here in the main lobby, men's on one side and women's on other.

The exhibits start immediately to the left and you go through a few different rooms. There are stairs in in the middle of the lobby that goes upstairs with more exhibits.

The area with the planetarium is still a work in progress it looks like with many empty display cases. My favorite was the space area. There was also a Polynesian looking room we were calling the "Moana room". The changing planet room with the huge taxidermy polar bears was interesting.

We did not pay extra for the planetarium show and at about 1 hr, the kids were done and ready to leave.

Overall I'd probably not visit here again unless we were trying to kill some time or maybe watch the planetarium show. Definitely worth the...

This would have been at least 4 stars. However, they have NO SAFETY FEATURES for those with disabilities or lack of ability. The front steps are steep with NO hand rails. I was informed that my father could NOT use the elevator because the person at the front desk could NOT leave their position to do that. NO HANDICAPPED ACCESS WHATSOEVER and excuses when you need it. Do not bring an elderly relative for you cannot get them anywhere EXCEPT forcing them up the most dangerous stairs on earth aside from south America. Just a total loss. He spent THE ENTIRE time wondering if he could get up and down. What a waste. I thought that this was supposed to be handicap FRIENDLY. Save your time with those that cannot access, for roger Williams museum could care less if you access it or not. Maybe pull the funding until they update. And they just tried to apologize. Did they MISS THE PART WHERE THE MUSEUM STAFF WOULD NOT LEAVE THEIR POST TO ASSIST US???!!!! No, I say pull public funding until they allow access to...