Wow️️ This museum and the Butterfly Rainforest are the best I have seen in Florida. Incredible exhibit on the Calusa with lifelike representation of their culture. Great display of shell middens, tools and decorative arts. The fossil collection is excellent and the exhibit is large and well done. Underwater mangrove exhibit is really cool. It’s all just a delight️

Very charming museum. Very impressed by all the different exhibits. Filled with lots of information. Could easily take a couple of hours to really read and go through every exhibit. We went through a little faster with our kids but everyone enjoyed it. We also got to enjoy the butterfly world.

Amazing day at the Florida Museum of National History Butterfly area. There is a fee but you can go through as many times as you want. Lovely peaceful and safe.

This is a great place to go if you need some quiet time and want to educate and entertain your kids. We did the free walk through and found everything to be very clean and well maintained and our son enjoyed the exhibits, especially the section with the enlarged estuary creatures.

Great museum! So much information and much bigger than I expected. Admission was free however parking was $4. Also, we chose to view the Megalodon area which did have an admission fee. We chose not to view the butterfly rainforest which was another admission. We would absolutely come back and its great for the kids. Some areas are not available at this time due to COVID but it was still wonderful to visit.

Its a great place to take the grandbabies and learn about all kind of things. The hands on discovery center for kids is closed and you have to wear a mask at all times because of Covid. Everything is free except the butterfly rain forest but even that was closed because of the rain. But I have been to it before and its spectacular. We did watch a butterfly coming out of its cocoon. But the have a live cam if you want to watch them too.

This place was amazing!!! I was not expecting it to be so large! Parking is a bit weird, I just paid the $4.00 to park. The exhibits are very well done with TONS of information! Lots of skeletons of land and water animals. Some displays were closed due to Covid-19. The Butterfly Rainforest is a must see!!! It is only $12 for FL residents! A great split second decision to go was one of the best choices of my vacation!

First time here and it was absolutely amazing. Most exhibits are free except the butterflies. Definitely worth the experience and stop. Discounts for Florida residents

Wow. I had never visited this place but it is a gem. So much to discover about Florida in one place! A little weirded out by the need for so many dead butterflies but overall a great natural history museum. General admission is free and it also has a cute gift shop. Could have easily spent a few more hours here.

The kids loved all the exhibits except the megaladon exhibit. It didn’t have much for them to see or do for the price. But the rest of the museum is free/by donation. Staff was friendly and patient with the incessant questions of the six year old. Several areas were closed (children’s hand on discovery area for example) due to Covid which is understandable but still disappointing. Overall we enjoyed the afternoon there. Great place to visit with kids.

Great museum, its a must-see for Gainesville. It had great exhibits, a butterfly rainforest, and other conserved artifacts, fossils, and stories from the past. It was incredible to learn about these animals and the environment, especially the conservation efforts of UF and the team of researchers. The exhibits were very interesting and informative, the highlights in my opinion were these exhibits: in a cave, underwater, and the hammock forest replica with hidden animals to search for. Over all we had a great time visiting this museum.

My 7 year old is an emerging veterinary surgeon. She is obsessed with all things animal science. It is really hard to find activities safe enough during the pandemic for me to allow them. We went here on a Sunday, arriving at 2:30pm and it was PERFECT! Only 5 other families there (and I counted). The Butterflies were fantastic but what sent my kid to the moon for some reason was the discovery of the ancient Ground Sloth skeletons, and the transitional horse skeletons. She also deeply appreciated the cave exhibit and the neat things like almost hidden bats, and climbing into a tortoise lair. I cannot believe I waited 3 years to go to the FMNH. We will absolutely head back to see the laboratories staffed and biologists at work. That was, if I had to give a downside to Sunday visiting, the one drawback. Im OK with that! It gives us an excuse to head back and re explore during less contagious times. What a gem this place is! Thank you UF!

The butterfly section was so fun. Some parts closed due to covid, masks are enforced and its clean.

This is a must go place. I will definitely will be back. Its one of the best butterfly rainforest I have been. I arrived a little late and wasnt able to be there longer. However, its a place to enjoy and appreciate nature. The employees are extremely nice . Bathroom la were clean ( its important lol)I cant wait to go again.

Great museum. The butterfly habitat is marvelous.

Very relaxing to watch the butterflies. The museum was not very busy and one way pathway were set up. I learned something new

Beautiful museum. Amazing pieces of history, awe-inspiring for the children and incredible architecture. If you are considering going here, I could not recommend it more. Great for the whole family.

An amazing place to take kids of all ages lots of fun things to see and touch!!! Probably the coolest museum on earth. Museum is kept super clean and neat! Awesome that you can take you family for free. We spent hours in the kids area and they loved every moment.

Wonderful exhibits! Interactive and well detailed. Set up in sections...Native Americans, Fossils (our favorite), butterflies (you can go through the building, but not into the garden without paid admission), Fl habitats, etc. The main museum is free, but you have to pay to get in the butterfly garden and to see the Megladon, which we didnt do, just too pricy. Gift shop was reasonably priced and has a lot of variety. This place was beautiful and clean!

Amazing!!! Wonderful several hours of wandering and being WOWd!!Each section and exhibit is well laid out, explained and the interactive areas are truly fantastic!The Butterfly Garden is gorgeous, peaceful and loaded with species of floral, fauna, trees and of course the magical butterflies.We had a wonderful afternoon here!Highly recommend!

The kids had a great time and butterfly garden was beautiful

The museum really has something for everyone. There is a charge to enter The butterfly museum Which in our opinion was well worth it. There is a great section on the history of Florida, another section on historic animals and sea-life. There was plenty of exhibits and it’s not a museum that you can rush through and really enjoy all that it has to offer.

The staff was very friendly and eager to help you to know and learn. Great place to go adults and kids

Pretty cool museum! Has plentiful exhibits about the history and climate of Florida- and a butterfly garden!

Very interesting and informative! A fun place for kids and adults. Its free admission to see the main exhibits. Then they have other exhibits that you can pay a small fee to see. The main area was enough for us to see. We spent about 2hours looking around.

Great place to see and learn of Florida’s and the continent’s creature history. Great place to visit and stay out of the mid-day heat when trying pass the time and the free admission welcomes donations! Awesome!!!

Absolutely amazing museum. Free admission but donations are appreciated, free parking on weekends. We drove up from Orlando with our 4 year old. We were worried that it might not keep his attention but he was enthralled.The fossils are just mind blowing, but there is so much more than that. Butterfly rainforest, Florida history, flower gardens. We walked around for about 3 hours but really, we could have probably spent about 2 hours longer without the kids.There are gift shops with amazing things to buy, there are an ample amount of restaurants within a mile or two. The art museum (also free) is right next door! This was a phenomenal day trip and I would highly recommend it!

Great place to bring the family!! Not too expensive. Great learning trip.

This is one of the best museums and with free of cost. It might take around 1 hour but very well maintained and self explanatory

Excellent free exhibits. Couldnt go to the butterfly section due to rain, but it has good reviews, too!

Very cool megalodon exhibit! Huge butterfly collection

What a great free museum! The areas that are free are great for a nice few hours indoors. I really liked the caves, underwater room, and the huge skeletons. To really plus your experience add on the butterfly room, though theres a lot back there thats cool without paying. The butterfly room itself is about like any other butterfly house youve been in, but its really well done and chock full of butterflies. And you can go back through as many times as you want--I went there first, then back through before I left. I didnt enjoy as much the current Croc exhibit, not unless youre a huge crocodile (or maybe FL Gators) fan.

Always a nice place to visit. Hoping they can open the kid zones soon. The butterfly rainforest is very tranquil.

Very nice museum. I would definitely recommend the Butterfly Rainforest.

Very nice place very educational great place to take kids and the family great for field trip for school and great learning experience about history human life and animal life wild life and insect life beautiful exhibit about butterflies and aquatics life nice clean environmentally friendly and helpful and follow all covid-19 procedures nice gift shop and great place to eat at there cafeteria recommend it for everyone to check out family friendly place

Great place to go. Fun, educational, and free (99% of it, butterfly gardens are not free). Its great for children

Took a mini vacation here and was not disappointed. We got to see a lot of Florida local artifacts, learned about Florida history, but we did not visit the butterfly gardens.... Theres a lot more butterflys around the world than Id ever thought.

Awesome birthday trip making memories with my son.

Pretty cool place. I especially liked the Indian, and the 12:1 scale underwater exhibits. Super cool. How to catch the butterfly rain forest gig next time.

One of the best museum experiences Ive ever had, and Im a huge museum lover!! The goods fossils and butterflies were awe inspiring!!

Wow, this place is so friggin cool. Fossils, skeletons, and all sorts of science. Free to enter and explore, paid a small fee to enter a garden filled with live butterflies. People of all ages will love it here. Native American history and artifacts from the area.

Well worth while. Easy to maintain social distancing and very informative about Florida history, butterflies, and fossils. Also, the art museum is next door. Both are free.

Amazing exhibits with things I thought I would never see before in my life. The entrance is FREE and the butterfly garden is well priced, and well worth it. Would love to come back soon. Great for family trips.

Such an amazing and beautiful place. Staff are friendly and will answer any questions. The exhibits were very nice. Butterfly garden was very full and vibrant. If you have a few hours to have fun and learn about history this is your place to come.

Not the biggest museum in the world, but full of enough interesting exhibits to fill in a couple hours. The crocodile exhibit was interesting, but felt quite small for the entry fee. That was balanced out by the rest of the museum being free though and overall Id say its okay value for money

Another highlight was the area with the butterflies on display. It was very neat to see them in the varying stages of development. If you are able to go at a time when they have an associate behind the insect observation counter, you may even be able to get a close up and personal interaction with some of the insects they have on site! We got to touch some caterpillars and see them under a microscope.

I love bringing my family here. I think parking is free on the weekends. The museum(history and dinosaurs) costs only a donation of your choice amount to enter. The butterfly garden is inexpensive and amazing to see also.

I grew up at this museum. The rotating exhibits and nice variety of diverse cultures combined with realistic florida culture and science. Plenty of stuff do to. One thing I wish they would do is utilize their space more and put in a snack bar, I think that would sell more than overpriced merchandise. The butterfly experience is wonderful! A MUST DO! All in all I would recommend going here if you have children ages 10+ and you need something to do on a rainy afternoon (:

Really enjoyed the museum and the Butterfly Exhibit. So much fun and I will be back for sure.

A great diversion for the whole family. The butterfly atrium is amazing. The augmented reality foyer is a treat for the kids. The fossil collection walk in extremely enlightening.( I didnt know how Giant a giant ground sloth was. The Native Tribes of Florida exhibit is a must see. AND thats just part of it, dont forget to check out the Nature trails. Definitely worth the time and little bit of money.

Great museum which gives a lot of information about the history of Floridas people and wildlife, as well as educational tools for understanding the importance of conserving the natural beauty of Florida. Great butterfly area with beautiful butterflies and birds.

Awesome place to stop and visit. There is no entry fee into the museum, but there is a charge to go into the special areas like the butterflys. We will definitely be going back once our son is a little bit older.

Honestly, there should be an entrance fee for the amount of stuff that you get to see. With the care given to the exhibits there is no reason that they shouldnt charge. It is a great place for familys as well as adults without kids. Looking at the website and some of the photos I thought it might have been more geared towards younger kids, but it was great for all ages. If you have a free day and are looking for something to pass the time, this would be a great option.

Its a fantastic museum, I just wish it hadnt rained so I could have seen the butterflies.

I always like museums but considering this museum is free to visit, or at least part of it is, it is an incredible experience.

Amazing place for all ages. And its a learning experience.

Very interesting and a lot to see a verity of things to see for everyone

This museum is by far the best an most fun educational outing Ive ever been too , if your not in touch or have no clue about Florida an its history , or knowledge of dinosaurs an that time line , this has to be a must see an must do if your in gainsville or around the area.

One of our all-time favorite places to visit! Wonderful for children & adults alike!

I drove over 2 hours to get here and it frankly wasnt worth the drive. Its worth visiting if you live in the area. The butterfly garden, while beautiful, is tiny and the museum itself is just a bunch of plastic miniatures with no real exhibits.

We stopped here to stretch our legs on a road trip from Miami to Alabama. I expected to maybe spend 1 hour and be on our way. My 8 year old and I had such a blast, we didnt want to leave. We ended up staying 2 hours and loved every minute of it. Our favorite part was the butterfly exhibit. We got to see so many beautiful butterflies, up close. And they even had a place where you could see the chrysalis hatching into butterflies. They also give a Florida resident discount.

Love this place. You have to check the butterfly sanctuary while you are there. Staff are always pleasant and helpful.

Probably one of the best museums Ive ever had the pleasure of visiting. And for the most part its free!!!

Beautiful place and lots to do and see. Spend the money and go thru the butterfly garden. Beautiful plant and butterfly specimens.

Beautiful displays!! Full of knowledge and wonder! Hope meuseums educate people for generations!

We were in Gainesville for a medical procedure, and needed something to kill time. We decided to check out the Florida Museum. My 14 year old daughter really enjoyed the butterfly garden, and the other displays and exhibits were interesting and educational. There are Native American exhibits, fossils, and a hands-on area for kids.

Great experience! The displays are amazing and I love all the hands-on learning opportunities. The butterfly house was beautiful!

Very interesting, but hard to do with COVID precautions, especially Butterfly area. No fault of theirs.

I loved it! Very interesting and beautiful. Its a nice way to learn about Floridas history without having to read a boring book

Awesome museum. Their exhibits are insane and amazing.

Great place, a bit pricey for what it is. We spent $58 for two adults and an 9 yr old and a 5 year old with our Florida discount. It isnt really a cheap excursion. It is a cool place though and I would go back.

The butterfly garden was amazing. Our daughters absolutely loved it. Definitely worth the trip

It’s an amazing place to go to if you want to see beautiful butterflies and fossils that belonged to amazing animals.

This place rocks! Make sure to attend the butterfly release. Very informative. We spent all day touring the museum. There is a good restaurant next door at the art museum. A little pricey, but it worked out because we did not have to leave.

Always enjoy visiting the museumWonderful learning for adults, and children alike

Our favorite museum by far! Amazing selection of collections, permanent and temporary! The events are always a joyous and very educational. The staff is always in good spirits. I often find excuses to drive down from Jacksonville and enjoy myself here.

The alligator exhibition was super cool! Also, it will be a good adition to include a top cover in the Butterfly Forest so it will still be functional during rain.

Collectors Day was AWESOME as usual! Thanks to Tiffany and her volunteers for helping all of us Collectors to show our prizes to the best effect!

Id give 10+ stars if I could. Excellent, well organized, very educational (duhhhhh .... :) ) place, tons of not only useful but very interesting and sometimes surprising info, too. They have a special exhibition between January 27 and May 6, 2018 called The Scoop On Poop (The Science of What Animals Leave Behind). It really sounds weird. We all should have a look. Real science. Maybe we shouldnt be that hypocrite and accept real facts. Otherwise, the butterfly rain forest is world class, just like the fossil exhibition. Fantastic. Thank you.

Its amazing I love it!!

Beatiful place. Excelent collection. Wonderful butterfly rainforest

It was great, the kids had an awesome time. Its free to get in and a small fee to get into the Butterfly garden. The garden is beautiful with many places to sit down and enjoy the butterflies. This is a great place to take the whole family both youn and old.

Its a very interactive environment with fossils and butterflies. A lot to learn in a fun way.

This free museum is Colocated with the Butterfly attraction and also in same building, a bat attraction. Bats and butterflies charge an entry fee.I really enjoyed the natural history museum as it does a nice job of taking you back thousands of years to how the state was formed geologically as well as how the first people lived. For being free, its a very polished presentation and well worth it.

This was a very unique place that I had never been too. I wish that I had taken my children there when they were younger. They have many displays to see and read about. There is also a childrens area with many different activities for the littles to do.

We went here the day after Thanksgiving. It was not crowded when we got there (were early) :) it was a nice place to learn more about fossil history, plus butterflies (though we didnt went inside). Must visit.

We always make it a point to visit this museum every time we are in Gainesville. Its free to get it and you get to enjoy the history and air conditioning.

We love this place! So many things for kids and adults alike to do! We visit often even though its an hour drive from our home. I grew up in this museum, as have my children and now most of my GrandPile has too! Still as great as it was over 40 years ago.

A fun education tour of the past, energy conservative, and much more.

Enjoyment for the entire family. We all loved from the 2 year old to the 33 year old. Walking through the exhibits really can take you back. The butterfly rainforest was amazing & so many butterflies.

A nice little museum near the university. I was told there was butterfly collection, but I didnt get to see due to the weather.

Was glad we decided to visit, checked out the art gallery then went to the butterfly exibit. Wish I could give it 6 stars. The exhibit is well designed and maintained

The kids enjoy this museum so its a good place to go when it is too hot to play outdoors. The butterflies are lovely and I love that they have permanent exhibits as well as a rotating exhibit. Members often have opportunities for special events (like the upcoming croc exhibit opening reception). That being said, if you arent a member, most of the exhibits, including the kid play area, are free! You do have to pay for entry into the butterfly rainforest if you arent a member.

We had an awesome time with the family, the planetarium was awesome!I really recommend it to anyone thats visiting or lives in the area.

Love this place, make sure you go to butterfly garden... so beautiful hundreds of butterflies, birds bathing in the waterfalls. Def worth the stop... Worth every penny

Excellent expositions... fosil and halls... plenty of history....great day at museum

Loved it.! My baby had so much fun

Many interesting events, like the Collectorsday, are taking place here.The Butterfly-Rainforest, which is a part of the museum. is also an amazing place to visit.You can see all kinds of native and non-native lepidoptera of all varieties and colours. Finches, Koi-carps, Turtles, exotic plants, and flowers from all over the globe.

We love visiting this museum. Great exhibits, tons of hands on activities, educational for adults and children alike, and a gift shop where everything is not overpriced. Well continue to visit! They have a small cafe (not open on Mondays) and several picnic areas to enjoy your own lunch as well.

If you live locally, it is worth getting a museum membership. A great place to explore with kids.