South Australian Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
South Australian Museum
South Australian Museum
4.5
Natural History MuseumsHistory Museums
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
The South Australian Museum has been committed to making Australia’s natural and cultural heritage accessible, engaging and fun for over 150 years. It is a place where families can learn and grow together. Today the Museum is one of the most visited museums in Australia and holds collections of national and international significance, including the world's most comprehensive collection of Australian Aboriginal cultural material. It is a leader in remote and regional community engagement, and in Australian Aboriginal heritage and scientific research.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • HilaryW971
    Norwich, United Kingdom309 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    An excellent museum
    This was a great place to visit with the family. The section on Antarctic exploration was of particular interest especially seeing Mawson’s sledge and hut. The explanations are clear and the museum is well laid out.The section in indigenous peoples is well worth visiting. The cafe is good too!
    Visited April 2023
    Written June 29, 2023
  • Наталья Ж
    Moscow, Russia16 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great place to visit in Adelaide
    Great place to visit in Adelaide! All you want to know in one spot! Lots of exhibitions to all tastes! It is really so much to learn, if I stayed longer, I could visit it every day during a week. Packed with info starting from mullions of years ago (dinos, stones, shells, bones) to animals, explorers, minerals and aborigines.
    Visited July 2023
    Written July 23, 2023
  • C M
    Auckland Central, New Zealand787 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great museum
    This is a pretty good museum, right next to the amazing art gallery so easy to make it a day of 'culture'. We loved the exhibition on Pacific culture upstairs in the Building but the natural history displays throughout are very well done too and definitely worth seeing. There is a cafe too if you need some rest after exploring and a funky gift shop too.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written August 20, 2023
  • Peter M
    Melbourne, Australia1,301 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    South Australia Museum
    The Art Gallery of SA, State Museum and Sate Library are all beside each other in North terrace. Unlike Melbourne's Museum where you pay $15-00 (was free in the old Museum which was better) this museum is free. It is a Natural History Museum founded in 1856
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written September 26, 2023
  • Typist
    4 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth a visit
    It was free which was a great start. A huge section was devoted to indigenous history and culture and it was very insightful. The room with the live beehive was quite cool. The giant squid feature was novel. Not much by way of history.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written October 7, 2023
  • Teacake_Taster
    Chesterfield, United Kingdom1,068 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Educational
    The museum is set out to be accessible and the displays all look as though they have been carefully curated with the visitor in mind. Lots of old skeletons and stuffed animals. Interesting displays on aboriginal history, pacific countries eg: Papua New Guinea, really old fossils and rocks. Friendly relaxed cafe. Nice shop.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written November 7, 2023
  • rob27898
    Port Kennedy, Australia389 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Very good
    Was surprised by the size of the place. It just keeps going. Well laid out with plenty of space and signage to navigate the rooms. A huge collection of various items and artifices with surprising age of some of the collection! We did get confused a few times though with the 2 staircases and not knowing if we should use them or not. I would reduce this down to one primary route or make it clearer how to continue. Worth a visit.
    Visited December 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written December 1, 2023
  • Robert D
    2,743 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Interesting museum
    I recommend a visit to the South Australia Museum. It has five floors of exhibits, with two floors devoted to Australian Aboriginal Cultures. That is the most interesting section, though there are other exhibits on Natural History and South Pacific Cultures. One highlight of the Aboriginal cultures exhibit is the Yuendumu School doors, painted in 1983 to explain the local Tjukurrpa (dreaming). It was the first time the Warlpiri elders decided to explain their Tjukurrpa to the world beyond their desert home.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written December 9, 2023
  • Global-Villagerr
    Denver, Colorado375 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Wide Ranging Collection for the Curious
    We spent a couple of hours in this wide ranging museum. The breadth of art and antiquities is instructive, as it covers such a long period of time. Of particular note is the beautiful collection of Aboriginal art in the special galleries. These we lovely, and the accompanying narratives especially interesting.
    Visited January 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written February 12, 2024
  • Walk & Talk Tours Adelaide
    Adelaide, Australia5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    So much to see and learn!
    We enjoyed our visit in the SA Musuem. The building is situated within a beautiful historial precinct in the north side of Adelaide. The outside cafe and sitting areas are beautiful and pleasantly inviting on a good weather day. There are plenty of varied exhibits for all intersts and ages. We particularly enjoyed the Antarctic display for Douglas Mawson and the Gem, Opals and Meteorites on display. The younger visitors certainly seem to enjoy the animal hall on the first level and the Egyption room! The giant squid is also something unique, which is displayed over 3 levels! We were entertained and happy with our visit!
    Visited January 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written February 13, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles1,445 reviews
Excellent
780
Very good
530
Average
114
Poor
13
Terrible
8

whizzyuk
London, UK193 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Family
I was back in Adelaide recently, visiting family and we took my (recently turned) 3 year old granddaughter to the Museum. To my daughter’s credit, this was not my granddaughter’s first visit, and she behaved very well and simply loved the stuffed animals - meaning that we were able to do so as well. The museum is chilled (thankfully literally.. air con was a delight) and all the displays were thoughtfully laid out. The giant squid sounds like fiction... it’s on floors 1, 2 and 3, I think or 2,3 and 4... yes one squid 3 floors, and it’s not chopped up. Clever .
Written February 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

loren p
Currituck, NC90 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Couples
This free museum has it all. It has two sections dedicated to aboriginals dating from early man, to colonial times, to contemporary artifacts. It has a huge display of Pacific islands history to include artifacts for daily living, hunting and fishing, war, and inter island transportation. There were huge sections dedicated to gemological history and Antarctic exploration. A must see in Adelaide.
Written January 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Max W
Vancouver, Canada145 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
Museums don't have to be stiff and formal any more, as curators all over Australia seem to be discovering. This one is filled with clever and informative displays about history (particularly aboriginal history) and society, with the emphasis on shared understanding. .
Written February 4, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jenna Claire
Cornwall, UK159 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Couples
Had a day trip to Adelaide on the train and wanted to pop in to have a look.. It’s a beautiful museum and well mapped out with everything clearly labelled and history told.. There is something for everyone ranging from mammals to Egyptian mummies.. Has a cafe on site and a gift shop also and doesn’t disappoint!
Written January 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bruce014
Near Chicago, Illinois142 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Friends
Our tour group enjoyed an excellent docent-led tour of the Museum several days ago. I liked it so much I returned. Aboriginal baskets, canoes, boomerangs (lots), 9 original Yuendumu School doors - all are well-presented with useful descriptions.
The top floor is well worth a look, for the unusual Ediacaran fossils and Douglas Mawson geologic work in Australia and Antarctica.
Written February 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Paul S
Adelaide, Australia3,753 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2020
We always enjoy our visits to the museum, but today we go to see the Australian Geographic Nature Photo Exhibition. It is excellent! A great range of colourful (and monochrome) paintings about the natural world, grouped together under various classifications. So hard to pick a favourite, but definitely worth a visit.
Written September 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jeffry b
Essendon, Australia14,405 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020
The South Austrlian Museum is one of Australiia's best museums; it is a mix of ancient and modern. It has some good science-related displays, but my fvvourite is the Egyptian room, which is quite unlike any other display I've seen in Australia. By the way, the Museum is in North Terraace, it's easy to find
Written July 18, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jeffry b
Essendon, Australia14,405 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
I first recall seeing the Ancient Egyptian Gallery many years ago, and it has changed little since. The Egyptian Gallery displays the religion, burial practices and religion of the Ancient Egyptians. It's a constant in an ever changing world; it has been at the heart of the South Australian Museum since 1939; parents introduce their children to the Egyptian Gallery, as their parents have done. Some things, such as the ancient Egyptian boomerang, never cease to amaze. Some displays have entered the digital age, but some galleries are timeless.
Written July 7, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

wombatdavid
Hobart, Australia2,658 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021
We visited the museum primarily to see the diprotodon display as we had walked in their habitat near Burra. The display was interesting with a juvenile skulls found in Burra area. The museum was very busy due to school holidays. It is free.

We had to laugh at COVID strategy. They closed off all the interactive displays on screens but kids could touch ice and other items in the Antarctic area.... and no social distancing.
Written April 21, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Squidy Travels
Sydney, Australia209 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020 • Couples
I really enjoyed my visit to the South Australian Museum. They have a great collection covering a while range of topics/interests, all beautifully displayed. I loved the national geographic photography exhibit they had on when we visited and the hall of animals reminded me so much of the Natural History Museum in New York (which is my absolute favourite museum.) All in all a great experience and would definitely recommend
Written November 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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South Australian Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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