Family Travel: Royal Tyrrell Museum

 

There are SO many fun activities to be had here in Alberta, one of which is the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Now that I have a dinosaur crazy little boy, we figured we may as well include it in our Calgary trip. I had never actually been to the museum before and my husband hadn’t been in 20 years ( wow, we’re old). If you read my Calgary Zoo post then you would have seen that we went during a heat wave. So it was a whopping 34-degrees that day! Luckily, most of the museum is situated indoors with A/C ( thank god…) read on to find out more!

About The Museum

  • It is the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to the science of paleontology and has one of the biggest displays of dinosaur skeletons in the world
  • They have welcomed over 12.5 million visitors from 150 countries
  • Has been voted one of the world’s top dinosaur museums by CNN, National Geographic, USA Today, and Smithsonian Magazine several years in a row.
  • Is home to approximately 160,000 individual specimens, over 300 of which are holotypes.
    (term used to describe an individual plant or animal that serves as the basis for the description
    of a species)
  • And SO much more!

 

Some Tips For Your Visit

  1. If you have a child under the age of 10, be prepared to blow through the exhibits quickly. My kids loved the interactive parts ( which there is a lot of) but there is quite a bit of reading.
  2. Bring your camera- And be aware that there is a lot of low lighting. My husband had to use some exposure to get quite a few of our photos but they turned out great!
  3. Try and plan to attend on not such a hot day. I know there are quite a few beautiful hikes and outdoor adventures you can go on at the Tyrrell Museum. Due to the heat and not thinking our daughter would be able to keep up, we decided to skip it.
  4. Pack a lunch-They do have a cafeteria on site but unfortunately, we weren’t exactly thrilled with the meal options. Plus there are plenty of picnic tables around to enjoy your lunch with a beautiful view.
  5. Bring good walking shoes! When we got there I had no idea how HUGE this museum was and even though we didn’t go for a hike, I was glad I wore them.
  6. Bring your wallet! My daughter could have bought everything at the gift shop. And I’m not surprised, they had something for everyone! We opted for some t-rex chomping heads, dino eggs that hatch in water and a bracelet.

Final Thoughts

While my kids were a little young for certain aspects of the museum it was still a great time. They have tons of interactive exhibits and even a soft shelled turtle named Shelly! One of their favorite parts was definitely the awesome outdoor park, so make sure you bring some sunscreen! We may wait a couple years before we bring the kids back again and maybe then we can enjoy one of their beautiful hikes! Be sure to check out the awesome spray park and wading pool in Drumheller on your way out. It was great way to cool down before the drive back to Calgary.

 

For more information about The Tyrrell Museum please click here.

*I was provided complimentary tickets in exchange for this blog post. As always all my opinions are my own*

 

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