You don’t have to be a kid to love everything about this mammoth institution, founded in 1869 and relocated to its present site in 1874. With hall after hall, 45 in total, of natural artifacts – focusing on everything from human biology and evolution to African mammals, and including, of course, dinosaurs – there is something to fascinate everyone in your group (even architecture buffs, thanks to the diverse design elements of the complex’s structure). In addition to the famous blue whale in the Hall of Ocean Life, the 600-plus dinosaur fossils, and rooms of ecosystem-themed taxidermy, visitors refuse to miss the Rose Center for Earth and Space – the marvellous glass structure that houses the mind-blowing Hayden Planetarium. The wildly popular exhibits focus on everything from exotic live butterflies to the roots of human origins to precious metals.