Vivarium Gallery Tours at Manchester Museum
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
Tours at Manchester Museum are a fantastic opportunity to spend some time and one of Manchester’s best attractions and delve deeper into the living collection in their Vivarium Gallery. The Vivarium Gallery has been going for over 50 years and is home to a vast range of living specimens of reptiles and amphibians. The exhibitions here aim to make people think about the normal habitats of these creators and how we can help protect them.
Nestled into the University of Manchester along a stretch of Oxford Road, now known as The Oxford Road Corridor, The Manchester Museum is an animated institution full of new ideas and a curiosity for life on Earth. Having started in the 1820s and gone through several transitions – moving between buildings and evolving to accommodate its growing collection – it has become a hub of academic research and learning for all ages. With exhibitions ranging from botany to the infamous T-Rex, Stan, as well as several live specimens found in the aquarium and vivarium.
For someone who isn’t a regular Museum attendee, having a more personal explanation of an exhibit can make the whole experience more exciting and accessible, especially if you can then ask the experts questions. For anyone who’s particularly keen to discover more you can read about the vivarium inhabitants with The Museum’s ‘Frog Blog’.
As well as the tours, Manchester Museum runs an extensive and varied programme of events throughout the year which you can discover more about on their website. The Museum also welcomes visitors free of charge, seven days a week.
