If you have a wet afternoon in Oxford, this could be the place to head for.
The two museums housed together in the centre of Oxford opposite Keble College were always major attractions, but with its splendid new roof, the atrium of the natural history museum is now full of light and the whole place is well worth a re-visit.
Enormous skeletons of dinosaurs roam across the main hall, and round the edges are hundreds of glass cabinets housing animals of all description. The tiny shop sells colouring books, Dodo-decorated clothing and the usual pens and rubbers, and once a year you can catch the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" touring exhibition in the main hall.
Right at the back, a second darker, more mysterious museum beckons. This is the Pitt Rivers, full of shrunken heads, weapons, foreign currency, boats, handcrafted apparel and artifacts from across the Globe. The grandchildren will delight in the weird and wonderful, and there are things here you probably couldn't find in any other museum.
Both places are free, and there is a lift for anyone unable to climb the stairs.
