Quinta Normal Park & National Museum of Natural History
Parque Quinta Normal
A large park converted from a 19th-century botanical garden, home to the free National Museum of Natural History, the Railway Museum, and several other venues.
Quinta Normal was originally an agricultural experiment garden established in 1841. Today it is a large park in western Santiago with a lake for rowing. The park houses several museums: the National Museum of Natural History (founded in 1830, free admission, with a whale skeleton and the El Plomo mummy), the Railway Museum (with open-air steam locomotives), the Science and Technology Museum, and a branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art. It's great for families with children. The Museum of Memory and Human Rights is across the road, so you can plan a half-day visit to both.
Opening hours
Park 07:30–20:30; museums mostly open Tue–Sun
Nearby sights
- Museum of Memory and Human Rights
- Barrio Yungay
- Palacio Cousiño
- La Moneda Palace
- Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art
- Plaza de Armas & Metropolitan Cathedral
- Mercado Central de Santiago
- La Vega Central