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Zimbabwe’s best museums are the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo, the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences in Harare and the Great Zimbabwe site museum, which holds the famous soapstone birds. Most national museums are run by National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ). For non-resident adults, entry is US$10, or US$15 at Great Zimbabwe. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe charges international adults US$15. Written by Bryan Fawcett.
Last reviewed: 25 October 2026 against the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) website and online ticket shop, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe’s visitor page, the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe’s website and the Zimbabwe Field Guide. Full list under Sources.

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At a glance

Fees are in US$ for adults, from NMMZ’s online ticket shop and the National Gallery’s own page on 25 October 2026. “Non-resident” is NMMZ’s term for anyone who is not a local resident. NMMZ lists its museums as open Monday to Sunday, 8am to 4.30pm. Some museums publish their own hours, given below. Hours and fees change, so check before a long drive.

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Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo

The largest museum in the country, in a circular four-floor building around a central courtyard.
  • What to see: nine public galleries of African wildlife, birds, insects, rocks and minerals. The museum says it has the second-largest mounted African elephant ever displayed. Its collections include a coelacanth and, by NMMZ’s count, about 100,000 mammal specimens, the largest mammal collection in Africa.
  • History: founded in 1901 as the Rhodesian Museum. It was renamed the National Museum in 1936. NMMZ says the Centenary Park building opened to the public in March 1964.
  • Where: corner of Park Road and Leopold Takawira Avenue, Centenary Park, Bulawayo.
  • Hours: the museum’s own website says every day, 9am to 5pm, including public holidays.
  • Fees (US$): non-resident adult 10, child 5; local adult 3, child 2. The museum’s website lists SADC visitors at 7 for adults and 5 for children.
  • Time needed: 2 to 3 hours.
The museum also houses NMMZ’s western regional office, which looks after Khami, Old Bulawayo and other sites near Bulawayo.

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Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, Harare

Harare’s national museum, first opened in 1903 as the Queen Victoria Museum. The current building in the Civic Centre opened in 1964.
  • What to see: galleries on human evolution, hunter-gatherer rock art, and Great Zimbabwe and other stone-walled states. There are displays on Iron Age iron smelting and stone masonry, and a life-size 19th-century Shona homestead.
  • Natural history: dioramas of the mammals, birds, reptiles and fish of Mashonaland, and a miombo woodland display of about 200 square metres showing the seasons.
  • Where: the Civic Centre, central Harare.
  • Fees (US$): non-resident adult 10, child 5; local adult 3, child 1.
  • Time needed: 1 to 2 hours.

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Great Zimbabwe site museum, Masvingo

The museum inside the Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site, about 27 km south-east of Masvingo.
  • What to see: the carved soapstone birds found at Great Zimbabwe. One of them is the emblem on Zimbabwe’s flag and coat of arms. Most of the birds were taken to South Africa and Europe in the late 19th century. NMMZ says all but one are now displayed here.
  • Also: gold beads, pottery, glass trade beads, iron tools and ceremonial spears from the site.
  • Fees (US$): NMMZ lists the site museum at the same price as the monument: non-resident adult 15, child 8; local adult 5, child 3. Ask at the gate whether one ticket covers both.
  • Time needed: 45 minutes to an hour, on top of the ruins.

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Mutare Museum

Often called the Museum of Antiquities, for its transport collection.
  • What to see: the Transport Gallery of vintage cars, motorbikes, tractors, petrol pumps and early ox-wagons and coaches. The Zimbabwe Field Guide singles out a restored 1896 Bow McLachlan traction engine. The Beit and Boultbee galleries hold old tools, guns, swords and bayonets. The Mezzene Gallery covers snakes, fish and mammals, and there is an aviary.
  • Where: Aerodrome Road, Mutare.
  • Fees (US$): non-resident adult 10, child 5; local adult 4, child 1.
  • Time needed: 1 to 2 hours.
See our Mutare guide for the rest of the city.

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Zimbabwe Military Museum, Gweru

NMMZ describes it as the only museum of its kind in Zimbabwe. It opened on 24 January 1974 as the Midlands Museum and was renamed in 1985.
  • What to see: Army, Air Force and Police galleries, and a gallery on the Guinea Fowl training school (1940 to 1978). A Stuart tank and a Russian tank stand outside the Army Gallery. The Trim Park Aviation Museum, about half a kilometre south, has a double hangar of aircraft donated by the Air Force of Zimbabwe and Air Zimbabwe.
  • Where: Lobengula Avenue, on the eastern side of the Civic Centre, Gweru.
  • Fees (US$): non-resident adult 10, child 5; local adult 4, child 1. NMMZ’s shop lists it as the “Militaria Museum”.
  • Time needed: 1.5 to 2 hours.
A good break on the drive between Harare and Bulawayo. See our Gweru guide. Zimbabwe’s national art museum, opened on 16 July 1957 by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. It holds close to 6,000 works and runs changing exhibitions.
  • Where: 20 Julius Nyerere Way, Harare.
  • Hours: daily, 9am to 4.30pm. Closed on public holidays.
  • Fees (US$):
  • Branches: the Bulawayo gallery, opened in 1970 and in Douslin House on Main Street since 1993, and the Mutare gallery, opened in 1999 in Kopje House, a former hospital built in 1897.
  • Time needed: 1 to 2 hours.

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Bulawayo Railway Museum

Bulawayo was the hub of the country’s railways, and this museum opened on 4 November 1972, the 75th anniversary of the line from Vryburg reaching the city.
  • What to see: steam and diesel locomotives, many outdoors, including “Jack Tar” (1889) and Garratt No. 600 (1929). You can climb into some of the cabs. The highlight is Cecil Rhodes’s private saloon coach, which carried his coffin from Cape Town to Bulawayo in 1902.
  • Where: Prospect Avenue, Raylton, off Josiah Chinamano Road, Bulawayo.
  • Hours: the Zimbabwe Field Guide lists every day, 8.30am to 4.30pm.
  • Fees: an entrance fee is charged. We could not find a published amount.
  • Time needed: 1 to 2 hours.

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Other museums

  • National Mining Museum, Kwekwe: NMMZ’s museum of Zimbabwe’s mining heritage, in the gold-mining town of Kwekwe. Non-resident adult US$10, local adult US$3. NMMZ also lists the town’s Paper House as a separate site with no fee.
  • BaTonga Museum, Binga: in Binga on Lake Kariba, dedicated to the culture of the Tonga people. Non-resident adult US$10, local adult US$3.
  • National monuments such as Khami, Naletale, Ziwa and Domboshava are also run by NMMZ, which charges non-resident adults US$10 at each.

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Tips for visiting

  • Carry cash. Have US dollars in small notes. NMMZ also sells tickets online.
  • Go early. Most national museums close at 4.30pm.
  • Ask about photography. Rules differ between museums. Ask at the desk.
  • Start with the museums. A morning at the Human Sciences or Natural History museum gives useful background before you visit Great Zimbabwe, Khami or National Heroes’ Acre.

Historic sites

National Heroes' Acre

Old Bulawayo

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Sources

Last modified on October 25, 2026