🎉 New Exhibition: Origins — The Story of Humanity at Nairobi National Museum — Open now through March 2026. Book Tickets
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🏛️ NMK — Visit, Experience, Explore

Kenya's Heritage
is Waiting for You

22 museums and galleries, 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and extraordinary experiences — from Nairobi to the Coast, the Rift Valley to the North.

22
Museums & galleries
5
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
240+
Heritage sites managed
500K+
Annual visitors

22 Institutions Across Kenya

From the coast to the highlands — NMK's network spans the entire country.

All Museums
Open Today
Nairobi
Nairobi National Museum
NMK's flagship institution, housing Kenya's most significant palaeontology, natural history, and cultural collections — including Turkana Boy, East Africa's greatest scientific treasure.
Adult: KSh 1,200Child: KSh 600EAC: KSh 200
🌍 UNESCO WHS
Open Today
Mombasa
Fort Jesus Museum
A UNESCO World Heritage Site guarding Mombasa's Old Port. Five centuries of Indian Ocean history inscribed in Portuguese military stone — one of the finest examples of 16th century fortification in the world.
Adult: KSh 1,200Child: KSh 600
Open Today
Kilifi County, Coast
Gedi Ruins
The hauntingly beautiful ruins of a medieval Swahili city abandoned in the 17th century. Stone houses, a great mosque, and a palace rise through dense forest — Kenya's most atmospheric archaeological site.
Adult: KSh 800Child: KSh 400

Current Exhibitions

All Exhibitions
Now ShowingNairobi National Museum
Origins: The Story of Humanity
Open Now — 15 March 2026
A landmark exhibition tracing the 6-million-year journey of human evolution from the Turkana Basin. Featuring original fossils, reconstructions, and interactive experiences, this is Kenya's most ambitious heritage exhibition.
Now ShowingFort Jesus Museum
The Portuguese Coast: Five Centuries of East African History
Open Now — 30 June 2026
Exploring the complex legacy of Portuguese presence on the Swahili Coast through ceramics, weapons, documents, and oral tradition — a nuanced account of encounter, trade, and conflict.

All Museums & Galleries

22 institutions across Kenya — from the coral coast to the highlands, from Nairobi to the Northern Frontier.

Open Today
Nairobi
Nairobi National Museum
NMK's flagship institution. Palaeontology, natural history, cultural collections, and the Turkana Boy fossil.
Adult: KSh 1,200Child: KSh 600
🌍 UNESCO WHS
Open Today
Mombasa, Coast
Fort Jesus Museum
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Five centuries of Indian Ocean history in a 16th century Portuguese fortress.
Adult: KSh 1,200Child: KSh 600
Open Today
Kilifi, Coast
Gedi Ruins
Medieval Swahili town ruins in dense coastal forest. Kenya's most atmospheric archaeological site.
Adult: KSh 800Child: KSh 400
Open Today
Nakuru, Rift Valley
Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site
One of East Africa's most significant prehistoric sites. 3,000 years of human habitation in the Kenyan Rift Valley.
Adult: KSh 600Child: KSh 300
Open Today
Nairobi CBD
Nairobi Gallery
Located in the historic former Provincial Commissioner's offices. Celebrates Kenya's artistic heritage and contemporary creative expression.
Adult: KSh 500Child: KSh 250
Open Today
Kisumu, Western
Kisumu Museum
Celebrating the heritage of the Lake Victoria basin and the communities of Western Kenya, with collections spanning ethnography, natural history, and archaeology.
Adult: KSh 600Child: KSh 300
NMK Flagship Institution

Nairobi National Museum

Museum Hill, Nairobi · Open Today 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Get Directions
About Nairobi National Museum

Nairobi National Museum is the National Museums of Kenya's flagship institution — one of the most important museums in sub-Saharan Africa and the primary centre for Kenya's natural and cultural heritage on the continent. Founded in 1910 as the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society Museum, it has grown over more than a century into a world-class institution whose collections span palaeontology, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, geology, and art.

The museum's most celebrated holding is Turkana Boy (KNM-WT 15000) — the most complete early human skeleton ever discovered, found in 1984 at Nariokotome, West Turkana. The palaeontology gallery housing this specimen is one of the most significant museum spaces in the world, displaying the evidence of humanity's origins in the country where that story began.

Highlights & What to See
🦴
Palaeontology Gallery
Home to Turkana Boy and the world's finest collection of East African hominin fossils spanning six million years of human evolution.
🌿
Natural History Hall
Kenya's extraordinary biodiversity documented through specimens of birds, mammals, insects, and plants from across the continent.
🎭
Peoples of Kenya Gallery
The ethnographic collection representing the material culture, dress, and traditions of Kenya's 44 recognised communities.
🎨
Gallery of Contemporary Art
Rotating exhibitions of Kenyan and East African contemporary art, connecting traditional heritage with modern creative expression.
🌙
Night at the Museum
Monthly after-hours events with guided access to the galleries, stargazing sessions, and special programming for families and adults.
🌿
Botanical Garden
The museum's surrounding gardens house over 400 indigenous plant species in a beautiful urban green space open to all visitors.
Plan Your Visit
🕐
Opening Hours
Monday – Sunday
8:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Last entry 5:00 PM
📍
Location
Museum Hill, Nairobi
Off Uhuru Highway, near the
Kenya National Archives
🚌
Getting Here
Matatu: Route 100, 106, 111
Parking available on-site
Accessible by taxi / ride-share
Accessibility
Wheelchair accessible
Audio guides available
Large-print materials
Admission
Adult (Non-EAC)
KSh 1,200
Adult (EAC)
KSh 200
Child (Non-EAC)
KSh 600
Child (EAC)
KSh 100
Student
KSh 400
NMK Member
Free
Members enjoy free entry to all 22 NMK museums year-round. Join today →
This Week
Night at the Museum
Saturday 14 February · 7:00 PM
Fossil galleries, stargazing, live music

Kenya's Protected Heritage Sites

NMK manages over 240 heritage sites and monuments across Kenya — from UNESCO World Heritage Sites to national monuments and managed archaeological landscapes.

🌍 UNESCO WHS
Fort Jesus, Mombasa
Coast Region · Inscribed 2011
Built by the Portuguese in 1593 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, Fort Jesus is one of the finest surviving examples of 16th century Portuguese military architecture and a testament to five centuries of cultural encounter on the Indian Ocean coast.
🇰🇪 National Monument
Gedi Ruins
Kilifi County, Coast
The ruins of a medieval Swahili town dating to the 13th–17th centuries CE. Gedi's stone houses, mosque, and palace reveal the sophisticated urban planning and trade wealth of the East African coast at the height of Indian Ocean commerce.
🏛️ UNESCO WHS
Lake Turkana National Parks
Northern Kenya · Inscribed 1997
The cradle of humanity. The fossiliferous deposits of the Turkana Basin have yielded more significant hominin fossils than anywhere else on Earth, fundamentally rewriting the story of human evolution over six million years.
🇰🇪 National Monument
Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site
Nakuru County, Rift Valley
One of East Africa's most significant prehistoric sites, Hyrax Hill preserves over 3,000 years of human habitation in the Kenyan Rift Valley — from the Neolithic to the Iron Age — through archaeological deposits of extraordinary depth and preservation.

Current & Upcoming Exhibitions

Across NMK's network of museums — major temporary exhibitions, permanent collections displays, and special presentations.

Now ShowingNairobi National Museum
Origins: The Story of Humanity
Open Now — 15 March 2026
A landmark exhibition tracing the 6-million-year journey of human evolution from the Turkana Basin. Featuring original fossils, reconstructions, and immersive digital experiences — the most ambitious exhibition NMK has ever mounted. Each exhibit links directly to objects in the permanent collection.
Now ShowingFort Jesus Museum
The Portuguese Coast: Five Centuries of East African History
Open Now — 30 June 2026
Exploring the complex legacy of Portuguese presence on the Swahili Coast through ceramics, weapons, documents, and oral tradition. A nuanced account of encounter, trade, conflict, and cultural synthesis across five centuries.
Now ShowingNairobi Gallery
Living Traditions: Contemporary Kenyan Art and Heritage
Open Now — 28 February 2026
Works by 24 contemporary Kenyan artists responding to objects in NMK's ethnographic collection — a dialogue between material heritage and contemporary creative practice that asks what heritage means in 21st century Kenya.
Opening March 2026Nairobi National Museum
Kenya's Wild: Biodiversity in a Changing World
Opening 1 March 2026 — December 2026
A major new permanent gallery presenting NMK's natural history collections in the context of Kenya's extraordinary and threatened biodiversity. From the coral reefs to the alpine zones — Kenya's living world documented and celebrated.

What's On at NMK

Exhibitions, talks, family events, and special experiences across our network of museums and heritage sites.

Now — 15 March 2026
Exhibition

Origins: The Story of Humanity

Nairobi National Museum
Sat 14 Feb 2026 · 7:00 PM
Family

Night at the Museum: Stargazing & Fossils

Nairobi National Museum
Thu 19 Feb 2026 · 5:30 PM
Talk

Lecture Series: New Discoveries in the Turkana Basin

Nairobi National Museum
Sat 22 Feb 2026 · 10:00 AM
Community

Swahili Cultural Festival at Fort Jesus

Fort Jesus Museum, Mombasa
Sun 1 Mar 2026 · 9:00 AM
Experience

Guided Archaeological Walk: Gedi Ruins at Dawn

Gedi Ruins, Kilifi
Sat 8 Mar 2026 · 10:00 AM
Family

Children's Heritage Day: Kenya's Wild Animals

Nairobi National Museum

Special Experiences at NMK

Exclusive after-hours tours, expert-guided walks, behind-the-scenes access to storage and research facilities, and immersive cultural encounters.

🌙
Night at the Museum
Monthly after-hours access to Nairobi National Museum's galleries, with guided fossil tours, stargazing in the botanical garden, live music, and a cash bar. The most popular NMK experience — families and adults welcome.
Monthly · Saturdays
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
🦴
Behind the Scenes: Palaeontology
A two-hour guided tour of NMK's palaeontology research facilities and collection storage with a senior researcher. See fossils not on public display, including specimens currently being prepared and studied. Maximum 8 participants.
By appointment
2 hours
🌅
Gedi Ruins at Dawn
An expert-guided walk through the Gedi ruins at sunrise, before the site opens to the public. As the light filters through the ancient trees and illuminates the stone walls, our archaeologist reveals Gedi's secrets — the trading goods, the water systems, the abandonment. Unforgettable.
Weekends
6:00 AM – 8:30 AM

Everything You Need to Know

Practical information for planning your visit to any NMK museum or heritage site.

🕐
Opening Hours
Nairobi National Museum
Mon–Sun: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Fort Jesus Museum
Mon–Sun: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Gedi Ruins
Mon–Sun: 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM

All other venues
Mon–Sat: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
💰
Admission
Prices vary by venue. Most venues charge:

Non-EAC Adults: KSh 600–1,200
Non-EAC Children: KSh 300–600
EAC Citizens: KSh 100–200
NMK Members: Free entry

Children under 3: Always free.
Accessibility
All NMK museums are wheelchair accessible. Facilities include:

• Ramps and accessible paths
• Accessible toilets at all venues
• Audio guides available
• Large-print exhibition materials
• Tactile exhibits at select venues

Contact us to arrange additional support.
📱
Mobile Guides
Download the NMK Mobile Guide app for:

• Guided audio tours
• Object identification in galleries
• Real-time exhibition information
• Venue maps and wayfinding
• Available in English and Swahili
• Works offline once downloaded

Free Entry to All 22 Museums

NMK members enjoy free admission to every museum and heritage site in the NMK network, priority booking for events, and exclusive access to member-only experiences and content.

Join NMK Today
Free entry to all 22 museums & heritage sites
Priority booking for Night at the Museum & special events
Exclusive digital collection access & member newsletter
From KSh 2,400 per year — less than two standard admissions

Book a School Visit

NMK offers structured, curriculum-aligned school visit programmes for primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions across Kenya. Every visit comes with a complete pre-visit and post-visit learning pack.

📚
CBC, KCSE & IGCSE Aligned
All school visit programmes are mapped to Kenya's national curricula. Our education team ensures every visit connects directly to classroom learning objectives.
🎓
Expert-Led Sessions
Guided by NMK's education officers and specialist staff — including curators and researchers who can bring the objects to life for students at every level.
📋
Complete Learning Pack
Every booking includes downloadable pre-visit preparation materials, student activity sheets for during the visit, and post-visit follow-up resources for teachers.
🚌
Subsidised Entry for Kenyan Schools
NMK offers significantly reduced admission rates for Kenyan school groups. Donor-funded bursaries are available for schools from low-income areas or remote regions who cannot afford even subsidised rates.
Book Your School Visit
Complete this form and NMK's education team will confirm your booking within 3 working days.

Our education team responds within 3 working days. For urgent bookings, call +254 20 374 2161.

Find NMK Near You

NMK's 22 museums and 240+ heritage sites are distributed across every region of Kenya.

Nairobi
Mombasa
Gedi
Kisumu
Nakuru
Turkana
Nyeri
Interactive map — 22 museums + 240 heritage sites
NMK Locations
Select a location to see visitor information, opening hours, and how to get there.
Nairobi National Museum
Museum · Nairobi
Fort Jesus Museum
Museum · UNESCO WHS · Mombasa
Gedi Ruins
Heritage Site · Kilifi County
Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site
Heritage Site · Nakuru
Kisumu Museum
Museum · Kisumu, Western Kenya
Lake Turkana Parks
Heritage Site · UNESCO WHS · North
Museum
Heritage Site
Regional Museum