Hunterian Zoology Museum, Glasgow, Bezoekersgids & wat te doen in de buurt

The Hunterian Zoology Museum is a university natural history museum in the Graham Kerr Building on Hillhead Street in Glasgow, part of the wider Hunterian family of collections at the University of Glasgow. It is a close-up look at animals from tiny insects to a giant squid, in a traditional museum setting that rewards slow looking.

The story behind it

The Hunterian takes its name from William Hunter, the Scottish physician and collector whose bequest to the University of Glasgow after his death in 1783 became the foundation of the university's public museum. Over the years the university's natural history holdings grew alongside that original gift, and the zoology collection now lives in the building named after Graham Kerr, a long-serving professor of zoology at Glasgow.

The appeal today is the chance to stand next to creatures you would never want to meet alive. Preserved specimens let you study the legs of an insect or the sheer scale of a giant squid at arm's length. Looking at the squid, it is easy to see why old sailors' tales of krakens and sea monsters took hold, since the real animal is startling enough.

What to look for

• The giant squid is the showstopper, and its size is hard to grasp until you see it laid out in front of you.
• The insect displays reward patience, with rows of beetles, butterflies and other small creatures whose colours and shapes are easy to miss at a glance.
• Look at the old-fashioned display cases and labels, which show how natural history has been presented and catalogued over many decades.
• Notice how close you can get to specimens, which allows detail of fur, shell, scale and claw that is impossible to see in the wild.

Tips for your visit

• Allow around 30 to 45 minutes to see the displays properly, longer if you like photography or reading every label.
• The gallery can feel warm, so consider taking off a layer before you go in.
• Check current opening hours before you go, as university museums can have limited or changing times.
• The museum sits in the university's Hillhead area, so it combines easily with a walk around the nearby campus and West End streets.

See it on a quest

The museum is one stop on Historic Glasgow: The Testing of Thomas, a self-guided walk through the city's history. You reach the museum on foot as part of a longer route, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. It is a more playful way to see the collection than wandering in alone, and one ticket covers the whole group.