The Natural History Museum, for example, features exhibits from around the globe, including collections of preserved animals, and live invertebrates. Also at this museum you’ll find a giant whale skeleton, in the main hall, and mummified bodies from Egypt. In Castlefield, the Museum of Science and Industry is devoted to Manchester’s history in these fields – and in particular, the role the city played in the Industrial Revolution. A number of other themed museums are on offer, such as: the Greater Manchester Police Museum, the Manchester Jewish Museum, the Manchester Museum of Transport and the National Museum of Labour History. They include one on Underground Manchester, in which visitors can wander through a reconstructed, highly-realistic sewer system from the Victorian era; the Xperiment, which is an interactive gallery dedicated to science; the Collections Centre with items ranging from early microscopes to Star Trek memorabilia. Special exhibitions are found in a gallery that hosts several touring exhibitions each year. A shop, cafe and restaurant are all on offer - as are several areas outdoors for picnics.
Liverpool Road, Castlefield. Open: 10:00 to 17:00, daily. You’ll see collections of butterflies and carvings from the Indian sub-continent; ancient pottery from the Americas; native art and fossil collections from Australia; plants and minerals of Europe; bark-cloth and birds from islands around the Pacific; and ancient Egyptian crafts. The artefacts from past Mediterranean civilisations and the well-regarded ‘Simon archery collection’ are also found here.
University of Manchester, Oxford Road. Open: 10:00 to 17:00, Tuesday to Saturday; 10:00 to 17:00, Sunday and Monday; and 11:00 to 16:00 on Bank Holidays. Visitors can take a look at the lives of ordinary people in their work, at home and at leisure. This is the national centre for the archives on the history of labour in the UK, and offers an in-depth look at the working conditions for those who were employed in Manchester’s cotton industry as well. You’ll find galleries upstairs that present changing exhibitions on a variety of topics; and a range of activities and events on offer for all members of the family. An Archive and Study Centre, also a part of this museum, is located nearby on Princess Street.
The Pump House, Bridge Street. Open: 11:00 to 16:30, Tuesday to Sunday. | 
