Four billion years of natural history are covered at Vienna's Naturhistorisches Museum. Among its minerals, fossils and dinosaur bones are exceptional finds like the teeny 25,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf and a meteorite collection of 1100 pieces. Audio guides cost €5.

　　The late-19th-century building, with its elaborately stuccoed, frescoed halls and cupola, is the mirror image of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna opposite. Rooftop tours (children under 12 not allowed) take you up to view the ornate architecture.

　　Check the website for dates of its popular Nacht im Museum (Night in the Museum) experience (adult/child €200/75). Both adults and kids get a torch/flashlight tour; kids get to watch films in the planetarium while adults enjoy a gala dinner and champagne on the roof terrace. Bring your own sleeping bag to bed down beside the dinosaurs.