The Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Canada)

General admission:

• Adult: $16
• Students (15 – 25) and seniors (65+): $14.50
• Children (4 – 14): $13
• Infants (0-3): free

Best Value Fridays (after 4:30 PM):

• Adult: $10
• Students (15 – 25) and seniors (65+): $9
• Children (4 – 14): $7
• Infants (0-3): free

High season in Canada is from May to September with particular peaks in July and August.

Therefore, give preference to the period from October to April, in order to find smaller crowds and better rates. Still, Toronto has a more or less stable flow of visitors throughout the year: you’ll never find the Royal Ontario Museum empty!

There are generally less visitors in winter, especially in January (excluding holiday dates).

Photo credits to Neal Jennings via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Prefer visiting the Royal Ontario Museum mid-week to avoid crowds.

Mondays are slightly more crowded than other weekdays: the Art Gallery Ontario is closed on this day and it brings an extra flow of visitors to the ROM.

Mornings are always busier and see more families with children. Come after 13:00 to have a quieter and more intimate experience.

Sunday mornings are not so busy so if you’re coming for a weekend only, think of going at the opening time in order to explore the museum’s highlights before crowds arrive.

The best option to avoid crowds and save money is to come on Friday afternoon: ROM has extended hours, until 8:30pm, and there’s a reduced ticket price applied after 4:30pm.

During school holidays the museum gets packed, but there are still less visitors in the afternoon.

General admission to the Museum is free on Tuesdaysto students attending a Canadian post-secondary institution.

Count on spending at least 2 hours inside, though some require up to 4 hours to explore the entire museum.

Plan your visit in advance by checking the floor map and deciding which galleries to hit first. The best strategy is to visit the most popular galleries during the off-peak hours. Those include the Dinosaurs, the Bat Cave and Egyptian mummies (located on Levels 2 and 3). Leave Levels 1 and 4 for busy hours: they are less popular and always less crowded.

Don’t miss out on a free museum tour (check here), there is one for museum highlights and one for specific galleries and exhibitions as well!

You can buy your ticket online to avoid waiting in queues if coming during holidays or on busy days.

The period when the museum rotates the temporary exhibition may be quite crowded: the last two weeks and the first two weeks are usually the most popular! Booking your ticket well in advance may guarantee a queue-free visit, though we’d recommend waiting a week or two if possible to have a calmer and comfortably crowd-less viewing environment.