Field Museum of Natural History Early Access Ticket

Chicago, USA

Great choice

10+ bookings last month.

2 to 4 hours (approx.)
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.5

· Barbara_H ·

Oct 2025

Fantastic early morning tour of the museum with everything quiet! The guide was so interested, knowledgeable and engaged and I was amazed by all the interesting exhibits. I met Sue!

· Gloria_F ·

Sep 2025

Fantastic. If you are a museum person doing the early admission is worth every penny. Our tour guide was great and we didn’t have to fight the crowds. This is an amazing museum and would recommend it.

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Overview

The Field Museum of Natural History is one of Chicago’s most-visited museums—and this package deal offers a way to beat the crowds and see its top exhibitions without stress. Secure your tickets before you travel, arrive an hour before the galleries open to the public, and explore in the company of a museum docent. You’ll see collection highlights like Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Griffin Halls of Evolving Planet, and much more.

Explore the ever-popular Field Museum before it opens to the public
Go on a docent-led tour to learn the stories behind the exhibitions
This package lets you book tickets before you travel for a seamless visit
Bring the whole family along to explore dinosaur fossils and much more

What's Included

Private docent tour before the Museum opens to the public
All-Access Admission Ticket

Meeting and Pickup

Operating hours
.8:00 am

Departure Point

Field Museum, 1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605-2827

What To Expect

Field Museum

Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.5

based on 53 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Great intro before hours...

Marianne_K, Mar 2026

Great intro before hours to the exhibits! Our guide was knowledgeable and very personable! Overall it was a great value!

Early morning at the museum

Barbara_H, Oct 2025

Fantastic early morning tour of the museum with everything quiet! The guide was so interested, knowledgeable and engaged and I was amazed by all the interesting exhibits. I met Sue!

The early mummy gets the worm….😂

Gloria_F, Sep 2025

Unforgettable tour of Field museum.

Mary_H, Aug 2025

We did the before hours tour. Dimitri was our tour guide. He was very knowledgeable and personable as well. The museum is truly amazing. The variety of exhibits offered did not disappoint.

Definitely NOT worth it!

IbaJafri, Jun 2025

Definitely NOT worth the money! Purchased for surprise father's day gift. Though no fault on the tour guide herself, it was the management of the museum that made her wait until the late party arrived, then she was scheduled to be at Guest Services at 8:45. Our "one hour" supposed tour lasted 35 minutes! It was rushed and only through the Evolution area of the museum. I had expected special back-access tour through more of the music. I'd rather have saved money and just purchased regular tickets!

Response from Host, Jul 2025

Thank you for your honest feedback. We're sorry to hear your experience didn’t meet expectations, especially on such a meaningful occasion. We’ll be sure to share your concerns with our team, as we’re always looking to improve how we manage tours and guest experiences.

Private tour

sandy_g, Jun 2025

The private tour is very nice. We were able to ask questions and he was very accommodating and well versed on history.

Interesting and informative

Susan_R, Jun 2025

We had an early appointment with a docent which was extremely knowledgeable! Docent was very helpful

This experience was...

Jeannette_K, May 2025

This experience was incredible!! WELL worth the money. I scheduled an early morning tour for myself and my 2 teens who are into science and we had an unreal experience. It ended up being a private tour as no one else signed up for the tour and our tour guide was a retired museum employee who worked as a researcher at the museum! She had an incredible wealth of information to pass on to us and we all enjoyed it immensely! HIGHLY recommend!!

It was great visiting the...

TONI_C, May 2025

It was great visiting the museum before it opened to the general public and the tour was very enjoyable.

Private time with Sue!

Sarah_G, May 2025

This was such a great experience! It was just the 2 of us on the tour with our guide Eleanor, who was great. She was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic even at the early hour. It was so great to see Sue and the other dinos up close with no one else around, and we got great pics! Even after the tour (about an hour) we wandered around the rest of the museum and hardly saw anyone for the next hour. Highly recommend if you're an early riser!

Too rushed

Beth_K, May 2025

For some reason I thought it would be a two hour tour. Instead it was a rushed one hour tour. Our guide, Katie, did her best and talked fast to show us a section of the museum. We were 5 mins late because our Lyft driver wouldn't drop us at the East entrance.

Response from Host, May 2025

Thank you for visiting the Field Museum and for taking the time to leave a review. We’re glad to hear that you appreciated Katie’s efforts—she’s a valued member of our team and works hard to make each tour engaging and informative. The Early Access Tour is designed as a one-hour guided experience through some of our most iconic exhibitions, including the Griffin Halls of Evolving Planet and SUE the T. rex. The tour begins at 8:00 a.m., before the Museum opens to the public at 9:00 a.m. After the tour concludes at 9:00 a.m., guests are invited to continue exploring the Museum at their own pace for the remainder of the day. We understand there was some confusion around the tour duration, and we’ll continue to work with our ticketing partners to ensure this is clearly communicated during the booking process. We hope you enjoyed your visit overall and would love to welcome you back again soon.

Awesome Experience!!!!

Joy_H, Mar 2025

This was an amazing experience!!! We learned so much more through the private tour than we would have just walking through alone. Other than some workers, we were the only ones there. We had the entire museum to ourselves! Our guide Demetric ( I hope I spelled it right), was very knowledgeable. He answered all our questions, took pics of us next to displays. He’s a gem. Once the museum opened to the public it became a different experience. I highly recommend the private tour, yeah it’s pretty early in the morning but it’s so worth it!

Early morning adventure !

Anne_A, Jan 2025

This is well worth the money spent! We Had such a good docent and the museum to ourselves ! Wonderful !

Take this tour! So worth it

Amy_M, Nov 2024

Katie was amazing! This tour was 100% worth it, being in the museum before everyone else was an amazing experience and Kathie was so knowledgeable, she shared fun facts that I would not have known otherwise.

Wonderful Informational Tour!

Sharon_M, May 2024

Jacob was fantastic! He shared so much information and pointed out many exhibits we might not have stopped to investigate on our own. I highly recommend taking this tour!!

VIP Field Museum Tour

Karen_B, May 2024

Really recommend the VIP tour with a personal tour guide 1hour before the museum opens. Katie went to great lengths to bring the exhibits to life and was really easy to interact with. Her passion for the museum was infectious and added to the enjoyment of the tour.

A museum all to ourselves

snowsescon, Nov 2023

This was a very unique experience. We were 2 of 3 people on the tour so it truly felt like we had the museum to ourselves. This museum is filled with interesting exhibits and covers history, science, different cultures, and many more fun topics. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable. If you wanna avoid the crowds, i recommend this tour!

Guide was very...

Seth_G, Jul 2023

Guide was very knowledgeable and made sure we had a very enjoyable experience! I would totally recommend this to friends and family.

Best tour!

Katherine_d, Jul 2023

Tour with Jacob was amazing! Great energy & sense of humor. He answered my many questions in a way that gave me context & fit the facts into the big picture for me. Really fun experience!

Great

Maria_J, May 2023

We loved the tour. Are guide was wonderful.. we were lucky that it was just the three of us so it was a private tour. Then we where able to explore the rest of the museum.

Field museum

Yolanda_J, May 2023

Wonderful experience! Turned out we were the only two people on the tour which made it extra special. Highly recommend this one! Worth every cent.

Personal tour of the Sue exhibit

Denise_E, Apr 2023

Awesome experience We had early access with no crowds. Our guide was very informative and friendly. I highly recommend doing this if you want a personal tour without crowds.

Do it again

Barbara_L, Apr 2023

Guide brought early earth to life. Smart, well- spoken, warm. Best hour of our 4 day trip. Please tell people to go to the East entrance

educational, reflective and awe inspiring

Rada_L, Mar 2023

the dinosaurs exhibits were the very coolest and a very close tie was the tour we took that discussed and showed us how the world evolved to what it became today .

Worth it!

Misty_R, Mar 2023

It was nice to get in early before the crowds. You get to take pics and look around. Tour guide was very informative. It is a huge museum so you won't get to see it all before opening but an hr without the crowds is nice. You get tickets to all shows as a plus.

Really good Museum tour experience

Susan_G, Feb 2023

It was amazing walking around with my tour guide who was very friendly and knowledgeable, before anyone arrived. I was able to take some really great pictures of the exhibits that I liked. My tickets also gave me entry to a 3D movie experience which was awesome.

Early Access Worth Every Penny!

Cynthia_T, Nov 2022

With the early access, for an hour, we were the only visitors in the museum. It was definitely worth it. We had a guided tour of the part we were the most interested in, which was the fossils. This to me is the only way to visit if you know this may be you're only time to experience the Field Museum.

Worth the extra money.

Noel_C, Oct 2022

Was worth the extra money and early time to have a private tour before the museum opens. Tour guide was very knowledgeable but did not overload us with information as we interacted with the exhibits.