Published 2026-09-10
By Meda Andreea Căpîlna · Editor, guides
The university has four museums. Two of them have fewer than twenty-five reviews
The Zoology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Botanic Garden museums. Their hours differ, they are close together, and two of them are practically unknown.
If you have a child who likes bones, stones or animals, Cluj has four museums made exactly for that, all belonging to Babeș-Bolyai University, all a few minutes from one another.
Three of them have not appeared in this guide before. Here they are, with their hours, which do not resemble each other.
The Zoology Museum
Strada Clinicilor. Phone: 0264 598 700.
Tuesday–Friday 10:00–16:00; Saturday and Sunday 10:00–14:00; closed Monday. It is the only one of the four open at the weekend, which also makes it the only realistic one for a working family.
1,095 reviews, rated 4.7. By far the best known.
The Mineralogy Museum
Strada Mihail Kogălniceanu 1, in the university's central building.
Tuesday–Friday 10:00–15:00. Closed Monday, Saturday and Sunday.
Twenty-one reviews. Rated 4.8.
The Palaeontology and Stratigraphy Museum
The same address: Kogălniceanu 1. Phone: 0264 405 386.
Monday–Friday 10:00–14:00. Closed at the weekend. It is the only one of the four open on a Monday — and, like Mineralogy, out of reach on a Saturday.
Thirteen reviews, rated 4.9. The best score of any museum in this guide, the Art Museum included.
The Botanic Garden Museum
Strada Alexandru Borza 15. Phone: 0264 592 152. Monday–Friday 09:00–15:00, closed at the weekend.
856 reviews, rated 4.6. Its listing is not claimed by the institution, unlike the other three.
What these figures show
Zoology has 1,095 reviews. Mineralogy has 21 and Palaeontology 13 — and both are in the same building, with higher scores than Zoology.
Fifty times fewer visitors leaving a trace, for two museums that are no worse. The difference is that one opens on a Saturday and sits in a building you recognise, while the other two are upstairs, inside a university, during office hours.
How I would combine them
Mineralogy and Palaeontology share an address, so they can be done one after the other in a single morning — but only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, between 10:00 and 14:00, where their hours overlap.
Zoology is a separate trip, at the weekend.
If you have one outing in you and small children: Saturday morning at the Zoology Museum, open 10:00–14:00 and the only one that will let you in.
What this is about
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Muzeul Zoologic
The university museum on Clinicilor street.
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Muzeul de Mineralogie
A university mineralogy museum in the central UBB building on Kogălniceanu. It scores 4.8 on Google, from twenty-one reviews.
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Muzeul de Paleontologie și Stratigrafie
A university palaeontology museum, in the same building as the Mineralogy Museum. The highest score of the university's museums: 4.9.
Sources (2)
- muzee.ubbcluj.ro · 2026-09-10 Rețeaua de muzee a Universității Babeș-Bolyai
- www.google.com/maps · 2026-09-10 Adresele, telefoanele, programele, notele și numărul de recenzii pentru cele patru muzee