The Musée National Boubou Hama is the cultural centrepiece of Niamey and one of the most rewarding museums in the region. It is not a conventional building-and-gallery museum: exhibits are spread across a large outdoor campus, with traditional houses from different Nigerien ethnic groups reconstructed full-scale, alongside exhibits on local history, geology, and crafts. The display of Tuareg and Saharan artefacts is particularly strong.
The attached artisans' cooperative is reason enough to visit. Silversmiths, leatherworkers, weavers, and dyers work on-site, and their output — Tuareg jewellery, tooled leather bags, hand-dyed indigo cloth — is sold at prices set by the cooperative. The jewellery is especially worth attention: Tuareg silverwork from Niger is among the finest in the Sahel and the museum prices are significantly better than anything you will find in airport boutiques. The museum also has a small zoo on its grounds, though the conditions are not easy to look at.