The Iziko South African Museum is the country's main natural history collection, with strong displays on Karoo dinosaurs, southern African mammals, sharks, and a famous whale well with full skeletons of southern right and humpback whales suspended overhead. The rock-art gallery upstairs contains a collection of San paintings removed from the field for preservation — one of the most important such collections in the world.
The adjoining planetarium has been refurbished as a digital "Iziko Planetarium and Digital Dome" and runs daily shows. The museum has a relaxed, slightly old-fashioned feel, and is reliably good with children. Allow two hours for the museum alone.