A creative lab, fossil dig, and more than 40 life-size animated dinosaurs: Travel back in time at this exhibition that has just opened in Toulouse

Did you know that the Jurassic Period owes its name to the Jura Mountains? A few kilometers further south, and several million years later, Dinos Alive brings dinosaurs back to life in Toulouse. This exhibition takes you on a journey through a dizzying span of time, where childhood, science, and imagination come together. As you make your way through the exhibition, you’ll encounter more than 40 life-size animated specimens, journey from the Triassic through the Jurassic to the Cretaceous, and come face-to-face with familiar figures like the Ankylosaurus and the Velociraptor.

This exhibition has just opened, and tickets are already available. And given its success in other countries, they’ll sell out pretty quickly. Booking your ticket is the best way to make sure you don’t miss out on this exhibition.

What is Dinos Alive?

Dinos Alive is an immersive prehistoric exhibition designed to be explored on foot, where you’ll wander among animatronics, projections, staged landscapes, soundscapes, and scientific content. You’ll journey through worlds inspired by the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, where movement, sound, and the sheer size of massive replicas bring species from these eras—such as the T. rex and the Stegosaurus—to life.

To enhance the “wow” factor, panels and visual displays will explain the scientific context and place these reconstructions within the history of fossils and research. Allow between 45 and 75 minutes for the exhibition tour, which is designed for both families and curious adults.

What else should you know about Dinos Alive in Toulouse?

Watching dinosaurs is one thing. Measuring yourself against them, touching their skin, or stepping into their shoes is quite another. Throughout the exhibition, you’ll go from spectators to explorers: the Dino Discovery Passport features QR codes along the path that unlock collectible dinosaur cards, while the Create-A-Dino Lab invites you to let your imagination run wild and invent your own species. You can even transform yourself into a dinosaur in real time thanks to body tracking and facial recognition.

And because prehistory takes on a whole new dimension when it becomes tangible, interactive stations let you compare different skin textures inspired by dinosaurs, measure your height next to a life-size replica of a bone, or even play paleontologist by carefully uncovering fossils buried in the sand.

When you arrive at the exhibition venue, look for the mural created especially for the occasion by street artist RESO, in collaboration with the Mister Freeze collective (it’s so impressive you won’t be able to miss it). It’s a taste of what’s in store for you.

Positive press reviews of the exhibition from around the world

Ultimately, “Dinos Alive” in Toulouse brings together what continues to fascinate us about prehistory: the difference in size between us and certain dinosaurs, the thrill of sound and movement, the journey through distant eras, but also that rarer space where play, scientific interpretation, and technology come together. You’ll enter to see monumental reconstructions, and you’ll leave with the feeling of having gotten a little closer to a vanished world.