The garden had its first opening to the public last weekend, the upgrade was carried out during the bushfire and then COVID-19 shutdowns.

The museum's general manager David Barker said the garden was no longer free to enter - it was part of the admission price - but there was now a lot more to see and do.

"We used to have garden on both side of the museum, then they built a new service station to our left last year, so we had to close the garden," he said.

"We started building [the new one] in November last year and then the bushfires came and then COVID came, but we kept smashing away at it.

"Our aim was to have it opened by Easter, so we got it all completed by Easter, but unfortunately, we couldn't have any guests coming in at that point.

"Now, we have opened it but the main point is it is part of our paid admission.

"We've got lots of new dinosaurs, lots of new photo opportunities, a section where little kids can play on dinosaurs."

Mr Barker said the garden had at least doubled in size, to nearly 1500 square metres, with jeeps also introduced for kids to play on.

Old favourites such as Stan, Canberra's larger than life Big Dinosaur, the raptors and triceratops are still there.

A range of new friends have joined them, including theropods, dimetrodons and some interactive dinos for younger children.

It was good to have the first weekend back after the easing of social distancing restrictions.

"At the moment, we are offering ticketed sessions with a maximum of 20 people for an hour at a time, "Mr Barker said.

"We're doing 20 for the whole museum, garden and shop, so there's plenty of space. And we're going to keep it at that for the moment.

"We're hoping on June 19, we can expand to 50 people per session."

Mr Barker said as well as the new dinosaurs, there was a new entryway to walk through a dinosaur's mouth.

The museum was glad to be operating again but it was still a way to go.

"I think it's going to take a while to get back to normal," he said.

"We're obviously at a much lower capacity than we would normally be at.

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"We can't take schools back yet, which is a big part of our business.

"So, I think it's going to take quite a long time, but we just have to adapt and push on as safely as we can."

Opposition Leader Alistair Coe also visited the revamped garden this week, the museum grateful he was discussing with business operators the issues the tourism industry is facing after "an incredibly tough last six months".

The museum was established in 1993 and is a firm favourite with locals and tourists alike.

It is open every day from 10am to 5pm.

Entry is through online bookings at nationaldinosaurmuseum.com.au/