Science Museum, South Kensington, London

Although the queue for the simulator is around an hour, it’s really exciting.

Always worth a visit. Incredible given that it is free and so much to see. There is a Wallace & Grommit based exhibition which you have to pay for but it was not worth it and there is plenty to see without doing this.

One of London’s finest museum if you are not afraid of geekery. I’ve been to it plenty of times in the past, the permanent exhibition is hugely informative, however a current highlight must be the Wallace and Gromit exhibition. The shopping is also a lot of fun…a great place to get your next Secret Santa present.

The most advance bit of technology in the “Science” Museum was the dyson airblade dryers in the toilets, and even one of those was broken!
Perhaps the museum should consider a nominal fee for entrance and then have a refurbishment?
The computer area was severely outdated and the interactive areas didn’t all work…
We were very disappointed with the museum on the whole.

Based in South Kensington, it’s one of the 3 Musems located, right next to the Train Station.

It is a fun day out, lots to learn and you will not get bored.

We’re totally spoilt for choice for museums in London, but the science museum regularly puts on some of the best exhibitions in the capital. From the permanent attractions to the interactive zone for the kids (and, ahem, immature adults), to the adult’s only dana Centre, to the brilliant brilliant gift shop, you can always find an excuse to visit.

This is another great attraction in London. The museum if very fun, entertaining and education for both adults and kids. It’s perfectly located right near the tube station. It’s also free which is great as other expenses in London can really damage the wallet. Another great thing is that The History Museum is round the corner which is also free and very fun! All in all a great day out.

This is a great place for people of all ages. You can make it as educational as you like or simply enjoy the interactive activities and the artifacts in there, either way I promise you will come away having learnt something new whether you planned to or not. The exhibitions are wonderfully diverse and the place is just so large you could easily speand a whole weekend there. The interative zone is great for kids and big kids alike, it provides the opportunity to learn through activities which helps makes science fun. The interactive area can get busy so you have to patient to take a turn on some of the more fun activities. There are regular shows at certain times of the day which you should try to go along to if possible.

this is a great place for a day out. it seems to have the right balance between information about exhibits, and hands on areas. i would definately recommend the hands on area for the children, it has loads of interesting and wierd things for them to try. the moving dinosaurs are also good and children always seem very interested by them.

the best

The Science Museum is situated on Exhibition Road, London close to the South Kensington Tube Station. You can reach the museum by following the subway from the tube station which brings you up just next to the entrance to the museum.

The museum has over 300,000 items and is spread out over 7 floors although some floors are much larger than others. When we visited in January 2009 several of the exhibition areas were closed for refurbishment so if you want to visit a particular exhibit it might be worth checking ahead that it is actually open.

The museum is open 7 days a week and is only closed from the 24th to 26th December. The museum opens daily from 10am to 6pm. Children under the age of 13 must be supervised by an adult.

You enter the museum on the ground floor, entrance to the museum is free but there are opportunities to leave a donation towards the running of the museum. However although the museum is free there are special exhibitions and the IMAX cinema which you have to pay to enter and tickets for both of these can be bought at the desks in the museum. The IMAX 3D cinema in the museum boasts a screen taller than 4 double decker buses. It shows films and documentaries based around space, nature and science. When we visited the museum the exhibition on was “Japan Car: Designs for the Crowded Globe.” Although my husband is keen on cars he wasn’t too excited about seeing Japanese cars and felt that paying £8 each to look at them was a little too much so we didn’t go. It does suggest that the exhibit takes an hour to look round so it must be fairly big. There are also various simulators around the museum which you have to pay for as well if you want to try them.

The first big exhibit is Exploring Space which is a really interesting exhibit detailing space exploration. There are lots of rockets and satellites and also some interesting details about what life is like up in space. I found it very interesting (and perhaps a little disgusting) how they manage to go to the toilet in space and they have some examples of the space nappies they used to use!

The next exhibit is called Making the Modern World and has an amazing collection of various things which shows our achievements in technology. Included in this collection are things like Stephenson’s Rockets, airplanes and cars. There are also some reminders of our less successful inventions and there was a display including Thaladomide tablets and a reminder of the terrible damage they did.

This display then leads onto The Wellcome Wing which is where the IMAX cinema is located. There was also an exhibit on Genetically Modified food but we didn’t have time to go round that.

The Flight gallery is another very impressive gallery up on the third floor it has been designed to look like an aircraft hanger. Along with various planes and engines what I found very interesting was a cross-section of a Boeing 747 showing the various levels of the seats and the luggage compartments underneath and also the relative thinness of the walls. It was quite impressive to see. To view things better there is a raised walkway to allow you to get a better view. There was also a display about mans attempts to fly too.

One of the features we didn’t view but which I believe is very popular and certainly seemed to have lots of school kids heading into is the Launchpad which has over 50 interactive exhibits. There are also lots of experiments and shows to keep the children entertained and to excite their interest in science.

The fourth floor houses “Glimpses of Medical History” and “Psychology: Mind Your Head.” This was quite an interesting floor and when we visited we were the only 2 people on the whole floor! There is a mixture of things to see like a few pickled brains! Then there is lots of hands on interactive computers that ask you questions which you have to answer then tell you how brainy or not you are. My husband and I spent a while seeing who was best!

The fifth floor consists of “The Science and the Art of Medicine” and “Veterinary History” sadly we didn’t have time to visit this floor so its one to save for another visit.

There was only one downside of this museum for me and that was several parts of the museum were closed for refurbishment. Although I can competely understand the need for this it made the museum quite hard to get around. Some of the lifts only go up to certain floors and some staircases where closed so it was a bit difficult getting access to some of the floors.

The facilities in the museum were also very good. There are toilets and baby changing facilities on each floor. If you are looking for somewhere to eat you can bring your own packed lunch and eat it in the picnic areas. There is also the Eat Drink Shop which serves hot and cold snacks, the Deep Blue Café which is a waiter-service restaurant or the Revolution Café which is a self-service café.

We went to the Revolution Café where there was a good selection of filled rolls and sandwiches and a choice of hot meals too. We had some very nice baked potatoes with cheese and coleslaw. I can also thoroughly recommend the chocolate brownies which were big enough to share between two of us and were very tasty. The baked potatoes were £5.95 and came with a helping of cheese, coleslaw and baked beans although we omitted the baked beans. The brownie was £1.80 and as I say was a big enough size for 2 to share. We had water to drink which was £1.25 a bottle. I felt the prices were fairly reasonable for a hot filling lunch in a London museum. The café was a mixture of small tables for 2 people and larger tables with benches. There were highchairs available for babies. We visited on a weekday in January and the café was fairly busy but still plenty of seating, I can imagine that on weekends or holidays it would be very busy.

There is also a large gift shop with a wide range of gifts. There are your usual pens, key rings and little pocket money gifts for children. There is also a wide range of the Science Museums own gifts with things to make, experiments to do or things to play with. We bought an IQ test for our dog (which I look forward to trying out with him!) and a souvenir pen.

I thought the Science Museum was a really interesting place to visit. We spent a couple of hours here but could have spent much longer as we didn’t manage to get round all the exhibits. There is plenty here to keep all ages interested. The food was also very nice! We visited on a weekday in January and it was really fairly quiet although I imagine on weekends and during school holidays it will be packed. It is also situated next to both the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum so you can make a whole day of it if you have the energy.

On the downside it is a bit hard to find your way around all the exhibits but this should improve once all the floors are reopened. It is a great place to visit if you are in London and especially on a rainy day there is enough to keep you occupied. I enjoyed my visit and would go back again to have a further look round and see the exhibits I missed. If you thought Science was boring you should visit this museum as it will change your mind.

i hade to rush throught the museum, but again the information disbladed was well frased and interesting to all ages.

My faveorite museum! There is a lot to see and do here and its never a boring visit. They seem to have something new all the time. great for kids and adults.

This is a great place to take kids.
It is free to get in, apart from if you would like to go in the IMAX cinema. This is a great experience, but is a bit expensive.
The food place are quite expensive also.
The museum itself is great. There is alot to read, so if with kids, you may have to skip over reading too much.
There is a great interactive place called the future, were you can find out how things might affect you in the future. One game gave you life choices, and depending on what you picked at the end gave you a life expectancy.
They used to have a great place in the basement for the kids, this has now been moved upstairs. Its a bit smaller than what it used to be when it was in the basement, but its still very good. Its a hands on place for kids to do various experiments. We spent alot of time here.

when i visited here i felt like i needed a few more days to take it all in, there is a lot to see and if you dont mind reading there is a great deal of info to take in. its a great place to take children of all ages if you want them to have the experiene there is plenty to look at and entertain the whole family.

I can not fault this museum at all. The basement area is so amazing for children young and old alike and those big kids (husbands)!! I really was impressed with the area where you could eat your own food. So many places do not let you take your own food in but is was not one of them. Toilets small but very clean and the staff were very knowledable!

The Science Museum is a great place for adults and children. Its packed full of great fun things to look at with great exhibits.

I visted the museum when i was a child, and i was surprised how much i enjoyed it again as an adult. I remember it being better when i was younger, a lot more fun things to do. That said, its still a fantastic place to visit on a day trip to London.

The Science Museum shop is also brilliant. Lots of fun things to buy as gifts.

If you finish the Science Museum earlier than you thought, you can always visit the IMAX cinema thats located inside. Lots of 3D films to choose from too.

Overall - i loved my trip to The Science Museum with my boyfriend, and the best bit about it is its FREE!

Really fun day out and it’s a must-do if you’re in London - BUT it’s just not as good as the Natural History Museum down the road! I was actually a little disappointed as I remember it being better as a child….. That said, I’m not a child anymore so it’s not surprising!

Still, it’s worth a visit and it’s free!

A great place to take children to. Very young children will love the garden where they can play with water and experiment with pulleys and sound, whilst those who are slightly older will enjoy the launchpad, where they can power a light bulb by pedalling. There is also an IMAX cinema (you have to pay for this; entrance to the museum overall is free) where you can watch films about all manner of things science-related. Adults may enjoy the more medically related galleries. There are a number of cafes dotted around as well as water fountains throughout and there are lifts making it suitable for those withe pushchairs or wheelchairs.

The science museum is a really wonderful place to go.Especially with your young kids,it offered you exhibitions from some very old technology to the future human life.If you go just once for several hours,it was just not enough,I would say if more time given,you will get the best out if it.

Tihis is one of the grat attraction of London. The museum is located in south Kensington with less thanh 20 sec walk from the underground station. This is a great palces to vist at any age, with something to capture the imagination of everyone who visits. My favourite part of the museum was on the 4th floor ( ithink) which takes you on a journey of medcine through time from prehistoric man in the caves through roman times , through to victorian times all the way to the most recent of micical achivements. The journey is punctuted with the outstanding achievement in medcine through time. Beware if you don’t like childrent then perhaps you should puck your time as the place was 90% children when I visited I would certainly recommend a visit but allow your self more than just a couple of hours - it’s an all day b=visit really

Great place to enjoy learning, buttons galore and plenty to take in. Not as good as the Natural History Museum, altho that probably depends on your taste!

Tons of kids here which means it can get pretty noisy but as it’s free now you can’t really complain.

Definitely recommend bringing your kids here on half term, and if you’re coming without little 'uns, Saturday morning is quite a good time to come.

I like the science museum, although the kids play area is very noisy. The hands on activities for children are fun but not very educational. The ride stimulator was fun, went on a space rollercoaster I think. They had a sponge bob one, but didnt go to that. There was a exebition about plastic upstairs, was quite fun to look at, but there was a suit that if you stepped too close an alarm went off, and the information was in big chunks with lots of statistics and fugures, hard to take in the information and cant remember much of it.

Pretty much everyone who grew up within a two hundred mile radius of london will have been dragged to the science museum by eager parents at some point in their lives, and the chances are they will have enjoyed the experience. Returning as an adult in no way diminishes the wonder and sheer quality of this world class museum. The special exhibits are always interesting too (check out Titanic director James Cameron talking about alien life and deep sea exploration). Pay it a visit if you’re ever in the capital and discover the child inside.

My children loved there own play area even though it had moved and took some finding. We always take a picnic and find somewhere to sit. The hours just fly by when you are in. I am not that keen on the aviation part and I wish there was more interactive things for them to do. You can go on a simulator but this is expensive.

great fun . Lots of fun and interesting exhibits. Good location. Lots to do and to learn!

The Science Museum is definitely worth a visit when in London, especially if you have children to take, be they young or old. Plenty of things to see and do, with buttons to push and you gain a sense of really learning. I particularly enjoyed being able to experience an imax cinema for the first time, which we were able to enter cheaper thanks to vouchers gained from the Brit trips site. Although adjusting to the 3D vision gave me a headache, the film itself was wonderful to see, along with seeing my partner in 3D glasses!

I loved the Science museum! It truely is a 'hands-on’ experience. You are freely able to have a try at many things and I definitely learnt a lot from the trip. Great for kids!

A day out at the Science museum will be one loved by young and old alike. There’s so much to see and do and lots of hands on experiments and buttons to push which is a favorite of mine. There’s plenty of disabled parking in Exhibition row not far from the museum but get there early as they go quick. Good disabled facilities onsite with total wheelchair access.