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The Edinburgh Dungeon (Edinburgh)
by angelboouk Within the UK, there are four dungeons attractions. They are located in Blackpool, London, York and Edinburgh. ~Edinburgh Dungeons - The Essential Information~ 31 Market Street Edinburgh EH1 1DF Edinburgh Dungeons is located around the corner from Waverley Train Station in the city centre. ... There is no onsite parking but parking is available nearby. Edinburgh Dungeons is open most of the year excluding a few dates and Christmas Day. Depending on the time of year, they will open at either 10am or 11am and close between 4pm and 7pm. Tickets can be booked in the attraction but you can obtain savings by booking online at www.the-dungeons.co.uk. If you have a Merlin Annual Pass, this will allow you to visit anytime during the year. *Adult - £16.20 (as low as £10.20 online) *Child - £12.00 (as low as £6.00 online) You can also combine Edinburgh Dungeons with a 2 course meal at the nearby Hard Rock Cafe or with a ticket for Loch Lomond Sealife Centre for a reduced price. See the website for details. Those under 16 must have an adult with them. Groups are discounted and they offer special tours for the groups. You can also have your birthday party here and they offer hen/stag party deals too. ~Edinburgh Dungeon Attractions~ Edinburgh Dungeons have been purposely designed to allow visitors to experience the horrible history of Edinburgh but in a less 'serious' way (compared to the ghost tours). Here is a brief overview of the attractions which I will discuss further on. *Judgement of Sinners - 17th century court room. *Torture Chamber - what would have been used during interogations and executions? *Sawney Bean : Cave of the Cannibals - meet a family of flesh hunters and take a ride on a boat. *Burke and Hare : The Business of Murder - a burial ground where you come face to face with the murderers. *Mary King's Close - 1646 streets and the plague! *William Wallace : Allegiance - complete with talking heads! *Extremis : Drop Ride to Doom! - face you doom on this ride. *Labyrinth of Lost Souls - a maze at the end of the attraction. ~Our Visit~ I have visited Edinburgh Dungeons three times now - with my fiance, as part of a large college group and most recently with my sister. My sister hadn't been before and I thought she would like it. We arrived at the Dungeons around 3pm on a Friday afternoon. It is very easy to find. There are quite a few stairs down to the Dungeons but there is a lift and someone can come and help should you need help. I personally do not feel this attraction is ideal for those with mobility issues. We had a 2 for 1 voucher with us and I personally wouldn't visit without one as I feel £16.20 is very expensive for one person. We split the cost and also purchased a guide book which was well worth the £3.00. The 'tours' leave the reception area every 10 minutes or so and we waited the maximum time. Everywhere is dark and 'cold' but thankfully dry inside and spacious. Our group consisted of 6 teenage girls, a couple and my sister and I. We knew we were in for a giggle with the bubbly girls with us! Since my last visit around 2 years ago, there have been a few bits added to the attraction. If you are looking for something 'serious' you won't get it here. The actors do their best to sound serious and do give a little bit of history but ultimately, it is difficult to keep a straight face as they are a little comical. That isn't to say that there aren't some scare aspects to the Dungeons - there are especially if you aren't expecting them so be on your guard is all the advice I can give! ~Off We Go~ The tour of the attraction flows well and a decent amount of time is taken in each section. No photography is allowed and they will throw you out if you try to take pictures. It is important that you do not touch the actors either! We had our picture taken before heading off - me in the stocks and my sister happy looking at the prospect of chopping my head off! Each section has realistic backgrounds and actors - nothing seems out of place given the time and location it is supposed to resemble. The costumes are fab too. The Courtroom has always been a firm favourite of mine. We had a female judge who brought two of our group up on charges. I felt incredibly sorry for the only man in our group as he was picked for everything throughout the attraction! He was brought up on charges of cross dressing and this was hilarious - poor guy was mortified! The other girl was brought on charges of being a witch and dancing around naked! Thankfully I wasn't picked but I do recall my tutor being chosen before and brought up on crimes against fashion charges - won't forget that one! One section not mentioned on the website is the operating room which reveals a 'surgeon' who uses a large and thankfully fake body to show us various organs. This section offered some surprises but I won't say anything else! The Torture Chamber is excellent. The English man in our group was once again picked to be caged up! My sister was also picked to be demonstrated upon. We found out about tongue pullers and the likes - cringe! The actress demonstrating was freaky and didn't flinch when telling us about what would have happened to criminals many years ago. All of these instruments are detailed in the guide book I purchased and this makes for interesting reading, Moving on, we met jumped aboard a long boat doomed for Sawney Beans cave. Despite having been on this boat before, I was still anxious and hearing the girly screams from the front made me worse as I knew something was up ahead and causing frights! Sawney Bean himself was a scruffy, hillbilly type guy who creeped up in various areas of the cave. This reminded me of something from the Wrong Turn films! Bones, possessions from those murdered..yuck but well acted! The Burke and Hare section wasn't brilliant. It consisted off some tomb stone seats and the lights went out. Nothing special and really just a voice over. Mary King's Close led us meet another actor and a realistically designed dark, close. This is a relatively short section of the tour and simply features a foot thumping actor and a misty figure of a lady - nothing particularly scary! Being a Scot, I was highly impressed with the William Wallace section! If you aren't aware of who William Wallace is, he fought for our country to free it from the grasps of the English back in the 1200s. He was then killed! The strench in this section was vile though and smelled of pee and alcohol which could explain the drunk acting - I think it was Sawney Bean again so perfect re-use of the characters! Once again and as you would expect, the English guy was picked to face the wrath of William Wallace and took it in his pride! William Wallace is only partly present though - his head is on a large stick and it is fully animated. He spoke and sent mild insults and orders to kill the English 'twit' I believe was his choice of words. Luckily the English guy wasn't offended but some may be! The animated head was so funny. It kept making weird expressions and I couldn't help but laugh. The story was told of what happened to Wiliam Wallace and was done so in quite a loud, comical way with the word 'numpty' being used. To be honest, the one scenario reminds me of Still Game (a Scottish show). The final part of the tour led us to the Extremis ride. This ride was opened a few years ago and this was my second ride on it. I actually expected something that dropped you through the floor so was a little disappointed the first time. You can ride if you are pregnant of course or have heart issues/major back problems and the likes. Everyone in our group went on. Extremis is a bit like a mini version of the Ice Blast (was the Playstation at Blackpool Pleasure Beach) and is in a dark room. You are secured in and raised up before being dealt your fate and drop back down into the dark room. It is fast and you do 'jump' as you fall but it is short lived! ~Time To Shop?~ After wandering around the mirrored maze (which is fun but frustrating when you can't find your way out!). You arrive at the picture shop. We had the option to purchase the Extremis pictures or those we had taken before entering the attraction. We avoided the ride photos as we looked awful in them but my sister bought two copies of the stocks photo for £10.00 (£7.00 each). They were of a high quality. We then headed upstairs in the lift. The main gift shop has lots of souvenirs to choose from. Cheaper options including sweeties, pens and stationary (from 50p). There are various ornaments, pictures, t-shirts and bags available. I picked up a bag and it was priced at £21.00 which is extortionate. My bag had snapped half way around the attraction so I settled for a £2.00 'Bag for death' which was a canvas bag which was blood stained. My sister opted for a small stationary set for my nephew but there isn't anything you would take home to Granny or for young children! They also sell light refreshments including slush drinks, chocolate and juice but they are quite expensive. I can highly recommend the guide book as it goes further into the history of Edinburgh and has some interesting facts about Jack and Ripper, Vikings and discusses offences which would result in execution. ~Conclusion~ My sister enjoyed the Dungeons but thought they were nothing spectacular. I feel they are worth a visit if part of a big group. Audience participation is really good if you are up for it and the acting is great. Staff are friendly and there is enough to see but not enough to justify the high entry price so look out for vouchers. Some may not like being part of a tour but there is no option to wander around at your own pace as you will miss all the stories etc. I probably would go back if they add anything else on and it is definitely worth a visit if in the city. Thanks for reading x Read the complete review |
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Our Dynamic Earth (Edinburgh)
by rachelsreview The entrance, cafe and shop are at the level of the entrance and is well spread out beneath the dome. The actual project/ museum goes below ground level. When arriving we were directed to the counter and served quickly with our Edinburgh passes. Other customers who pre-booked their tickets online seemed to take a lot longer in the queue. ... The project is an interactive way of showing visitors how the Earth was millions of years ago to how it has become in the present day. There are staff that guide you through the museum so its not difficult to navigate your way around and they introduce you into some of the main rooms that you enter. The conditions in the rooms change with the theme of the room. For example, the room that is designed to educate visitors on the earths centre and volcanoes is dark, the floor moves replicating tremors and there is grey smoke when watching a volcano erupt. One of the best sections of the dynamic earth is the 4d cinema experience of a simulated flight around the world. It combined 3D film with different things that stimulate your senses. Cold blasts of air, Soap suds blown out as snow and a sweet smell when flying over trees. It was fantastic and family friendly - nothing too scary for young children. Before leaving there was a short film on in the planetarium about some of the different extreme weathers across the solar system. This was done by an allocated time slot given to you with your ticket as you enter. We arrived to the showing half an hour early so we must have walked through the museum more quickly than others take on average. We were still allowed to view the earlier showing so thankfully we didn't have to wait. The chairs were comfy and leaned quite far back so that it is easy to watch the film on the dome shaped screen above your head. I watched about 50 % of the film partly because I was so comfy in a dark room that I fell asleep. This doesn't reflect on the film in any way, it wasn't extremely boring or anything it was quite good in the bits that I did see. The group of school children that were in at the same time absolutely loved the experience and were all giddy and excited throughout and on the way out. Before leaving we decided to have refreshments at the cafe. Like in most museums the drinks and food were quite expensive. It didn't put us off but I would of preferred paying less for a drink. The cafe was set out really well with plenty of seats and tables not placed close together - easy to get round with trays, bags, prams etc. This attraction was well worth visiting to make the most of the Edinburgh passes that we had bought from the tourist information. If you don't have a pass expect to spend £11.50 per adult and £7.50 for a child. The museum probably suits young families with children more so than maybe just two or a group of adults. I enjoyed it as an adult but it's really designed to educate children in a fun and less formal way. I hope this doesn't put couples off going because it is quite good but it is obviously aimed at a younger audience. If you were visiting I would leave 1 1/2 to 2 hours to walk around and check the last visiting times. I think last admission is an hour and a half before closing time. Another bonus is that it is close to the queens gallery (included in Edinburgh pass) and the House of Parliament (free admission). Read the complete review |
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Beamish North of England Open Air Museum (Beamish)
by lyndsey1989 We visited Beamish a couple of weeks ago when we were on holiday in Yorkshire. I had visited with my parents when I was younger and we had wanted to go last year when we were up that way however it was still a two hour drive so we didn't end up going. Therefore, when we were staying in Whitby we decided a visit was ... essential! ==What is Beamish?== Beamish is an open air museum in Yorkshire. It focuses on the lives of people living in the North East of England during Georgian, Edwardian and Victorian times. ==Where is it and how do you get there?== Beamish is in County Durham. 12 miles away from Durham and 8 miles away from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. If driving, the postcode for sat nav's is DH9 0RG. The museum is very well signposted from major roads including the A1 and the A68. In addition to this there is a variety of buses that run directly to and from the museum. These include services from Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham. It is worth noting that if you travel on any North East bus you get 25% off of any standard admission ticket which is a great saving. ==Arriving at Beamish== We drove to Beamish and because my sisters partner seems to have a fear of sat navs we just used the brown signs. It was really easy to find and we had no problems whatsoever. There were plenty of brown signs that we followed. Arriving at Beamish there was a massive car park so I imagine even parking on even a very busy day is not a problem. When we went the car park was probably only about 5% full as we went on a Thursday in May, we arrived quite early but when we left the car park was probably about 3 times as full. It is very easy to find the admissions office, you walk down a pathway and in through modern glass automatic doors. There are then numerous staff waiting to sort you out with tickets. There was no queue so we went straight through. The boy here was very polite, he took our names and addresses and offered us a guidebook. He then took our payment and gave us our tickets. I was pleased to see that the tickets were actually an annual pass. Initially I had thought the museum was quite expensive for one day but it is really good value as you can return as many times as you like for a year. However, it's quite unlikely I will be returning to Yorkshire in the next twelve months so maybe it would be nice if you had the option for buying just a single day ticket. ==The museum== Beamish is an open air museum. This means that the attraction is primarily outdoors however most of the attractions are actually indoors. Basically, Beamish is just like a small town. You walk down the roads and can go into the bank, shops, houses etc. After leaving the ticket office we walked down a hill and at the bottom were greeted by two members of staff dressed in traditional clothing. They asked us if we would like to get the tram down to the town and said that if we did then it would be along in five minutes. The tram is one of the things I remember about going when I was younger so we waited for the tram and sure enough it arrived just a few minutes later. There were quite a few people waiting for the tram at this point, possibly around 40 as I think it was the first tram of the day. There was no queue formed so I did worry a bit about everyone being able to fit on but we all did. Inside the tram there are long wooden benches either side to sit aswell as straps on the roof for those standing. Our party all managed to find a seat but my partner did give his up for a disabled lad so he did stand. There were about five other people standing in our carriage too so it was quite full. We enjoyed the tram ride down to the town and it is certainly a must if you visit Beamish! When we got to the town there were numerous places to go. As there were a number of us getting off of the tram we decided to go in a different direction to everyone else so that places were less busy when we visited them. The first place we visited was the bank. I really loved this part of Beamish and found it so interesting to see exactly how a bank would have been. There was a member of staff in there who was 'working' behind the desk, counting money and doing sums etc. He had a vast amount of knowledge about the bank and its history which was interesting. In addition to the main part of the bank you can also go downstairs to see the vaults. I've always been a little bit intrigued by bank vaults, wondering what exactly they were so I found this really interesting! We then walked up the High Street of the town. There were lots of small old fashioned shops to look in. One of the more interactive shops was the sweet shop. Here you can buy old fashioned sweets in quarters and also try out some traditional sweets. You can also see the kitchen where there were numerous staff making sweets how they would have been made. Sweet prices in here are reasonable, a bag costs either 99p or £1.25 (sorry I cant remember which!) and this provides a good sized portion. They are good quality sweets too. Across the road you have the more general shops such as grocery shops and hardware shops. I loved these shops as there was so many things to look at. A few things are available to buy here but the main point of these shops is to show visitors what the shop would have been like in those days. We found these fascinating to see all of the old products, it was also fun to see how products we still have today have changed over time eg. Colmans mustard powder. There are then a long row of terraced houses, all of which are open to visitors to see different houses of the times. These were interesting but there were quite a few - probably about five and by the last one I was getting a bit bored to be honest. They were also quite busy and where they are your traditional 2 up 2 down it was a bit of a squeeze, especially going up and down stairs. Opposite the houses is a large park. We didn't go in here but it looked very well kept so therefore I imagine it would be a fantastic place to have a picnic! We then walked up to the Home Farm area of the museum. I believe there is a bus that runs up here (a traditional bus) as it is a bit of a walk, it probably took us about 10 minutes dawdling. Home Farm highlights the farming that would have been used at the time. There are animals here too which is nice, you cans see sheep especially, when we went there had just been the arrival of lambs. There was also a barn here full of artefacts from throughout history, this was interesting and there was also a member of staff in there in full character telling visitors more about the times. We then walked round to the final area of the museum and visited the mine. Beamish is home to a small mine which visitors can go down to on a guided tour (each tour lasts around 15 minutes). At the beginning of the tour we went into a barn where we were shown a great deal of mining memorabilia and were told numerous stories. I found this fascinating as it was great to hear what times were like and how the men worked. I learned a lot from this and really enjoyed it as a prelude to the tour itself. Going down into the mine was really fun, our guide knew a lot and although it was a relatively short tour it was very interesting. Also in the village is the school which is brilliant. There are numerous classrooms in here and you can actually go in the largest one and sit at a desk and use a small blackboard. We really enjoyed this part of the museum and it seemed as though a number of other visitors did too! ==The fish and chip shop== Pit village is also home to the world famous fish and chip shop. Some of you may have seen a programme on BBC 1 a few months ago which showed the chip shop being built. It is a traditional chip shop using coal to cook the food, it is fried in beef dripping. We did go in here at around 1pm and it was fairly busy, we were around 5 people back in the queue however we had our food within fifteen minutes. It is worth noting that on busier days it gets much much busier. The food from here was really nice and I would recommend a visit if you do go to Beamish. This was the end of our visit so we decided to head back to our holiday accommodation. In total we spent around four hours here however we could have probably spent a little longer. ==Catering and shopping== Aswell as the fish and chip shop there are a number of snack places around Beamish including a pub, tearooms and coffee shop. These all serve snack type meals eg. sandwiches, cakes etc. The prices I saw were a little bit higher than the average but a lot of the food is made the traditional way so therefore it is worth paying a little extra. There is just one gift shop which is situated at the entrance. This is a good size and I found that there was lots in here including souviners, soft toys and books. There was also snacks such as biscuits to be bought here. Prices were reasonable, I only bought two magnets but these were £1.75 each which I feel is a good price. There is a small kiosk down near where you can catch the tram where you can buy last minute essentials such as guide books, drinks and snacks. ==Admission prices and opening times== Admission prices are as follows: Adult Unlimited £17.50 Child Unlimited £10.00 Family (1+2) £32.00 Family (2+2) £46.00 Senior/Student £13.00 Opening times depend on season however the museum is open every day now until the end of November. The museum is open 10am - 5pm with the last admission being at 3pm. ==What did we think?== We enjoyed our visit to Beamish. We all had high expectations as we had wanted to revisit for so long and nobody was disappointed. Its not as fantastic as I remember from childhood however ive found that few things really are! However, Beamish is a fun and interesting day out with lots to see and do. It is educational but not at all boring or dreary. The museum is very spaced out which means that even on a busy day you don't feel overcrowded. The favourite parts of Beamish for me were the mine and the transport. The only disadvantage I have is the price because it is quite expensive, especially for a family who only want to visit once, however everything is included in the price such as the mine visit. To conclude, we all had a good morning at Beamish, I would probably go again but not for another few years as it is expensive. It is a good place for everyone to visit as there is so much too see and do. I would recommend a visit to Beamish if you are in the area and it sounds like your idea of a good day out. ==Contact Details== Beamish Museum Beamish County Durham DH9 0RG Visitor enquiries, main switchboard and online ticket purchase enquiries: Tel: 0191 370 4000 (9.00am - 4.00pm, Monday-Friday) Fax: 0191 370 4001 Email: museum@beamish.org.uk Customer relations team Email: visitorfeedback@beamish.org.uk Education Department Email: bookings@beamish.org.uk Tel: 0191 370 4026 Simon Woolley, Head of Learning and Outreach Tel: 0191 370 4011 Email: simonwoolley@beamish.org.uk www.beamish.org.uk Thank you for reading and I hope this has been of some use to you. Read the complete review |
Museum National |
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1 review Address: Gunsgreen Quay / Museum National / Eyemouth / Scotland / TD14 5SD |
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1 review Address: Stoke Heath / Museum National / Bromsgrove / Worcestershire / B60 4JR / Tel: 01527 831363 |
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Address: 59 Cathedral Close / Museum National / Salisbury / SP1 2EN |
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1 review Address: The Close / Museum National / Salisbury / Wiltshire / SP1 2EL / Tel: 01722 420980 |
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1 review Address: Banbury / Museum National / Warwickshire / OX15 6HT / Tel: 01295 670266 |
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Address: 33 Lincoln Road / Museum National / Tuxford / Newark / Notts / NG22 0HR / Tel: 01777 870427 |
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Address: 89-90 High Street / Museum National / Opposite Battle Abbey / Battle / East Sussex / TN33 0AQ / Tel: +44 0 1424 777226 |
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Address: Ayot St Lawrence / Museum National / near Welwyn / Hertfordshire / AL6 9BX / Tel: 01438 829221 |
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1 review City: London / Museum National / Country: England |
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2 reviews Address: 1st Floor / Museum National / Riverside Building / County Hall / London / SE1 7PB / Tel: +44 020 7202 7040 |
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