A great day out for free! (almost) (Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester)

Member Name: Rosie78

Product:	Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester
Date:	21/06/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free entry, very child friendly, good restaurant

Disadvantages: Parking is £5, if it's raining you might get wet walking between exhibits!

We are regulars at the Museum of Science and Industry. We first went when my son was about 18m old. He's now 4 and regularly asks to go.

There is a lot to see in the museum, and we never visit all of it. It's located in the old buildings of the railway station that used to be there. The best bit is the steam hall, which has working exhibits of various different types of steam engine, plus trains and carriages. It has a working model train as well, which the children love, and you can climb up to look in the cabs of a couple of the trains. It gets quite noisy in there when everything is working, but it's fascinating. They have a big waterwheel as well which also appeals to the kids.

In the Warehouse there is an electricity display. It's got a few hands on exhibits, plus a section which shows you different electrical appliances through the decades. Interesting, not so much for the kids though!

There is an air and space hall with examples of planes and helicopters. There's not as much hands on stuff in here but again the children love looking at all the exhibits.

The best part of the museum is the Xperiment gallery at the top. It's full of hands on exhibits so that you can try out your own experiments. We tend to spend most of our time in here. It also has a separate 0-5s section with giant building bricks, various toys and some soft mats.

There is also a textile gallery, and sometimes they have a special exhibition on such as Dr Who, but we haven't visited either of these.

The museum has two cafes. The downstairs one we haven't visited, but the upstairs one we have been to a number of times and the quality of the food is excellent. They do sandwiches, hot food and cakes, tea and coffee etc. It overlooks the train line below where the steam train runs, so there's plenty to look at while you eat. They also have picnic areas if you bring your own food.

The steam train doesn't run everyday, it tends to be just weekends I think. They looked as though they were extending the track and building a new platform last time I went, so it may not be running at the moment - best to check before you leave if you are set on a train ride! They often have additional activities on for children to do, best to check with the museum as you may have to book in advance.

They have a good shop with a range of mostly scientific based toys and books that range in price. The toilet facilities are good and always clean.

The museum is free, but it will cost you £5 if you want to park on site.

Summary: Wonderful for children