Science Museum: A great free day out (Science Museum (London))

Member Name: joncarey9

Product:	Science Museum (London)
Date:	12/08/09 (152 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free, so much to see and do

Disadvantages: Very busy

After delaying for many weeks, due to train strikes in my area and other things, I finally got to visit the London Science Museum yesterday. I have vague memories of going there as a child for a school trip but couldn't really remember any details, and I'm sure it had changed a lot anyhow.

The best thing about the museum is its price, or lack of one, it's completely free to visit and look round, but there's plenty of donation boxes dotted around for those of you who can afford to give a little back, and its definitely worth giving a contribution for. As well as the museum itself there is the Wallace & Gromit exhibition and IMAX 3D Cinema, both of which you have to pay for and neither of them I visited.

According to the Science Museum website the special Wallace & Gromit exhibition takes about 60 addition minutes to view and is open until Sunday 1st November 2009. This "inspirational and sensory journey of discovery" is free for members of the museum but for everyone else costs the following;

Adult: £9.00
Child/Concession: £7.00
Family (1 Adult, 2 Children): £21.00
Family (2 Adults, 2 Children): £30.00

The IMAX cinema shows a variety of different 3D films throughout the day including, Deep Sea 3D, Sea Monsters 3D, Sharks 3D, Bugs! 3D, Dinosaurs Alive! 3D, Fly Me to the Moon 3D, Forces of Nature 2D, The Human Body 2D and Space Station 3D. Tickets can either be purchased on the day at the museum or in advance by calling the IMAX hotline on 0870 870 4771 (booking fee applies). The prices are as follows;

Adult: £8.00
Child/Concession: £6.25
Family (1 Adult, 2 Children): £18.50
Family (2 Adults, 2 Children): £25.50

Also the Science Museum offer a combined ticket with both Wallace & Gromit and IMAX 3D for the saver price of;

Adult: £14.50
Child/Concession: £11.00
Family (1 Adult, 2 Children): £33.00
Family (2 Adults, 2 Children): £45.00

Now that's the prices out the way I can tell you a little more about the museum itself, starting with how to get there. By far the easiest way to arrive is by public transport, local parking is extremely limited and if you know London you will know that it's really not the best place to be bringing a car to. I got the train into London Liverpool St station and then caught the underground direct to the museum. If you're doing the same you need to get on the circle line (Yellow) to South Kensington station, the journey took about 25 minutes with no changes so it was all very simple. Alternately South Kensington can be reached from the District (Green) and Piccadilly (Purple) lines as well, for those of you who get into London at other stations. As a general warning the London Underground was extremely busy yesterday mainly due to summer holiday tourists, and because of the hot weather the trains and tunnels where very very humid. If you have children the journey might be a little uncomfortable for them, but its quick and by far the best way to get there. While I'm on the subject of trains I'd just like to point out that National Rail have lifted the restrictions of the hours you can travel, in regards to peak and off-peak, due to the school holidays. I wasn't aware of this until we purchased our tickets, but it was really good news and we were much more free to come back home in our own time because of this.

I do not know London busses that well but that is another option for getting there, and according to the Science Museum website the routes which stop outside South Kensington Station are; 14, 49, 70, 74, 345, 360, 414, 430 and C1, hope that helps. There is a subway which runs from the station to the museum entrance which takes about 5 minutes to walk down, this is brilliant as it avoids you crossing roads and gets you literally straight from the train to the door, great if you have kids.

The Science Museum is open from 10am to 6pm every day of the year except 24th, 25th and 26th December. When I arrived at the entrance there was a fairly long queue formed along the road but I was relieved to see that it was moving forward pretty quickly. I don't know if this is just due to the school holidays or if it's always busy, but be prepared for a short wait. As I got inside the building I noticed what the holdup was, bag checks by security, which I thought they might be doing. The security staff where polite and treated your possessions with respect, which was nice to see and we where soon ushered into museums large first room.

The museum is laid out on 7 different floors, including the ground and basement, with each one focusing on a different theme and subject matter. I'll go through each one individually and talk about the kind of things they have on display.

The basement is separated into two different sections, the first accessible by the exit doors takes you down to the toilets and cloakroom facilities. Whilst the other offers interactive learning galleries for young children, namely "The Garden", "Things" and "The Secret Life of the Home". I didn't see much of these as I wasn't visiting with any children but they seemed to be extremely popular, like most areas of the museum.

Next is the ground floor where you enter onto. It is home to exhibits regarding space, industrial development and the making of the modern world. The rooms are literally crammed full of things to look at and read about and it's difficult to list them all but the ground floor houses the following. Robert Stephenson's Rocket locomotive, the Apollo 10 command modules, a Burnley Ironworks mill engine, Francis Thompson's Atmospheric Engine, and various cars, planes and space rockets. This is where the majority of the larger items are and offers the most to look at in the museum.

The first floor deals with the subject of 'Who am I?' and looks at things such as DNA, etc. There are lots of things to read, interactive quizzes to answer and things to be hands on with here. Unfortunately I noticed quite a large amount of the interactive screens where out of service. I'm guessing this was due to the amount of visitors they get and the fact things just get broken with use.

As we went up to the 2nd floor we noticed that it was closed for renovations so we were forced to skip it and go up to the third. Here there was a mass of children huddled over interactive tables, playing some kind of game which they all appeared to be loving. I didn't have a go but it seems like good fun for the younger visitors. You also got a good view of the balcony of the rest of the museum below you.

The 4th and 5th floors are smaller and deal with medical history and the science and art of medicine respectively. Displaying ancient medical examples such as a 17th century Chinese Acupuncture figure.

Amateur photography is allowed throughout, except on a couple of items with no photography signs by them, but tripods are not allowed. There are also lifts to every level so you can avoid the stairs completely, making it suitable for wheelchair and disabled citizens. The museum allows you to eat and drink your own food within any uncarpeted areas of the museum which was good, and also offers its own facilities in the form of the "Deep Blue" restaurant and "Revolution Cafe", both situated on the ground floor. All kinds of food is available, from sandwiches, salads and soups, to pizzas, pastas and other hot meals.

I was surprised to see a Waterstone's bookshop located on the ground floor selling a wide range of your usual book examples, but the Science Museum also has its own store. I found it very busy and hard to look round thoroughly, with staff demonstrating all kinds of products. If you like gadgets and weird and wonderful inventions you would love it, there are all kinds of crazy things. It was a nice touch to see some of them being demonstrated as well, as sometimes you're not sure if what you've purchased is actually going to work that well. For anyone interested they also have an online store which you can browse through, www.sciencemuseumstore.com.


All in all there really isn't much you can complain about, for a free day out its fantastic. It was extremely busy and there was lots of children running about and having fun, but you wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The Science Museum is a place kids can learn and enjoy themselves at the same time, but also caters really well for adults. There's something for everyone. You could spend all day there reading every little bit if you wanted or have a quick spin round, it's up to you. Getting to London can be very expensive especially if you have a family, so you need to think about that, but if you're in the capital it's a wonderful place to come visit. Highly recommended.

For more information visit the Science Museum website on;

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/

Summary: A great free day out which everyone can enjoy