BACKGROUND: Robert has been on at me for ages to take him to the Science Museum in London, ever since he saw an advert for a James Bond exhibition there and I finally managed it in December 2004. Robert likes to visit museums that have hands on exhibits so I knew that the Science museum would be ideal. I like visiting museums and have been to the Science Museum before – but a long time ago.
The museum is on five floors and covers most scientific subjects. They are currently refurbishing and we could not use the stairs or the lift to get to floors 4 and 5 so we only saw 3 floors but still ran out of time and didn’t see all the exhibits.
ATTRACTIONS There are Hands on exhibits, video displays, simulators, IMAX 3D cinema, computer quizzes and information, real and model cars, planes and ships, various cafes and a picnic area.
Topics range from medical history, veterinary science, energy, agriculture, and space.
QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Q. How much is it to enter? A. PRICE: Free, although as with many places there are extras to pay for.
An explorer ticket cost £13.50 per person (adults) and cheaper for children and concessionaries (£9 concessions OAP/Student/UB40, etc) The Explorer ticket enabled you to go on 2 simulator rides (which cost £2.50 for one, and £3.95 for the other, per person), have a free paperback Guide, with map, to the museum (usually £2 each) and see one (out of possible 6) shows in the IMAX cinema (£7.50 each for adults, child/concessionary prices may differ). Please note all prices are based on December 2004 visit.
Q. Are guide books available? A. Yes, The Explorer ticket included a free guide, which costs £2 to ordinary customers and has a handy fold out map of the 5 floors for the museum. Not sure if available in other formats, but believe that there were ones in foreign languages available.
Q. Which attractions need paying for? IMAX cinema, SimEx Simulator Ride, Motionride Simulator, and the Flight simulators.
The IMAX cinema was nearly £7 each per visit and was a must see for my boyfriend so as this would cost £14, I chose to buy an Explorer ticket as he was bound to want to go on the simulators.
The Flight simulators are not included in the Explorer ticket as they are coin operated and cost a minimum of £3 each (they did seem to be for at least 5 minutes or more), but even Robert stated they were ‘too expensive’.
There are other deals for groups/families, which I do not have the full details for (see website or phone numbers below for more details).
Q When is it open? OPENING HOURS A. We visited on a Sunday and arrived just after 9am to discover that they did not open until 10am. As the Natural History Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum are on the same street, we tried to see if these were open instead. However, the V & A opened at the same time as the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum didn’t open until 11am. The museum is open seven days a week, from 10.00 to 18.00. The Museum is closed from 24 to 26 December.
Q. How do we get there? A. TRANSPORT: We stayed in a hotel overnight after travelling down by Gee Vee Travel coach the previous day, visiting the Tower of London (see separate article) on the Saturday.
Underground: The Science museum, Victoria and Albert architecture and design museum and the Natural History museum are all accessible from the South Kensington underground station, which is on the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. In fact the extremely long sub way has several exits, including one for each museum. If you go to the very end of the subway, and go up the stairs, turn right and the Science museum is the first building on your right.
Bus: 74 there is a stop for South Kensington museums. Walk along Cromwell Road past the Natural History museum and turn left into Exhibition Road You could also use the 9 and 10 routes and get off outside the Royal Albert Hall and walk past the Royal Geographical Society and right onto Exhibition Road, past the National Sound archive and the Goethe Institute.
There are four parking bays outside the Science museum’s main entrance reserved for Blue Badge holders.
Q. What is the difference between the Motionride Simulator and the SimEX simulator? A. I disliked the Motionride Simulator and as I had just eaten when Robert wanted to go on the SimEx Simulator I refused to go on it, but we still saved money overall by using the Explorer ticket deal.
I think that I would have preferred the SimEX simulator as it did not go up and down as much and you had to make decisions whilst you were on the ride (e.g. if you were going to try to land or take a course avoiding meteors).
The Motionride Simulator is more of a roller coaster video and I wanted to press the Stop button but everyone else seemed to be enjoying it so I didn’t. I closed my eyes instead, but I could still feel the bucking motion. All these rides have certain conditions, which are not allowed on them, so check before you pay out, if you are concerned you may not be eligible. Some have height restrictions, too.
Both rides use video imagery and go up and down and sometimes side to side as well. They emulate the movements as shown on the video.
The Motionride Simulator is on the 3rd floor near the flight simulators and the SimEX simulator is on the ground floor near the IMAX cinema.
Q. What can I see at the IMAX cinema? A. This depends on the day that you visit, as when we visited in December 2004, there was a Santas Versus Snowmen 3D movie showing several times during the day.
However there was also Space Station 3D, which the boyfriend really wanted to watch but was only on once (an hour after we had to leave the Museum to return to our coach home), Bugs 3D, which I refused to watch, a Halloween/Ghosts one whose exact name I can not remember and Cyberworld 3D, the one we actually watched. This has clips from The Simpsons and Antz but I was not impressed, it seemed to take too long to get started, which bored me rigid.
I would have preferred the Santas one I think! At the beginning you get clips of the other shows to tempt you back.
FOOD: Q. Can I take my own food in? A. Yes, there are 2 picnic sites but we did not use these facilities this time.
Q, Are there any cafes in the museum? A. Yes, there are four cafes inside the museum and are pretty reasonable. For £11 I got a large main course meal, 2 hot drinks and a bowl of chips for my boyfriend, as he wasn’t very hungry. The bowl of chips was very large and well worth the price from the Deep Blue café on the ground floor.
We also visited the Flight Café on the third floor and had a couple of drinks and a flapjack each which for an attraction were fairly reasonably priced.
EXHIBITS Q. What type of exhibits are there? A. There are exhibits in cases or on display with ‘Do Not Touch’ signs on them, including Stephenson’s Rocket, cars, planes, ships, etc.
There are hands on exhibits where you can touch to your heart’s delight and can make things, test things, play video games about a topic (e.g. wasting energy), and find out about a large range of topics including Energy, The Garden, Launch Pad, Pattern Pod, On Air, but although not all topics have a hands on section, all have a video or computer information screen nearby for you to test your knowledge on.
There are also the rides as described earlier and the IMAX cinema where you have to wear 3D glasses and objects seem to be coming straight towards you. The bats from the horror clip were extremely realistic, I was not the only one trying to shoo them away!!
DISABLED FACILITIES The Soundbytes audio guide is supposed to help bring the ground floor galleries to life. However, we were not offered this facility and did not know about it until we returned home and read the guide book more thoroughly. Perhaps we can try this out on another visit. It is supposed to be ideal for most ages.
Many of the exhibits in the ground floor section have an headset icon next to them in the guidebook so that you know you can use this facility there, and they include Space and Power.
There is a lift available to all five floors, including the toilets on the Basement floor. The IMAX cinema is accessed from the ground floor by an escalator and several sets of stairs, but I believe that there was access via a lift for the disabled. The exit for the IMAX cinema was on the third floor! Check before paying that access is available.
GOOD POINTS: · Hands on exhibits where available. Really enjoyed the Energy video games where you have to save energy by clicking on particular pictures etc. · Price to visit – if you do not want to go on the simulators or visit the IMAX cinema
BAD POINTS: · 2 floors were not available on the day of our visit (Medical history and Vets). · Loads of section where there are just exhibits in cases and no hands on exhibits, particularly planes, ships and cars. These would benefit from some exhibits where you could touch and see “how they work”, etc. · Not offered the Soundbytes audio tour. If it was free, we would have certainly tried it out. No reference in the guidebook as to whether it is free or not. · IMAX cinema had repeats of shows before they had shown all the subjects. For example, we wanted the Space show but it was not on until 4pm but the Santas show had been on at least twice, maybe three times, before then.
AFTERWARDS: We went to the shop and both bought a book from the Horrible Science/History ranges. Later I read the guidebook more thoroughly. Robert states that he would like to revisit this particular attraction again and I agreed that we might in the future but he might want to try the Natural History museum first.
We are arranging our next trip to London. In November 2005, we hope to visit the London Transport museum and the Natural History museum.
MORE INFORMATION FROM Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD. Website www.sciencemuseum.org.uk (please note that I have not checked this website out so cannot comment on it). For more information (enquiries, bookings, facilities, exhibitions, and events) call 0870 870 4868.
For Education bookings, call 020 7942 4777 for more information on the schools programme.
For Group bookings and birthday parties, call 020 7942 4465 (Discounts and special packages available).
Imax club – to join pick up a form from any information point or visit www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/imax
THE FINAL WORD: A great attraction that is bringing science to the masses. A must see if you are in London but there were down sides to this attraction, namely that they were working on 2 whole floors at once and not offering the audio guide when we booked the Explorer ticket.
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My parents were always very keen on taking me to these places as a child. I certainly can account my love of science to the London Science Museum and Halifax Eureka... and now I'm doing a science based PhD. It's great that it's now free as encouraging children to take an interest in science and proving that it's facinating and fun is fantastic. Im sure they can get just as much out of the free things and there's no real need for the extras.
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Feb 19th, 2005
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