Science Museum Review

Just after the Christmas school break, Ryan, my sister, and I went to the Science Museum in London.

The first time I took Ryan to the Science Museum was when he was about 3 years old, so I was looking forward to revisiting now that he was older, and more interested in the world around him.

The Science Museum is located next to the Natural History Museum, which means if you wanted to, you could visit both of these museums for a full London day out.

Here’s my Science Museum review from our recent visit, which I hope helps you decide if it’s somewhere that you’d like to visit as well.

In this review I’ll cover: 

I hope you find this review helpful, and would love to know if there’s anything that you think I can add to it to ensure that it’s as helpful as can be.

The Science Museum’s location

The Science Museum is located at:

Exhibition Road
South Kensington
London, SW7 2DD

South Kensington is just west of Central London, and is accessible by car or public transport.

The closest train stations are South Kensington, which is a 5-minute walk from the museum, and Gloucester Road, which is a 15-minute walk from the museum.

Things to do at the museum

There are many things to do at the Science Museum, which include:

Museum shop

There’s a shop on level 0 at the Science Museum, and an online shop as well, where you can purchase books, toys, games, and other items that relate to the different galleries within the museum.

Free galleries and exhibitions

There are many free galleries and exhibitions on each level of the museum, some of these include:

• Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery
• Cancer Revolution: Science, Innovation, and Hope
• Stephen Hawking at Work
• Flight
• Character Creator
• Information Age

Ticketed galleries and exhibitions

There are some galleries and exhibitions at the museum that you need to pay for, and that change throughout the year.

Some of these that were running on the day of our visit were:

• Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination
• Wonderlab: The Equinor Gallery
• 2023: Science Predictions for the Year Ahead
• IMAX Cinema
• Red Arrows 3D
• Is Anybody Out There?

For details on the different galleries and exhibitions held at the Science Museum, please visit the museum’s see and do page.

We saw a few of the free galleries and exhibitions during our visit, which were:

Exploring Space

Located on level 0, this was the first gallery that we went into, and was located near the museum’s entrance.

I remember taking Ryan to this gallery last time we visited the Science Museum, and it still has Earth in the centre of the room, which transforms into the Sun, that we both loved last time.

This gallery is perfect for space enthusiasts, it contains replicas of historic space equipment, the lander that took Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin to the moon, two real space rockets suspended from the roof, Moon rock, satellites, and spacecraft.

Making The Modern World

Also on level 0 this gallery was full of objects that have shaped our world over the past 250 years, including the Apollo 10 Command Module, the first Apple computer, penicillin, and different modes of transport.

My sister and I really enjoyed this gallery, but Ryan was more interested in heading to the Pattern Pod.

Pattern Pod

Next to Making The Modern World was the Pattern Pod, one of the Science Museums interactive galleries, perfect for younger children, because it’s full of things they can interact with.

The idea behind this gallery was to create an interactive multisensory area for children allowing them to identify the different patterns that occur in the world, and to create their own patterns.

In this section Ryan played with bells, jumped on digital water ripples, created patterns on a screen, and danced in a dark room.

Technicians

After the Pattern Pod we went up to level 1 and visited the Technicians gallery, which Ryan really enjoyed due to its interactive nature.

Here you can create visual effects on a film set, analyse blood samples in a laboratory, and learn what people in technical careers do.

Some of Ryan’s favourite things in this gallery were screens where he could weld metal together, do CAD drawings, and light up a film set.

Medicine

Also on level 1, the Medicine gallery had a giant sized human at its entrance, and was full of interesting medical artefacts that I really wanted to learn more about, but Ryan said were too scary for him.

This gallery contained 3,000 medical artefacts spanning 500 years, and was large enough to fit approximately 1,500 hospital beds in it.

Inside were objects including the world’s first MRI scanner, Fleming’s penicillin mould, a prosthetic arm, and robotic surgery equipment.

There was one area of this gallery that Ryan did enjoy, which was a screen with a wand where he could pretend to place a tube down a patient’s throat.

The Clockmaker’s Museum

Located on level 2 we had a quick look at The Clockmaker’s Museum, which showed the evolution of the watch, and clock making from 1600 to present day.

Mathematics

The Mathematics gallery, also located on level 2, showcased how mathematics connects to every stage of our lives.

There was a lot to read here and not much to interact with, which meant that Ryan’s attention span for this gallery was non-existent.

Therefore, it was at this point that we decided to leave, which meant there were so many more galleries that we didn’t get to explore.

Food options

There are many food options at the Science Museum, which are:

Level -1

• Basement Café, hot drinks, juices, ice cream

Level 0

• Energy Café, hot and cold food, hot drinks, cakes
• The Diner, salads, sandwiches, cakes, ice cream, hot and cold drinks

Level 2

• Gallery Café, vegetarian and vegan meals, healthy treats, hot and cold drinks

Level 3

• Shake Bar, made to order ice cream and milkshakes

There are picnic areas on levels -1 and 3 where you can enjoy food you’ve bought from home, or from the Science Museum.

Facilities

The majority of lifts in the Science Museum are wheelchair accessible, and have audio announcements and Braille labelling on the lift buttons.

There are accessible toilets on all levels, baby-changing facilities on levels -1, 0, and 2, and all gender toilets on levels 1 and 3.

There are also self-service lockers on level -1.

Opening times

The Science Museum is open daily from 10am – 6pm, and the last entry is 5.15pm.

The museum’s opening times page on their website has up to date opening times for events and exhibitions, that you may like to check before your visit.

Ticket prices

Tickets for the Science Museum are free, but must be pre booked online, which you can do here.

Parking

There’s no onsite parking at the museum, and local parking is very limited.

Exhibition Road has  Blue Badge parking spaces available, which are managed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and cannot be booked in advance. You can find out more about these parking spots on the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s website.

The nearest paid parking is Prince Consort Road and Queen’s Gate.

How long you’ll need for your visit

We were at the Science Museum for 2 hours, which was the amount of time it took for Ryan to become tired and a bit bored.

2 hours wasn’t enough time to see all the galleries and exhibitions, you could easily spend a whole day here to take it all in, including refreshment breaks.

In my opinion, if you’re visiting with young children, you may need to visit a couple of times, seeing different levels each time, because it’s a large museum and can be very tiring for younger children.

What age the museum is suitable for

If you’re looking for a place to take young children for a couple of hours, where they can interact with some interesting objects, then the museum is perfect for 2 years and up.

However, in my opinion, if you’re looking for a place to take children where they can learn about the world, where you can all take your time reading and interacting with the galleries, and have children who are willing to be out for longer than a couple of hours, then the museum is perfect for children 7 and older.

My thoughts on the museum

I had a great time at the Science Museum.

Prior to our visit I went onto the museum’s website and listed down the galleries and exhibitions that I thought Ryan would enjoy.

Once at the museum I made sure we walked through the museum in the order of levels each were on, so our time and energy levels were focused.

This ended up working well because Ryan’s attention span didn’t last very long, and we only got to see the galleries and exhibitions that I listed down.

I was surprised at how much there was to see at the Science Museum, and how well set out it was.

There was a huge amount of free galleries and exhibitions to see, and all of them were fantastic.

It’s definitely somewhere I want to revisit.

Highlights

The Science Museum was well set out, the galleries were colourful, had a great mix of information and interactive sections, and there were lots of opportunities to take a break.

My highlight was seeing Ryan enjoy the interactive galleries, and asking me questions about some of the things he saw.

Lowlights

My lowlight was that Ryan’s attention span wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.

Whilst he really enjoyed parts of the museum, there were times when he didn’t want to go into a particular gallery that I thought he’d enjoy, which meant that my sister and I missed out on quite a bit.

I aim to take Ryan back to the Science Museum in a couple of years, and think by then it will be a totally different experience, as Ryan will have more attention span, and be more curious about the non interactive parts of the museum.

I hope you’ve found this review helpful.

What’s your favourite museum to explore?