The world-class British museums your children must visit before they turn 16
Britain is home to some of the world’s best museums. Since the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London first opened to the public in 1660 – one of the world’s oldest visitor attractions – the country has grown to excel at such institutions. Indeed, a survey by Visit Britain found that, out of 32 activities, “visiting museums” ranks third on potential visitors’ to-do lists.
Fortunately, Britain’s museums have moved with the times, too. Far from being echoey halls full of dusty glass cases, they’re interactive, immersive and inspirational spaces that require more than a day to appreciate.
Here is how to plan a weekend trip around Britain’s 13 best museums.
1. Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
Why: On the site of the world’s oldest passenger railway station, even the MSI’s foundations are a celebration of innovation, specifically those that have originated in the north-west. You could spend a week getting lost amid the museum’s interactive Experiment! Gallery, mill engines, microscopes, Daleks, Spitfires and, from September 2018, Stephenson’s Rocket, which returns to Manchester for the first time in 180 years. However, tech-savvy teens should head for ‘Baby’ – in June 1948, it became the world’s first computer to run a stored program, birthing the modern computer age in Manchester. Watch a replica (made from original parts) fire into action.
Details: Free. msimanchester.org.uk
What else: Keep World Cup fever alive at the National Football Museum’s special exhibitions (nationalfootballmuseum.com). Stretch your legs along the Bee in the City art trail (July-September 2018; beeinthecitymcr.co.uk).
Where to stay: The well-equipped apartments at Staycity Aparthotels Manchester Piccadilly sleep four to eight. Apartments from £85).
2. Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire
Why: Experience the world’s first cast iron bridge from a different perspective this year, while exploring the bucolic birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Ten museums make up the Severn Valley-nestled Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage site, from irresistible Blists Hill Victorian Town, with its bonneted actors and old-school sweet shops, to interactive Enginuity. The pioneering iron bridge itself is currently being restored, and until the end of August you can cross an adjacent walkway to peek at the conservation in action. Also during the summer, hands-on industry-themed workshops will be held across the site, where kids can learn how to mould a brick or make a mini steam engine.
Details: Combined tickets from £25.15/£15.65 adult/child (age 5-16). ironbridge.org.uk
What else: Tick off all of Ironbridge’s museums, including a delve into the Tar Tunnel. Float along the river by raft, kayak or eight-person Mega SUP with Ironbridge-based Shropshire Raft Tours (shropshirerafttours.co.uk).
Where to stay: The Best Western Valley Hotel is beside the Severn, within the Ironbridge heritage site. Double rooms from £104.
3. SS Great Britain, Bristol
Why? Permanently dry-docked in Bristol Harbour, Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s groundbreaking steam ship is now the best sort of museum: after genning up in the Dockyard Museum you can stroll, touch and even sniff your way around the restored vessel, from steerage to first-class, from engine room to hull and propellers. You can even climb 25m up the mainmast. This year, the new Being Brunel Museum offers a deeper delve into the engineer’s mind. For the first time, you can examine Brunel’s sketchbooks, visit the restored 1840s Drawing Office where he designed and built the ship and even step inside a multisensory recreation of his mind.
Details: Tickets from £16.50/£9.50 adult/child (age 5-16); mast climb £10. ssgreatbritain.org
What else: Further exercise young brains at We The Curious, Bristol’s freshly rebranded Science Centre; its summer Festival of What If promises a programme of thought-provoking activities. Visit Filton Airfield to board the last Concorde at newly opened Aerospace Bristol.
Where to stay: Set in a converted wharf warehouse, YHA Bristol has a plum harbourside location and good-value quad rooms. Double rooms from £49.
4. St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff
Why? Enjoy a striking new welcome at St Fagan’s in its 70th year. This engaging open-air museum, which tells the story of Wales from Celtic times to modern day via an array of rescued and reconstructed buildings, has a revamped main entrance plus a new sustainably-made building for hosting craft workshops – pop in to try your hand at crochet or spoon-making. Elsewhere, watch the blacksmith at work in the forge, farmers tending the native-breed livestock and weavers making shawls in the 18th-century woollen mill. For extra atmosphere, book an evening tour (various dates in July) to the explore the museum – and its ghost stories – after dark.
Details: Free; evening tours from £10. museum.wales/stfagans
What else: St Fagans can be accessed from Cardiff by bike (or on foot) via the 12km Ely Trail; consider riding the Taff Trail too, a largely traffic-free cycle route linking Cardiff and Brecon.
Where to stay: Welsh-themed Hotel Indigo is a short walk from the stop for the 32A bus to St Fagan’s. Double rooms from £120.
5. Black Country Living Museum, West Midlands
Why? This interactive insight into 300 years of ground-breaking Black Country history celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2018. To mark this milestone, in July the open-air museum – really a town in its own right – is celebrating the 1940s: period houses decked out with blast-tape, rationing in the old shops and neatly coiffed characters in forties dress will whisk you safely back to the war years. Also over the summer, the youth of today can find out how lucky they really are by experiencing a taster of childhoods past: playing hoop and stick, attending Victorian school lessons and being sent down the an 1850s mine.
Details: Tickets from £17.95/£8.95 adult/child (age 3-16). bclm.co.uk
What else: Discover more industrial heritage with a boat trip on the Dudley Canal (dudleycanaltrust.org.uk). Meet Dippy, the Natural History Museum’s famed Diplodocus, at Birmingham Museum until 9 September (birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag).
Where to stay: Birmingham’s ibis Styles is a bright, budget-friendly base. Double rooms from £47.
6. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Why? It was 60 years ago that Lord Rockingham’s XI had an unlikely hit with catchphrase-packed ‘Hoots Mon’. Since then, Scotland’s made quite the contribution to pop, a point made at the National Museum’s new Rip It Up exhibition, which features live performances, talks and all manner of memorabilia. The museum’s main galleries have plenty for non-musos too, with areas charting everything from dinosaurs to Vikings, art to science, Alexander McQueen outfits to Dolly the Sheep. Kids can even have a go at designing their own fashions, building a bicycle or testing their driving skills in a simulated Formula 1 car.
Details: Free; Rip It Up exhibition £10/£7 adult/child (age 12-15). nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-scotland
What else: Step aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, which celebrates its 20th year berthed in Edinburgh in 2018 (royalyachtbritannia.co.uk). Look out for child-friendly performances during the Free Fringe Festival (29 July-26 August 2018; freefestival.co.uk)
Where to stay: Merchiston Residence is a converted townhouse in a quiet suburb with family apartments. Apartments from £99.
7. British Museum, London
Why? In June 2018 Historic England placed Sutton Hoo on its list of the country’s Top 10 Heritage Sites. While the Anglo-Saxon burial mound is in Suffolk, the excavated objects – Byzantine silverware, gold jewellery, an ornate iron helmet – are now on display at the British Museum, where they help tell the story of the country after the Roman Empire. The striking helmet is one of a dozen objects chosen to help form a child-friendly trail around this vast museum; combine it with other big-hitters such as the bust of Ramesses II, the Easter Island statue, the Rosetta Stone and the Aztec Turquoise Serpent to keep young minds engaged.
Details: Free. britishmuseum.org
What else: Tate Modern was also in the Historic England top 10; kids can get hands-on making communal art at the monthly 8-14’s Studio (tate.org.uk).
Where to stay: Mayfair’s luxurious Brown’s Hotel is only 2km from the British Museum and very attentive to children, even supplying them with personalised biscuits. Double rooms from £580.
8. National Railway Museum, York
Why? Given recent rail debacles, it can be tough to think of Britain as the pioneering granddaddy of rail transport. But York’s National Railway Museum will reinvigorate a love of trains in even the angriest commuter, and will especially delight kids who can board steam, bullet, mail and miniature locos. There’s also a dazzling royal collection, including Queen Victoria’s private carriage, which is currently undergoing restoration. The first stage of the project was completed in time for the royal wedding and revealed the previously grime-hidden floral frieze along the carriage’s top; works will continue all year in the main Station Hall, so you can watch the conservators in action.
Details: Free. railwaymuseum.org.uk
What else: Get a Harry Potter fix – the museum is only a short walk from York station, which featured in the movies, while the medieval Shambles inspired JK Rowling’s Diagon Alley. Meet Nordic seafarers at the recently-revamped Jorvik Viking Centre (jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk).
Where to stay:Dean Court Hotel is metres from the Minster and has family rooms. Double rooms from £100.
9. Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum, Northumberland
Why? In spring 2018 Vindolanda’s purpose-built Wooden Underworld Gallery opened, displaying rare wooden Roman artefacts found on the site for the first time. The temperature-controlled gallery means delicate items such as 2,000-year-old water pipes, kitchen utensils and even a wooden toilet seat can be put on show. At the sprawling Vindolanda fort site, you can see the archaeologists digging for more treasures amid the already excavated remains of temples, bathhouses, houses and latrines. Then visit the Roman Army Museum, where holograms and a 3D film will help transport you into the sandals of a young legionnaire.
Details: Tickets from £11.60/£6.80 adult/child (age 5-18). vindolanda.com
What else: Vindolanda is just south of Hadrian’s Wall; even young legs will love a short walk along the dramatic Walltown Crags section, where it snakes along Whin Sill. Meet birds of prey at nearby Falconry Days (falconrydays.com)
Where to stay: Slaley Hall Hotel is a country house with extensive grounds and a pool; kids can stay in their parents’ room for free. Double rooms from £99.
10. Titanic Belfast, Northern Ireland
Why?The Titanic tragedy is endlessly fascinating, and with last year’s opening of the Titanic Hotel Belfast, another aspect has been revealed – the hotel, set in the former HQ of shipbuilders Harland & Wolff, runs daily tours of its historic areas. The Titanic Museum itself, a striking architectural iceberg on Belfast Harbour just opposite the hotel, has nine interactive galleries that tell the full story, from the city’s shipbuilding heritage to the sinking of the unsinkable liner. You can also board the SS Nomadic, Titanic’s original tender and the last remaining White Star vessel, which has been restored to her 1911 glory.
Details:Tickets from £18.50/£8 adult/child (age 5-16). titanicbelfast.com
What else: There’s something for all interests at the free Ulster Museum – from Egyptian mummies to a Game of Thrones tapestry (nmni.com). Get spooked out in the flogging room and execution cell of the notorious Crumlin Road Gaol (crumlinroadgaol.com).
Where to stay: The Titanic Hotel has family rooms. Double rooms from £140.
11. Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, West Sussex
Why?Around 950 years of rural life are recorded at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, a collection of 50-plus historic buildings scattered over 40 acres of Sussex countryside. Interaction is encouraged – kids can try milling, mangling, blacksmithing, wood-turning, printing and pottage-tasting in the Tudor kitchen. Summer 2018 sees a new Working Animals Show (21-22 July), a chance to see cart-pulling oxen, racing ferrets and obstacle-jumping police dogs, and to take carriage rides pulled by shire horses. Also, check out the construction progress of the bakehouse and stable, the site’s latest projects, set to open later in 2018.
Details: Tickets from £15.50/£7.50 adult/child (age 5-15). wealddown.co.uk
What else: Head to nearby Arundel – jeer on the jousters at the 11th-century castle (arundelcastle.org) and go pond-dipping at the Wetland Centre (wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/arundel).
Where to stay: Guests at Goodwood Hotel can use the estate’s facilities. Double rooms from £125.
12. Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire
Why? In our age of data-hackery, a visit to Bletchley Park seems particularly apposite. The ‘home of the codebreakers’, where Allied intelligence cracked the communications of the enemy during the Second World War, is extensive, brain-fuddling but brilliant. Various aspects of the top-secret work carried out here are explored across the large site, from the austere brick blocks to the Victorian mansion. New for this year is Hut 11A: The Bombe Breakthrough, an exhibition that examines how Alan Turing and co designed the machines that broke Enigma in the very building that housed those machines.
Details: Tickets from £18.50/£10.75 adult/child (age 12-17). bletchleypark.org.uk
What else: Drive and walk amid the animals at Woburn Safari Park (woburnsafari.co.uk); the park also has a tree-top dangling Go Ape course.
Where to stay: The Woburn Hotel has family rooms and offers a Safari Break package that includes a discounted dinner plus park entrance and cuddly toy. Double rooms from £137; thewoburnhotel.co.uk
13. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Hampshire
Why? July 2018 marks 50 years since the release of Yellow Submarine; appropriately, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum is hosting some Beatles-inspired shenanigans, including a Graffiti Art Camp (free; 14, 18 & 21 August), at which families can design their own psychedelic T-shirts. From the sublime to the deadly serious, the museum’s new Silent & Secret exhibition opened in June, exploring the challenges of working on Britain’s at-sea nuclear deterrent. Once you’ve done with subs, take the free waterbus across the harbour to the other Historic Dockyard sites, including the Royal Navy Museum, craft-focused Boathouse 4 and Nelson’s HMS Victory.
Details:Combined tickets from £31/£18.50 adult/child (age 5-15). historicdockyard.co.uk
What else: If you’re not bored of boats, visit Henry VIII’s sunk-and-raised Mary Rose (maryrose.org). Get good views from the top of Spinnaker Tower or, new for 2018, brave The Drop (ages 11+), a jump from 25m up (spinnakertower.co.uk).
Where to stay: The hi-tech Portsmouth Village Hotel has interconnecting rooms and a big pool. Double rooms from £49.
