British Museum. Photo / Tom Dymond/London and Partners
British Museum. Photo / Tom Dymond/London and Partners
Forget dusty and remote; think exciting and immersible, writes Sarah Baxter.
Britain is home to some of the world's best museums. Since the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London opened to the public in 1660 — one of the world's oldest visitor attractions — the country has grown to excel at such exhibitions. 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 now interactive, immersive and inspirational spaces. Here are 10 of the best.
1 Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
On the site of the world's oldest passenger railway station, this is a celebration of innovation. You could spend a week getting lost amid the museum's interactive Experiment! Gallery. Tech-savvy teens should head for Baby — in 1948, this became the world's first computer to run a stored program, giving birth to the modern computer age in Manchester. Free; msimanchester.org.uk
Ten museums exploring the Industrial Revolution make up this World Heritage site in the Severn Valley, from irresistible Blists Hill Victorian Town to interactive Enginuity. The world's first cast-iron bridge — built in 1779 — is currently being restored but pedestrian access to the bridge is being maintained. There are hands-on workshops across the site too.
Adult from £25.15 (NZ$49.65); child (age 5-16) from £15.65; ironbridge.org.uk
3 SS Great Britain, Bristol
Dry-docked in Bristol Harbour, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's groundbreaking steam ship is the best sort of museum: after getting clued up in the museum you can explore the restored vessel, from engine room to propellers. You can even climb the main mast. The new Being Brunel Museum allows you to examine the engineer's sketchbooks, visit the restored office where he designed and built the ship, and step inside a multisensory recreation of his mind.
Adult from £16.50; child (age 5-16) from £9.50; mast climb £10; under-18s free; ssgreatbritain.org
This open-air museum, which tells the story of Wales from Celtic times to the modern day via an array of rescued and reconstructed buildings, has a new crafts centre — pop in to try your hand at crochet. Elsewhere, watch the blacksmith at work in the forge and farmers tending the livestock.
Scotland made quite the contribution to pop, a point made at the museum's new Rip It Up exhibition, which features live performances, talks and all manner of memorabilia.
Elsewhere, you'll find everything from dinosaurs to Vikings, art to science, Alexander McQueen outfits to the real Dolly the Sheep. Children can have a go at designing their own fashions, building a bicycle or testing their driving skills in a simulated Formula 1 car.
Free; Rip It Up exhibition adult £10; child (age 12-15) £7; nms.ac.uk
6 British Museum, London
In June, 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. A striking helmet is one of a dozen objects chosen to help form a child-friendly trail around this vast museum. Free; britishmuseum.org
7 National Railway Museum, York
National Railway Museum, York. Photo / Getty Images
will delight children, who can board steam, bullet, mail and miniature locos. There's also a royal collection, including Queen Victoria's private carriage, which is undergoing restoration. Works will continue all year in the main Station Hall, so you can watch the conservators in action.
Free.
8 Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum, Northumberland
Vindolanda's purpose-built Wooden Underworld Gallery opened this year, displaying for the first time rare Roman artefacts found on the site. The temperature-controlled gallery means delicate items such as 2000-year-old kitchen utensils and a wooden lavatory seat can be put on show. At the Vindolanda fort site, you can see archaeologists digging for more treasures amid the excavated remains of temples and bathhouses. Adult from £11.60; child (age 5-18) from £6.80.
Titanic Hotel Belfast, 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. Adult from £18.50; child (5-16) £8; titanicbelfast.com
10 Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire
In our age of data-hackery, a visit to Bletchley Park seems apposite. The "home of the codebreakers", where Allied intelligence cracked the communications of the enemy during World War II, is extensive, brain-fuddling but brilliant. Various aspects of the top-secret work carried out here are explored, 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.
