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  6. Power Up arcade (Photograph: Jess Hand for Time Out)
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  • Museums | Science and technology
  • South Kensington
  • Recommended

Science Museum

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Alex Sims
Written by Alex Sims
Contributing Writer and Editor
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Time Out says

What is it?

The Science Museum features seven floors of educational and entertaining exhibits, including the Apollo 10 command module and a flight simulator. The Wellcome Wing showcases developments in contemporary science, medicine and technology. The Medical History Gallery in the museum's attic contains a substantial collection of medical history treasures. Pattern Pod introduces under-eights to the importance of patterns in contemporary science and Launchpad is a popular hands-on gallery where children can explore basic scientific principles. Exhibits in the Exploring Space galleries include the three-metre-high, 600kg Spacelab 2 X-ray telescope that was flown on British space missions and full-scale models of the Huygens Titan probe and Beagle 2 Mars Lander. The Clockmakers' Museum, previously held at the Guildhall, is the oldest display of clocks and watches in the world, with most of the 1250 exhibits dating from between 1600 and 1850. The shop is also worth checking out for its wacky toys. 

Why go?

To see a fascinating showcase of human ingenuity, and get involved with a wealth of enthralling interactive exhibits. 

Don’t miss:

The museum has its own in-house IMAX cinema which shows scientific films in 3D, allowing visitors to be surrounded by space or submerged in the depths of the ocean. Tickets start at £11 for adults and £23 for a family of three, and booking is recommended.

When to visit:

Daily 10am-6pm (last admission 5.15pm). Peak times are at weekends, during school holidays, bank holidays, Christmas, and New Year.

Ticket info:

Free entry, some exhibitions are ticketed. 

Time Out tip:

My favourite section of the museum is Power Up, a fascinating exploration of gaming over the last 50 years. Kids will love it, but it’s adults that will have the most fun here playing on old-school video games like Pong and Pacman or Minecraft and Mario. It’s an utterly wonderful nostalgia fest.

See more of London's best museums and discover our guide to the very best things to do in London. 

Details

Address
Exhibition Rd
London
SW7 2DD
Transport:
Tube: South Kensington
Price:
Free (permanent collection); admission charge applies for some temporary exhibitions
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What’s on

Power Up

There's been a gaping chasm, an unfillable abyss, in London's recreational heart ever since the Trocadero finally closed its doors in 2011. It has left the city crying out for an arcade experience, somewhere to go and lose yourself in gaming. And now, Power Up is here to answer all of your RPG prayers. Admittedly, it doesn't have a rocket-shaped escalator or countless dark corners for snogging, but what it does have is bank after bank of classic videogames.They've made an attempt at education with a wall of consoles from throughout history, from the Amiga to the Xbox, but you can ignore all that if you want and just concentrate on turning your eyes square. Everything here is grouped by theme. There's a Mario section and a Sonic section, a rhythm action game bit and a VR gaming bit, there's 16-player Halo and solo Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. There are PC games and handheld consoles, Gamecubes and Megadrives. Want to save Lemmings? Race Micromachines? Fight the Empire? It's all here.If it seems a bit familiar, it should be: Power Up isn't new. The Science Museum did a version of this for Easter half-term every year for a while, but this new version of Power Up is permanent and costs just £10 to access for unlimited, all-day gaming. But even better than that, you can get an annual pass for £15. That's a hell of a lot cheaper than having to invest in a new Playstation, plus you get to see the look of devastation on the kids faces as you annihilate them in Halo in real life. And that
  • Games and hobbies

Astronights at the Science Museum

4 out of 5 stars
What are the Science Museum’s Astronights? For whatever reason, the idea of sleeping over at a museum sounds absolutely amazing to the average child. To capitalise on that, the Science Museum’s Astronights is in a very literal sense a sleepover at the museum, synonymous with the Natural History Museum’s probably slightly better known Dinosnores. What happens on an Astronight? Aimed at children aged seven to 11, the nights take place once a month, typically on a Friday and are essentially divided into three bits. In the evening there’s a programme of activities between 7pm and 11pm, taking in a series of craft workshops, fun science lectures and other activities. The sleepover takes place between lights out at 11.30pm and lights on at (gulp) 6am. And the next morning there’s a light breakfast followed by access to two of the museum’s most popular attractions, the IMAX and the Wonderlab. How much do Astronights cost? Tickets are relatively pricey at £75, given that normally the museum is free admission, though another way of looking at it is that it’s pretty storming value for a night’s B&B in Kensington plus a host of additional activities. You can pay £100 for a slightly comfier VIP option, and as a bonus the 2024 nights are being sponsored by Tempur, who are providing a free pillow to each camper. Are they any good? There is zero getting away from the fact that sleeping on a museum floor is deeply, deeply uncomfortable - you’re provided with a thin sleeping mat, and it’s BYO
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