This was so interesting and I think very well done!! The staff were all very welcoming and the…read moremuseum was not crowded (we went during the week).

SeaCity Museum is an interesting stopover if you have some extra time in Southampton, but it is far…read morefrom a "must-see" attraction. As far as museums go, it is your typical mid-sized town museum, and certainly not to the scope of the Met or Museum of Natural History or anything of the sort. You're looking at perhaps an hour and a half to two hours tops, so do keep this in mind before forking over your hard earned £12.69 for entrance. The headliner is undoubtedly the Titanic exhibit, which if you are a fan of the history and/or the movie, might lure you in. Southampton is the port where the ship took its inaugural voyage from, so there is an obvious vested interest. However, if you are in town as the starting point for your own cruise, viewing this beforehand might be a bit unsettling. I suppose you could always come after you have returned though. The Titanic display is shown in a storybook format, introducing a smattering of crew members (some important, some random), and there is no mention or connection to the movie. Over the course of the exhibit, we are drawn to the characters, learning their lifestories and trials and tribulations, as if reading a book or watching a film. This is purposely done to invoke a rooting interest in how things ultimately pan out for them. One thing I do find odd is that only this handful of characters is emphasized, with nary a mention of the countless other crew members, nor the passengers. In any event, the storytelling is compelling, and the photographs, artifacts, detailed mock-ups, interactive booths, etc. are just enough to keep visitors entertained and educated, even those who were not huge fans to begin with, such as yours truly. The rest of the museum is much smaller, and mostly about Southampton itself. It is still definitely worth your time though, especially if this is your first time in town. One of the displays showcases the history of the city and its inhabitants over time, and the other focuses more on the transportation aspect in and out of the city, since Southampton has always been a traditional transit hub, be it for commerce or leisure. The detailed model ships are definitely a highlight. The only downer is the head curator being quite rude to guests. Before our time was up, she was barking at visitors to GTFO, and even gave us a countdown to how much time we had remaining. When I made it to the gift shop, she told everyone we had less than a minute, and to hurry up and buy, as if we were in Menace II Society. We understand that she wants to go home, and get back to doing whatever she's got going on, but there is absolutely no need for such a condescending tone to customers who paid good money to be there. It's not as if everyone was just milling about and loitering or anything. Any chance of a sale in their gift shop was completely nullified. The rest of the employees are great, however. They actually gave me that apologetic look, as if they already knew their boss was like this, so I am thankful to them. Fortunately, this didn't completely ruin the wonderful SeaCity Museum experience for me, but it certainly did leave a slight black mark. Cliff's Notes: Check it out of you are a fan of the Titanic (maybe not before your own cruise though) and/or Southampton history. Everyone else should just spend the time exploring Southampton itself instead.

If you like aviation, or even if you're interested in finding out about Southampton's history in…read morebeing a world leader in something, then this museum will interest you. First you will learn about how aviation started in Eastleigh by a very simple home made pedal machine, which later brought a wave of advances from the first WW1 military aircraft to performance aircraft that won the Schneider trophy (F1 of of the skies), the spitfire, commercial flying boats and military jet trainers. It is certainly a proud heritage for the area, but even if you don't live in Hampshire, its something different to open up our mind to British achievements. Entry is not expensive and it is easy to get to, being located down by the docks. An adult ticket costs £6 and children over 5: £4, children under 5: free.

Took my 11 year old son here for an afternoon and had a wonderful time. The exhibit is small but…read morevery interactive. Many of the staff are ex pilots and you get to sit in many of the cockpits of the planes as they explain how things work. Well worth the drive from London and the small entrance fee.

An offshoot of the Royal National Armoury collection housing a wide range of cannon and field…read moreartillery from the age of Henry VII through to Saddam Hussains mega cannon . Set in the vast Victorian fortress Fort Nelson which is more than worth a visit itself as a classic example of fortress design . Very good displays . Best of all it's totally free .

This is a great Museum to take the family. The Museum is free and there's plenty of free parking…read more You can explore the ramparts and tunnels, it covers the history of artillery and they have a reasonably priced cafe.

I have been here about 4 times and it is a lovely place to go on a Sunday afternoon for a walk. If…read moreit's been raining then it's a bit muddy so take your wellies. The park walkway runs round some lakes where lots of people go to fish. Bit difficult with young children as they are able to get close to the waters edge so you are always on the look out. If it's a baking hot day be prepared to walk through huge clumps of mossies obviously because of the water. The trains run on weekend so not much to do with young kids on a week day. It is a nice place to go though for a walk but a bit limiting if the trains are not running.

Situated on the harbor looking out to the Naval yards across the water in Portsmouth is this…read moretreasure of a museum. Clean, well staffed and organized, this small museum is packed with power. Each exhibit has been extensively thought out and presented with audio, visual and an artistry that is rarely seen in a museum of this size. Things are hung from ceilings and below foot peaking out through glass, video and interactive stations abound and wall carvings worthy of awards complete your walk through the history of fire power. They ask that photos not be used on commercial sites, but I can tell you that the people carved into the walls are wood, metal and brass, and the floor to ceiling sculptures are extraordinary. Top all of this off with a cafe that makes their own scones and lasagna, and this museum rushes to the top of my worldwide must see list. It has won many awards for good reason. They know how to teach the public in an eye-catching and engaging manner. Three jolly cheers and five stars for Explosion!

Being an aircraft buff I ensured that this became a part of (my wife's) visit to Salisbury…read moreCathedral. It is 20-30 min by city bus from Salisbury, with the stop about 200m from the museum. A very interesting assortment of fighters and bombers including Prototype #2 of the English Electric Lightning, the first Mach 2 fighter in the world. Visitors are permitted to sit in cockpits of many of the a planes. The museum store sells Airfix model kits (remember those?!). I also noticed a shop near Salisbury Train Station that sold such model kits.

Not your typical aircraft museum! I visited with a two other guys who were 30+ and it was a great…read morevisit. Really interesting volunteers all eager to talk about anything related to the aircraft , they ranged from a retired Vulcan pilot, retired ground crew to anoraks helping restore some of the planes! Virtually everything could be touched, played with, sat in so I think this would be a great place to take kids - although you'd need to keep a close eye on them as it is a little tricky scaling ladders and getting into some of the cockpits. I really puts a different view on many of the aircraft. We also got to have a go in the Link trainer at the end of the visit which was a good fun and I assume gives you some idea of what it is like to fly (I'm not a pilot). If you are an enthusiast of have kids I'd say it was a great way to spend a couple of hours if you are passing by!

The Tudor House and Garden is a museum in the old part of Southampton…read more Built around 1492, the building was a grand house for most of its life until it became a museum in 1912. It has elements from every century since the 15th, as it has been much remodelled over the years. There's a good audio guided tour, which brings it to life. The exhibits are rather eclectic but the house itself includes lovely touches such as Tudor graffiti and floorboards made from 18th Century ship timbers. At the rear is a charming garden, which has been restored to its original Tudor form. Behind that, built into the town's mediaeval walls, is the so-called King John's Palace. Actually a town house belonging to a wealthy merchant built around 1180, it is a very rare example of Norman domestic architecture. The museum has a small shop and a nice modern cafe in the garden - this can be visited without paying for the museum tour. Staff were notably very friendly throughout our visit.

A fun time at the Tudor House and Garden. It has a lot of history here and you get to learn about…read moreit through the videos and the writings all around. They give you a map showing all the rooms and places to visit during your adventure. Overall I thought this was pretty cool and I do believe kids and adults will enjoy it! Don't forget the garden it is beautiful.

I enjoyed the Great Hall. Hard to imagine it's been there that long. Little garden out back was…read morequiet and peaceful. The Westgate museum was nice, especially the view from the roof. Don't waste your money getting the ticket that includes the Winchester museum. You can buy your ticket at the Westgate museum, or the Great Hall.

The ACTUAL Round Table? Likely not. Henry VIII didn't care, though, and neither do I. Misogynist…read moremonster that he was, at least he had a taste for historical fiction, and reverence (however remote) for chivalric values. Seeing in on the wall is...something else. I mean, my one and only son is named Galahad, so I may be a bit biased, but...this is our mythology (white Anglo-Saxons, anyway). It should be treasured. There's more to the Great Hall that just the...hall itself, but you'll find yourself here most of the time. The gift shop, too. They sold me a fantastic mini-flail souvenir, which was summarily confiscated upon my second flight out of Heathrow (not my first, ironically), and I still miss it. But one thing I do not miss of the Great Hall at Winchester are the memories, because they are still with me. They're something the British version of the TSA could never take from me.

We visited Beaulieu as part of my parents' 60th wedding anniversary. What a pleasant surprise. The…read moreNational Motor Museum is great, but there is so much more, be it the vintage bus ride, the monorail, the gardens, the abbey, the secret army exhibition or the house. The restaurant is pretty decent as well. A very enjoyable day for the whole family.

What? Are you serious that no one has reviewed this museum yet?…read more Britain is peppered with small community museums dedicated to one small tiny aspect of some technical or technological achievement that still completely misses the big picture and fails to truly entertain the young. On one such visit, I was directed to the Beaulieu and the National Motor Museum as an example of the best of museumship (tip to francophones out there it is pronounced, "byoo-lee" in case you need to ask directions froma local). I was not disappointed. It is on a very large estate and shares space with one of the many abbeys-come-ruins that have peppered England since the reformation, and a typically beautiful English garden, which we did not partake of on this chilly November day, since the finest of the blushes of summer had long since past. For my part, I've been really enjoying my son's recent rejuvenation since he's been diagnosed with coeliac disease and on a gluten free diet. Our day at the NMM was great fun for him, and evidence of just how well gluten free works for him, as he was running around everywhere, and commenting on virtually every one of the several hundred cars that we saw. "There's a classic Mini." "There's a classic convertable." "That one is a classic Mercedes." Commenting on one of the speed record specimens, "that car goes really really fast." "That's a formula 1 car." And on it went. The ride on the vintage double-decker was a lot of fun, and so was the monorail. If you're at all a fan of Top Gear, you will also like the "World of Top Gear" exhibit which shows some of the more fun inventions of the show like the three limousines, and the pick-up truck that crossed the English channel. It did miss out on the one thing that a museum like this can never have enough of...exhibits you can interact with. There were certainly some, but really, if you have hundreds of classic cars, why not have at least a few that people can climb into and experience for themselves. I would have loved to have sat in one of the several Formula 1 cars, or rally cars, or anything like that for that matter. The one vehicle you got to climb into was an old 1960's doubledecker bus, and even then, you don't even get to go up to the top level. So when all is said and done, the NMM was good, but not great. It's worth the drive if you're not far, but I wouldn't go all the way to Southampton just to visit this museum. And be sure to fill out your gift aid form so that you can go back as much as you want for a year.