I do seriously love this place, and even though some of the exhibits are looking a bit tired,…read morethere's still a lot there, and new things coming in. There is a lot crammed in here, which, although it means the information on each subject is a bit watered down and lower quality than a specific museum, it's great for sparking the interest of kids and finding out what they love and keeping attention with varying material, the human body, forensics, machinery, industry, recycling, building, space, robots, computers, medicine, even a lighthouse bulb, it's got a lot going for it. The science garden is great, but filled with pushy children and parents who've given up caring after a full couple of hours inside, the planetarium was excellent. Our favourite bits were the planetarium and the beating heart that beats to your pulse, and the vehicles. Obscurely a lot of it seems to high up for kids, but there are loads of activities for them to get stuck into.

ThinkTank is a slightly sprawling science museum spread over 3 (and a half) floors. It can be…read morepricey for a family visit, but there's a lot to do and there are often good offers available. I'd recommend turning up early as on arrival you are given a timetable of talks, events and planetarium showings. You get a wristband on entry so you can go in and out as you please. (I recommend coffee from 6/8 Kafe, next door, or a well priced pub lunch at the Woodman, opposite Millennium Point.) The ground floor showcases huge bits of machinery, including car-manufacturing robots, traction engines, a lovely tram and.. A Spitfire, a Hurricane and the 1939 City of Birmingham Locomotive. A huuuge steam engine, one of the most powerful ever used. The main theme being Birmingham made, so it's a great Brummy experience. Just a shame you can go on any of them to explore. (Especially the Spitfire ;)) Other floors have sections on the human body (with videos of the digestive system.. Best not viewed near lunch), forensic crime scene investigations, how recycling works etc. There's a good little area called Kids City which has a doctor/dentist surgery, a cafe, a garden shed, and a big water play area (with aprons). It's really good for little ones. Upstairs is the space section, with a great 360 degrees planetarium which has a range of shows for different age ranges. The science garden wasn't open when we went, but in spring and summer it's another sciencey play area for kids. And grown ups.

Free museum in Birmingham city centre focusing on contemporary art. It's in a very grand building,…read moreso I thought the museum would be big too, but it wasn't. Well there is a lot of empty space, and not that much to see. Few different rotating exhibitions, I saw some on the rave scene in the 80s and also racial violence from the 60-90s. On the way out I accidentally insulted one of the artists, but he just brushed it off.

We visited this museum yesterday and we really liked it. Both the exterior and interior of the…read morebuilding are beautiful. The museum has a terrific selection of paintings from the 15th, 16th & 17th centuries and a particularly good selection of Pre-Raphaelites. There's a *gorgeous*/large Edwardian tea room and also a separate café (the latter is small and attractive). The gift shop isn't very large, but it had some nice items. Also, I had a wonderful conversation with one of the guards; she was very friendly and kind-hearted.

Millenium Point was built as part of a regeneration project for the Eastside. It focuses on…read moreeducation and has inside Birmingham's science museum-The Thinktank, The Technology Innovation Centre, University of First Age and The Hub. If you are not interested in the field trip side of things, there is also an imax theatre and a bar/cafe inside. There is lots of parking available outside and huge spaces to move about freely inside. It can make for a nice day out.

What an amazing place! We happened to see this museum as we…read morewere walking by and were intrigued by their moving signage. Inside there are plenty of machines that whir and perform small tasks or even make music. Lots of interactive things to see and do, buttons to push, pedals to press, even a magnetic marble track you can build yourself! It's a treat for young and old and definitely worth the small entry fee.

The opening hours are stated for October to March. Opening hours from April to September are a…read morelittle longer (10:30 to 18:30 daily). A friend recommended this place to me thinking that my boys would like it. My friend was right! We did all enjoy the interactive displays. The extent of the interactivity is mainly pressing a button though but it's still good. There is an interesting range of mechanical art and my boys and I were fascinated by the mechanisms. It is quite a small place. It cost £19 for the four of us (2 adults and 2 children) which isn't too bad but, considering we spent less than an hour in there and saw everything, it does seem a little expensive. There are two floors. One very small room on each floor displaying different pieces of art. It can get rather crowded due to the small size, especially downstairs where the entrance/exit is the same. In the same small area, there is a counter where there is a single member of staff who both admits people and serves the gift shop. The gift shop is basically a small portion of the wall within the ground floor of the museum. Many items are over-priced and the selection is very limited. We did enjoy ourselves there and would recommend it but it could get claustrophobic and the upstairs can be noisy (although it does state this on the signage).

I used to go in here as a kid all the time due to my family all living in and coming from around…read morethe area. Me and my husband decided to move back here from the south and be with my family so I decided it was only right to introduce him to the Black Country properly! We enjoyed it in the museum so much because it is one of those places which can take as long as you want it too, we spent a good couple of hours talking to the people who worked there, wandering around and even getting a half pint in the pub. The museum is one of a kind and somewhere I feel everyone has to experience once, whether from the Black Country or not! My husbands family are visiting the Black Country for the first time in a couple of weeks and I've already dedicated a day for this and to go to mad O'Rourkes after (also a necessity when visiting)

We loved this place. It was a great experience that I highly recommend. They have taken great care…read morein recreating a coal mining town. You can also do an amazing tour in the mine. Don't skip it!

Clean eating area nice food good service served quickly so no standing in long queues.read more

The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry was reopened following extensive reconstruction on…read more29th October 2008, as the city's main art gallery, museum, history and media centre. The museum was originally constructed from donations from Sir Alfred Herbert, who's machine tool works in Coventry was the largest in the world in the 1950s. The Herbert was first opened in 1962 but has been extensively rebuilt and added to since 2000. There are now now eight permanent galleries for its own collections together with a new history centre, housing archives documenting the life of the city though almost 800 years of its existence. There are also five temporary exhibition spaces and another five visitor galleries in which they show work across the arts and from some of the great museums and galleries in the country. Gallery 1 currently has an exhibition of photographs from the V&A, the while Gallery 4 contains an exhibition of the unusual work of Ana Maria Pacheco (see photos). Added to which, no less than three 'George Eliots' circle the galleries declaiming lines from her writings and bringing a touch of amusing realism to everyday Coventry. The Herbert must now be one of the finest city museums and art galleries in Britain - and as poppysmooch says, the cafe is excellent too!

I got some good and bad news about Soho House Museum. The good one is: this is one of the most…read moreinteresting landmarks of Birmingham itself! The bad one is that it's are closed for redevelopment and will just reopen end of June. Well, it's not that bad, actually. I'm a bit suspicious to talk about this fabulous house that it's also my favourite heritage museum in Birmingham. Soho House Museum was residence of Matthew Bolton and don't get confused, it's not about Michael Bolton's house!!! He was a brummie entrepreneur, inventor and founder of The Lunar Society, a group of thinkers that usually met at his house to discuss arts, science, philosophy and other important issues in the 18th century. The whole history about Matthew Bolton, its fascinating life and the importance of The Lunar Society for the history of Industry Revolution in Midlands can be understood better visiting the Soho House. This lovely experience includes seeing this gorgeous Georgian house itself , the garden and a visitor centre. The average adult admission is £ 4 and the visitors centre and garden are for free. They have other options of tour guided during this year so it's better to check the website for more information. As it's difficult to find a favourite part of Soho House, but I would pick the dinning room, where the Lunar Society meeting were placed, and its quite spooky cellar as the highlights of the visiting. All rooms of Soho House are perfectly conserved and there is also a huge collection of coins and his works to be seen there. The shop is also wonderful and the staff is very friendly. I already visited Soho House loads of times and I can't get tired of it. As soon as it is reopen I will be there again, for sure. There is always something new to learn about Matthew Bolton and his house.

Hooray.. Soho House should be open again by the time you read this review!…read more It's been closed recently for redevelopment but fear not as they won't be changing the key characteristics that make this place so interesting. Personally I think there's something extraordinary at being able to walk back through time and experience peoples homes from many years before we existed. This particular house was owned by Matthew Boulton (whose fortune funded the college in the city centre) way back in 1766. It will be interesting to see what development work takes place as they will be keen not to change any of the key foundations. I particularly like the dining room as I can imagine big banquets and jugs of fine wine being enjoyed. Opening its doors this month of the 30th June, there is a community day which is free entry so definitely worth popping down to see what they've done with the place.

I spent 2 weeks in the UK on business. During that time, I wasn't able to do nearly the amount of…read moreexploring that I'd hoped I would. I took a train from Bedford to London and spent the entire day walking around and exploring. I spent a lot of time traveling back and forth between Bedford and Birmingham, and exploring all I could between. Aston Hall was the only place I visited that I knew I would never forget. I was lucky to be here on the off season, on a bright sunny day. I had the property to myself, but was unfortunately unable to poke around inside. Aston Hall is overwhelming. The house had so much personality. The patches of lime green and crazy slippery algae in the corners of near the front door, the big beautiful gardens on either side of the property that smell of roses even before they bloom and the sound of children playing on the lawn *That on it's own blew me away, thinking of kids back home (in America) playing in just regular parks with a swing set while these children run around playing tag in the gardens of Aston Hall.*. The towering and cracking door leading into the front hall. I could go on forever. I don't know what it is about this property, but I felt immediately attached to it. I just sat on the front lawn and stared, knowing that when I left I would miss it immediately. If I had the chance to go back to the UK for just one hour, I'd spend it at Aston Hall.

I have spotted the Aston Hall for the first time some years ago, in my first visit to Birmingham,…read morewhen I was crossing the Aston Park to reach by Aston Villa's pitch. I can't describe how impressed was to see this stunning mansion's garden and I never would think this location would hide such an exuberant building. So I have decided to visit inside this historical Hall properly. What a fascinating experience! Built in 1635, The Aston Hall is considered almost like a treasure of Midlands and it was residence of The Holte Family for several years. The house also suffered a damaged during the English Civil War, in 1643. Nowadays, the Aston Hall is open to the public as a museum and what can be seen inside this Jacobean construction is a really interesting heritage collection of furniture and rooms that express well that atmosphere in Britain, in the period covering from 17th to 19th centuries. The details of the walls and the kitchen supplies of this impressive building are really lovely and visiting Aston Hall is a synonymous of a good day out with family. The admission to Aston Hall is £ 4 (adults) with free admission to children under 16, but every first Sunday of each month it`s free for visiting. The site is usually open from Tuesdays to Sundays, from 12 pm to 4 pm. Take a note: The Headless Statue is an interesting and sad part of Aston Hall history. Look for more information about it before visiting the place.