This museum is the perfect price. Free! It is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours. There…read moreis lots of natural history as well as cultural history. Everything is in both English and Welsh. The natural history area had videos ad well as exhibits detailing the geographic history of the region. The Art of the Selfie exhibit had a small cost which was quite fair. Van Gogh's Self Portrait was the main draw, but they also had Rembrandt and other artists. In the other rooms, there were so many artifacts. Rooms within rooms and beyond, you can lose hours reading about everything on display.

it was a pretty good experience, but no one warned me that the bloody dinosaurs are getting starved…read morebecause they are literally just bones. animal mistreatment is NOT a joke I want to support, I cannot believe the STATE of this museum. Good value for money as its free. Cool stones and a selection of STARVED AND DEAD animals. and the service was poor because they encourage this. the toilets are good for kids, AND OTHER THINGS.

Not the best gallery, the admission just for a small area is not worth it. The free part on the…read moresecond floor is pretty interesting. You can roam around freely.

We stopped here for many reasons: it was sweltering out, the permanent collection is free to…read moreperuse, and my mom heard they had a Thomas Gainsborough. Count us in! We were welcomed immediately upon entering and never felt any sense of pressure to hurry through the gallery. If anything, we could have (and maybe should have) stayed a bit longer to take it all in - there's plenty of seats in which to sit back and do so. But I appreciate all that we saw, including (but not limited to): 'The Bride of Death' painting by Thomas Jones Barker (I was taken with all the symbolism within what is essentially one story frame), Edwin Whitney-Smith's 'The Scarab' bronze statue, and - much to my surprise - the white cabinets against the walls of the room that are positively filled with pullout drawers housing watercolors and pencil sketches of Bath, Somerset, and England (one in particular caught my eye: it was the view looking down on Bath from Alexandra Park, and I had literally just come from the same physical vantage point [and couldn't help but compare my modern day phone photo to the piece of art from the 1800's). I am sure that if we were locals that we'd attend any number of the amazing community focused events they host throughout the year as well. Here's the thing: if art is not your thing... don't come. However: if you love art, even if you just kinda like art, if history and/or art are at all fascinating to you, if you only really like one artist and they carry one of their pieces, you should absolutely come here. It's not an all day affair (the gallery is actually quite small), so give yourself an hour or two and enjoy just another corner of how incredible the city of Bath really is.

I had a hard time rating this place but ultimately it captures the magic of Roald Dahls writing,…read moreits a lovely way to encourage creative writing in a world that seems to think all children's activities should be STEM based, and its highly interactive. Worth a visit. The downside : We were the only visitors other than a school group (maybe two school groups?) but both the educators and the staff made it clear that we weren't a priority. In one of the rooms a teacher left a child's epipen on a shelf at child-level and seemed to forget about it. They seemed displeased that my kids were interacting with the exhibits even though we were trying to keep out of the way. We had our 8, 5, and 2 year old with us. They all interacted with the museum and enjoyed it but it was a bit lost on my little ones. Definitely recommend reading several books before going. And the reason I'm leaving 3 stars not 4 is that the bathrooms were atrocious. Toilet paper everywhere. Stalls out of order. The baby change room smelled terrible.... Clearly the garbage hadn't been changed in days.... Really too bad for a place with so much potential.

On one of my last days living in London, my best friend and I took a day off work to make a trip…read moreout to this museum to relive our childhood days. Although this museum is supposed to be more for families and young children, my best friend and I went all out silly because we pretty much had this place to ourselves. Plenty of outfits and props from characters from the books we all love - we had so much fun putting them on and taking pictures. They have this thing called the Automatic Grammatizator where you can "see your story in lights". Basically, using random words from a pile, you create a story and it gets projected on the floor nearby. One of the best memories I have from my four years in the U.K!

If ever you forget how beautifully historic Bristol is, then head to Christmas Steps…read more Essential just a flight of steps with a few shops, but from top to bottom, Christmas Steps is full of awesomeness. It has changed quite a lot of the last few years, and instead of just having art shops/galleries, it now has a cider shop, super cool hairdresser/barbers and now the super famous 20th Century flicks. I am yet to go to one, but they hold small cinema screenings where guests sit in the steps and the film is projected at the bottom. Genius! If you're after a unique place to buy some Christmas presents or if you haven't been for a while, get your ass down to Christmas Steps!

The Christmas Steps are located just off Colston Street and the centre of Bristol. It is one of the…read moreoldest streets in Bristol, dating back to 1669. There is a narrow, steep incline to the top with independent shops throughout. The shops are all really quaint and cute, and I can safely say this is one of my favourite areas of Bristol. At Christmas, the street is wonderfully decorated and makes a perfect photo opportunity. As you walk down (or up) the Christmas Steps it really feels as if you have jumped back in time, and for a city that isn't heaped in history, this is a real treat. In addition, the steps link you up with the centre of Bristol which is handy.

Gord and I toured Cardiff Castle last Wednesday afternoon. It's in the city centre…read more The site has been occupied for nearly 2,000 years. The Romans built a fort there around AD 55 to help control the area. Later, they replaced it with a much stronger stone fort and parts of those Roman walls are still standing today. After the Romans left, the Normans arrived following the conquest of England. Around the late 11th century they built a castle inside the old Roman fort. The large grassy mound in the middle and the stone keep on top are from this period. During the Middle Ages, Cardiff Castle became an important stronghold and was involved in various conflicts between Norman lords and Welsh rulers. Over time, it evolved from a military fortress into a grand residence. The castle's most famous makeover happened in the 1800s when the incredibly wealthy John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute hired architect William Burges. Together they transformed it into the spectacular Gothic-style palace you see today, with lavish rooms, murals, towers and intricate decorations. During the Second World War, tunnels beneath the castle walls were used as air-raid shelters for thousands of Cardiff residents. In 1947, the Bute family gave the castle to the city, and today Cardiff Castle is one of Wales's most popular attractions.

A must-see if you are in Cardiff. There is so much history inside these castle walls and it…read moreconveniently located adjacent to the city center. You can opt to go on guided-tours or wander at your leisure. I was there on a rainy day and there were very few visitors, so I really felt like I went back in time. The WWII museum was pretty intense; it might have been the dark, rainy weather or the creepy background music or the dim lights, but I could literally feel the anxiety of those that had been seeking shelter in those tunnels. While the grounds and first floor of the house are wheelchair accessible, the rest of the grounds are not. I was recovering from a broken leg, and I had to take a few steps to do the tunnel tour and I was unable to ascend the MANY stairs that lead up to the fortress at the top of the hill. The visitor center houses ruins of the original Roman wall that dates back to the 1st centaury AD, a gift shop, and a café. The experience is 100% worth the entry fee and I highly recommend if you are visiting Cardiff.

This is a wonderful quirky space. Like the attic of your eccentric uncle who travelled widely,…read morebrought back whatever he could carry, then carefully catalogued everything (idiosyncratically) and then left it for you to go through--that is, if your uncle was the entirety of the British empire. Can't say enough. You can spend days here and still be saying "did you see THAT?"

We had a great time exploring the Pitt Rivers Museum! There is SO much on display it's almost hard…read moreto take it all in. If you're an anthropology buff, this is your place. So many neat things to see and everything you can imagine, too many to list. From clothing to masks to weapons to toys all from different cultures and different times. We even saw a Totem Pole! Overall a fascinating place to visit, just wish we'd had more time to explore!

We came here as part of a tour and are glad we did. I didn't know much about the Roman Baths…read morebeforehand, but now I do. It is set in the middle of a quaint town named Bath. We had pre-bought tickets for a specific entry time, but there were tickets available at the door as well. I wouldn't chance it though. The line was short to get in at our time and the audio guide is included as part of the admission price. made the tour interesting and the facts provided were the perfect amount of detail. There was a kid's version too which was great! We were there a little over an hour and at the end you can taste some of the bath water, which was disgusting!!

So, when I knew I was planning a trip to London, I knew I had to schedule a tour to this location…read more The Roman Baths are located in the city of Bath. A beautiful city with so many breathtaking views. The site is located in the middle of the city surrounded by stores, restaurants, and other must see locations. I highly recommend booking this tour because you can learn so much and will learn about the Roman history of the baths. There is a self-guided tour that you can go as you wish. There is so much to see and so much information along the walls. Make sure to bring comfortable shoes since the ground can get a bit uneven throughout the tour and make sure you see the beautiful baths throughout the tour. Such an impressive experience and if you are in London, I recommend taking a day trip or two to visit. You will be mesmerized and taken back in time.

If you are into art, then you know that the city of Bristol has really become synonymous with…read moreBanksy, an a funny, witty, political satirist who uses graffiti art as his medium. Full confession: actually my brother is a massive fan of Banksy and it he who introduced me to his art, and our whole reason to actually come to Bristol on a weekend getaway, was to check out the various bits of Banksy's artwork scattered around the city (the fact that we both just fell in love with the vibrancy and charm of the city of Bristol is a whole another story!) Banksy 'Love Cheat' Mural was the first Banksy we saw, and one of the tour stops during the Blackbeard To Banksy - Ultimate Bristol Walking Tour. The name of this artwork is "Love Cheat" and is a perfect example of Banksy's ironic sense of humor as the work is scintillated on the side-wall of a sexual health clinic. Our guide told us that Banksy apparently created a full scaffolding, pretending to be a construction worker and when the council wanted to paint over it, local Bristolians set up a petition that prevented the artwork from being painted over. The a few years back, the council decided to sell the building and what they did was genius - they listed it as an artwork with a building attached! The new owners have offices on the main floor, but the basement is a swanky cocktail club with a secret entrance. One things that took me aback was the size of the stencil - it's absolutely the size of a window in someone's room! Also, when I came in April 2019, it had been vandalized with blue paintball pellets - our tour guide told us those apparently appeared after a local radio interview in which Banksy admitted to a being a fan of Bristol football club with red colours (their rivals wear blue, hence the blue paintball pellets!). The second bit of vandalism is because apparently there is the local graffiti ''artist" called ''KAPE'' and he thinks its funny (ha-ha not!) to go around and signing his name over all the local area famous graffiti artworks! So when you see my photos, you can see both these vandalized bits of work too. Anyway, seeing this was just so amazing and super chuffed I got to see a Banksy artwork up close and personal. Yelp 158/ 2019

Five stars despite never having seen it in person…read more Many thanks to Qype for making this available.

We did the inner circle tour and it was worth every penny! There is an option for a sunrise tour…read moreand sunset before and after the place closes to the public. We opted for the sunset tour and were still able to spend our money in the gift shop, as it remained open. But there were no food options open at this time. We then took the bus to the site and were allowed to go inside the circle. Normally, you must stand about 10 yards away but being inside was unreal! There were so many unique photo ops from this vantage point and the fewer people was priceless. There were about 30 people total and they split you into 2 groups to take turns being inside. The guide and information presented was great as well!

As a history lover, Stonehenge has been on my bucket list. My visit yesterday did not disappoint…read more In fact, Stonehenge is an amazing wonder. My heart skipped some beats as I got my first glimpse of the great rocks. My husband and I took a small group tour to visit the site. We arrived early in the morning before crowds of tourists. I had downloaded the audio tour on my phone, which was fabulous. We bought tickets at the site. Tickets allow access to the museum/discovery center, a bus ride to the site and access to the walking path around the stones. Fees collected support the site. Paid admission is totally worth the visit. Stonehenge is a Neolithic site that was built over a 1000 year time period 3000 B.C. The site was a burial site, ceremonial site with astrological importance to these early people. The construction of the site is a prehistoric wonder. Two different types of huge rocks were gathered and moved across many miles to the site. The stones were carved to shape and secure them in place. Thousands of people must have participated in construction. Burial mounds surround the rock formation. Artifacts discovered at the site suggest that people were highly sophisticated. Some of the artifacts are displayed and replicas of there homes can be explored at the Center. Stonehenge is a World Heritage UNESCO site. Parking is available but there is a fee. Restrooms are nice. There is a cafe that is quite good at the center and a gift shop with reasonably priced visitor guidebooks. The site is accessible for wheel chairs and strollers, but the path is not paved. Worth a visit....I highly recommend.

King Bladud's Pigs in Bath was a 2008 public art event which aimed to get locals and tourists…read moreinterested in the heritage of Bath. At one point, pigs took over the city with 106 fully sized painted pigs dotted in every street, park and underpass. I won't bore you with history, but the history behind the project dates back to 863BC when Bladud and his pigs were travelling the country in search for a new residence when he, and his beloved animals, contracted leprosy. But, whilst travelling through Bath Bladud's pigs rolled in the hot mud around Bath's springs and were miraculously cured! Sadly, all the pigs have now been auctioned for charity, but you'll still be able to find one or two dotted around so keep your eyes peeled! The workshop which made the pigs is still there selling posters, cards and mini pig statues.