Great 'Free UK Museums & Galleries' Hunt 3 November 2009 at 6:06PM edited 3 November 2009 at 9:34PM in UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments 112 replies 25.1K views

mummyfriend

Lincoln has a few museums all of which are free, except special showings at the Collection, and special workshops, and these prices are cheap, The museum of Lincolnshire Life is well worth a visit, all are open all yr round

K8J

Lots available for free in Glasgow.
My own favourite is the brilliant Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum :rotfl:

There is free entry to all Glasgow City Council museums.

:T

thulle1002

As of the 1st of April 2009 the Museum of Lincolnshire Life is free to enter.

Museum of Lincolnshire Life
Burton Road
LINCOLN
LN1 3LY

Tel: +44 (0) 1522 528448
Fax: +44 (0) 1522 521264

lincolnshire.gov.uk/section.asp?sectiontype=listmixed&catid=7838

bluekat

The Museum in Bewedly is free enrty - we went for half term and they had loads of activities for the kids, brass rubbing, print making etc. The program changes too, and apparently towards Christmas they theme them towards it. The Stourport Basins have been renovated recently with vistor interest in mind, but not sure exactly what and when it's open!!

jennmark

all the museums and galleries owned by National Museums Liverpool are free, that includes World Museum Liverpool, The Walker Art Gallery, Merseyside Maritime Museum including the Customs and Excise Museum, The National Conservation Centre, Sudley House, The International Slavery Museum and The Lady Lever Art Gallery.
entry is free and all special exhibitions and events are also free, most have indoor picnic areas too.
i actually work at the planetarium at World Museum Liverpool, so i might be slightly biased but i do think you could spend all day in just this one venue and of course you must take in one of our excellent free planetarium shows! (make sure you get your tickets from the ground floor info desk first though)
do note, the food in the cafes is really expensive and its ok but nothing special, definately bring a packed luch with you, also the merchandise in the shops is fairly pricey and sooo tempting for the kids (and big kids!) so if you're on a no spend outing give those a miss too!
website is liverpoolmuseums.org.uk, sorry site wont let me post the link.

maureenjscott

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow's west end is excellent, lots to see and interactive stuff for the kids - all free.

Also, just across the road is the Transport Museum (also free) which has old trams and steam trains, and other transport type stuff, my kids always enjoy a day out here.

If its nice, the park behind Kelvingrove has a great area for young kids a seperate area for older kids and a skate park!

an excellent, cheap day out in any weather!
mo x

philandstuff

I absolutely love the Horniman Museum in South London. It's an ecletic collection of random stuff pillaged (er, collected) by a victorian gentleman and put on display. There are four main sections: anthropology, natural history, musical instruments, and the aquarium (one of the oldest in the UK, from 1903).

It's all housed in a lovely victorian house with open access gardens, on a hill with a great view of London and the South East. There's a cafe but if you want to bring your own lunch there is space provided in the victorian glasshouse for you to sit down and eat.

For me the best bit is the musical instrument collection. If you're into classical or folk music there's something for you: they have huge numbers of brass and wind instruments, including curvy cor anglaisses, bass oboes, tenoroons and other rare instruments; a whole case with just concertinas (mainly english, but also anglo and duet systems), medieval instruments like lutes, and some real oddballs like a cello made from tin. There's also an interactive system to show what all the instruments sound like -- when I was there it was very popular with kids!

http://www.horniman.ac.uk/ is the website. I am not affiliated with them in any way.

Lo-Lo

I think in fact all local authority and national museums were made free entry a few years ago. In Leicester, all the museums are free apart from the privately run National Space Centre, which is incredibly expensive!

There's Jewry Wall - Leicester's archaeology and the Roman bath site ruins, the Guildhall, Newarke Houses Museum which is social, community and military history which was only refurbished a couple of years ago, Belgrave Hall - a Victorian house with lovely gardens and the Abbey Pumping Station.

The big museum on New Walk has Egypt, dinosaurs, an animal gallery, world cultures and lots of art. They've just opened a new German Expressionism gallery, the website suggests it's a very important collection. There is also the City Gallery which is also free.

http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/leicester-city-museums/

The One Leicester website also has other suggestions for free things you can do in Leicester - http://www.oneleicester.com/uniquely/free-activities/

mharzuk

The savings bank museum just over the border on the Scottish side is where the very first TSB was founded, quite apt news wise at the moment.
Well worth a visit if passing and free (fully funded by Lloyds TSB Scotland)
http://www.savingsbanksmuseum.co.uk/

Seaspooner

Okay the London Science Museum is free to enter, but you can buy Plus Membership. Why would you want to? Because it allows you unlimited access to the Imax cinema within it for a year (25.50 for a family), and unlimited access to the pay for exhibitions, and the simulators. This membership cost £70 for a family for 4 and £50 for an individual. But it gets better, you get free entry for 3 other associated science museums, Explore at Bristol (£35 normal family entry), Cardiff Techniquest (£23 for a family) and Glasgows Science Centre (£29 for a family)
I admit it totally depends on how much you would go to any of these places, but we have visited a few, seen a few Imax shows and exhibitions and have totally got our monies worth.