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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think you cant go to museums

27 replies

Laquitar · 27/04/2011 13:12

...every day. Or every weekend.

I mean even in a big city how many museums are there? How many times can you visit them?
I can understand galleries and exhibitions, yes. Because they change. But museums are the same for years, how many times do people visit them?

OP posts:

DuplicitousBitch · 27/04/2011 13:15

most modern museums do have temp exhibitions and rotate items from archives to keep things fresh. but yes i am not a museum lover

plantsitter · 27/04/2011 13:15

I've been to the Horniman museum practically every week since having children. They love it every time.

As a child we lived near a similar museum and I loved it precisely because it never changed (and, actually, I still do love it for that reason!).

suzikettles · 27/04/2011 13:20

We've got a great museum about 5 mins down the road for us. Ds has been there with either dh or me approx once a week since he was about 6 months old.

Believe me, when you live in a very wet country and have a tiny flat, you'll visit anywhere that's free with a lot of running about space and different things to look at.

catsmother · 27/04/2011 13:26

It all depends I suppose ..... how many museums are close to you, how large they are, what topics they cover. In London, you are spoilt for choice with dozens of museums, specialist, as well as the "big" ones. Personally, I could spend hours gazing at the jewellery collection in the V&A, or at the Imperial War Museum, but then I love history - and especially social history, so most museums are interesting to me. Visits can also be very different if you go on your own - you can indulge a particular interest without cries of "I'm bored/thirsty/hungry/hot" etc and spend time properly reading all the info provided. I find with kids that although you might spend 2 or even 3 hours in a large museum it's far more of a whistlestop tour past more or less everything without much chance to linger at particular exhibits which captivate you.

nannynick · 27/04/2011 13:27

Haven't been to Horniman for a while now as no longer live close but museums like that children especially can go to again and again as they love looking at stuffed animals!

Sites like Culture24 let people find all the temporary exhibits at museums, so if travel distance isn't an issue, expect someone could go to a different museum every weekend.

DuplicitousBitch · 27/04/2011 13:27

v&a walks that fine line between museum and gallery. i love it so categorise it under 'gallery'.

GhostInTheBackOfYourHead · 27/04/2011 13:29

We live in a tiny flat so go to museums regularly, Museum of Childhood we visit weekly, sometimes more and we also go to either the Horniman or Natural History museum at least 3/4 times a month. I am disappointed that there is restricted access to the gardens at the Horniman at the moment. I love the green space there.

Original poster

Laquitar · 27/04/2011 13:38

I must say i haven't been to Horniman Museum. Maybe bit far for us but i will check the map.

Been to V&A, Imperial War Museum, British Museum.... but i cant spend all day in them or go every weekend. (i could spend all day in Brent Cross thu )

South bank is my favourite place.

OP posts:

suzikettles · 27/04/2011 13:41

Is the Horniman the one with all the musical instruments? If so, ds had a ball there when we went with friends a couple of years ago.

I'd be there all the time if we didn't live 400 miles away

Original poster

Laquitar · 27/04/2011 13:46

Musical instruments?? Oh we might like it then. I will check it out.

OP posts:

DilysPrice · 27/04/2011 13:47

V&A, Tate Britain, Museum of London, Geffrye museum, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Horniman Museum etc all do different children's activities throughout the holidays so even if you'd seen all the exhibits (which would take years, if not decades) then you could still do new things every week.

My DCs would would happily go to the Science Museum once a week for the next 10 years, I always have more choices of things to do during the summer holidays than I have free days.

Rafi · 27/04/2011 13:53

Yes, downstairs in the Horniman they have a hand-on musical instruments room, or did a couple of years ago anyway. Not been for quite a while but DD used to love it.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 27/04/2011 14:27

Me and DD went to our local museum virtually every Sunday when we lived in Switzerland. The displays didn't change, but it was free and she could be a bit noisy.
Everything had to be silent on Sundays there.

nannynick · 27/04/2011 14:32

suzikettles - I took the children I nanny to Horniman about 16 months ago and they had electronic tables which enabled the then 5 year old to select a musical instrument, read about it and listen to noise it made. On the wall behind glass were all sorts of musical instruments.

They also have an aquarium downstairs.

GhostInTheBackOfYourHead · 27/04/2011 14:36

Only one of those tables was working last Saturday. Hope it gets fixed soon. By the way, the aquarium used to be free but due to funding cuts it now costs 2.50 per adult and about half of that for children. You can get an annual pass though if you intend to visit frequently.

FreudianSlipOnACrown · 27/04/2011 14:52

Ohhh I just love museums. We don't have any in my town though :(

I think it's great to have free ones though, like in London - we are going to take DCs (3 and 1) up there for the day soon and I can't wait. The great thing about them being free is that there is no pressure to 'see everything' - you could go just to see the creepy crawlies section at the natural history museum if that was what your dc loved. Instead of dragging them round eeeeeverything and getting tired.

We are thinking of going to a classical concert too as there are free ones in the daytime.

Insomnia11 · 27/04/2011 15:03

Depends how big they are. I've only seen parts of the British Museum and V&A.

suzikettles · 27/04/2011 15:15

Yes! That's where we were then. I had great fun on the music tables . The gardens were lovely too.

GrimmaTheNome · 27/04/2011 15:16

DD used to go to MOSI (the Manchester Science and Industry museum) a lot - it took quite a few visits to explore the whole thing, there's interactive stuff, talks and demonstrations, planetarium, special exhibitions, 3D films ... basic entry free, planetarium is cheap, v good and of course varies through the year.

I reckon if we lived in London we could spend an awful lot of time between the British, Science and Natural History museums. Hadn't heard of Hornimann, will have to remember that.

RtHonLadyEuphemiaOfCaledonia · 27/04/2011 15:18

We go to Kelvingrove Museum in the West End of Glasgow several times a year, and never manage to get all the way round! We find new things to look at every time, by taking a different route.

And it's free to get in!

PrettyCandles · 27/04/2011 15:22

I worked for 6m round the corner from the British Museum. I spent my lunchbreaks in it at least twice a week, often 3 or 4 times a week. Nonetheless, I hadn't managed to see everything by the time I left that job.

DilysPrice · 27/04/2011 15:26

National Maritime Museum is great for kids too - there's a hands on gallery up at the top and great craft sessions at the weekend.
Museum of London in Docklands also well worth a visit.

madonnawhore · 27/04/2011 15:28

I love love love the Egyptian rooms at the British Museum. I never get bored of going there.

Ormirian · 27/04/2011 15:31

You can because there are places you love to visit and don't tire of seeing. DS2 could go to the wildlife and dinosaur bits in Bristol museum every day if we'd take him.

leapsandbounds · 27/04/2011 15:42

We do, esp during the colder school holidays. We live in central London so it's easy to get to all the major ones. Places like the British Museum and V&A have backpack self-guided tours so you can explore a different bit each time. I don't know how many museums there are within 45 mins journey for us, probably over 100. I know there are quite a few of the smaller ones which we've never got around to visiting, like the Florence Nightingale Museum (always meant to take DS when he was studying her in primary school...he's in secondary now ).

I also re-visit a lot of museums as I've studied different subjects like art and philosophy. It's like seeing the exhibits through a different frame of reference when you've learned a bit more about the subject.

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