Bristol Science Museum and Planetarium : We Are Curious
Location : Anchor Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5DB
We are Curious is an educational science exhibition with lots of interaction in the We are curious science museum. We are curious teaches you about sound, biology and space. The Bristol attraction has an arty bit, where there are lots to do, with things from the creators of Wallace & Gromit
Getting to We are Curious
We are Curious is the waterfront and is easy to get to by public transport. Most of the local buses go into the city centre and then it is only a couple of minutes’ walk along the waterfront or there are a fewcheck website that actually stop right outside.
Ticket Prices (check website for more accurate times and prices) Adult from £14.50 Adult Concession £13.75 with free carer, Child from £9.40 Under 2’s free
Opening times 10am-5pm Monday to Friday during term time 10am-6pm weekends, bank holiday and British school holidays.
It is possible to get annual passes and this is the sort of place you can visit in Bristol again and again and still learn something new.
Is We are Curious accessible
There are lifts to get upstairs for those who need them and disabled toilets. There are toilets on each floor and lots of staff everywhere, who are more than happy to help with any needs someone might have.
What to see in We Are Curious
I personally think it is best to attend We are Curious with friends or family as you can enjoy the interactions a little bit more, I was visiting on my own this time and I really wanted to milk the cow but felt a bit silly. That sounds a bit strange when I read it back but they have interacting exhibitions which are all so cool and I wanted to play with them for hours.
If there are a few of you, you can play around with the exhibitions and this is a great way to learn. There is so much to do and see so you need a few hours to do everything. There is also a picnic area, lockers, toilets, a shop, and lifts.
They have an actual human brain, that was donated, which was interesting. You can learn all sorts from how a baby is made / grown (they even have an interactive womb, that you go inside and it is supposed to make you feel like you are inside the womb), what bees do for the planet, about food & plants – they had a thing going on for children to make their own soy burgers.
A lot of experiments to do, to see how things work. Everything is very interactive. A play area upstairs for children to build with giant lego bricks.
The animation floor is great for any budding artist. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body but I happily drew some stick men to see then dancing across the screen although it looked more like a drunken stumble than a dance.
You will see the famous Bristol animatic such as Morph, Wallace and Gromit and the cat and dog from pets at home. Bristol is home to the Aardman Animations who created these characters.
The Planetarium in Bristol
There was lots of information about Space you could explore before going in the Planetarium. The planetarium is an extra charge but I do think it is worth it as I found it fascinating.
The 3D stargazing was the highlight for me. It wasn’t until I came out of We Are Curious that I remembered the planetarium is in the big silver globe which is on the side of the building, which I have walked past so many times on a night out in the city.
Price is £3 for age 6+ Mon-fri 2.45pm and 4.15pm (term time) Weekends, holidays and bank holidays 12.30pm 2.45pm 4.15pm 5pm. I attended the 4.15 show and there were only a handful of people there.
Once you enter the planetarium you are given your 3D glasses. Its easy accessibility and there are served seating at the back for wheelchair user or people with mobility issues
After a safety briefing the show began. There is live commentary by a member of the planetarium team and he was very knowledgeable and could answer any questions, he also tried to get a bit of interaction from the audience by asking questions for people to shout out the answers.
I admit it did make me feel a bit dizzy at times when the stars and planets were spinning across the ceiling but it was lots of fun. It was also very educational. As I attended in the first week of September they had just started their autumn star gazing show, I didn’t even realise there were different seasons within the stars but I guess there are as we move all year around.
The show explained the story about how the ancient Greeks had named the constellations. It showed Andromeda the Princess, Perseus the Hero, Celtus the Sea Monster, Cassippeia the Queen and Draco the Dragon. I however could not see any of these I think I have no imagination and they just looked like dots to me lol.
You can take away an information fact sheet that tells you more about what you can see in the sky for this month. The theme for September is What is a lightyear? I think it’s amazing how vast our galaxy is, our closest star is Proxima Centauri which is 38,000,000,000,000 km away that’s quite some distance (source: We are Curious information sheet)
