Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium
Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium
Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium
4
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Experience an action-packed family adventure through the world of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). Explore fun and interactive exhibits including an enormous 10m long playable guitar and the out-of-this-world Explorer:Space zone. Become part of the action with breath-taking live science shows and huge demos. Immerse yourself in the stunning nature of the South Downs National Park in Bio:Space. And fly through the Solar System in the UK’s largest standalone Planetarium.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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- Neil TRustington, United Kingdom181 contributionsKids onlyIt's certainly not geared towards adults. It's child orientated and if your an adult thinking your going to be interested, you won't be. At the café, there is no signs anywhere about hot sandwiches being available after 11.30, but when we asked at 11.10 we were told we would have to wait. When I mentioned this to the member of staff, she was completely uninterested. Unless you have kids, avoid this place.Hi there, thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. The Science Centre is perfect for children from 3 to 12 years old and their families. If you're looking for adult only events - we host Science Lates. This is when we open only to ages 18+ and the activities, experiments and Planetarium experience are all geared towards adults. Our next Science Lates is Christmas Cracker on 8th December. Alternatively, we also host Night Sky Live which is centred towards all ages. An expert stargazing host teaches the audience about the stars in the Planetarium and then you head outside to see the real stars of the South Downs National Park. This is open to families and adults as the host can provide beginner to advance astronomy knowledge. The next Night Sky Live event is 10th November. Check out our What's On page to see the events coming up - use the filter 'adults' to see what's available for you. I hope that helps! Many thanks, Rosie :)Written 26 October 2023This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited October 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 23 October 2023
- The CreativeleeHalesowen, United Kingdom206 contributionsDark Side of the Moonwe came to listen to the 50th anniversary Dark side of the moon experience with the amazing planetarium filming. Very comfy seats which was fab. A seriously lacking in anything much to eat or drink at the cafe enjoyed waiting by looking at some of the exhibits. most button press interaction working but several were not. We paid 20.00 per ticket for the event in the evening. Judging by the normal admission charges for a day trip, id say it was extortionate However our evening showing was worth every pennyHi there, thank you so much for visiting us for Pink Floyd and for taking the time to leave us a review. It's wonderful that you thought the footage was amazing. In terms of the exhibits, we only leave a few of them on for the Pink Floyd events as an added bonus to enjoy whilst waiting for the show to start. But as a hands-on venue, occasionally some of our exhibits may not be working and our team aim to get exhibits back in working order as quickly as possible! We're so glad you enjoyed watching the 50th anniversary and thought it was worth every penny. Hopefully you'll be able to visit us again in the future for another event. Many thanks, RosieWritten 31 October 2023This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited October 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 30 October 2023
- sumsUkWorthing, United Kingdom38 contributionsIgnore the negative reviews!Don't get the negative reviews, this place is great and the staff all make an amazing effort for a fun day out! There's lots going on, it's really interactive with fun live science displays. It is geared towards kids but us adults also found it fun and interesting. There's a good cafe with lovely food and a soft play area. We stayed for 4 hours and could have stayed longer but we needed to head off. Great family day out, good value and fun, our kids didn't want to leave..we'll be back!! 😁Thank you for leaving us a review. We really appreciate all feedback. We're so thrilled that you enjoyed your visit. Our core audience is definitely children age between 3 and 12 years old but we always hope that their grown ups will learn something too! Thank you as well for your kind words about our staff. They love engaging children and their families in science. Hopefully we will see you again in the future.Written 20 November 2023This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited November 2023Travelled with familyWritten 19 November 2023
- Ali NSouthampton, United Kingdom26 contributionsGrandparents out there! You need to do this!Outstanding entertainment for even 5 and 2 year olds! We live literally 30 mins away and it’s been years since we’ve been and I now regret that. We took our grandchildren aged 5 and 2 today and after 5 hours had to drag them away! We booked 3 shows, one of them free and went to every Science live demo that we could see! In the car on the way our (beyond her years) granddaughter said “I hate science” within 2 mins of being there she was on it and now “I love Science!” The staff are ALL amazing, all chatty and passionate, food is great, and very reasonable priced. Total cost for the 4 of us including shows, parking and food £83! We will be back at half term!!!Thank you so much for your lovely review. We're so thrilled that you all enjoyed your visit and that your granddaughter is now a big fan of science. We're looking forward to seeing you again in half term.Written 1 January 2024This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited December 2023Travelled with familyWritten 27 December 2023
- MarcusHurleyCalne, United Kingdom10,807 contributionsGreat if you are localWe visited here because our granddaughter wanted to see a planetarium. It's easy to book everything via the website and the place is well signposted. It certainly wasn't cheap - just under £60 for the 3 of us. The science centre was ok, aimed at younger kids and very one dimensional regarding the options to reduce climate change. Similarly almost all the options in the cafe were vegan so there is a definite slant to the team running the place. The staff we encountered were all very pleasant and helpful and the guy running the planetarium (Rory?) was fabulous, very engaging for kids and adults alike. The planetarium visit was definitely the highlight for us. If we were local we would probably go for annual membership but as it was over a 3 hour round trip it's not really practical for us.Thank you for leaving us a review. We're so pleased that you all enjoyed your visit. We encourage visitors to book as far in advance as they can which helps reduce the cost of admission - for example, if you book 7 or more days in advance you can save 25%. We hope that everyone who visits will discover something new while they are here but we do generally target children age 5 to 12 and their families and therefore our exhibits are created to be suitable for this age range. We're so thrilled by your kind words about our staff and we'll pass on your comments to them.Written 1 January 2024This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited December 2023Travelled with familyWritten 31 December 2023
- KarenBLeicestershire, United Kingdom34 contributionsGreat place to goWe spent a day here with our grandchildren ages 10, 9, & two 7 year olds. It was a miserable wet day outside & this kept us all busy for several hours. There were several live science experiments which we all enjoyed. We took a picnic - there is an area for picnickers. The gift shop had some very reasonably priced bits & pieces and some great books etc. I’m sure we’ll visit again.Thank you for your review, we're glad you had a good day out with usWritten 19 January 2024This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited December 2023Travelled with familyWritten 10 January 2024
- Paul hlHMaidenhead, United Kingdom11 contributionsGreat day out, would go again.Initially I thought it was a little pricy but once we were there there was plenty of interesting things for us to look at, we took out 6 year who had a great time, In would recommend paying that extra for the planetarium shows they were fantastic. My only gripe was that I had paid for parking when I booked and when we arrived it was literally a fee for all, the attendant basically said park where you like, didn't matter if we'd paid or not. Definitely go again as was a great family day out .Hi Paul, thanks so much for your review, really glad you had a great time! I'm sorry the parking wasn't up to standard on the day of your visit. If you want to message us directly with the date you visited I can look into it for you and see if we can work on any issues going forward. Many thanksWritten 27 January 2024This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited January 2024Travelled with familyWritten 20 January 2024
- 247_itchyfeetRomsey, United Kingdom39 contributionsA good day - planetarium excellent, cafe not so much.We used to be members of Intech years ago when we lived closer, and this was our first visit back since 2020. We visited with three children. The exhibits have been refreshed and are good, I would rate them 4 out of 5 overall for us. Some are very good, but some are lacking depth and a little vague with instruction and engagement. Children were pressing buttons etc trying to work out what to do as it was not always obvious, and with no instruction. Definitely an opportunity to improve some of the exhibits. They mostly visually look good and attract attention. I still love the changing perspective room, it’s very clever. The cafe (2 out of 5) is very limited on food but prices were ok. Hot drinks were good quality. Only vegetarian food (+ tuna) under the guise of saving the planet, but offers (unhealthy) prepackaged processed children’s food which produces a huge amount of plastic waste. No children’s meal drink options without artificial sweeteners. Personally I would think real, local, unprocessed food better for the planet than highly processed, plastic packaged vegetarian/vegan food. So I would bring a picnic lunch next time. The planetarium show was definitely the highlight of the day for us. It was excellent. Very informative and engaging - 5 out of 5. And the staff that we met at the cafe and at the planetarium were all lovely. I wouldn’t rush back but will certainly return in a few months time and see another planetarium show, with a picnic :)Visited January 2024Travelled with familyWritten 6 February 2024
- HantsGlobetrotterSalisbury, United Kingdom126 contributionsVery good but let down by awful cafeGreat astronaut and planets show. Exhibits well maintained. Very clean. Good value. Very educational ahd interesting. Bring a packed lunch as cafe is vile. Processed junk under guise of being vegan. V limited choice too.Visited February 2024Travelled with familyWritten 12 February 2024
- Christine W215 contributionsGlad we wentWhat a great place. Brought our two grandsons for the day. Probably more suited to 8 year old but 13 year old enjoyed it as well, probably downstairs more suited to him. They loved the weird room with wobbly flooring had a job to get them out of there and builders brick area. Did use the cafe although limiting for boys they didn’t go hungry and we had delicious panini. Would definitely recommend a visit. Shows were good as well.Hi Christine. Thank you for your review, so glad you had a great timeWritten 15 February 2024This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.Visited February 2024Travelled with familyWritten 15 February 2024
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4.0
1,235 reviews
Excellent
572
Very good
389
Average
148
Poor
86
Terrible
40
Paul g
Weston super Mare, UK4 contributions
Jun 2021 • Family
What an amazing place and value for money, we went on a Sunday so expected it to be busy and it was quiet. So much stuff in a little place, shows were brilliant, my 5 and 9 year old we’re excited from the moment we got there at 10 till we left at 4 (and my kid get bored easy), my 9 year old daughter spent hours on the arts and craft. Because it’s all in one building I had no worries about losing the kids and easy to find. The cafe food was really cheap (compared to most tourist attraction sites), highly recommended this place for anyone with kids from 3 to 13. Site was clean and staff were all about the kids (especially at the arts and crafts).
Written 6 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for visiting Winchester Science Centre and for taking the time to leave us a review - we really appreciate your feedback.
We're pleased to hear that you and your children enjoyed your visit with us and we look forward to welcoming you back soon!
Written 6 July 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Abeale22
7 contributions
Jun 2021 • Friends
I visited the site this morning, with my brother. We are both in our late twenties. On arrival we were greeted and directed to the planetarium.
I had booked the Planet Show using the website filter to ensure it was suitable for “adults”. Within minutes of sitting down, I realised that this was completely pointless.
The show was impressive visually, but the audience was made up mostly of children and the presenter addressed them (confirming that the ‘adult’ filter on the website is pointless).
We left after 10 minutes and do not understand why this was filtered for adults. It is extremely misleading.
I had booked the Planet Show using the website filter to ensure it was suitable for “adults”. Within minutes of sitting down, I realised that this was completely pointless.
The show was impressive visually, but the audience was made up mostly of children and the presenter addressed them (confirming that the ‘adult’ filter on the website is pointless).
We left after 10 minutes and do not understand why this was filtered for adults. It is extremely misleading.
Written 26 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We are sorry to hear you were disappointed with your visit. We try to make it clear on our website that the Science Centre is an action-packed family day out and we describe our Planetarium shows as suitable for the whole family. However, we appreciate your feedback about the adults filter on our website. Before the global pandemic we were able to offer adult only shows in the Planetarium, something we hope to do again soon, and this filter has been mistakenly left on as a result of that. We have rectified this and it will not cause confusion again.
Written 29 June 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Chris M
319 contributions
Dec 2020 • Family
This is a great science day. The whole place is set out for hands on 'science / engineering'. Kids think they're just playing but actually experiencing all sorts of science phenomena.
During school holidays and weekends they take it up a notch further with regular science demonstrations in the centre of the museum which are guaranteed to young ones imagination going.
Only minor grumbles and they are minor
You have to pay for parking (only £2) but just a faff given that I suspect public transport options are limited given its location.
The cafe could be better, the self service coffee machines... Should be condemned!
*COVID - We went during CoVid and whilst everyone was encouraged to keep separated given the nature of the place they realised that this was a challenge so they bolstered this by keeping it scrupulously clean. Staff seemed to be endlessly rotating around the entire museum cleaning it.
During school holidays and weekends they take it up a notch further with regular science demonstrations in the centre of the museum which are guaranteed to young ones imagination going.
Only minor grumbles and they are minor
You have to pay for parking (only £2) but just a faff given that I suspect public transport options are limited given its location.
The cafe could be better, the self service coffee machines... Should be condemned!
*COVID - We went during CoVid and whilst everyone was encouraged to keep separated given the nature of the place they realised that this was a challenge so they bolstered this by keeping it scrupulously clean. Staff seemed to be endlessly rotating around the entire museum cleaning it.
Written 13 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We value all feedback. We're so glad you enjoyed your visit and we love that you experience some 'science phenomena'.
We appreciate your feedback on our cafe and parking charges. I have passed on the cafe feedback to the relevant team. With regards to our parking fee, it may be helpful to know that we use this money to help our charity offset the cost of caring for and protecting the natural landscape of the South Downs National Park that we are situated in.
Thank you again and we hope to see you again soon.
Written 25 May 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Gemma O
southampton.17 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
I have just enjoyed a day here with my two son’s aged 7 and 10.
Firstly I was impressed with the centres safety measures in place for Covid. There are so many staff cleaning and wiping exhibits and play equipment and they provide hand sanitisers throughout. Tables were being cleaned after every use and families were spaced out in the seating areas. I don’t believe they could have done more. Really well done.
There has been a refurbishment since we last visited, we used the cafe upstairs and kiosk the food and drink was reasonably priced and the money off voucher was a nice gesture.
The science show was fun and well presented and the shows in the middle of the room work well, staff were great.
There were enough exhibits to keep us busy and the highlight of the day was the Planetarium Show. Well worth adding the ticket.
Firstly I was impressed with the centres safety measures in place for Covid. There are so many staff cleaning and wiping exhibits and play equipment and they provide hand sanitisers throughout. Tables were being cleaned after every use and families were spaced out in the seating areas. I don’t believe they could have done more. Really well done.
There has been a refurbishment since we last visited, we used the cafe upstairs and kiosk the food and drink was reasonably priced and the money off voucher was a nice gesture.
The science show was fun and well presented and the shows in the middle of the room work well, staff were great.
There were enough exhibits to keep us busy and the highlight of the day was the Planetarium Show. Well worth adding the ticket.
Written 30 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello,
Thank you for your visit and for leaving us a review. Visitor feedback is so important to us.
We're thrilled you had such an enjoyable day and can't wait to welcome you back again soon.
Best wishes
Winchester Science Centre
Written 4 November 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
caz79Surrey
Woking, UK45 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
Visited with a 2 Yr old (who was free) and a 9 Yr old. Much more suited to the 9 Yr old. Easy to park and plenty of spaces, reception has plenty of hand sanitiser and screens. Staff were very friendly and spotted staff confinuely going around wiping exhibits, rails etc. There is also plenty of hand sanitiser and wipes to use around the exhibits yourself too. Definatly felt covid safe, number are clearly reduced which is a bonus and means you can freely get to all the exhibits. We spent 4 hours there but mainly because we had to wait for our Planetarium time slot other wise we probably would have left sooner. Planetarium was a highlight and worth booking in/paying extra for. I would recommend a visit but don't expect it to be all day but a great way to fill a couple of hours.
Written 30 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review.
We're so pleased you enjoyed your visit with us and that your children had a good day. We hope to see you again soon.
Best wishes
Winchester Science Centre
Written 4 November 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
B D
12 contributions
Jan 2023 • Family
This is very expensive for what is actually here. This is for families with young children only. Under 10 I would say.
Staff are friendly and cafe is clean and spacious.
The interactive activities are basic and for young children who don't understand what is happening then they are just randomly pressing buttons etc which kept them busy for sometime but not long. Most buttons just switch lights on. Some make noise. We didn't use the soft play. There is a construction area with foam bricks and a crane. This is popular and you have to queue for your turn but some parents don't make their kids wait their turn and they push in.
Also, coffee is in takeaway cups and I saw a few getting knocked over near the exhibits, requiring paper towels and mops. The best area was the sandpits and digging for rocks. With 2 kids under 4, we managed to stretch our visit to 1 hour 45, including a drink and snack stop. But for £30 for 1 adults ,1 child and an infant (free) it's quite a lot, plus drinks, and parking charge (although on this visit the machines were out of order).
By 10.30 on a Sunday, the venue was already packed and very loud, noisy. Car park struggling to contain everyone, people circling for spaces.
We didn't pay extra to go in the planetarium or other shows as the price would be getting a bit ridiculous at this point.
We've been once, we won't need to go again.
Staff are friendly and cafe is clean and spacious.
The interactive activities are basic and for young children who don't understand what is happening then they are just randomly pressing buttons etc which kept them busy for sometime but not long. Most buttons just switch lights on. Some make noise. We didn't use the soft play. There is a construction area with foam bricks and a crane. This is popular and you have to queue for your turn but some parents don't make their kids wait their turn and they push in.
Also, coffee is in takeaway cups and I saw a few getting knocked over near the exhibits, requiring paper towels and mops. The best area was the sandpits and digging for rocks. With 2 kids under 4, we managed to stretch our visit to 1 hour 45, including a drink and snack stop. But for £30 for 1 adults ,1 child and an infant (free) it's quite a lot, plus drinks, and parking charge (although on this visit the machines were out of order).
By 10.30 on a Sunday, the venue was already packed and very loud, noisy. Car park struggling to contain everyone, people circling for spaces.
We didn't pay extra to go in the planetarium or other shows as the price would be getting a bit ridiculous at this point.
We've been once, we won't need to go again.
Written 8 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. While we hope that every visitor young and old will learn something new when they visit us, the Science Centre is most suited towards children aged 5-12 and their families. All of our exhibits have been designed to be simple to use for all ages and abilities. Younger children will begin to build their science enquiry skills while older children can learn more about the science behind what they are doing from our interpretation boards.
We're pleased you enjoyed digging for space rocks over in our Earth:Lab area. The cost of general admission covers entry to our live science shows, the Science Live demo area, two floors of interactive exhibits and Bio:Space nature activity zone. As not all of our visitors wish to see a Planetarium show, tickets for these are an optional add-on.
We hope you might reconsider and visit again in the future.
Written 9 January 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Chris D
Horsham, UK9 contributions
Apr 2022 • Family
My son is a teenager with autism, and he loves planetariums. He’s been here many times, and in years gone by you could purchase tickets just for the planetarium screenings. However, starting in lockdown, this became impossible and you had to buy tickets for the science centre if you wanted the right to buy tickets for the planetarium. Now they’ve gone a step further and started charging for parking too. So it ends up costing £60 for a family of 3 to see a 25 minute film. On the plus side, the science centre isn’t totally without merit - my son does love the giant guitar - and it’s nice to be able to access what is a very decent cafe. However, It would be great if we had the option. Especially as the only other major planetarium within range is in Greenwich, located at the top of a hill in the middle of a park, so not exactly easy to get to.
Written 22 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your review, Chris - we appreciate all feedback. We're pleased to hear that your son enjoys visiting the Planetarium! While we have been recovering from the pandemic our focus has been on our core offer, which we have transformed and improved. However we are exploring the option to bring back things like the Planetarium-only tickets along with other popular and new events. Please do keep an eye on our social media channels for news and updates and we hope we can welcome you and your son back again soon.
Written 26 April 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
dorsetdiners
7 contributions
Dec 2021
Enjoyed a great day out at Winchester Science Centre today with my 7 year old - so much so that I felt I should leave a review. I last visited a few years ago when my daughter was younger. The exhibits had changed and there seemed to have been quite a few improvements in my opinion including lots more staff who were happy to provide knowledgeable explanations. There were lots of cleaning going on throughout the day. As well as enjoying all the very hands on exhibits we saw the live science show, a planetarium show and the science live demos which created a very varied day - we stayed longer than I thought we would. The cafe was very reasonable and served us well for a lunch out and I love that you can bring packed lunches too if you prefer that option. The space section downstairs was also brilliant! We will be back!
Written 22 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are so pleased to hear that you all had an enjoyable day and that you enjoyed our new visitor experience. We have a new sound exhibition, including lots of new interactive exhibits, and a brand new nature area, Bio:Space, where families can enjoy activities both inside and outside. We have also introduced the Science Live demo area where live experiments take place at regular intervals throughout the day.
We look forward to welcoming you back again soon!
Written 23 December 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
S N M
5 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
A great day out during half term week, especially if you have young children (I was accompanied by my 6yr old son) you won’t be disappointed as there is so much to experience all under one roof and following a recent refurbishment-the Winchester Science museum is new, very clean, well maintained and full of loads of things to explore, touch, view and see - even with Covid restrictions. There are lots of cleaning wipes and hand sanitisers by all the stands. The science show and planetarium show are entertaining, educational and the right length for those with little attention spans. You could spend a full day here as there is so much to explore and play with even though it’s pretty compact but well spread out over 2 floors. The staff are really friendly, knowledgeable and a real credit to the centre.
The website does mention limited parking and when we arrived just before 11 o’clock there were still plenty of spaces although when we left 2 1/2 hrs later - the car park was almost at capacity. The booking system / time slots also help.
The website does mention limited parking and when we arrived just before 11 o’clock there were still plenty of spaces although when we left 2 1/2 hrs later - the car park was almost at capacity. The booking system / time slots also help.
Written 28 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello,
Thank you for visiting Winchester Science Centre and for taking the time to leave us a review - we really appreciate your feedback.
We're pleased to hear that you enjoyed your visit with us and thank you for your kind comments about our staff. We look forward to welcoming you back for another visit soon!
Best wishes,
Winchester Science Centre
Written 4 November 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
dorsetmums
Poole, UK67 contributions
Aug 2021
We visited the Winchester Science Centre recently for my sons birthday and can't recommend it enough. It's worth booking in advance (at least 7 days to get a discount) so you can get an early time slot and I booked the free live science show and planetarium too. Our children aged 5 and 9 had such a good day trying all the interactive exhibits and the outdoor play area, crafts and soft play were a winner too. We took a picnic but there's a cafe serving light lunches like jacket potatoes and sandwiches ect. We didn't leave till closing and even then I know if we had had the energy and were allowed we would of stayed longer.
Written 18 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review, we really appreciate your feedback. We are so pleased that you all enjoyed your visit and we look forward to welcoming you back again soon!
Written 19 August 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
john m
Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Can I book to see the planetarium show only?
Written 14 February 2022
I'm not sure youre able to do that since the show is part of the whole museum and is booked on time slots after you have booked a ticket for entering the museum.
Written 15 February 2022
How long do people spend here on average? We're thinking of taking our 2 and 5 year olds for the day
Written 9 August 2019
if they are really interested in science most of the day, but when I went it was looking tired and many of the exhibits were broken or not working properly. so maybe half a day
Written 24 August 2019
Can I just confirm that children and adults are the same price? It feels a bit steep for a 3 year old!
Written 29 July 2019
If you purchase your ticket more than 3 days before you are due to visit the tickets are £9 excluding gift aid. Unfortunately only 0-2 fit into the other price bracket.
Written 29 July 2019
We’re going to book general admission tickets in advance online. Can we purchase tickets for the planetarium on the day (subject to availability) if we decide we’d like to see a show?
Written 1 January 2019
Depends on the two year old really. If they like pressing buttons and stuff there might be enough to keep them amused but it really is more suitable for nursery / early years and up.
Written 9 July 2018
If I book the Saturday Night Tickets will we also have access to the Exhibits? I'm finding the website ticket information to be extremely confusing.
Written 5 January 2017
Not sure about Saturday as I haven't been on a Saturday. The last time I went I didn't have access but they sell lots of different types of tickets and events so maybe best to ring them?
Written 6 January 2017
There is a very clear theme to the responses given by staff to either the poor or terrible reviews. The majority of responses at best ignore the complaints and are simply used as a way of the centre batting off critism or at worst the replies are simply rude and unprofessional, often from persons in a position which simply requires understanding and diplomacy. I don't know how much credit and or time you give or put into Trip Advisor reviews, but considering you have signs asking customers to specifically take the time to do it the very least you could do is give them due credit and consideration and never resort to inapropriate/ rude and or dismissive replies or responses. If you do not know what I mean then I suggest you review your own responses to reviews!
Here is my question to you, considering just how many of your reviews are negative, approx' 1/3 and that the majority of those centre around exhibits being broken, not doing what they are meant to, refuting your estimate of just how many exhibits are working, the whole centre looking and feeling run down now and tatty. Etc etc.......when are you going to stop the pointless generic replied and actually realise that action is required and to act accordingly? It does show a certain amount of deniel of the facts and refusal to deal, why?
James
Surrey
Written 21 June 2016
Thanks Peter, you'll see from the date, this question/ feedback from me is now almost 18 months old, so long infact, I had completely forgotten about it and the Centre. It was raised to highlight the poor/ unprofessional responses that were being given to customer complaints/ negative reviews, both historically, and at the time. The fact that you have just picked up on it now, suggests that there isn't much interest or credit given to Trip Adviser by the Centre Management/ Staff, which again begs the question, why is there a sign asking people to review/ feedback on the site. I should imagine you have picked up on my question by chance, because you are a new employee to the Centre, and you are just curious to see what people are saying. Ideally it should be regularly reviewed by Staff, with appropriate responses attached, but most importantly, that it is recognised as a valuable source of customer feedback, and in particular a way of constantly improving the service that is delivered. I am pleased to read your positivity about working there, and I very much hope that it has improved/ updated, and is now back to how good it used to be. All the best
Written 26 November 2017
Could you tell me the prices for main meals and kids meals please? We are coming on 15th Dec for the special docking event but its over tea time! Thanks
Written 8 December 2015
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