The Tudor House and Garden is a museum in the old part of Southampton…read more Built around 1492, the building was a grand house for most of its life until it became a museum in 1912. It has elements from every century since the 15th, as it has been much remodelled over the years. There's a good audio guided tour, which brings it to life. The exhibits are rather eclectic but the house itself includes lovely touches such as Tudor graffiti and floorboards made from 18th Century ship timbers. At the rear is a charming garden, which has been restored to its original Tudor form. Behind that, built into the town's mediaeval walls, is the so-called King John's Palace. Actually a town house belonging to a wealthy merchant built around 1180, it is a very rare example of Norman domestic architecture. The museum has a small shop and a nice modern cafe in the garden - this can be visited without paying for the museum tour. Staff were notably very friendly throughout our visit.

A fun time at the Tudor House and Garden. It has a lot of history here and you get to learn about…read moreit through the videos and the writings all around. They give you a map showing all the rooms and places to visit during your adventure. Overall I thought this was pretty cool and I do believe kids and adults will enjoy it! Don't forget the garden it is beautiful.

Small quaint art gallery in Seaview, Isle of Wight. I suppose because of their situation there was…read morea lot of maritime art to see and lots of original works from local artists. I think they also do regular exhibitions. Unfortunately they were priced just out of my league but were lovely to look at!

I am a huge Jane Austen fan (I took a class on her in grad school), so of course I loved seeing her…read morehouse in Chawton. It was amazing to see after visiting Chawton House and comparing how this truly was a cottage, and realizing it was once on the same property as Chawton House. They do their best to replicate things as they might have been, and even have scraps of the original wallpaper framed next to the renewed version of the wallpaper. You can take a picture with Pride and Prejudice in the room in which Jane herself first read the book. If you do not like Jane Austen, perhaps give it a visit to see if experiencing this place changes your mind? If you like history, you will probably still enjoy a lot of what this museum shows, regardless of your feelings about Jane Austen. If you are a fan of Jane Austen, make sure to visit here. It is a bit of a crazy walk if coming in from Alton, but completely worth it (and really, the walk from the bus stop to Chawton does a great job of transporting you back to Jane Austen's time to better appreciate Chawton House and Jane Austen's House).

I visited this museum on a day trip from London and WOW! Not only is the museum itself beautiful,…read morewell organized, and full of information, but the staff is very welcoming! Not only were they friendly when we picked up the tickets, but once we were inside, those inside were happy to answer our many, many questions about the house, the furniture, and the time that Jane spent there. Our group spent almost two hours exploring the house and the small garden. Make sure to save some time for the gift shop! The selection of gifts, books, toys, and specialty items was amazing and the staff was helpful is assisting with our selections. Next to the gift shop, there was even a family activity area for kids to dress up, practice their calligraphy, and color. It turns out that this house was where Jane Austen spent the last eight years of her life, and if you consider yourself a fan of her writing, or even just early 19th century architecture, you need to make the visit!

We visited Beaulieu as part of my parents' 60th wedding anniversary. What a pleasant surprise. The…read moreNational Motor Museum is great, but there is so much more, be it the vintage bus ride, the monorail, the gardens, the abbey, the secret army exhibition or the house. The restaurant is pretty decent as well. A very enjoyable day for the whole family.

What? Are you serious that no one has reviewed this museum yet?…read more Britain is peppered with small community museums dedicated to one small tiny aspect of some technical or technological achievement that still completely misses the big picture and fails to truly entertain the young. On one such visit, I was directed to the Beaulieu and the National Motor Museum as an example of the best of museumship (tip to francophones out there it is pronounced, "byoo-lee" in case you need to ask directions froma local). I was not disappointed. It is on a very large estate and shares space with one of the many abbeys-come-ruins that have peppered England since the reformation, and a typically beautiful English garden, which we did not partake of on this chilly November day, since the finest of the blushes of summer had long since past. For my part, I've been really enjoying my son's recent rejuvenation since he's been diagnosed with coeliac disease and on a gluten free diet. Our day at the NMM was great fun for him, and evidence of just how well gluten free works for him, as he was running around everywhere, and commenting on virtually every one of the several hundred cars that we saw. "There's a classic Mini." "There's a classic convertable." "That one is a classic Mercedes." Commenting on one of the speed record specimens, "that car goes really really fast." "That's a formula 1 car." And on it went. The ride on the vintage double-decker was a lot of fun, and so was the monorail. If you're at all a fan of Top Gear, you will also like the "World of Top Gear" exhibit which shows some of the more fun inventions of the show like the three limousines, and the pick-up truck that crossed the English channel. It did miss out on the one thing that a museum like this can never have enough of...exhibits you can interact with. There were certainly some, but really, if you have hundreds of classic cars, why not have at least a few that people can climb into and experience for themselves. I would have loved to have sat in one of the several Formula 1 cars, or rally cars, or anything like that for that matter. The one vehicle you got to climb into was an old 1960's doubledecker bus, and even then, you don't even get to go up to the top level. So when all is said and done, the NMM was good, but not great. It's worth the drive if you're not far, but I wouldn't go all the way to Southampton just to visit this museum. And be sure to fill out your gift aid form so that you can go back as much as you want for a year.

This is one of the best places my family and I have ever been to. Completely disabled friendly with…read morelots of parking. The recent addition of the planetarium has been a big hit causing the numbers of daily visitors to swell so get there early as queues can be long. This centre has interactive learning technology and science exhibits, like how much water we waste with baths and showers etc, sounds boring with me saying it but it really is lots of fun with lots of weird and wonderful gadgets to play with it's really hands on, kids and adults alike will love it. There's a great gift shop with very cheap momentoes and the food was reasonable to. The best part for us was the show in the planetarium, just amazing and such a great display, fully disabled friendly and the staff were very helpful. All in all a 5 star day out.

This is risking my hard to please badge, but this is a fantastic day out, lots to do, good value;…read morethe entrance fee is fair, the cafe has good sized portions at a reasonable price, while the gift shop fair and down to earth; unlike The Science Museam in London, from which my son came away empty handed. It's a good hours drive each way for us but very well worth it, I'm thinking about buying the 1annual pass (they'll credit me with today fee if I sign up within 14 days). My lad is seven next week and said that today was the best day of his life, for that alone it is worth five stars.

An offshoot of the Royal National Armoury collection housing a wide range of cannon and field…read moreartillery from the age of Henry VII through to Saddam Hussains mega cannon . Set in the vast Victorian fortress Fort Nelson which is more than worth a visit itself as a classic example of fortress design . Very good displays . Best of all it's totally free .

This is a great Museum to take the family. The Museum is free and there's plenty of free parking…read more You can explore the ramparts and tunnels, it covers the history of artillery and they have a reasonably priced cafe.

If you're an admirer of Jane Austen, then this is a visit you'll enjoy. What's unique about this…read moreplace is that Jane Austen once resided here. Calling it a museum might be slightly exaggerated, but referring to it as just a house isn't quite right. You'll learn about Jane's background and relatives while you attempt to picture life during that era.

We were in the area and where looking for something to do and found this. Cost 8.5 per person but…read morethe entry is good for one year. There is a short film that gives you an overview and then you can go into the house. They do have some original items but also have supplemented with items from the period but not original to the house. There is a downstairs and an upstairs. There is a very pleasant garden. We were able to enjoy it as it was a sunny day. There is also a small gift shop and two toilets. They stated they have WiFi but we couldn't get it to work on our phones. A good way to spend a hour.

So we decided to check this place out after the Osborne house, and arrived around 3pm to a…read moresemi-ominous delegation of dozens of crows. I believe I first read about it on Yelp or Trip Advisor, as something worth seeing that is a bit off of the beaten path on the Isle of Wight. The villa "was the home and estate of a cultured farmer and administrator in Roman-British times." Yes, Roman-occupied Britain, circa the 3rd century (AD 250). Excavated in this century and preserved as a museum, it was a pretty neat slice of the times. We saw the outlines and rooms of a home, including the original mosaic tiles, which was extremely fascinating. And the way they introduced each rooms was... interesting. Sort of like the narrator was a friend, using a first-person narrative describing the rooms in their homes. "Let me begin to explain the floor of what I think of as my private room. The mosaic is dedicated to Bacchus the god of wine and good things. You can see two of the images. I've also shown gladiators, one with a net advancing with trident and dagger towards the armoured opponent, whose helmet is just visible." Commonly, the mosaics depicted something to do with myths: Medusa, Perseus, Andromeda, the "cockheaded man" (... chicken-headed). Laid out with glass walkways elevated above the excavated floor, you're able to peer down or across at interesting parts of history. There are also a lot of displays arranged around the villa, showing anything from dog skulls and bones ("Discovered down the well with human remains, suggesting ritual offerings to influence the gods.), coins ("Bronzian of the Emperor Allectus 293-296 AD, found in Room 31 during the 2004 excavations.), chunks of stone featuring footprints in the tile ("The floor tile found in the well bears a human footprint, studded sandal impressions, and a dog's paw print. It is called a bipedalis, a type commonly used to cap a hypocaust floor."), and even some pictures of how the villa came to be buried over the centuries. THE VERDICT: Small, but interesting Roman-occupied villa. I think if you're nearby, it's definitely worth a quick trip because of the ancient, original pieces and tilework that you are see. It's sort of amazing to look down on a mosaic floor that still bears colored tiles. I definitely appreciate old things, and I get an almost dizzying sense seeing places like this. But I can also see how it might be boring to other people who just aren't as interested in stuff like this. To me, it was a fun experience, and I'm glad we stopped in and checked it out. MY TIME: We spent less than an hour here, including getting some cream tea. TIPS/SUGGESTIONS: -The villa is roofed, so you don't have to worry about getting rained on. -Highly wheelchair-accessible.

It's hard to imagine what this villa would have looked like a few years ago before it's spanking…read morenew timber clad cover building was erected. What I like about this museum is that it displays photos of the previous building and also gives a load of information on the original Victorians who discovered it. Clearly the main focal point of the museum is the excavation of the foundations and mosaic floor, but there is so much more information scattered around the walls about the commmitment of preserving such a monument. I didn't realise this before, but this roman villa is one of the top 10 in Europe apparently. The building is hidden away in a valley, but as you drive up to it you get your first sight of the building which is absolutely stunning. Now, me and the other half work with buildings every day so we probably spent a bit too much time admiring the building, but even for the less obsessed there is much to admmire! Well done to all those involved in getting the building up and running and for making an apparent success of it all. There were plenty of kids doing activities when we were there and that has to be the key to survival I think.