Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester Reviews Summary

Exhibits and Collection

Pros:

• "Brilliant display of heritage vehicles ranging from the open top horse bus to vehicles on the heritage bus service into Manchester, plenty of stalls selling transport memorabilia."
• "Brilliant museum with a high variety of buses to see and some that you can go on."
• "Certainly a lot of buses, but it's amazing to see all of the old buses and a lovely little section about the second world war."
• "The selection here is really impressive and features a really wide selection of buses from the greater Manchester area along with an original Manchester tram prototype and a WW2 era fire engine."
• "A fantastic museum. A wonderful display of buses and other vehicles. Plus lots of other exhibits rescued over the years."
• "The museum houses a superb selection of vehicles and helps tell the historic story of how public transport helped to shape the great city of Manchester."
• "Extensive collection of Greater Manchester buses from over the years, as well as the mock-up Metrolink tram."

Cons:

• "Sadly the collection isn't curated brilliantly and is more for looking at than interacting with."
• "Could do with upgrading and expanding to give a better view of the exhibits."
• "There are far too many things crammed into one very small space, so you can't look at anything properly."
• "Whilst there is a good collection of vehicles, I found this museum to be wholly disappointing."
• "Some you could enter and some not."
• "Shame there is no access to any of the olympians/metrobuses/anteleans."
• "It's all shut up.With building work going on, There is only 1 floor open and what you can see is quite poor if you pay a further £8 per person then you can go on 1 more floor."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "All the staff are super friendly and happy to stop and chat and answer questions."
• "Staff very friendly and knowledgeable walking round explaining in detail the history of each bus."
• "The staff were very helpful and went above beyond giving the children a background/ history of the buses."
• "Friendly enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff will happily answer your questions."
• "Run by lovely staff that I believe are volunteers."
• "Friendly and knowledgeable staff."
• "There are also staff members around whom you can ask questions and who are happy to share their expertise."

Cons:

• "Some of the staff were unfriendly (to the point of being quite rude) which was very disappointing."
• "One Con...the staff from the store need to be prepared much better about their products on sale."
• "On Saturday 19 March '22, I was 'thrown off' a heritage bus on the way to the museum."

Facilities and Amenities

Pros:

• "The cafe is excellent. Value really well. Priced food and not bad at all."
• "Has amenities and café with staff on site to answer your questions."
• "Lots of exhibits, friendly staff, and a great cafe serving basic meals and snacks at bargain prices."
• "There is also a small cafe, and a shop selling model buses, books and other transport related items."
• "The staff were wonderful and so full of knowledge and the cafe is great too."
• "School visits and tours are welcomed by prior arrangement."
• "The tea room offers the usual tea, coffee and fizzy drinks with a selection of hot and cold snacks."

Cons:

• "Feels a little dark in there."
• "Very dirty and cold! Not the most informative place."
• "Floor is cobbled so unsuitable for prams and some wheelchairs may struggle."
• "Today our family went to the museum, they enjoyed the day, all except the children running around banging into the displays and running over the exhibitions, shouting and screaming."

Accessibility and Parking

Pros:

• "Parking is on the street outside the museum and can be tough to get a spot if crowded."
• "You can park on the street for free."
• "Disability access is fantastic, they have a newly installed wheelchair lift."
• "Free parking easily available in the nearby area."
• "It's not in the city center. You can park on the street for free."
• "We parked on the street outside which wasn't an issue on the Saturday morning."
• "Bus services 41, 135 and 151 stop nearby."

Cons:

• "Only downside was parking, no proper car park we parked in the street."
• "There is a larger car park at the nearby Manchester Fort retail park though I think strictly you're only meant to park there whilst shopping."
• "The only drawback really is the parking - there wasn't any space initially outside and the surrounding roads aren't ideal to park on."
• "Only slight problem was the lack of parking nearby. Only street parking on the road near the museum."
• "I don’t mind people visiting the bus museum but come on don’t block out house driveways every time I come back from work I can’t park my car inside!!!"

Value and Experience

Pros:

• "We paid £5 each for admission which is an absolute bargain for the amount of history and nostalgia the Museum of Transport provides."
• "A real trip down memory lane, with buses from my childhood being part of the collection."
• "The entrance fee is affordable; no need to book."
• "An excellent museum to visit, a large selection of old buses."
• "The tickets are not expensive if anything, probably cheaper than most places in Manchester."
• "Tickets to the museum are only £6 for adults and children go free."
• "£5 for adults, kids free. Nice tea room with a good cheese toastie."

Cons:

• "Don't pay by your card!!! I got a lot of fraud transactions after I visited here!"
• "Also, I thought the entry price, for what it is, is very expensive, and likewise the shop was also highly priced."
• "It's expensive for what it is as you're only in there for an hour at the most."