Bournemouth Aviation Museum Reviews Summary

Staff and Volunteers

Pros:

• "The staff are very helpful and have a lot knowledge."
• "The staff were really friendly and knowledgeable too."
• "Friendly and welcoming staff."
• "All the staff were friendly and enthusiastic."
• "Volunteers who are friendly & so full of knowledge & keen to share it with everyone."
• "Really friendly chaps who volunteer to run the museum."
• "The volunteers who work and run this place are the friendliest people I've met in recent times, you can clearly tell they love what they do and it shows."

Cons:

• "Staff are overly helpful and very friendly."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "For only £7 entry fee it's one of, if not the cheapest things in Bournemouth!"
• "Cost £7 adult and £3 child run by charity so low cost."
• "One adult and one child cost £10 total."
• "Also it's so cheap to enter."
• "At £3 for children and £6 for adults this is fantastic value for money."
• "At £7.00 to get in it was very cheap."
• "It's also an absolute bargain to get in, £7 for adults and £3 for children."

Cons:

• "I was disappointed, as when I arrived the entrance price was higher than what was advertised on their website."
• "Not particularly cheap so check website for current prices."

Exhibits and Accessibility

Pros:

• "A fantastic place where kids and adults can climb into the cockpits of some of British aviation's finest creations."
• "You get to sit in the cockpits of quite a few of the aircraft (Lightning, Canberra, Meteor, Wessex) and look inside the larger ones (737, Vulcan!)."
• "Being able to actually have a hands on experience was great for the kids and it kept them entertained for hours."
• "Great for kids as its hands on and many aircraft and vehicles can be sat in."
• "You can actually climb into a fighter jet and sit in the pilot's seat."
• "The majority of the aircraft have open cockpits that you can sit in."
• "You can get in all the planes, a fire engine and a bus."

Cons:

• "It looks amazing from the outside, but when you enter, you will see that the cockpit parts of the planes are in the dirt and very very poor condition."
• "There's an air of run downness to the place, needs some investment to bring it up to scratch."
• "The Vulcan nose section at the museum looks anything but the part - it needs TLC!"
• "In a couple of planes there is quite a bit of rubbish in cupboards."
• "Not everything is accessible, for example, some doors are locked."
• "I was further disappointed in finding out that many cockpits were closed to the public and that the real life simulator was not working."
• "It’s more an aeroplane junkyard, rather than a museum... calling it a museum is really pushing it."

Facilities and Amenities

Pros:

• "They have picnic benches for taking your own food in."
• "Nice little gift shop too."
• "Free parking opposite Adventure Wonderland theme park."
• "Snacks and drinks machine available."
• "Klix coffee machine and toilets on site, as well as a small gift shop."
• "Has toilets and a coffee machine. Little gift shop and free parking."
• "The central building was accessible with ramps both going in and out of it."

Cons:

• "There's no restaurant but they do sell ice-cream."
• "I was also disappointed that they didn’t have a Spitfire, as advertised on their website."
• "Hard to find initially from direction we arrived from as no sign visible."
• "But once I got there they closed an hour earlier."
• "There is a small shop but no cafe. You can buy hot drinks from a machine in one of the cabins."
• "The only thing this place is missing is a cafe, although it does sell soft drinks, water and ice creams (limited selection and not many dairy free or vegan)."
• "Only thing lacking is a café to get food and refreshments."

Overall Experience

Pros:

• "A really great museum!!"
• "This has to be one of the best museums I have ever been to with kids."
• "This place is well worth a visit."
• "What an amazing place. For the young and old."
• "Absolutely fantastic."
• "An amazing museum. Lot's of history."
• "Absolutely magnificent few hours spent in this museum."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately, covid 19 has had an effect on the museum."
• "Displays looking about tiered."
• "Good value, but needs some work, even just general cleaning would have improved the day, women's toilets really need it."
• "It's outdoors so can get chilly though."
• "I think there are more bits of planes than there are reasonably complete planes."
• "Quite rough around the edges, it’s not a polished museum but that’s great because you can actually climb in and out of the artefacts."
• "This place is great. A little rough around the edges, but plenty to entertain kids for a good hour or maybe more."