IWM Duxford Reviews Summary

Aircraft and Exhibits

Pros:

• "The variety of planes they have there is immense and all have boards with information about the plane, and the story of the one in the museum which I found very interesting."
• "The airshow was in my opinion absolutely tremendous, with a great variety of aircraft."
• "This place is absolutely amazing. A must for anyone you just can't believe how these planes look in real life."
• "Great accessibility for disabled visitors and many spectacular aircraft including the only SR-71 outside of the USA."
• "Visited the Spitfire exhibition. 12 Spitfires from the MK1 to the MK22, in one hanger. An amazing sight, accompanied by knowledgeable volunteers who gave enthralling talks on each of the Spitfires."
• "A great collection of old planes, from historic passenger planes like Concorde to iconic American military planes like the B-52 bomber or the Blackbird."
• "The best hanger is where the engineers are actively working on planes."

Cons:

• "Not up to par toilet facilities."
• "The hangars were empty of staff, and a lot of rooms were closed."
• "The only disappointment on this visit was the lighting in some areas was very poor and my personal favourite section had been closed off due to changing the displays."
• "Unfortunately on our visit May 2023 they was more than what I would call a reasonable number of the interactive exhibitions damaged/Broken/Not working."
• "Because many of the aircraft are operational, they are moved around quite a bit. In doing so, their information placards sometimes do not follow the aircraft."
• "The only negative is that some of the informational signage is significantly out of date."
• "There is a huge hangar full of aircraft, including concorde which you can walk through."

Staff and Volunteers

Pros:

• "IWM Duxford volunteers are always helpful and full of great knowledge."
• "The staff at reception were very friendly and seemed genuinely pleased to help usher me in."
• "All the staff are volunteers and are all knowledgeable and very keen to help and educate you if you ask."
• "Volunteers very knowledgeable."
• "The staff at the entrance to the first hanger were extremely helpful and informative."
• "All the staff were extremely helpful and friendly."
• "Volunteers are friendly and knowledgeable."

Cons:

• "Many staff didn't seem to know the time of day even with a watch on."
• "The docent I asked was clueless."
• "They were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable which made the experience even more enjoyable."
• "The highlight of the day was undeniably the exhilarating sight of a Spitfire soaring past in a breathtakingly fast flyby."
• "If you go on a busy day you'll see all kinds of interesting aircraft flying overhead."

Value and Pricing

Pros:

• "A bit pricey, but it must cost a fortune to run."
• "The price is fair...unless it takes you more than one day to see everything."
• "A bit pricey as for today entry £27.50 but not excessive as many staff members have to walk around."
• "Parking onsite was good value and super well organised!"
• "It's worthwhile to take the annual membership and return a couple of time throughout a year in advance to really experience everything this place can offer."
• "Reasonably priced entry."
• "Pricing is good value for what you get."

Cons:

• "Additionally, their merch is exorbitant."
• "Tea and cakes nice but a tad pricey, no discount with membership a shame."
• "Only downside is its quite expensive."
• "I thought it was crazy expensive to get in and then the cost of all the additional experiences within the attraction."
• "The only negative is the gift shop was a bit pricey."
• "We had lunch at the US airforce museum, which was good, however very expensive."
• "But very expensive £45 per ticket then £20 per person to have a seat in the grandstand."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

• "There are cafes and toilets available across the site and some opportunities to see historic aircraft flying."
• "Also great for kids with lots of educational things to do."
• "Large car park, numerous toilets including accessible toilets and baby changes."
• "Toilet facilities are also in abundance and the ones I used were clean and handily located."
• "There's a little shuttle bus that runs between the hangers."
• "Accessibility is good with mini coaches and transport to move people about the site."
• "Accessible facilities are plentiful with almost all step free access."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately, the shuttle bus service that would have facilitated our movement between the starting and ending points was out of service during our visit."
• "Let down a little by numerous interactive displays, simulator and restoration hall not being available."
• "The distance between the various hangars proved to be quite significant, especially considering our limited time and the presence of a disabled passenger."
• "It can be a struggle for elderly people to walk it all."
• "Lots of hand sanitizer stations but all empty and the prices of refreshments."
• "The Cafés are a bit of let down... room for improvement there."
• "Only (minor) let down is the food areas aren't brilliant, and choice is a bit limited."

Overall Experience

Pros:

• "Would definitely recommend."
• "Very highly recommended."
• "Probably the best museum experience in Europe."
• "Amazing, well organized and gives an experience out of the ordinary."
• "A really unique attraction. I loved it."
• "Fabulous museum with so much to see - you will struggle to see everything in a day."
• "Absolutely stunning experience."

Cons:

• "Be warned if you're planning on taking a child under 8 years old, they will get bored and you'll never get to see all that Duxford has to offer."
• "It's a lot of walking and lots to see, we got distracted by everything and went for lunch late, by which time the food choices were limited."
• "The only downside is the cafe as had a coffee and cake for 8 quid woowwww. A bit over the top."
• "Really good value compared to other days out."
• "The whole place is accessible and very-well designed/maintained with the visitors in the mind."
• "My only gripe is the booking online. I accidentally booked the wrong day I didn't check dates properly so that is my fault, but YOU CAN'T GET REFUND OR TRANSFER TO ANOTHER DAY."
• "Could do with some gluten free cakes perhaps."