Leicester, National Space Centre

Do not follow signage to National Space Centre as you get there but not to car park. Follow signage to Pioneer Park, but beware card are parked on both sides of road making it dangerous as you approach. Car parking fees are good for the day pay n display £3 regardless as to how long you are staying.

stand in queue only to find wrong queue, not defined enough.

Entrance few not bad for most places in UK.

Toilets dirty, obviously not cleaned or monitored.

So many of the hands on exhibits are worn or wearing out or put of order.

When mentioned to staff then in not so many words blamed the fee paying visitors.

In otherwords not their problem.

Certain areas were good but though it is advertised as children's day out there were restrictions.

My overall of 2☆ was because it is at least educational.But it certainly really needs money spending on bringing it up to the top notch it used to be.

Will I be visiting again?

This person is definitely not in a hurry.

Would I suggest to others?

No, I would advise going to a museum it would be time better spent.

The above is my opinion, it obviously will differ from others.

My visit was 16th February 2017

Time spent at centre, 3.5 hours.

We got in early about 10.20am, and that was the best time as it was quiet, no queue despite it being a school holiday. We won annual passes which was the icing on the cake. The cherry on the cake came with such exciting things to see. There is really so much to see. We tested a fantastic curry, freshly made!! All the mini shows are great. We are very very impressed and very satisfied customers. It really is an experience from space.

went here on june as a family terrible £13 we had to pay it was full of school children everywhere and young teenagers screaming and run around like there were in the playground couldn't go to the planterum as the whole queue was full with kids it was awful toilets were awful the it was dirty and the cafe i wouldn't call it a cafe more like a school canteen. would not recommoned to anyone if your 12 and under. WASTE OF MONEY FOR ADULTS

Went with my children, Jack, Ryan and Ricky, had great fun making the weather forecast, and a lot of fun in the rocket tower and cinema.

it was realy good but inthe rocket it was dangerous because you could easily fall off. so they should build something so its impossible to fall off. but the rest of it was realy good.

I was really disappointed with the space centre. Took my 4yrs daughter and defo felt that it was unsuitable for her age. Although it maybe okay for 10yrs+. you don't have to pay for children under 5, so maybe they agree with me that theres nothing for the under 5's to do.

overall pants!

National Space Centre - At Leicester!

I thought of heading to this venue, hoping it would be a similar kind of venue to Techniquest in Cardiff, which my child really enjoyed - however if this is what you are expecting..please don't be misled.

On arrival the tills could be clearly seen, but to be honest from this point it was easy to get lost, and not so easy to find the sections you were after. I did manage to get a paper map, but this was not very helpful - and the staff seemed more concerned about rushing you through to reduce the queue than actually helping you out.

Some of the activities sites were looking a bit tired, especially the (i think it was classed as) Jimmy Lunar kids section - the equipment looked like it was in definite need of a revamp.

The 3D cinema (that unfortunately due to technical diff. was only working in 2D on the day of our trip) was well worth a visit, and my daughter found it very informative - and the simulator in the tranquility section was brilliant - having said that we found the simulator by accident and could well have missed out on one of the best parts of the day.

The cafe lacks any decent food, as venues like this tend to do so- but please be aware that there is a microwave located in the seating area - so if you want to warm food up you can - something which i wish i had known before purchasing food.

Overall a pleasant day - and give it a couple of years but i would probably head back.

I can't understand people who didn't enjoy their time at the Space Centre. Granted I have lived here in Leicester for 5 years now and only recently decided to pay it a visit and I am genuinely gutted I hadn't gone sooner. The rocket tower is beautiful and the new exhibitions are informative and engaging.

Then there is the main area which has almost too much to see and do. I have been twice in the last month to see everything and get a look at some of the hidden gems. Then there is the Space Theatre which shows a 360degree film narrated by David Tennant and is truly inspiring.

This is the type of museum that if you sprint round it you are bound to miss some of the best bits, but by taking your time you will really get alot from your time there.

Compared with some of the useless reviews here (complaining about travel woes for example) let me just start by saying: a good day out is what YOU make it. This attraction seems expensive but there's so much to do: there's an iMAX cinema experience, interactive displays, themed sections (eg 60s "man on the moon" exhibition), a restaurant, a shop. I had no expectations about the day (if you set them too high you'll be disappointed no matter where you go) and we all had a fab day: 2 adults, 1 5 year old and a 3 year old. We'll definitely be going back!

We first visited the Centre about 3 years ago; whilst there have been several additions to the centre's displays since then - and work is still in progress - we felt the place looked 'tired' and we were disappointed to find that several of the interactive exhibits didn't work properly. Given the cost of entry, albeit that the ticket does last a year (not much use if you live some distance away), we were disappointed with the day out and whilst we wouldn't advise people not to go we don't feel we can enthusiatically recommend the Centre - we think it is overpriced and feels outdated.