Indoors

Being Brunel

Name: Being Brunel
Address: Great Western Dockyard, Gas Ferry Rd, Bristol, BS1 6TY, GB
Telephone: 0117 926 0680

Bristol

Courtesy of Being Brunel

SETTING

Indoors

WHERE

Bristol

What it’s like

Step into Brunel's own head, wander a recreated Victorian dining room, then draw on a moving train inside a broad-gauge carriage.

This one's built around getting inside Isambard Kingdom Brunel's head, literally, with an interactive bit the site calls "Step inside Brunel's mind" that walks you through how he actually thought and worked. From there you wander into a recreated Victorian dining room, all set dressing and period detail rather than glass cases and labels, which tends to land better with kids who get bored reading text on walls.

The bit they'll actually remember is the broad-gauge carriage. You climb in and draw on a moving train, which is a genuinely odd sentence to write but it's the sort of hands-on touch that separates this from a standard museum trot. It's all indoors, so a rained-off Saturday in Bristol is no bother here.

Entry isn't free, and what you get for it is more generous than it first looks: your ticket includes a year's access to Bristol Dockyards, so this can be the first of several visits rather than a one-off. Opening hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm, so it's shut on Mondays and there's no evening slot to squeeze in after a late morning. Booking's available online, and given the compact hours it's the sensible way to make sure you get a slot rather than turning up on spec.

Need to know

Worth knowing: Entry includes a year's access to Bristol Dockyards

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm, closed Mondays
Booking is available online ahead of your visit
Your entry ticket doubles as a year's pass to Bristol Dockyards

Plan your visit

What do kids actually do here?

They go through the Step inside Brunel's mind experience, look round a recreated Victorian dining room, and climb into a broad-gauge carriage to draw on a moving train.