Museum of Science - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
Museum of Science
Museum of Science
4.5
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
The Museum of Science features over 700 interactive and informative exhibits centering around math, engineering, biodiversity, and more. Watch educational shows and live presentations at the Charles Hayden Planetarium, and cool 4D movies at the Mugar Omni Theater, the only domed IMAX screen in New England. Tickets to the museum include access to films and planetarium shows at a discounted rate. The museum is the departure point of the Boston Duck Tour—combine your museum visit with a cruise along the Charles River to enjoy the city’s best sights. – Tripadvisor
Duration: 2-3 hours
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  • fba5
    Albany, New York766 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Enjoyable visit with family!
    This was an interesting museum which has several levels & wings. We saw many exhibits & a staff member giving a presentation that included a live turtle on stage. One of our favorite experiences was the 4D Theater showing Tiny Giants. Our granddaughter's friend had told her not to miss this! FYI, they do have a Planetarium & Omni Films (IMAX) as well. As we were visiting with family who'd been to the museum many times, we had to pick & choose what to see during the time we were there.
    Visited May 2023
    Written May 20, 2023
  • stanpnepa
    21 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Underrated. Best Science Museum We've Seen. It's Huge! Allow Lots of Time.
    Our last stop on a three day trip. Figured we'd be here a couple of hours (same as the aquarium the day before). After nearly four hours (no time for films, planetarium or live exhibits), we wrapped it up. Go early before the tour groups arrive. Nearly all the many interactive exhibits "worked" (and the few that didn't had notes on them). A great time for our 11 year-old boy and his folks. We didn't even get to see it all. Much better than the science museums we've been to in PA, NJ and NY. Surprised to see this place rated so low. Plus it's more reasonably priced than the other activities in the city.
    Visited June 2023
    Written July 2, 2023
  • somanyplaces
    157 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great place for kids
    Museum has many interactive exhibits appealing to children (and every summer camp in the area seemed to be there). The AI exhibit was quite interesting and the IMAX show about climbing Mt. Everest was fantastic.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written July 27, 2023
  • Joh
    36 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beat kids science museum ever
    Our kids loved this museum. We spent 2 hours there and only got through half of it. They spent a ton of time at the interactive engineering design workshop. My eldest loved the live Tesla coils show, and my youngest loved the brain games exhibit. We will go back when we are in Boston again.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 25, 2023
  • KathiG727
    Belvidere, New Jersey36 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    MUST SEE!
    Best science museum!! Living between Liberty Science Center and DaVinci Science Center I have seen plenty of Science exhibits, but the Museum of Science tops them all. 3+ floors of many different exhibits, tours, shows and hands-on learning. The museum starts in prehistoric times and goes into the future. Great for all ages. There is also a planetarium and Imax theater.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 26, 2023
  • GraceIshak
    Wiscasset, Maine558 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    It’s great, but very crowded.
    My kids (ages 11 and 6) had a blast at this museum. There is so many neat things to look at and engage in there and you could spend a lot of time here. We took the train and made a whole day out of it. The price is on the higher end and if it wasn’t so crowded it would of been worth it to me. Perhaps they could have reservations and limited ticket sales that way you can enjoy more without constantly being in a line and waiting your turn to look at exhibits.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written September 20, 2023
  • JennieCV
    44 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fabulous for the whole family
    Great day out. Lots of interactive content for all ages, not just kid focused. We thought we’d only be there an hour or so, but spent all morning there and loved it. Cafe on site so you can rest between exhibits.
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written September 22, 2023
  • Drew K
    Ballwin, Missouri946 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great Interactive Museum
    I toured this kid-friendly museum on a rainy Saturday afternoon. The ticket booth graciously comped my admission when I told the woman that I was a member of the St. Louis Science Center. I watched the Imax presentation of "Everest". The museum was packed with kids enthusiastically working with the interactive exhibits.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written November 7, 2023
  • LBCdovs
    New Jersey296 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent Museum
    Was a little hesitant to come with my kid (6) because I wasn’t sure if they’d have much that interested him…….wrong! We all had an excellent time. The museum had more than enough things to do and see, for us. Museum is well organized and has a good flow to it. The inclusion of the movies also was cool. We were able to make a whole day affair out of it. Actually, even the chicken fingers were decent, in the cafeteria. Wasn’t expecting that. Long story short, go.
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written November 13, 2023
  • Leah-Anne
    United Kingdom123 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Went as part of city pass
    Pretty good museum with different sections of interest. It’s only a shame that the bit about space is absolutely tiny as I feel that could’ve been more interesting otherwise. Handy that there’s water fountains around the museum. The lightening show was good and the talk about what’s happening in space today. We wanted food at the cafe but everything seemed unhealthy so we gave it a pass. Otherwise, overall a good museum and we spent about three hours there
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written February 27, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles3,369 reviews
Excellent
2,069
Very good
809
Average
325
Poor
105
Terrible
61

RightTruRvws
Fort Collins, CO180 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021 • Couples
The displays are either a little hard to fathom or are geared to children 10 and under. There were so many busses of school kids that some areas were overrun by kids and not accessible for others. On top of that, $25 per ticket was ok, but the parking garage was $19 for a couple hours! If that was not enough, typical Boston hard to get to and out of.
Liked what the museum is trying to do, but the kids, the cost…can not recommend for out of town visitors like us who are not members.
Written October 4, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Preschool Mom
Milford, NH1 contribution
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2021
My two children are almost 4 and loved watching the trains and playing with the toy trains at the temporary exhibit. The Garden Walk/insect exhibit was also well loved. We did not go this time, but I have greatly enjoyed the planetarium and IMAX theaters during prior visits. The rest of the exhibits feel dull and my kids were not really interested. A lot of the exhibits feel old/outdated and have not changed since my first visit in 1999 and several of the exhibits were old then. One thing I would love to see improvement on is the layout. With multiple exhibit halls, I would prefer for them to be categorized by age. The green hall is for toddlers/preschoolers. The blue hall is for elementary students, etc. All machines should be in good working order (we ran into broken ones) or instructions should be more clear (coding station). Some of the exhibits should be more hands on. Example, my children could touch the dinosaur footprint (felt cheap) but could not stand in it. The space shuttle, the girls could climb in, but the video inside was nothing impressive and the buttons did not do anything. The look of the shuttle also said, I have been here forever and I look grungy from years of staining (It was clean, but things age and a new paint job should not be a budget buster). This is not the way to get kids interested in space. If the Museum ever gets the money, I hope they make a playground version of the international space station. For a hands on experience, my preschoolers were significantIy more engaged and entertained at the See Science Center in Manchester, NH. I am glad we went once, but unless we are going for the IMAX or the planetarium, we will not be returning. Tickets for a family of 4 are $100, now add in the cost of parking and costs start becoming prohibitive, especially if you are also buying lunch. Lunch is standard cafeteria fare. Expensive, but don’t expect more than fries, grocery store style burgers, and school cafeteria pizza. This is standard at most museums across the country, so I don’t feel that this should be a factor in preventing someone from going, but it would be nice if it was run more like a ski resort. Same cheap food, but already available to walk up and grab, I don’t want to wait in line for 10 minutes for them to take my order and start it. Especially when the family in front of me also ordered burgers and there was enough grill space to make theirs and mine at the same time.
Written December 25, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Amelia D
4 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022
The Boston Museum of Science has many interactive exhibits for kids ages 4-11. I would not recommend bringing older children to the museum because the displays were designed for younger children. They had exhibitions from biology to weather. I enjoyed the Future of Boston exhibit the most. Overall, the experience was fun, and each display was entertaining. One thing to preface before going there is to bring a mask! They will not let you into the museum without a mask covering your mouth and nose. Although they have masks at the front desk, they are children's masks, so bringing your own is advised.
Written March 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

agreeneyedgirl85
Grand Rapids, MI45 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
I went here as a kid and remembered this being one of my favorite places. Unlike the aquarium, which was quite the let down, the Museum of Science did not disappoint. We spent almost 5 hours here with our 4-year old! There are so many activities to do for kids (and adults) of all ages. Out little one especially loved the Pixar exhibit that they have right now and we spent over an hour in that exhibit alone. Would definitely also recommend the Planetarium film Big Birds Big Adventure for little ones - our daughter loved it and it was a great intro into astrology.
Written July 16, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Valerie G
British Virgin Islands174 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021 • Family
We always make it a point to visit the science museum when visiting a major city with our daughter as she loves science. She has seen a few the latest being the one in San Francisco. We also have a few friends in Boston with children who really hyped up this museum to us so we were really looking forward to it. For me it was just okay. It was expensive for what it is. We got there mid afternoon on a Friday and saw the 4D film Ice Worlds to start. It was meh for me. We then did the blue and green rooms. My daughter who is 10 had fun going from one exhibit to the next and I think she enjoyed the learning. Agreed there is quite a bit of learning for children but for the adults accompanying the children, at least speaking for
myself, it fell flat. Comparing that experience say to the Science Museum in San Francisco or in London we all enjoyed and learned a lot at those two museums. It was not a bad way to spend an afternoon for the sake of my daughter and maybe we will pass back when next we are in the city and there is some discount on the rates as to be fair we did not see the entire museum. So would want to evaluate again when we have seen more of it.
Written October 31, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

christopherbO9687MP
Acton, MA734 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020
The Museum of Science provides a great science overview for a range of topics, with updated exhibits in various renovated galleries. A number of areas have recently been updated, such as an extensive holiday model train exhibit area just completed for this season. While some of the hands-on exhibits are temporarily off limits, there are enough other user friendly interactions (such as body motion scanners) to allow some interactions.

The exhibits are not that crowded currently, but that could change with the upcoming school holiday vacations. Check with the museum's web site to see what exhibits are open on a desired day, which may require reservations when you book your tickets. Also note the museum's cafeteria has also reopened, but seating (suitably spread out) may be limited.

Old timers (such as myself) will enjoy the history of the Museum exhibit. That galley shows off some of the exhibits & artifacts from years ago. Sobering to see items that were promoted as the latest technologies when I first visited now being shown as ancient artifacts!
Written November 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jennifer S
Kingston, NY14 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
We took our seven and one year old here for a visit on a Friday night when the museum was open till 9 and it was outstanding. The boys had a great time exploring and playing in all the areas. We were there for a weekend trip and used City Pass Boston and it was totally worth it. Make sure you check out the lighting show and the science shows. We loved them.
Written January 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NEtraveler0000
Boston, MA32 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2019
The museum does a first rate job of creating exhibits that encourage you to interact and teach you something in the process. Many science museums show you "cool" stuff to see and move on. This one shows you exciting, entertaining, and EDUCATIONAL concepts that you remember. The whole family will enjoy it. It's constantly changing, so you can keep going back.
Written February 10, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jen I
2 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021 • Family
Highly recommend. Such a fun, interactive experience. Tons of things to do, see & learn. My 9 & 11yo were so busy that we stayed for 6 hours. The Pixar exhibit is great. Cafe offers few options, but at least they don’t price gouge you for chicken tenders or a burger. Starbucks stand for parents who need to refuel.
Written June 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Daniela S
Jersey, UK17 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Family
Having visited the Science Museum in the past (2005) and had a great experience, I was keen to bring my children (aged 13 & 9) for a visit. Big mistake. It feels like the museum has dumbed down and is catering solely to families of very young children. In fact, the whole place was full of badly supervised hordes of young children (summer camp groups) that were running around, yelling so loudly that you couldn’t even hear the narration on the exhibits that were vaguely interesting (e.g. that weren’t aimed at pre-schoolers). If you are planning on visiting, do it when the kids are back at school & bring your own food. The pre-made sandwiches we bought in the museum restaurant were over-priced and revolting. The bread was sopping wet. The fruit in the fruit cups was squashed & bruised. It was a really frustrating visit. I regret going. There are better places to visit in Boston.
Written August 18, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Museum of Science - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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