We visited We The Curious in Bristol as the second half of a big family day out, having spent the morning at Wake the Tiger. It was our daughter’s birthday and she had chosen both attractions – which turned out to be a great decision, even if the two kids ended up with completely opposite opinions about each one by the end of the day.

We first visited We The Curious eight years ago and reviewed it in our 2018 We The Curious review over on Lylia Rose – back then our son Reuben had just turned three and our daughter Bella was almost 6. We absolutely loved it at that age. We said we’d definitely return when the kids were older, and this 2026 visit was that return trip – though perhaps we left it until they were a little too old!

The Late Entry Tickets – and Why We Booked Them

Because we were doing two attractions in one day and were on a budget, we booked the late entry open concession tickets for We The Curious, which meant entry from 3pm with the museum closing at 5pm. Each ticket came in at under £10 per person – significantly cheaper than full day admission.

It was the perfect solution. We didn’t have to rush through Wake the Tiger in the morning, we could grab lunch at our own pace afterwards, and we still got a genuine taste of We The Curious without paying full price. For a family doing both attractions in one Bristol day trip, this combination worked really well.

We The Curious doesn’t seem to advertise the late entry option loudly, so it’s worth knowing it exists. If you’re visiting Bristol for the day and want to fit in more than one thing, it’s a great way to manage both the schedule and the cost.

What Is We The Curious?

We The Curious is Bristol’s hands-on science museum, located on Millennium Square on the harbourside. It’s an interactive attraction with over 200 exhibits spread across two floors, covering everything from the science of the human body to animation, robotics, sand, and philosophical questions about the soul and consciousness. There is also a Planetarium which operates separately at an additional cost – we didn’t do this on our visit.

It is very different to Wake the Tiger. Where Wake the Tiger is immersive, arty, and purely visual, We The Curious is more educational, more hands-on, and aimed at sparking genuine curiosity about science and the world. Both have real value – they just suit different kids in different ways, as we found out.

What We Saw – and What the Kids Thought

We managed to cover a good chunk of the exhibits in our two hours, which was more than we expected. Here’s an honest rundown of what stood out and what didn’t.

The highlights

The Aardvark animation studios upstairs were the clear winner of the day for both kids. You can sit down, use cut out paper character pieces and objects to build scenes, and create your own stop-motion animations using the equipment provided. Our son spent ages here making multiple animations – he was completely absorbed. Our daughter, who wants to be an animator, loved it too. It’s one of those exhibits that captures imaginations across ages and actually teaches something useful in the process.

The spinning sand plates were mesmerising. Large rotating dishes of sand with rakes and tools to create patterns – our daughter and Ben spent a long time making spirals and perfect circles. It’s a nice enough activity, but it sums up something about We The Curious more broadly – some of the hands-on exhibits are quite simple and not particularly mindblowing. Fine, but we were expecting more. We also learned from a nearby display that after water, sand is the most consumed natural resource on the planet – that was a genuinely surprising fact that sparked a good conversation.

The multicoloured silhouette shadow screen is one we remembered from a previous visit years ago and it’s still great – you stand in front of it and your shadow is cast in brilliant rainbow colours. Simple, fun, and very photogenic.

The slanted room – a living room set at an angle – is a small thing but surprisingly effective. It genuinely makes you feel disoriented just by changing the angle of a familiar space.

The smoke machine installation with lights, where movement appears to disturb the smoke in interesting ways, was another one both kids liked.

There was also a funny aging filter screen that showed how we might look in decades to come – it made us all look approximately 150 years old, which at least gave everyone a laugh.

The thought-provoking bits

Some of the downstairs exhibits leaned more educational and philosophical. The soul section – asking whether we have a soul, whether animals do, and whether science could ever detect one – sparked some interesting conversations with the kids. There was also an interactive moral dilemma game where you’re presented with ethical choices like who you would choose to protect in an unavoidable accident scenario. It’s thought-provoking stuff and worth noting it could feel a bit mature for younger children – ours at 11 and 14 engaged with it well and it led to a good discussion.

The disease section – asking whether we will ever find a way to prevent illness – had some interesting displays and theories, though the kids drifted through this one more quickly as they were drawn toward more interactive experiences.

The sand exhibit area more broadly taught us things we didn’t know – there was a “24 Hours of Sand” installation with hourglasses showing facts about sand consumption and sustainability. Interesting, but not enthralling.

The disappointments

The biggest disappointment was one we hadn’t fully anticipated: so much of it felt the same as eight years ago. We were expecting to find new exhibits, updated installations, and fresh experiences to discover. Instead, many of the things we remembered from our 2018 visit were still there, and some were visibly tired or not functioning properly.

Several exhibits weren’t working during our visit, including the robot which was sitting static in a chair doing nothing – and we couldn’t even tell what it was supposed to do. The greenhouse exhibit downstairs was particularly underwhelming – it was meant to involve scent-based guessing games but the scents were so faint as to be almost undetectable. It felt like an exhibit that needed reimagining rather than just maintaining.

One exhibit our son enjoyed upstairs involved spinning wheels and pulleys connected by stretchy bands – you spin the first wheel and try to make the others spin in turn. The idea is good but the bands were snapped and broken, the equipment was grubby, and it just felt like it needed updating. That was a theme upstairs more generally – there’s a lot of floor space that felt underused, and it left us thinking that a redesign or some new additions could make a real difference to that whole area.

For a venue at this price point, the lack of new or updated content is something We The Curious should probably address. The multicoloured shadow screen that we remembered from 2018 is still there – still fun, but the same. For returning visitors especially, there’s a real sense that investment in fresh exhibits would make a big difference.

It’s worth saying that for first-time visitors, none of this will matter – you won’t know what was there before. But if you visited years ago and are returning with older kids, adjust your expectations accordingly.

How the Kids Compared It to Wake the Tiger

This is probably the most useful thing for parents to know.

Our son, who was not impressed by Wake the Tiger, absolutely loved We The Curious. The hands-on, interactive, science-based approach suited him completely. He’d happily go back for longer.

Our daughter, whose birthday it was, loved Wake the Tiger but found We The Curious less impressive. She’s creative, visual, and drawn to unusual aesthetic experiences – Wake the Tiger was made for her. Or maybe at 14 she’s simply too old for We The Curious now.

Both of them are 11 and 14, and both are clearly past the age that We The Curious is primarily designed for. It works best for younger children and curious primary school age kids. Teens might still enjoy it – our 11 year old certainly did – but parents of older kids should go in with adjusted expectations.

Our son starting secondary school this year makes this visit feel like it came at just the right time. A couple of years from now and he’d likely find it too young. At 11 and still primary school aged, he was right in the sweet spot – but only just. If you have a child approaching secondary school who loves science and hands-on activities, this year might be the year to go.

The Gift Shop

Possibly the highlight of the entire day for our son was the gift shop. He’d been saving his pocket money and used it to buy a Tobbie self-build robot kit. He was absolutely chuffed with it, built it himself when we got home, and still talks about it. Sometimes the gift shop makes a day trip – and this was one of those times. Worth budgeting a little extra if you have kids who love science-y, build-it-yourself toys.

Was Two Hours Enough?

A bit longer would have been ideal – three hours feels about right for a teen and preteen. We saw a good amount but were aware of plenty we didn’t get to, and some exhibits we’d have liked to spend more time at. Given there are apparently over 200 exhibits across the building, two hours gives you a solid taste but not the full experience.

One thing that surprised us was the 5pm closing time. When we left, the place still had plenty of people in it and Bristol outside was still completely bustling on a summer Saturday. We could easily have stayed another hour, browsed the gift shop again, and had a drink at the café. It feels like an opportunity missed – opening until 6pm or later in the summer months would surely benefit visitors and generate more revenue for the venue at the same time.

That said, for the price of the late entry tickets, it felt like excellent value. We got a good amount out of two hours at under £10 per person. At full day prices, we’d have expected a bit more polish and fewer broken exhibits.

Is We The Curious Worth It?

For the right visitor, yes. If you haven’t been before and have young or primary school aged kids, it’s well worth a visit.

There are genuinely good exhibits here and real educational value – the animation studio in particular stood out for both kids.

So was it as good as we remembered?

Honestly, no – and the main reason was that so much of it was the same. Eight years on, we were expecting to find new exhibits, updated installations, and fresh experiences. Instead, many of the things we remembered from 2018 were still there, looking a little tired, with some not working at all. For first-time visitors it’s still a good attraction – but if you’ve been before, go in knowing that not a lot has changed.

The price is worth flagging honestly though. Full day tickets for two adults and two children come in at around £60-£70 at time of writing – and adults don’t really get that much out of it independently. It’s very much a child-oriented attraction.

It probably makes far more sense as an annual membership for local families who can visit repeatedly on rainy days throughout the year. For a one-off visit travelling from further afield, the value feels harder to justify at full price – especially with older kids.

The late entry ticket at around £10 or less per person is a much more comfortable price point for what you actually get, and is well worth knowing about if you’re visiting Bristol on a budget or combining with another attraction.

If you’re planning a day out in Bristol with the family, We The Curious sits well alongside Wake the Tiger as a very different but complementary experience. Our half a day in Bristol guide is also worth a read if you’re planning what else to fit in.

Just know that the two attractions will likely appeal to your kids in very different ways – and that’s actually a good thing. Both of our children preferred a different one, which just goes to show it was a great call to do both. And regardless of my own mixed feelings about We The Curious this time around, our 11 year old absolutely loved it – and that’s what really counts.