Brunel’s ss Great Britain Review
ss Great Britain
Bristol
Reviewed by Lora Hole
My family and I were excited to have the opportunity to visit Bristol’s number one attraction as rated by members on Trip Advisor, the ss Great Britain. Over the 171 years since it was launched, the ship has travelled over one million miles and carried lots of different types of people.
When we arrived, we were greeted by very friendly staff who were happy to help in any way they could. The car park costs £5 for 5 hours which should be enough time to enjoy all aspects of this attraction. When buying your tickets into the SS Great Britain, £3 of the car parking costs are returned to you. You are provided with a map when getting your tickets which shows you the route to take in order to see everything on offer.
The starting point is the shop. We then followed the maps and the clearly signposted path to the Dry Dock where you get to discover what the ship looks like from under the water. This is something I had never experienced before and from this viewpoint you could really appreciate how big this ship is. Following this, we moved on to the Dockyard Museum which holds a lot of artefacts found on the ship when they rescued it from ruin. It also includes lots of really interesting information on what life was like on the ship and how it came to rest in Bristol after travelling the world. There are stamp stations at various intervals round the museum and ship were you can stamp your ticket. My daughter loved taking this task on as her job. There are plenty of interactive areas in the museum to get everyone involved in the whole experience. On your way through the museum, there’s a chance to dress up in Victorian clothing in the Flash, Bang, Wallop photo studio. This is a great idea and as the pictures can be taken on your own camera, there are no extra costs for using this service.
The next stop was the ship. You enter via the top deck and with the dockyard below looking how it would back in the Victorian times, it feels like you have stepped back in time and are a passenger travelling on this beautiful ship. On the top deck, you can borrow a handheld audio companion. You get to choose from a list which sort of passenger you would like to hear from as you walk around the ship. There are signs with numbers at different points on your journey and when you type in the corresponding number on your audio companion, you hear the story related to that area of the ship from your chosen passenger’s perspective. This was a great addition to our day out as it added another dimension to the experience and gave a wonderful insight into how things worked on the ship.
When we went below deck, we were blown away by how realistic the interiors were. The attention to detail was amazing including the addition of smells of several areas on the ship. Some were nice, others weren’t so nice but all were extremely accurate. Our journey through the ship showed the difference in class levels and what life was like for the crew including the kitchen staff. One of the highlights was the engine room. It was spectacular to see the engine in motion working how it would have back in the days when the ship used to sail around the world and something not seen in other similar exhibits.
Whilst at the ss Great Britain, we used the toilets and found them to be very clean and tidy as were all areas of the attraction including the shop and café. At the end of an exciting day out, we had a drink and a piece of cake in the café. The prices seemed reasonable and the cake was delicious.
I would recommend people of all ages visit the ss Great Britain. It is a really interesting day out which offers something different and is very informative whilst still keeping young children entertained too. The tickets cost £13.75 for an adult and £7.00 for a child with family tickets and other discounts also available. This is a good price considering the ticket includes free access to the Brunel Institute and free unlimited visits to the SS Great Britain for a year. We will definitely be returning very soon!
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £7 to £36.50
For more information or to buy tickets visit www.ssgreatbritain.org.
Brunel’s ss Great Britain, Great Western Dockyard, Bristol, BS1 6TY
