NELSAM features displays covering a wide range of history, including military and civilian aircraft, military vehicles, buses, fire engines and lorries, and if course the mighty Avro Vulcan Bomber which flew into its current position in 1983 when Sunderland Airport was situated next to the site.
Not a huge museum: can walk around and see everything within an hour but an interesting place to visit. There's various aeroplanes, tanks, buses/trams; helicopters; cars to see, some of which the kids can sit in, allowing their imagination to take over. My grandson loves it here. Doesn't cost a fortune for entry. Staff friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.
It's quite small so can be done in possibly under an hour however there is a great variety of planes, buses, cars and other modes of transport. They also have a room which replicates life during WWII if you are thinking of going I would highly recommend it if you are thinking of going.
We arrived early morning during the week on a beautiful sunny day. The gentleman behind the till was really lovely and made a huge fuss of our two greyhounds, which meant a lot to us. Inside there was lots of different makes & models of aeroplanes, lots of information and history, with a lot to look at. The utmost care has gone into the restoration of different vehicles, aeroplanes and all other artefacts. We really enjoyed sitting in the cockpit and we were so happy with the museum being completely 100% dog friendly. We definitely would visit again if in the area on holiday again. We enjoyed a coffee in the open picnic area as you walk in and the parking & other facilities were very good.
Brilliant! It's not very big, so it doesn't take long to get around. The volunteers are very friendly and helpful, I can't speak highly enough about them. They are happy to spend time talking and educating you and actually seem to enjoy talking about the planes, etc. The vulcan is awesome! They even showed us the atomic bomb the vulcan once carried. My kids loved it, you can even take the dog. AAA+
Kids (8 and 13) and I found it super interesting and the scale of the planes blew us away (especially the mighty Vulcan). I recommend taking a packed lunch if you've not already eaten (there's picnic benches) as the shop only sells drinks. The layout is good, and the displays are a mix of static and interactive (cockpits) with most displays having a bit of information about the particular vehicle and its history.
We visited NELSAM on a Sunday, it was cold but sunny. We paid as a family ticket in the entrance office, the guy in the office wasn't very enthusiastic, but the museum cost is cheap to be fair. We started in the main muses which is really well laid out, and has lots of memorabilia. It leads to a big hanger that's loaded with planes to have a look at. We did think some of the planes could have done with some better info. The harrier definitely could have done with something, we had to guess what plane it was. The hanger was really cold, it was actually warmer outside, something to consider when going. There was quite a few places to see really interesting stuff, the Nissan , trucks , trams etc was interesting for me. Like I said, there's loads to see and it's bigger than we thought. The best thing for me personally was the huge Vulcan that's outside, what a piece of kit. A guy came over to us after a while, he gave us a bit of a personal tour, inviting the kids to sit on a keep, a jet training seat, passenger plane etc, he really went out his way to make it more interesting. One the whole, if there was more placards explaining, informing what we were looking at, it would be a 5/5. I guess some people will know what they're looking at, some may not be interested, but I'd have liked more. We spent 2 hours there, we didn't rush, but I think 4 hours would be too long.
On-site services
Live performances
Wheelchair-accessible car park
Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Wheelchair-accessible toilet
Toilets
Restaurant
Family friendly
Good for kids
Free parking lot
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Not a huge museum: can walk around and see everything within an hour but an interesting place to visit. There's various aeroplanes, tanks, buses/trams; helicopters; cars to see, some of which the kids can sit in, allowing their imagination to take over. My grandson loves it here. Doesn't cost a fortune for entry. Staff friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.
It's quite small so can be done in possibly under an hour however there is a great variety of planes, buses, cars and other modes of transport. They also have a room which replicates life during WWII if you are thinking of going I would highly recommend it if you are thinking of going.
We arrived early morning during the week on a beautiful sunny day. The gentleman behind the till was really lovely and made a huge fuss of our two greyhounds, which meant a lot to us. Inside there was lots of different makes & models of aeroplanes, lots of information and history, with a lot to look at. The utmost care has gone into the restoration of different vehicles, aeroplanes and all other artefacts. We really enjoyed sitting in the cockpit and we were so happy with the museum being completely 100% dog friendly. We definitely would visit again if in the area on holiday again. We enjoyed a coffee in the open picnic area as you walk in and the parking & other facilities were very good.
Brilliant! It's not very big, so it doesn't take long to get around. The volunteers are very friendly and helpful, I can't speak highly enough about them. They are happy to spend time talking and educating you and actually seem to enjoy talking about the planes, etc. The vulcan is awesome! They even showed us the atomic bomb the vulcan once carried. My kids loved it, you can even take the dog. AAA+
Kids (8 and 13) and I found it super interesting and the scale of the planes blew us away (especially the mighty Vulcan). I recommend taking a packed lunch if you've not already eaten (there's picnic benches) as the shop only sells drinks. The layout is good, and the displays are a mix of static and interactive (cockpits) with most displays having a bit of information about the particular vehicle and its history.
We visited NELSAM on a Sunday, it was cold but sunny. We paid as a family ticket in the entrance office, the guy in the office wasn't very enthusiastic, but the museum cost is cheap to be fair. We started in the main muses which is really well laid out, and has lots of memorabilia. It leads to a big hanger that's loaded with planes to have a look at. We did think some of the planes could have done with some better info. The harrier definitely could have done with something, we had to guess what plane it was. The hanger was really cold, it was actually warmer outside, something to consider when going. There was quite a few places to see really interesting stuff, the Nissan , trucks , trams etc was interesting for me. Like I said, there's loads to see and it's bigger than we thought. The best thing for me personally was the huge Vulcan that's outside, what a piece of kit. A guy came over to us after a while, he gave us a bit of a personal tour, inviting the kids to sit on a keep, a jet training seat, passenger plane etc, he really went out his way to make it more interesting. One the whole, if there was more placards explaining, informing what we were looking at, it would be a 5/5. I guess some people will know what they're looking at, some may not be interested, but I'd have liked more. We spent 2 hours there, we didn't rush, but I think 4 hours would be too long.
