Dynamic Earth Reviews

Exhibition closes 4 pm The exhibition closes at 4 pm. It is not possible to find this information on the website. TripAdvisor and Google show opening times for the building, not for the exhibition. We missed the closing time because we sat outside the building having a small Picknick. When we can in 4:15, we were told that we cannot enter anymore. Website makers if Dynamic Earth; You had one job.

Scientific information accurately provided; good for the whole family. A great place for kids to have a hands-on learning experience about the earth: play, tectonics, plant and animal diversity, biomes. It even had a miniature glacier. Highly recommended!

Great day out at Dynamic Earth! The exhibits were incredibly immersive and fun to explore. There were a variety of activities and such to get up to. Over all, it was a very informative and exciting day out for the whole family

Only for under 12's, worth seeing We went to see it with a 14 & 15; year old ( too old for this!) For younger children it would be amazing!! Loads of interactive exhibits and really well presented. Guides were knowledgeable and informative

A great way to spean a couple of hours - even of you don't have kids Myself and my husband ( both late 40's) enjoyed our visit. We particularly liked the planetarium show. Some of it is for kids but it's all well laid out and there's plenty to see

Going deeper underground This is an excellent attraction to visit which is away from the more touristy areas of Edinburgh which can feel a bit overwhealming at times! Situated just next to Arthur's Seat the attraction includes a visit to see one of the planetarium shows of which there are several per day. It is mainly a guided visit where you go through several 'experiences', some of which you can walk around and spend more time in. The visit is all underground with a cafe and shop on the ground floor. Parking is nearby but is not cheap! Right next door is Holyrood, the Scottish parliament building and a nice green space where you can have a picnic.

Great Interactive Musuem We have been to Edinburgh four times and we were looking for new sights to see. Dynamic Earth is a definite plus. From the staff at reception helping us steer clear of a school group, we had the museum to ourselves. The exhibits are interactive, several have guides that take you through the exhibit. Highly recommend. Very interesting musuem.

Great place to visit for all the family. Wow. What a great place. It is very informative and so interactive there is something for the whole family. It is good value for money. The staff there are very friendly and helpful and the food was excellent too.

A great experience Visit with a group of 10-11 year olds Excellent experience Lots of interesting and educational aspects to experience through a series of engaging galleries Planetarium show was particularly good

Rainy day Went with kids on a rainy day, and they enjoyed it - although they prefer more hands-on science museums like the Wonderlab at the London Science Museum, the Wonderlab at the National Railway Museum in York or Life in Newcastle. That's not to say that this one does not have hands on elements, there are a number of hands on attractions (mainly screen based, though there is the ice block which is literally a hands on experience). A lot of the experience is being placed in front of various screens, whether it be in the journey section or in the planetarium. That said, what is shown is good and educational whilst retaining the interest of the kids. It wasn't as crowded as I was fearing on a bank holiday weekend, and generally it wasn't a problem getting on things. The main wait was in the cafe - the queue was about 15 minutes.

Helpful staff Went in for a little day trip for myself and had the most amazing men ever of staff help me out called ebony, she couldn’t have been more helpful and lovely. Made the experience so much better. Thank you to ebony for making the day amazing!

Indoor experience Great visit for the afternoon - we did the gallery experience & visited the different zones. Thereafter the Planetarium. Enjoyed all, but would have been good to have further details on which planetarium show we would be watching when booking online tickets - no details, and would have preferred an experience around space, planets etc rather than a cartoon type film on the environment & satellites - geared towards children. Overall, we felt if Geography or similar was taught like this, or such an experience possible when we were children, we would have been very fortunate,

Good, but be aware lat entry is two hours before closing! BE AWARE OF LAST ENTRY TIMES!! I saw that Dynamic Earth closed at 4pm and reviews said it takes around 90 minutes, so we arrived at 2:10pm. Last entry was at 2! I double-checked the website; the link to opening hours doesn’t work (nor does the one to reviews!) We went again the next day and it was a good exhibition; I recommend going, but I wanted to warn others about the last entry thing! If finances are tight, go to the free National Museum of Scotland instead; it’s also excellent.

Good day at Dynamic Earth We went for the day as a family age ranges 5 to 72. There was something in the displays to suit everyone. The virtual reality section was marvellous. We were disappointed in the planetarium. We were expecting to learn about planets and galaxies but instead we learnt about saving the environment. My son, aged 42 said it was like Propaganda. We knew about most of it already. I have been to planetariums before and they have always been about outer space. The food was not good at all. The dishes were all dried up and overheated. .The staff were young and needed a supervisor to guide them. They were very busy. Perhaps they should think about offering alternative more healthy options. The food was also expensive. Even the tea was awful. We were wishing we had brought a picnic.

Well worth a visit We spent a pleasant two hours at Dynamic Earth. It is well put together and has something for all ages documenting the history of our planet and universe. The planetarium talk was fascinating and we enjoyed the interactive elements of the displays.

Interesting for kids from 5 to 9 years old The place is great for first time visiting it, but since it was our second time it was not so impressive any more. The 11 years girl was actually bored but for the 6 years old was interesting. But i will defenatly recomand this experience for families with kids not bigger then 8-9 years old.

Fun, esp for smaller kids Unfortunately we were pressed for time and some technical issues meant we had to miss bits of the full experience (time lift not working). Got to see the planetarium show. We were maybe a bit old among the little kids but still enjoyed ourselves.

An educational visit Visited Dynamic Earth to check out public transport, parking, accessibility, cafe, events and pricing. Events looked exciting for children in the school holiday. Unfortunately it would be against my principles to encourage this kind of price structure. Museums and art galleries in the city generally have excellent catering franchises. But chips with everything is not one that appeals. We will not be visiting with the family.

Misleading information on arrival We had a horrible experience there. My teen daughter, my mum and I visited this place on 4th of April. Firstly, we were overcharged, instead of £46.30 we were charged £64.30 (!!!) and didn’t get a receipt, which makes me think the cashier realised the mistake, but decided not to tell us. I realised it only when I checked my bank statement later that day because, again, no receipt was given. We’ve been told that there is self audio guide in multiple languages and someone will assist us on it. We were taken to the first room of the exhibition and everything was in English, no self audio guides were available, we found them later, with no instructions - but Russian language wasn’t an option, which is frustrating as everywhere else in Edinburgh my mum was able to enjoy full experience and understand everything (she doesn’t speak or understand English). Not in this place. The whole place designed for little children. I’d say it can be interesting for 4-8 years old kids (that’s why I generously give it 2 stars), anyone older than that will be bored. Graphics and designs are outdated. Planetarium was in English only (!!) and three was a movie clip for little kids about the importance of recycling and ecosystem. Everyone in the room who was older than 7-8 seemed very bored and disappointed about this clip. The worst thing - you can’t leave, you have to finish this planetarium experience, 25 minutes wasted. The staff is very unenthusiastic. I had a feeling that we bother them, almost wanted to apologise for inconvenience. We did not enjoy it at all. Maybe, it’s just not for us. But I would very much appreciate if someone could get back to me so we can solve it. Thank you

Well Worth a Visit Fabulous experience at Dynamic Earth. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The planetarium was especially engaging, the presenter was top class and managed to keep the varied audience engaged. Most of all the staff (mostly young) were friendly, knew their stuff and worked hard to make sure we had a good time. The cafe staff managed to remain cheerful but efficient despite being extremely busy. The calibre of staff make Dynamic Earth as good as it is. Well done all.