The MAD Museum

The MAD Museum

The MAD Museum
4.5
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Monday
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Tuesday
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Wednesday
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
About
Stratford upon Avon is most famous for being the birthplace of poet and play writer William Shakespeare, but why not try something completely outside of the box and visit the towns newest most exciting attraction- The MAD (Mechanical Art & Design) Museum.As soon as you step into this quirky attraction you'll be greeted with whirling robotics, churning clogs, rolling ball circuits, ingenious design and crazy sounds! The MAD Museum does what it says on the tin, showcasing an absolutely MAD assortment of Kinetic Art, Automata and Steampunk contraptions, gadgets and gismos. Venture into an eccentric world of moving art; The MAD Museum is a wonderful place to watch and interact with an astonishing assortment of both modern and old fashioned, yet highly innovative and elaborate machines! For the young ones: Dancing lasers, rolling ball machines, roaring mechanical dinosaur heads and whirligigs all with lots of buttons to press! The MAD Museum offers an exciting visit with an educational bias, relevant to curriculum modules such as Design & Technology and Science. We give children an experience that is worthwhile, educationally beneficial and also a lot of fun!
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • Gidi
    8 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great place for families
    We were grandparents with two grandchildren ages 4 and 5.5 and we all had a great time for about 2 hours from entry. The best part is the room we're you can make your own slides and experiment your engeneering abilities. It is a small museum but well organized. It was really fun!
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written February 13, 2024
  • Goswoppit
    31 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A real gem
    I spotted this while waiting to meet up with a group of friends. My friend and I decided to check out the museum while the others were having lunch and it was fabulous. There's a lovely flow around the museum with lots of brilliantly designed exhibits by skilled craftspeople for young and old to explore. Press buttons and see many and varied designs in action, a number of which are installed so you can observe the internal workings. All in all, it was a great way to spend 90 minutes seeing engineering and design and art in action. I plan to bring my teenagers here later this year.
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written March 3, 2024
  • Helen D
    48 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A place for fun.
    A great place to visit for the young and old. Lots if quirky gadgets to see and interact with. A really fun place go with the family. Well laid out with toilet facilities.
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 6, 2024
  • Val750
    38 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Feel like a child, once more.
    We were looking for a diversion and something to do, on a cold, cloudy day. Stepped into here and felt like children again. We had a really good laugh. It's not a full day's visit, but also not advertised as such. The displays are only in the one floor, so not a massive place. However all the displays are interactive and kept us amused for an hour or so. Price..? My one small gripe. At nearly £9/adult it is in my mind, a little overpriced but we knew the price before entering so can't grumble it's just an observation.
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 12, 2024
  • Sue C
    54 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    DO not miss!
    This is an absolute gem of a place. It's tiny and probably only takes a couple of hours to go round but is absolutely incredible. It's amazing what ingenious people there are in this world. The shop is also fantastic - you could do all your year's gift shopping there!
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written April 2, 2024
  • Clare W
    Fleet, United Kingdom41 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Marble run fun!
    The museum was recommended to us by locals so we decided to visit. We probably only spent an hour there as it was really busy (about 11am) so our 4 year old started to lose interest as he could not get to see some of the work. At a quieter time, we would definitely have stayed longer. However, he did enjoy the interaction throughout and the short film about some of the creators work. Whilst the exhibits are amazing and very clever, one of the best bits was trying to perfect our own marble run....it gets quite competitive and addictive once you start! I would recommend a visit, and I am interested in learning more about MAD now we have seen it in action.
    Visited April 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written April 8, 2024
  • Thomas Bedbrook
    Farnham, United Kingdom35 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Absolutely Fantastic Place
    I cannot put into words how good this Museum is. It’s interactive, informative and engaging. So many wild and crazy inventions and creations. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting Stratford-Upon Avon in the summer. It does get busy but that’s due to the popularity of the museum. 5/5 stars
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written April 18, 2024
  • Christopher S
    30 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Physics and mechanics have never been so interesting!
    The MAD museum is a small but really novel place to visit, full of random gizmos that are somewhere between sculptures and interactive physics exhibits, from mavle race tracks to clockwork trinkets. Our kids were under 10 and both really enjoyed it and even my wife and I found a few things that we loved. Well worth a trip
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written April 30, 2024
  • Isabel
    Solihull, United Kingdom211 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Brilliant little find!⚙️
    Brilliant little museum! My grandma and I stumbled into this museum during our day trip to Stratford today and we were more than surprised!✨ There’s a little fee upon entry to the museum then it’s a little walk around all the mechanics. The mechanics are controlled by the visitors by pressing little sensors and they are all lovely, I highly recommend for families and little children💕. There’s a wide range of mechanics and they’re all very different⚙️
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written May 3, 2024
  • Ian S
    Rugby, United Kingdom869 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Good but busy
    It’s good but gets busy even on a wet Tuesday during the school half term! Lots of things for youngsters and adults to do operates by sensors. Fascinating with some activities specifically for kids but hard to get near them because it was busy. Friendly staff and good fun.
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written May 28, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

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 bubbles1,691 reviews
Excellent
1,236
Very good
354
Average
66
Poor
26
Terrible
10

helen22015
Reading, UK10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
Really fab place to kill an hour or so with a teenager! I was worried it might be too young for our 17 year old son but it was great! The interactive build your own area was fun too, would recommend a visit, not too expensive either.
Written August 20, 2024
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.

Olwen Julia Oates
11 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022
At first the entry fee may seem a bit expensive but it is well worth it.
From the minute you enter you are drawn in to the autometer all of which are hands on and there's something for everyone.
We 4 adults ,spent 2 hours in there having fun marvelling how they were made.
If any exhibits became out of order it was fixed at once.
In one corner there is a childrens area.
There is no time limit , you can go back to ones you love to make them go again.
I can reccommend the London Pub scene with animals singing and playing instruments.
Written February 15, 2023
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.
Hello Olwen Yes even with our recent increase due to rising costs we still feel that it's very much worth it, We're happy to hear you all enjoyed your visit and time at Mad. Thank you.
Written March 8, 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Pete F
Grantham, UK691 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Couples
Two seniors, travelling through Stratford stopped for lunch and as we had heard about the Mad Museum decided to visit. So delighted that we did. For those with limited ability, there is a lift to the main floor, and then you are simply mesmerised by the sheer amount of exhibits that there are, and everyone is in excellent order and works perfectly. Remarkable really, when you consider that tiny hand must often touch the exhibits.
The entrance fee, when you consider this a family event, might seem a little steep, but believe me it really is worth it. Clean & tidy, and you can fully immerse yourself in these remarkable exhibits for a good hour or two. Never seen anything like it. 10/10
Written October 11, 2023
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.

Martin B
Felixstowe, UK374 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Couples
The MAD museum contain many mechanical contraptions, all of which can be started by a sensor, the best being the ones involving intricate routes for marbles or balls. It was a fun place to go to and there were a lot of youngsters enjoying the interactive exhibits. Although I enjoyed it more than my wife did.
Written August 6, 2024
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.

skyfluff1
173 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2024 • Solo
I had seen this museum recommended in a few different places, but thought I wasn’t going to have the time to visit. Luckily, I was able to squeeze in a visit before catching my train home, and I’m so glad that I did!
This is a sort of interactive art gallery-museum, with a variety of mechanical pieces and installations. Some of them are very simple little scenes that move, and some of them are a lot more complex - marble runs and clocks and games that you could play. It was a lot more interesting than many other galleries, as it was so interactive. Obviously some of the pieces had an actual element you could engage with, and others you could activate by pressing the button. I went by myself, but I imagine if you went with children, they’d have a great time - I know I’d have adored it when I was a child. There’s a little area with activities for children, such as building your own marble run, building a contraption out of gears, or trying to navigate a giant marble through a tilting maze. Such a fascinating place, I would absolutely come again.
Written November 22, 2024
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.

Wikumj
Redhill, UK432 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Couples
Probably the best thing we did in Stratford Upon Avon. The museum is filled with mechanical contraptions and Rube Goldberg machines of various sizes and levels of interactivity - as impressive and fun for adults as it is for children. We spent an hour here to see everything thoroughly but you could spend more or less if you wanted.
Written September 29, 2024
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.

Christopher J
18 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Family
Great little museum for all ages. Our 10 month old loved watching all three moving parts and balls and we as 2 adults in our 30s loved it too. A good way to spend an hour or two in Stratford-upon-Avon and a change of pace from all the Shakespeare history.
Written April 29, 2023
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.

Vanessa W
5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022 • Family
Visited today with my husband and my children age 12 and 10. All of us absolutely loved this museum and rated it in our top 3 of things we did in Stratford Upon Avon during our trip! It’s not big but great that most of it is interactive, we spent well over an hour exploring. Lady on the entrance was helpful and friendly. We used Tesco Clubcard vouchers to pay which was great but It’s worth the full entry price.
Written July 28, 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.
Hi Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and it's great to hear we were in your top 3 and that you all enjoyed your time at Mad. Thank you :)
Written August 4, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Richard F
Royal Wootton Bassett, UK14 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022 • Family
Visited with my two boys aged 5 & 12. Although the museum has a relatively small footprint, there's loads of cool & mesmerising exhibits packed in to it. We all had a fantastic time wandering round, hypnotised by the wonders of the fantastically engineered & artistic pieces and marble runs. Great hands on area too where the kids can built there own marble rubs. We spent around 2 1/2 hours here and certainly felt like we had got value for money. Definitely worth a visit as part of your trip to Stratford-on-Avon if you have kids!
Written April 11, 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.
Hello Richard Thank you for taking time to leave a review, as you say we are not a massive museum, but as you found out we have managed to squeeze so many exhibits in. We're glad you enjoyed your visit and thank you for visiting Mad.
Written July 13, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jenny W
Birmingham, UK26 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2024 • Family
An amazing place, very reasonable price to enter especially as our children have Blue Peter badges so got in free. The exhibits are fascinating and we spend well over an hour looking around. The interactive marble run area was great and kept my 2 teenagers entertained. The only improvement I could suggest would be the sound in the cinema is very quiet so you couldn't hear the film (the music volume was fine but the talking part could hardly be heard) . Maybe subtitles would be a good idea if it can't be turned up. Very nice staff and the place is very well looked after. A hidden gem and well worth visiting.
Written October 9, 2024
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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The MAD Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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