Riverside Museum

Mega impressed with this museum. So much to do and learn. An awesome way to spend a rainy afternoon!
Visited last weekend with my sister and partner. We all agreed it was one of the best transport museums that we had visited.
I really like the subway carriage ride. The floor vibrates to mimic an actual ride. There is also an old street with accurate storefronts and horse and carriage. Many old teams too!

Brilliant transport museum. Loads of great stuff. Definite recommend. One of my favourite museums

I have very fond memories of the old Transport Museum, so I had some misgivings when it was announced that the Riverside Museum was taking over.
But I’m glad to say that most of my reservations have been unfounded.
I’ve visited here many times since it opened a couple of years ago — it’s an ideal place to take my nieces and nephew on a wet afternoon.
There’s original subway carriages in a replica subway station, old Glasgow Street scene, boats, cars, buses and trains.
My favourite thing is the infinite velodrome which is suspended from the ceiling.
The kidz love all the interactive things — like rowing, driving of cars, jumping all over the buses etc.
The gift shop is quite seriously great — lots of stuff for kids and adults. when I was there last, my nieces got glowy light up balls, and I got an awesome wee yellow hippie car.
All in, job well done with the relocation. I’m sure I’ll be back soon!

3,5* arrondi au chiffre inférieur.
Difficile d’écrire un avis objectif sur un musée gratuit ! Le riverside est le musée écossais des transports, du tram au vélo de Graham Obree en passant par les collections de voitures.
Certes, comme la plupart des musées anglo-​saxons, les explications sont claires, la muséographie est plutôt spectaculaire et le tout est ludique et clairement orienté vers les jeunes générations. Logé dans un bâtiment à 100m€ datant de 2011, conçu par Zaha Hadid (smiley vomi): tout est lumineux, haut de plafond, ça brille de plus belle.
D’un point de vue macro, en revanche, c’est un peu le foutoir. Si chaque thème pris individuellement est bien présenté, on a un peu de mal à comprendre la taxonomie de l’ensemble et on essaye vaguement de comprendre ce que fait un mur de motos interactif entre une reconstitution du Glasgow du XIXème et un tram. Ou pourquoi le vélo du record de l’heure d’Obree n’est pas dans la section dévouée aux autres vélos, mais planqué à côté des toilettes.
Bön en vrai, c’est quand même un bon moyen de s’occuper pendant une heure de pluie, et puis il y a un mini-​ferry rigolo à prendre à côté du musée qui vous emmèné sur un parking vide de l’autre côté de la Clyde.

The food in the Restaurant is excellent. However, the service is very very poor. The staff did not seem to want to work here.

This is a museum that can truly encapsulate an imagination. A Glasgow museum so free to enter.
Cars vans trains and boats. This is a hands on museum with lots of exhibitions of the history of Scottish transport once you have exhausted the main museum you can head outside to their tall ship explore below decks to see how the ship really worked.
There is so much to look at around here you won’t get bored.
There is a variety of small cafes that will serve you a passable coffee and sandwich that don’t require to re mortgage.
Although free to get in there is A small parking charge but plenty of spaces. If visiting via underground stop at Govan and get the free ferry over the clyde.
All in all this is a good day out well worth a visit for adult or child. Get on down and enjoy.

I’ve been wanting to go for quite a while, but only went because I had friends coming to visit. You know those people who live somwhere but too embarrased to visit their local tourist attractions?
that’s me.
plus– I really don’t like museums and thought this one was cool!
I just wish they’d let you sit on the bus, tram etc or have a wee ride outside, like they do at the vintage bus museum (don’t get me started. and I do not recommend that one)
PS. as I was asked: the vintage bus museum is not in Glasgow!

If you’re a museum/​history fan like me, and love the mechanical stuff, this is heaven.

While it won’t fill your whole day, it’s worth coming to for sure. Bring the kiddies as well, they’ll have a ball.
Beautifully laid out with an excellent cross section of various types of transport throughout Glasgow’s history. My absolute favourite was seeing Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s bikes from Long Way Down. I’ll admit, I did a little girly «squee».
Out the back is the mast ship Glenlee, another free attraction. Buy a guide book on the way in to show your support though.
A little out of the way, but this museum had won awards for a reason. Don’t delay, check it out.

A museum that’s close to home as in ten minute walk from home! Great location, great parking facilities and transport links, ten minute walk to Partick underground and train station, as well as next bikes.
The museum is again free to get into. And you are immediately faced with all sorts, from the worlds oldest bicycle to trains to police cars and everything in between. The museum also has an exhibition on at the minute related to the commonwealth games and some of the success the Scottish riders had, focusing on Para-​Sport Tandem cyclists Aileen McGlynn and Louise Haston. It’s incredible to see the actual bikes and just how close the two cyclists sit.
Continue wandering around and you step back into Glasgow’s history. With facts about old pubs and the lack of ladies allowed in, to the original subway line and just how difficult it was to pull the trains, to bits about tailors. Truly fascinating.
There is also a huge array of motorcycles on offer, and some cars in a circle on the ceiling.
Upstairs is a little quieter with a small café and bits on flying.
Outside you can pay extra to visit the tall ship. There is currently a huge sandpit outside he front, proving you can visit the beach in the city centre.
Warning, this place is vey busy with kids on school holidays at the minute.

Fantastic museum housed in an award winning building. We were on our way to Kelvingrove so only popped our heads in so to speak. I thought it was wonderful. The first thing that confronts you is a mock up Victorian street and then you move through to a gallery with all sorts of wonders, from vintage cars to a Raleigh Chopper bike! This is a museum that demands your entire day and what a day it would be. The one thing that almost took my breath away was a steam train from South Africa. It is absolutely enormous and just trying to imagine getting it into the museum is impressive enough. So, you will not be disappointed.

Extremely fun and well-​done museum.
There is something for everyone at this free museum — from hands on exhibits and vehicles for kids, to history and nostalgia for adults.
There are full-​size buses, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, one-​person cars, trains, model boats, and a replica street from past century (complete with an ice cream parlor, photographer, and subway station).
You could easily spend anywhere from 1 – 3 hours here, depending on your desired level of depth for the exhibitions.

I am kicking myself for not visiting here sooner — what was I thinking?! I’m so sorry Riverside Museum, you were a lot more fun than I was expecting!
I’d visited the Transport Museum at Kelvinhall and expected this to be much of the same, just in a new building. I was so wrong — this place is an expanded version of the Transport Museum and with lots of new stuff too. I can see why the name changed as well, as it’s really not just about transport — especially the old street which is a really interesting exhibit of Glasgow life.
There’s lots of interactive displays and things to keep the kiddies (and kid-​adults) entertained. Depending on how much you want to look at each display, you could easily walk around here in an hour or stretch it out for a few hours (with a stop for lunch in the café).
The layout of the museum is pretty good and you’ll get a map when you go in the door. I managed to miss some displays but I wasn’t too worried as I’m sure I’ll be back again in the future. Everything is clearly sign-​posted and your biggest concern will probably be losing your companions behind a train. The gift shop is ok — not the kind of stuff I’m into but lots of things for kids as well as some nice tourist tat.
There’s a car park which is £1 for 4 hours, and when you head out the back you can also visit the Tall Ship. On a nice day it’s worth going out the back just for the views along the Clyde.

I’ve visited the Riverside museum 3 times now, and although I had some criticisms on my first visit from comparing it to the previous transport museum in the Kelvin Hall (and even the one before that in Tramway — yes, I’m old enough to remember that), I think it’s rather churlish to rate the place based on its previous incarnations, so in trying to see the place with a fresh pair of eyes and treating it like a first-​time visitor, I think it deserves the full 5 stars.
Firstly, the building itself is a surprise and delight to explore. Zaha Hadid’s bare industrial exterior completely belies the ingenious use of the space inside, and the building doesn’t seem all that attractive until you start to get close to the crazy zig-​zagged entrance; at which point you start to wonder how they actually managed to build the place.
Inside the space works really well and seems to draw you through in a natural flow. The wide range of exhibits really reflects Glasgow’s transport history — there are the buses and tramcars of course, Ewan MacGregor’s motorcycle from his round the world trip, Robbie Coltrane’s jeep, some wonderful ship models (a personal favourite of mine) with more displayed upstairs on a fantastic moving spilt-​level catenary track — I was almost more interested in the mechanics of the track than the actual models — and then there are the trains. Yes, actual steam engines, and one of them is on the upper floor! If you’re wondering how they got it up there (I certainly was), check the touch-​screen information panel to see how they did it.
That’s another great improvement with this museum — the level of interactive screens and other techno-​geekery has really enhanced the whole experience and brought the past to life. There’s an app you can download, and a treasure hunt you can follow that will get you a discount in the shop; but I even like the short films you are presented with that re-​enact the past, like the guy chatting up a ‘burd’ on the subway car. I also watched the AV presentation about the shipyards that shows several times a day, and found it very moving. So full marks on the technology front.
There are criticisms that could be made — yes, the ‘street’ doesn’t have quite the atmosphere of the one in Kelvin Hall; the old cinema recreation is nowhere near as good as the old one; the overhead cycle display would be much better if it actually rotated so you could get a closer look at the bikes; it would be really awesome if the wall track showing the history of cars was actually moving — but remember there is a lot more on display here than there ever was in the previous two transport museums. And it’s free!
Outside on the river front, there is the Tall Ship Glenlee moored right there. On my first couple of visits there was a charge to visit this, but on this visit it was free — whether that’s just during the Commonwealth Games or not remains to be seen. There’s also the ferry running across to Govan during the summer months (also free!) and that seemed to be very popular.
So if you haven’t been to the Riverside museum, give it a try. If you’re new to the city you’ll love it; if you cherish fond memories of the older transport museums you may be shocked at first, but spend some time with it and it will grow on you — it’s definitely won me over.

I’m sorry but I’m not a big fan, my heart belongs to the old transport museum. Don’t get me wrong there is loads to see and the kids will have a great time but I feel like for the size of the building and the space they had to work with it could have been so much better. It’s got a bit of an odd layout and there is less chance to really see inside things. The cars are sticking out the wall and go up really high, I don’t really want neck strain when trying to look at something. It’s free to visit (small charge for parking) so I would encourage you to visit but it’s not somewhere I would rush back to

We went on a Saturday during the school holidays expecting it to be completely mobbed. It was definitely very busy, but there was no problem with crowding even on the «hands on» exhibits.
It had been a few years since my last visit to the old Transport Museum at Kelvin Hall, but my opinion is that the new location is a definite improvement. I reckon there’s less stuff here, but only as they’ve reduced the repetition. Where there may have been 3 similar trams in the old place, they have 1 now and so on. While this may be a blow to the nerd (I don’t use the term in a derogatory fashion, I am such a nerd in other fields!), it makes things less boring for the casual visitor.
Everything’s geared well for a balance between young and old visitors — our party were 6, 13, 40 and *cough* retired *cough* and all enjoyed it. Lighting is good, it doesn’t feel claustrophobic or overly busy and the large touch-​screens mean that more information is available about many exhibits than could be managed with wall-​mounted cards.
The café isn’t ridiculously overpriced and sells the same food as the Kelvin Art Gallery including those boxed kids’ meals. Remember that it’s free entry, so don’t begrudge the snacks being a *little* overpriced — all the profits go back into running the place.
Definitely recommended for a couple of hours on an afternoon. Oh, and check out the app they advertise which has two levels — child and adult — of treasure hunt. Get all the answers and you win a 10% discount at the gift shop.

One of the first places I went to when I first came to Glasgow. It’s a top tourist destination so I thought why not? Really cool to see how life transitioned over time in Glasgow & how the advancement of transportation could affect the city over the years. Very cool section where old town Glasgow is replicated (old pub, house, & shops.) I wish that there were more hands on things to do in the museum for kids (and adults that don’t just like to look). The café was nice with a window view of the Clyde and the large ship but total downside it was over priced for something as simple as a piece of cake & tea. Overall very cool historic museum given that it’s free admission but wouldn’t go more than once.

First visit since the it was moved from kelvingrove. There is much to like here. The building itself. Is a triumph letting lots of natural light in so u can clearly see everything on show. And inside the exhibits are mostly set as if in motion with curves flowing all over. From the ground up. In fact if u didn’t look up you would miss a fair bit. And here’s were I feel just a tad cheated. To often your craning your neck to look up at cars that would like to be next to and examine but there they are. Up in the gods shame really. Don’t let it put u off though if like me you havnt been for a while it’s well worth checking out again.

Ah, major nostalgia pangs as soon as I entered this place. I remember all those years ago, my family would visit the old transport museum on the occasional weekend. — My favourite part of it all was the old cobbled street, much like travelling back in time to old Glasgow. Exciting!
Not much has changed except the fact that it’s all a bit more interactive with the touch screens and such. But it still very much makes for a pleasant, free way to spend the day. I particularly liked the HUGE green chairs outside (fun for getting a photo on, making you look teeny weeny!) and the video about the old dancehalls. (Oan yersel, Barrowlands!) And of course, that old cobbled street is back so you can prance about feeling like you’ve walked straight out of a Tardis and into the good old days!
It’s £1 for four hours parking which is decent. (It took us about an hour and a half to see everything.) It’s also worth mentioning that my dad, who was driving, commented on the bad potholes in the carpark so best watch out for that!

The new Riverside Museum has taken the exhibits from Glasgow’s old Transport Museum and given them a new lease of life inside the spacious building. It has displays of typical vehicles from all ages, to unique vehicles (such as the protest caravan from the Faslane Base). Many of the vehicles have interactive screens that illustrate or show via video their history. On the upper floor there are a number of model ships on a track, and as they pass a number of video screens within the glass, it shows you them magnified so you can see the tiniest detail. As well as the model ships, the Tall Ship is at the rear of the museum, resting on the Clyde.
As well as showing videos and vehicles from Glasgow’s past, the museum has recreated a number of streets, as well as one of the old subway carriage. These have various video walls, inhabited by actors portraying citizens of yesteryear.
With only two floors, the Riverside Museum is the perfect size. You can see it all in a few hours without ever getting bored, and there is plenty to interest people of all ages.

This was my second visit to Riverside as I had attended the community preview a couple of weeks ago. So, working in Govan does have its advantages, we were also allowed in to film and take lots of photos.
It still wasn’t complete when we went, a lot of men still building and fixing things so couldn’t get full access. The old street was open, yay for old street, it is set between 1895 – 1930. We couldn’t get into the subway unfortunately but I had heard on the radio that there was another street through this access. I was disappointed there was no cinema but at least you can get into all the shops this time.
We also couldn’t get upstairs the last time so there was so much I felt I had missed out on so when the new Govan ferry link was up and running it was time to jump aboard and sail (I think it’s more glide by the 2 mins it takes) across to get another gander on what I missed.
So it was all go and we filmed our journey across and got some more footage of the museum including the bits we missed. We looked for the other street which does say on the floor plan. Not exactly 1950s but 1930 – 1960 & 1960 – 1980. Don’t get excited though it’s not really a street and it hasn’t any access through the subway as was thought.
The place looks great with walls of vehicles, literally. We managed to get upstairs and long gone are the ships in glass cabinets. Most of the model ships are downstairs this time. There was one old guy who wasn’t happy at the ships stacked up to the ceiling in a massive glass cabinet and also spinning round at ceiling level so you can’t see the detail. The museum won’t please everyone but hey that’s life. Oh by the way the place very mint green.
It’s a great wee day out and it’s still free entry. Yay! There’s a coffee shop downstairs and also upstairs. Didn’t get a chance to try out but you can guess it won’t be the cheapest. There was also a souvenir shop so the kids can get a badge and pen at least, well that’s what I always ended up with on a museum trip.
The museum also has the tall ship Glenlee behind it on the River Clyde. You may think this is part of the museum but unfortunately it’s not as you have to pay to get on board to have a look. I went on last Friday for a sneek preview but it was still under construction, hopefully it looks great since it’s completion.
Definitely one way to spend your summer on a wee day out with plenty to see. Lots of interactive touch screens filled with infomation and videos. If you do get the ferry across from Govan be wary that it’s quite expensive at £3 return compared to the subway at £2.40. I think it’s more of a novelity thing but we’ll see how it goes.