National Museum of Flight – Concorde and Fantastic Flight
A few hours.
The route
The National Museum of Flight fills the hangars of an old wartime airfield at East Fortune, in the East Lothian countryside, and it's a grand day out for children who love planes.
They can walk through Concorde, stand under a Vulcan bomber and try landing a plane in the hands-on galleries. The hangars are ramped and step-free, so a buggy goes almost everywhere.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book National Museum of Flight
Book timed tickets for the National Museum of Flight online, up to six weeks ahead and cheaper than on the day: from November to March it opens at weekends only, 10am to 4pm (last entry 3pm), and every day from April to October.
The day
East Fortune
A day round the hangars, with Fantastic Flight for the children and Concorde to walk through, and lunch at the Aviator Café.
About four hours
National Museum of Flight
An attraction
The National Museum of Flight is on the old airfield at East Fortune, off the B1347, with free parking spread round the site; keep to 10mph. From April to October it's open every day from 10am to 5pm, last entry 4pm. From November to March it opens at weekends only, from 10am to 4pm, last entry 3pm, and it shuts on 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January. Tickets are timed and cheaper booked ahead: £15 for adults and £10 for children aged 5 to 15 at the time of writing, with under-5s free. In the hands-on Fantastic Flight galleries children can try landing a plane, and there's Concorde to walk through and the Vulcan to stand beneath. The outdoor assault course has a zip wire, and there are trails for under-5s and for 7 to 11s. The hangars are ramped and the paths step-free, but Concorde and the Boeing 707 are boarded by stairs only. Baby changing is at the shop, the Concorde Experience and Fantastic Flight. The hangars are a walk apart across the airfield, so bring coats. Lunch is at the Aviator Café, with a children's menu, or in the packed-lunch room by Hangar 2. Dogs on leads can use the café and the outdoor areas; only assistance dogs go into the buildings.
If it rains
Most of it is under the hangar roofs, but the hangars are a walk apart across the open airfield: bring coats.
Make it a weekend
More days out in East Lothian.
Photograph by Stephen McCann via Google