It seems like the Hong Kong Space Museum has been under renovation since the time of the Dinosaurs. We’ve been wanting to go for years and years and thought since the main exhibition is now finally open, it might be rather good and futuristic. As with most Government owned and run things in Hong Kong, it’s better not to get your hopes up and unless you’re a real space nerd, this really isn’t worth going to unless you happen to be around the area.
The Hong Kong Space Museum is located in TST, right opposite the Peninsula Hotel, inside the big domed shaped building near the Hong Kong Arts Centre. It’s easy to get to, if you’re staying in TST most likely it’s not going to be more than 5-10 minutes walk, and if you’re staying on HK Side, just hop on the Star Ferry and walk a few minutes to get there. Getting here is probably the easiest and most relaxing thing about the Hong Kong Space Museum.
We arrived, as usually do for places like this, about 10 minutes before it opened at 10a.m. Already there was a line, not that long, about 10-15 people waiting. However, the counter operators are painfully slow. It took us about 20 minutes just to buy the tickets. I presume because it’s not clear what can you can and can’t do with the entrance fee. There’s some special shows on, so I think people needed 5 minutes to ask questions about each of them. Anyway, they’ve got fans keeping you cool when lining up so not all bad.
We were going to see Cirque Du Soleil Kooza in the afternoon so didn’t want to watch any 3D show and just paid for the regular entrance free, which is dirt cheap, as are most Cultural and leisure activities in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Space Museum admission fee is HKD$10 per person, kids free and everybody free on Wednesdays. More details about ticketing and pricing and opening hours can be found on the Hong Kong Space Museum website.
So when you finally get in to the Hong Kong Space Museum you head straight to the Hall of Cosmos on the ground floor. You have your typical planet displays, some mildly interesting other things to do with space (meteorites, gravity, etc) and some interactive displays. The most fun was looked as though it was surfing through space, but when we reached there the cue time was an hour. No thanks. Half of the exhibits/displays are under renovation. Perhaps not half, but an awful lot of them seemed to be broken and undergoing maintenance, which is ironic since the place has just reopened from about 3 years worth of renovation.
Spent about 20-30 minutes in here. It was pretty busy and a lot of screaming from unruly tourists, pretty much typical touristy stuff going on at most similar things in TST. Upstairs we went to Hong Kong Space Museum Hall of Space Exploration. This had far less people so I enjoyed that much more solely based on that fact. And actually there’s some better things here, a Disorientation in Space thing, Countdown and some little rocket things. Again, up here half the things seemed to be under maintenance and closed. It’s really piss poor considering how long the permanent exhibits have been closed.
The 3D 9 Dimensions show might have been ok but we weren’t about to wait around for that. There was one show on at 11:10a.m, but the rest of them seemed to be in the afternoon. I wouldn’t recommend going then, the whole place would be a zoo. For kids, the Hong Kong Space Museum is alright, but there’s much more and much better things to do in the Hong Kong Science Museum. For about the price of a McDonalds meal, you can buy a season (annual) pass to HK Museums and go and see them all as many times as you want. The Hong Kong Space Museum isn’t something you’d go back to every week, or every month, or every year, or in fact go back to again at all. It’s once off, something to do in Hong Kong if you’ve run out of ideas.
Overall, it wasn’t too bad, crossed it off our list of things to do in Hong Kong, but as mentioned above, won’t be going back anytime soon. If you’re a tourist visiting Hong Kong, it’s pretty likely you’re going to be around that area some time during your stay so if you have kids, I guess it’s worth popping in. Weekdays probably won’t be so busy, but don’t expect to spend anymore than 2 hours at the most in here.
Note the Hong Kong Space Museum is closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays) and Mon, Wed, The, Fri is not open until 1p.m. You need to choose your session (morning or afternoon). The Space Theatre Shows currently on are Amazon Adventure, in Each of Cosmic Life, and the 3D Man from 9 Dimensions. Quite limited times so again check their website for show times. The shows are additional charges to the general HKD$10 general admission fee.
For more information about things to do in Hong Kong with kids, check out Toucan’s Hong Kong With kids page. For more information about the Hong Kong Space Museum, feel free to send us an questions via our contact page or on Twitter.
