Ad disclosure: We were provided with free entry to this attraction for the purpose of this review.
A few weeks ago we visited Wonderful World of Trains & Planes, a fairly new attraction that can be found in Birmingham city centre. It took us just a few minutes walk from the Snow Hill car park which is a favourite of ours, as it is reasonably priced at weekends.
Wonderful World of Trains & Planes is a great attraction for any train enthusiasts of any age, and they are brilliant at accommodating small children. They provide plastic step stools for kids to carry around to stand on to see the exhibits, they have a floor where you can control many of the tracks (one set up even has driver hats to wear), and they have a play area set up with wooden train track, colouring sheets & crayons, and Airfix Quick Build planes & vehicles you can put together.
Georgie and I made a plane together, and she really enjoyed it – she is a little young still for these sets but I will definitely keep them in mind for her 5th birthday in May. Airfix Quick Build sets are a sort of cross between a normal plastic model and a LEGO set, with the different parts of the model clipping together with a stud system.
As for the model railways, all four of us adored them, and we happily spent ages watching the different track layouts as the trains weaved around the tiny oh-so-detailed villages and towns. I thought the modelling was really excellent, with all the little intricacies absolutely spot-on, right down to a camera flashing, chickens pecking at the ground, and beautiful choral music coming from a lit up church.
The girls were really excited to find Thomas and a few of his friends racing around one layout, and they spent quite a long time controlling them as they sped round the track at top-speed! The layout of that particular track was great; the trains were belting along without any derailments on the corners, which can’t be that easy to create.
Not only are there loads of train layouts to explore, you can also look at lots of model planes, have a go on the flight simulators, and watch live air traffic data. James and I both had a go at flying a Cessna out of Birmingham Airport – he crashed his but I managed to land mine safely, and I should hope so too having landed one safely in real life before… and then Georgie crashed it into a tree after landing!
You can also have some fun racing some cars; there were two different racing layouts. A Scalextric track in the American area, which they are still working on, and a Ninco track upstairs which the girls both absolutely adored – and James did too.
Also upstairs you can find a bunch of different train layouts, all set in different countries. It’s a great way to show kids how things are different in other parts of the world, including the different types of trains they have of course! I loved Holland with it’s colourful tulip fields, windmills, and double decker trains.
For adult train geeks, you get to see the computer screens showing the model control system, and there are plenty of information boards for the displays, along with an impressive collection of vintage models in display cabinets around the whole attraction. The shop has a great range of train sets, models, scenery, train dvds, books, and so on, and we treated the girls to a little vehicle each to take home. The prices seemed very reasonable and the staff were really helpful.
While we were at Wonderful World of Trains & Planes we ate in the cafe which is well priced and serves a decent array of sandwiches, paninis, snacks and drinks. All four of us enjoyed our lunch and we finished it off with some giant slices of the tastiest cake I’ve had in a while. Delicious!
Overall we were really impressed with the attraction and I would heartily recommend it to trains & planes fans of any age. It’s a great place to visit as a family, and the staff impressed us with their knowledgeability, their interactions with the kids, and their obvious enjoyment of their workplace. If you are in the area and you like trains, go check it out!
I didn’t know about this, and it looks good! Will have to check it out, thank you x
This looks really fun – my son would love it! #triedtested