Review: Natural History Museum Ice Rink

The Natural History Museum has a lot of things going for it on any given day. Dinosaurs? Check. Cool earth display? Check. Grand building? Check.

Every winter it adds an ice rink to its list, and I popped along for a quick skate on a fine weekday evening to try it out. Okay, it wasn't a fine evening. It was raining that sharp, little rain that is actually freezing and soaks you through before you know it.

Anyway, the ice rink still looked pretty, surrounded as it was by a few log cabins serving food and selling tickets, and a carousel lit up and looking gorgeous in the waning light.

After strapping on our boots we tentatively stepped on to the rink, which had a fine layer of water on it from the rain - not great for me, since I'm a shaky skater at best.

Still, once we got going it was fine, and I skated round casually chatting with my two friends. Being a weekday, the rink wasn't exactly busy, but there were half a dozen or so other skaters on there, and plenty of passers-by watching.

We stopped for a quick break once the skates started taking their toll on our legs, but with no benches outside, we were forced to lean against the side of the rink to take the weight off our feet for a couple of minutes before heading back on to the rink.

Sessions at the Natural History Museum ice rink last an hour, which we found was too long. As a group, we lasted roughly 25 minutes before deciding we'd had enough. Tickets cost £11.50 per adult off-peak, and £13.50 during peak times. I feel there's an argument for having a half price ticket option as well, for half the time. A half hour skate would be more than enough for some people.

Despite that, the Natural History Museum ice rink is a good one. There's a cute cafe where you can warm up, but its major plus point is its setting. Housed in the shadow of the majestic Natural History Museum, a day of hanging out with dinosaurs followed by a skating session is a winner on all accounts.

•For more information on the Natural History Museum ice rink, click here.