Interactive science centre at the birthplace and childhood home of Sir Isaac Newton, with historic manor house, orchards and farm buildings.

Catalyst makes science exciting and accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Explore the award winning, hands-on galleries, visit the stunning interactive theatre, experience fun activities in the lab or travel 30 metres above the River Mersey in the external glass lift to the glass walled Observatory Gallery.

Kew covers 300 acres and is home to themed gardens and plant collections, as well as a number of historic and 'working' buildings. The living collections are a resource for botanical science world-wide.

Take a break from the pre-Christmas shopping mayhem at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

To take advantage of the season’s early sunsets, they’re running drop-in observing sessions at 4.30 and 5pm every Saturday and Sunday starting on 5 December, and then every day in the final week leading up to Christmas Eve. Spend half an hour with the observatory’s historic 28in telescope and see Jupiter and its moons.

There's also the new planetarium show, Christmas Stars, which slips the latest thoughts about the Star of Bethlehem into a virtual introduction to the December skies. It runs on the same days as the observing sessions, but at noon, 2.45 and 5pm.

And if that’s still not enough, on 10 December Professor Colin Pillinger, the man behind the Beagle 2 mission, will give the Royal Observatory Christmas Lecture: The Planets, an Inspiration at Christmas.

Phone: 020 8312 6608
Web: bit.ly/dropin

The National Space Centre is dedicated to space science and astronomy. It includes a space theatre and the Challenger Learning Centre.