ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center Reviews

This was a great museum for kids. They really enjoyed all the animals.

My 3 year old and I love Echo! They have great exhibits and there is always something to see.
Paula and Wade are the best!!

Awesome, family friendly, educational environment. We are members and renew every year.

Wonderful place to take kids and adults of all ages. There are so many interactive stations from building sand castles to water tables and many many fish and amphibious species enclosures. The dinosaur exhibit was really fun, but definitely for kids who are a little bit older. Also LOVE that they have a nursing pod!! Way to go Echo Center!

I love this place, both as a child, a teenager, and a young adult. I've made trips here once a year and I always love to see the exhibits. It's a great place for all age groups. Not too smart for a child, nor too unintelligent for an adult. There's plenty of interactive exhibits, and a place where you can touch sea life. Highly recommend this place.

My children and I love ECHO. Especially champ lane the play area for kiddos. So many things to see and explore.

Excellent exhibits and knowledgeable staff. Much information about Lake Champlain ecology and many displays featuring local flora and fauna make this a treasured local museum. A little pricey for a single visit but membership options are good if you live locally. Generally better for younger visitors (up to maybe 10 or 12 yo). Many hands-on, interactive options to explore this unique biome. Pair this with one of several good nearby restaurants or some exploring in the neighboring waterfront park and you'll have a day of fun for the whole family.

Looked cool but it's awfully pricey so we didn't go in

We visited this museum looking specifically for the butterfly seasonal exhibit and we got a lot more than we expected. Unbeknownst to me, this museum also has a specific focus on turtles as well, which are my wife's second favorite animal after butterflies(which she says are animals, don't blame me). What more is there to say about a museum? It was clean, informative, and fascinating with plenty of interactive exhibits to entertain even my adhd-addled brain. Certainly worth a visit if you find yourself able to make the trip

Very warm and lively place for kids with lots of aquatic animals in display. They also provide space for early learning readiness program which is a great cause for preparing little babies and kids for school readiness. Lively place. They keep changing some of the exhibits on quarterly basis which makes kids more excited about the place. Great fun

We made the best of our visit, but my daughter was 12 and bored quick, it's more for younger children in my opinion.

Great place for kids to explore. I took my grandson on a no school day.

Amazing facility! Great place for kids and adults who are curious about the Lake's ecosystem.

Like a mini science museum! There is tons of fun packed into this space for all ages. The water table is especially great for young children!

Great place to bring family and just enjoy a day exploring.

My son loved it! We could have gone back next day and he'd have still been entranced!

it's in a state of disrepair. my kid got a free button that we colored, but we basically got a button for 30 bucks. nothing changed from the last time, but half of everything was broken. Toys from the kitchen floating in the water and such. Compared to a year ago, I'm disappointed and will not pay to go back at the rate of 40 dollars for 2 adults and 1 3 year old.

Great day for the family. So much for the kids to explore.

Considering the limitations due to Covid-19, this was an enjoyable visit.

my fiance and I went here to kill some time and learn some of the history of lake champlaign. this is geared more towards kids. so I would recommend visiting this interactive center to learn some of the history in the area and especially about the lake.

Really cool place! Great during the day as a musuem, but also fantastic at night when you can book them for events! Loved my visit.

Great place for the kids. My daughter liver the into the Lake and my son enjoyed using the microscope.

It's a little pricy, but the only thing like it in Burlington

Good place for kids. A lot of children's activities.

my daughter loves to go here, very hands on, great exhibits!

It's a really nice museum, especially with kids. They have plenty of activities for them. The museum is a bit small but it's perfect for a visit with kids. On the second floor, there is a space where you can touch some sea animals. There is also a pretend play area as well as a small play area for babies. Overall, we really have enjoyed our time there and we'll be sure to come back

Got to walk on the lake and a little run. If youbgo in the winter definitely something to stop and see and a little walk!

Great museum for kids and families with lovely views of Lake Champlain from the second floor balcony!

Great family fun. Exhibits charge, but not terribly often.

Decided to check this place out while visiting the area and I was surprisingly entertained. It's a great thing to check out when in the area, lots of cool creatures to see with activities for kids as well.

Great spot for kids and adults, lots of interesting history and information. Definitely see one of the film's, they are written, directed, edited, narrated, and scored perfectly. I was very impressed!

Fun place for children. They rotate their exhibits. Today we learned about dinosaurs. Very interesting.

Overpriced for what is there. However, exhibits were good, lots of interactive things for children. Not enough fish, too many turtles!

Great hands on museum and science center for children. Nice gift shop. View of the lake. Snack shop.

LOVE Echo!! Cannot say this enough! We have a family pass for my husband and I and our two daughters and even if we show up 30 minutes before closing just to let the toddlers blow off some steam, we're always welcomed and encouraged to go play. Love the rotation of exhibits especially the current imagination play ground one!

Great place to enjoy the Lake Champlain ecosystem! The kids loved their experience and it's very interactive and you learn a lot.

Not a good visit. Paid 45 bucks just for three levels and they were not even that much n the level. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.

What a great experience for kids and parents! This was the perfect destination for a rambunctious 16-month old on a rainy day.

Very fun place to spend the day with the kiddos! My 18 month old and a blast.

We didn't have time to do a full tour but what we did see was very interesting.

Was a bit disappointed as I thought it was a true aquarium with whales, sharks, even fish, but NO, this is a TOUCH, FEEL MUSEUM FOR CHILDREN. IT'S A BIT MISLEADING BUT FILM WE VIEWED AND HAD TO PAY EXT ET A FOR MADE IT A BIT BETTER, IT JUST SHOULD HAVE BEEN FREE!!

Great, educational experience, a bit heavy on the wallet / purse though.

My future wedding venue, past study hall and always my favorite place to see animals!

Great place super clean , snack and bathrooms available. Great people , friendly and would recommend a place to enjoy night life.

This is an excelleny science museum, integrating marine bilology, local history, anthropology, paleo-archeology, ecology, even crytozology, and more, in exhibits that lean heavily towards being oriented to children, but which easily retain an adults interest. Exceptionally well done.

Great experience as always, the current (2017) butterfly exhibit was awesome and the tree house/market/cafe/ferry play area is a big hit with the kids.

Good place to learn about some new things. Lots of local learnings, everything from wildlife to manufacturing.

Had a blast. I enjoyed having water time in the little play area the best, even if I had to sign up for it. These guys really thought about covid and prepared well against it. Well done.

Great stop for younger kids. They usually have an interesting rotating exhibit to make repeat visits worth while.

Great experience, if a little small. This is not an all day place. But good for a couple of hours of learning and fun with the family.

My kids love going to Echo! Lots of fun things to explore!

A der der der you could save a lot of money and just see a sad looking abused lobster at the supermarket der der der this aquarium is a complete stunt by base opportunists who simply emptied out a section of Lake Champlain and take advantage of the desperately bored population of Burlington to showcase their abused lake animals like the shameless hucksters that these aquarium scammers are

Great place to spend some time. Very friendly staff and great for the kids!

Amazing place to take the kids. Hands activites and hours of fun.

Cute little aquarium with hands on activities and knowledgable staff. This is definitely more kid oriented though so if you're an adult headed here, while still very interesting and educational (so stop in!), you should likely have something else planned for the day as going through this won't take all that long (whereas a larger aquarium with an array of animals would likely take a few hours, this will not).

Fun museum, great for all ages and pretty view of the lake

Really enjoyed it. Although there wasn't a touch tank there were plenty of things to keep my toddlers busy. My kids really liked the treehouse slide. They had a great time.

My daughter's loved it. Alot of stuff for
Kids to do and pretty cheap

Loved the center! Probably better for little kids than teenagers, but some of the simpler signs are nice for those not scientifically inclined :). Also, I reccommend getting a maple creemee at the nearby market after your visit. Very delicious, and nice views over the lake.

Always a good time for the whole family. Plenty of activities to keep the kids and parents busy and entertained for the entire day

Awesome place to bring kids. They have a bunch of different activities in there. Fish and water animals tanks, they have interactive stations with the fish. A lot of neat science things. Tons of things for kids to play on,Zillow big tree house with a slide, kitchen with play food and a large water table. Kids can spendnd hours in there.

Great science museum for kids, and interesting for adults too

My daughter is in love with this place so we're planning to come back for some fun at the Echo Center with our new daughter.

This was a pretty cool place and the kids had a pretty good time. However, being from Baltimore and having access to the Science Center, Port Discovery, and Aquarium there, ECHO seemed a little lackluster by comparison.

Add to that the fact that some of the exhibits were broken or badly worn (poorly maintained), and the price was on par with more robust attractions.

It wasn't *lousy* and I don't regret going, but if money is tight you might be left feeling like you spent too much for what you get here.