National Glass Centre Reviews

A very nice place to visit. good half term activities and nice cafe

Love it. Some great pieces and the view of the wear is for me beautiful

Fabulous to watch daily glass blowing display, very nice food & not expensive, good variety of glassware to buy in the gift shop big displays from other artists. Free parking good access for disabled

A very interesting place and they sell beautiful photographic prints of the North East.

Beautiful venue right on the Riverside you can sit and enjoy the scenery outside or sit inside.Food is gorgeous and lovely selection of sandwiches you can also have an alcoholic drink as its licenced.Gorgeous little shop with cards and gifts.Worth a visit to see the glassblowers at work also.

It's good fun and there's lots to do but the food is expensive.

A light and airey open plan building. Easy to find your way around. I attended a bauble blowing workshop which was great fun. I would definitely recommend this place AND the workshop

Interesting. Able to watch glass ornaments being made

Very disappointing lunch. Lacking in choice. It used to be very good, now just a third rate cafe. Embarrassing to think that this is representing Sunderland in the national glass centre.

Always a nice place to visit, rain or shine, beautiful glass and art works, gifts, and cafe, excellent! The river side location and terrace is great.

Fantastic place to spend a few hours. Good cafe on the way in, and a detailed excellent demonstration of glass blowing by some professionals who make it look so easy! Really interesting sculptures in the gallery to look at too.

Fascinating! Watching glass blowing is hypnotic. Good cafe too.

Disappointing. Not at all what we expected. Huge space with a ground floor cafe and tables on the terrace looking onto the industrial river views but we only found a handful of exhibits on display.
Closes at 5pm but it should say a lot earlier as staff start screening off the entrance to the shop well before 5pm.

Nice experience but numbers was low during our visit, glass blowing is viewable from behind a screen at present, due to the Times were all experiencing with the virus.

My friend and I went for breakfast, the coffee was good, my friend had scrambled eggs and I had brown toast and preserve (only one sachet with two slices of toast) as the sausage sandwich advertised on the menu was not available. Overall the food was not bad but the service was very poor. I ordered a second cup of coffee and I thought it was taking too long so I went up to enquire after it and it was standing on the counter.

Been here both the centre itself and a conference/awards evening. Lovely venue.

It was facinating to watch the glass making session. The narrator kept us well informed with all the details throughout the session.

Stunning place with great exhibitions and a superb shop

A lovely day out, exceptional glass blowing and lathe demonstration. A lovely cafe

Lovely place to stop for a coffee and a bite, and have a look around.

Lovely visit to a very informative glass blowing centre. Good place to buy gifts at a reasonable price. Cafe also not bad!

Great place, we visited on a school trip the kids really enjoyed it , they had a great arts and crafts afternoon where they decorated glass whales ready to be put in to the kiln , also watched a demonstration on glass blowing making a vase . We were a little nervous with so many kids around so much breakable art exhibits but left unscathed

Nice building and location but not as much to see with the kids as I'd hoped

Wheelchair and child friendly place to visit within Sunderland University grounds. It has a gallery showing modern art pieces made of glass. The gentleman 'curator' was extremely knowledgeable and very friendly.
There is a 'museum' area that shows the history of glass. The information was easy to read and understand.
They had a room that they were using for a craft activity for children.
My favourite part was a glassblowing demonstration where 2 lovely guys produced a glass multicoloured vase.
The restaurant was good quality but maybe a little on the expensive side. The shop had a wide variety of glass items as well as other souvenirs to suit all budgets.
The toilets are clean and there is a disabled one available too.
This centre is fully accessible and all the staff are friendly and helpful. Well worth a look visit. We took a walk along the Riverside after where you can see some interesting sculptures.
The National Glass Centre runs a great variety of glass and ceramic classes / workshops. Check the website and be sure to book in advance to guarantee a place. The classes are extremely popular.

I've been going here ever since I was young and it has never let me down! Also now with a pretty awesome restaurant!

Lovely area scenery worth a look had tea with family here after my brothers memorial service at saint Peter's church near by the building has some interesting history to view

Lovely place to visit staff are friendly and thers craft fairs have a lovely variety of products to buy

Well worth a visit - good place to buy gifts. Pleasant situation for cafe though not always good service.

Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. Good exhibitions and demonstrations. Cafe and shop worth a look. It's free to enter and a nice walk from the metro along the river by the university and St Peters church. Free parking if you go by car.

Glass in all its variety, from ancient to modern ... Great to see

What a brilliant couple of hours we had here. We watched two men blowing glass one made pumpkins the other made a vase then we got a half hour commentary on making a brown galas vase and the steps it takes to produce one with a silhouette pattern. Very interesting

The glass centre itself is very interesting and the staff in the gift shop were very nice. The cafe was awful, 10 mins to get asked what I would like then another 10 for it to be brought over with half of 1 coffee in the saucer! The waitress couldn't even crack a smile!

Excellent informative demonstrations and great displays

Hot glass blowing is amazing always a good afternoon out, and the cake is good to

Sunderland is famous for its glass, and the Glass Museum is amazing. It has a great cafe and runs glass blowing classes and demonstrations

Very enjoyable. Wonderful reading about the history of glass making in the area. Fantastic pieces for reasonable prices, as well as a super glass blowing live demonstration.

Visited yesterday with elderly father to see shipbuilding exhibition on top floor no lifts working really!!!!!!

Nice museum with demonstration of glassblower art. The glassblowers have impressive drinking cups.

Brilliant FREE centre, full of local history facts and gorgeous exhibits. Great cafe, shop and a chance to see glass being made.

Enjoyable place to visit and watch glass being blown

A very interesting place , and the shop was nice not to expensive at all , the glass blowing demo was great to , and all free , also has a nice cafe x

I returned for a second short course in flameworking glass. The centre is really well equipped and the classes really well taught. The food in the restaurant is delicious, worth visiting for the restaurant alone. The exhibitions are a good mixture of local and world class.

This was my first time at the National Glass Centre, really great stuff the building is so big and airy well wherth a visit. I would recommend it.

Lovely and interesting place to visit with very nice restaurant

It's just a museum with glass art pieces and not so fun

Interesting place to go and see the art galleries or join I. One of the workshops which are available. Workshops include bauble making, this time of the year with Christmas round the corner. The shop is also great with some lovely ornaments and gifts etc. The restaurant is reasonably priced and serves good quality food. The venue is also available for weddings.

Plenty of things to see and do , check ahead to see what times the live displays are as they are good to watch.

Great ! Watched demonstration which was superb. Museum very interesting. Nice coffee shop. Lovely cake's !

Lovely little museum - the exhibits are incredible and detailed, staff are super friendly, you can sometimes see live glass blowing and the cafe/gift shop are great. Highly recommend!

Service without a smile. Demoralised staff leaning on the counter. I was made to feel like I was spoiling their day by just being there. What a shame it used to be really nice here.

Good place to watch glass blowing, and find some good pieces of glass. It's free, so go!

Granddaughter loved it and to watch them making a bowl

Glass blowing has always interested me, And I visited the glass center last year and I found the whole centre very intresting .I managed to get on a one to one work shop with Ian as my tutor on the glass blowing.
It was a experience and I learned all the techniques on how glass products are produced.
Many thanks to Ian , This is something that I can highly recommend, I shall never forget the experience and if I get the opportunity I would like to do it again. Many thanks to Ian, you have a lot of patience and your a great teacher. Thank you Alan.

Interesting displays showcasing history of glass as a major source of revenue, as well as many latest art pieces. I was mainly intrigued by the half an hour workshop we attended on glass making, and were able to pick up wonderful souvenirs for our family. Good educational trip.

Great for out of the ordinary gift ideas. Helps if you like glass ;)

Very interesting and informative lots of work go into the making of the glass products would recommend a visit here

Such a beautiful place to visit very cultured. We managed to book the grandkids into one of the summer classes where you can go and have a tour of the place and also have to opportunity to make your own glass fridge magnets. The kids loved it and found it very educational. Well worth a visit! The views from the top looking over the sea are amazing and when you are looking down through the glass ceiling into the restaurant, you will have butterflies! Great service and food selection is brilliant. Overall one of the best places to visit if you are coming to Sunderland.

Always love a visit here - staff are always lovely and the view across the river to South Dock is always interesting too!

Very informative and interesting, parking free for visitors.

Ran incredible hands-on workshops in glass blowing own Halloween decoration (and now Christmas decorations Nov-Dec). Really fantastic experience.