Durham - Beamish Open Air Museum Reviews

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Durham - Beamish Open Air Museum
★★★☆☆
3.4
71.0% of users recommend this
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  • Value For Money

Summary

Beamish Britain's favourite open air museum, set in over 300 acres of beautiful countryside, vividly recreates life in the North of England in the early 1800s and 1900s. Winner of both the British Museum of the Year and European Museum of the Year Awards, it demonstrates the recent history of the region in a "living" way and provides entertainment and education for visitors of all ages and interests. For opening times & booking Information see http://www.beamish.org.uk/
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Latest Reviews

“Watch the prices in sweetshop”

★★★★☆

written by orHolland106 on 13/05/2017

Great day ended with a visit to the sweetshop for the 5 grandchildren. All wanted candy rock as part of the treet, 10 bars bought, TWO bars nice and hard candy rock, EIGHT bars a soft crumble mess!! If they have old stock they obviously want to give it to you instead of replacing, never mind the very high prices, the sweetshop is a no go. Everything else is top notch.

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“Excellent Value for Money, needs more than a day!!!”

★★★★★

written by johnanderson1 on 08/05/2016

We took out the "Unlimited Pass" which allowed us to return as often as we want over the next year, and it was just as well.We were so impressed by the "Authenticity" of the whole site and congratulate those who have the foresight to preserve such heritage. There is so much to see, so much you can do, something for everyone. It was excellent value for money. The entrance fee covered all activities, trams, Buses, Steam Trains etc. The only extras were for food and drink and the Carnival rides, all of which were very reasonably priced. We were a mixed age group from Grandparents, parents and Grandchildren, and the site catered for all. We were there from 10.00 am to 5.00pm and never saw it all but had a great time. The Staff were very knowledgeable and helpful, dressed according the era added to the feeling of stepping back in time. Can wait to return and soak up more of days gone bye!

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“I L.O.V.E. Beamish Im not as keen on some "NEW" changes”

★★★★☆

written by sunshinesally1 on 05/02/2015

Beamish has always been a magical special place to me all my life, I am a annual member and probably visit around 10 times a year. I love so much about Beamish but feel it has lost some of the magic over recent years though I do agree that it had to offer a more commercial offering so the fish & chip shop bakers etc are all brilliant additions. I am disappointed with the 1940s farm I feel it is a shame they have removed the older farm history as this was one of my favourite places. The staff are always brilliant and can answer almost any questions with a great north east smile and friendly aura I will always love Beamish & Will Always Keep Visiting

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“Getting there but........”

★★★☆☆

written by on 02/12/2012

Great place to explore and stroll around. The working trams and the houses are a great trip back in time. The old school was a huge suprise to my children who couldn't imagine life without computers and smart boards. However take a packed lunch as the catering is some of the worst we've ever tried to eat at. Authentic fish n chip shop......2 hour wait. Very busy cafe at the Pit Village selling burnt offerings. Two tiny ovens for sausage rolls and frozen pies. £9 for two black sausage rolls,two drink cartons and a soup! Larger cafe further in but hoplessly managed. They have also missed a trick in the gift shop. They could really try harder to sell more area based produced with more ties to the era they are presenting. There is some but it's mainly bouncy balls and novelty pens etc. We've been three times now and will be back but with a hamper.

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“A lovely day out”

★★★★★

written by LesleyD2 on 05/05/2012

We visited Beamish last week with friends, they had been before but it was our first visit. It was a very cold day in mid week. The staff were friendly and the visitors all appeared to be enjoying their day,as we were. We spent 6 hours there. If we lived nearer we would certainly visit again!

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“Glad I've seen it ....but not sure I'll go back”

★★★★☆

written by DeckChairLady on 02/07/2011

Durham - Beamish Open Air Museum My initial impressions were very favourable - the lady on the ticket desk was efficient and friendly, and there didn't seem to be any problem with us taking our large unruly dog in with us. Overall it was a wonderful day, there is plenty to see but I think our experience was enhanced by the fact that it was a warm, sunny day, a cold day in October wouldn't have been anywhere near as pleasant :) The houses & shops were interesting to go through but the expertise of the Beamish

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“Great day out love the trams and staff are friendley”

★★★★★

written by on 24/04/2010

Great day out love the trams and staff are friendley

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“we wanted to take our two year old grandson somewhere...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 09/12/2009

we wanted to take our two year old grandson somewhere special to see the sights and magic of christmas . having searched the internet i thought the sound of beamish would be wonderful , how wrong i was . having paid £10 each for myself , husband and daughter entrance fee , we were greeted with a hugh blackboard advertising an edwardian christmas extravganze . we entered the town via a sparsely decorated tram to what can only be desribed as a lifeless depressing sight.there where empty stalls,hardly any decorations and no sounds of christmas . i was deeply disappointed and and felt mislead by the advertising. it was at best a half open beamish with sparse decorations and very unhappy looking staff . i would of been better off spending my hard earned cash on santa and pressies for my beautiful grandson at the metocentre . advice ,,, dont waste your money .

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“Having seen the "Christmas at Beamish" adverts we...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 06/12/2009

Having seen the "Christmas at Beamish" adverts we expected a wonderful time, with lots of decorations and christmas cheer, we got the opposite, half the place was closed, hardly any decorations, a handful fake snow around santa's grotto, an extra £3 for each child to see a skinny bloke in a santa suit with the worst cotton wool beard i've ever seen And as for the Wonderful gift for each child, it turned out to be a cheap bag of sweets, worth a few pence. I would not recommend this day out to any one, it was a complete waste of time and money.

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“Having paid £68 entrance fee for a group of 6 adults...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 30/11/2009

Having paid £68 entrance fee for a group of 6 adults and 2 children I expected the "Christmas at Beamish" to be something magical and a day we'd remember - hopw wrong I was! I had to fork out an additional £6 for the boys to have the privelage to meet Father Christmas and what a complete waste of money that was!

The website stated "a magical time to spend with the family, enjoying carol singers, Christmas Fayre and a special gift from Father Christams". The special gift was a bag of sweets that would have cost no more than £1 and the boys were in there for a matter of minutes. The woman who showed us in was bosy and rude and ushered us quickly out when I youngest started crying.

So much for the town being decorated in snow - WHERE? No Fayre on, hardly any staff and those that were working were miserable. There was nothing "Christmassy" about the place expect a few decorations and Christmas tree in the town.

All in all an over priced and disappointing day and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

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“At the moment you can get a yearly ticket for beamish...”

★★★★☆

written by on 02/09/2009

At the moment you can get a yearly ticket for beamish open air museum for the same price as a day ticket got to be good value. This is a great day out for all the family
lots of things for children to see and do but also interesting for adults

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“Beamish Open Air Museum. Nice and clean. More for...”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 23/01/2009

Beamish Open Air Museum. Nice and clean. More for adults and older children. Expensive and very poor value for money

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“Durham - Beamish Open Air Museum. It Is Different To...”

★★★★★

written by on 25/03/2008

Durham - Beamish Open Air Museum. It Is Different To Other attractions. It Is A Bit Rusty But It Still Looks Good. But Over All I Think It Is A Great Place To Visit

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“Beamish is a large open-air museum in Durham depicting...”

★★★★★

written by bossy. on 30/08/2002

Beamish is a large open-air museum in Durham depicting life in the late 19th and earthly 20th centuries. It has a town, village, farm, fair, railway station, manor house and trams to link to each part of the site.

The entrance fee is reasonable, but if you live in the area you can pay a tiny bit more and return as many times as you like for no extra fee. You can even bring 2 guests. But you can't buy this membership on a bank holiday.

The buildings are genuine, dismantled from other areas and rebuilt on the site to create this attraction. All 'exhibits' are genuine for the period. Even the staff wear period costume and do their jobs as they would have been done at the time.

In the mining village you get to go inside a real mine, but only in very small groups for safety reasons. - but this was so busy that we didn't get time. There are also lifts and other machinery which would have been used n the mining process - the kids liked this bit. There is even a real pit pony, but he's well looked after and very friendly. In the school you can have real lessons using slates and charcoal with an old-fashioned schoolmaster and play with old toys. There is also a church and old houses to look around, ice cream for the kids and a beer tent for the parents.

In the town there is a real pub and a real sweet shop, but these were both very busy. We also watched performances in the town square at the bandstand. Although you can buy food in the pub, it's better to take your own picnic. There is a picnic area, but you can stop in several places. There is a dentist's house to look around -the kids were fascinated with this bit. We had a modern day dentist stood in line with us, and she commented how many of the tools were still used today - scary thought.

There is a blacksmith on the farm who makes the old fashioned metal hoops that's the kids played with in the school playground - these are available for sale for anyone who managed to get the hang of it or wanted to practice at home

Some of the site is very hilly, but most of it is accessible for wheelchairs and buggies - it's just hard work pushing them up to the manor. Trams and buses come round approximately every 20 minutes, but they get very busy at peak times. It didn't help that we went on a Bank holiday, so we sometimes had to wait for the next one or stand. The staff are very friendly, so if you need help, the will give you a hand. It is possible to walk around the whole site, but we weren't up for that J. Besides, riding the tram is part of the fun.

There is a gift shop on the way out for those who need to shop ..

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