Durham - Beamish Open Air Museum

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.

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!

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

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.

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!

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

Great day out love the trams and staff are friendley

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 .

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.

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.