Big Pit National Coal Museum

A place that you must visit. We heard about this Big Pit from a local friend. So we booked a tour for underground coal mine experience on a Sunday afternoon, which only costed 5£ per person. Due to the covid restrictions, 6 visitors were allowed in a tour. Our tour guide, Robin, was fun and knowledgeable who provided a lot of insightful historical information and personal experience about the mine. Also, 20 minute film introduction was a must to visit, too. A bit emotional overwhelmed because of such hard work and many lives had lost.

Having visited the mine mamy years ago i decided to expose my wife to experience the trip around,down and through an ex-working coal mine, it left her with a lasting impression of the hardships of the men and animals that literally gave their lives to bring coal to the surface. The staff were informative and witty in explaining the workings of the mine. The shop was well stocked, unfortunately the cafe was closed. The premises, including the toilets,were clean. To be able to visit this museum for free is a privilege and hopefully all visitors make a donation to help it's upkeep.

Such an interesting and educational experience. Not only is the surrounding countryside gorgeous, but the tour of the pit is incredibly interesting and immersive. You get to go for a full tour through the mine and really experience what it was like, our guide Steve was incredibly friendly and knowledgable and was a previous worker at the mine which just made it even more special.
The simulation was also great and the museum was very interesting, hugely recommend this experience.
The tour is free but you do have to pay for parking (they accept both card and cash).

Absolutely fantastic place to visit. All of the guides were so incredibly knowledgeable and welcoming. Our family booked to go underground, felt very covid safe (minimum numbers at the moment 130 per day compared to 800 pre covid). Our guide Steve was absolutely brilliant, very fun but also answered all of the questions our 3 daughters put to him! The rest of the museum is fantastic with a simulation of life in the mine as well as the exhibitions on the equipment used and the life of a worker. We took a picnic but they also have a canteen which was well priced. Booking was exceptionally easy online. We'll worth a visit, will definitely be back!

Fab visit to the Big Pit coal mine with family.
Friendly approachable staff who made it interesting & fun. It is a free exhibit but donations are gratefully received & donation boxes are around. You can book online & pay aporox £5 for a booked fasttrack timed ticket if wanted.
You book in, climb stairs then sit waiting to be called forward to be fitted with safety helmet, light & battery equipment. All electronics need to be given in including mobile phones, watches etc as it is a safety need but all is locked away safely.
Then experience the journey down in the lift underground, walk under low beams & need to duck at times especially if tall but all good fun. See & hear about the men, women & children who worked & what they did, see where the ponies were kept, see the equipment & feel the atmosphere. Area on ground level to see the canaries & other exhibits too.
Toilets available on ground level but cafe was shut (there was another cafe up a steep walk but unable to do this due to disability). There was a stall selling cold drinks outside tho.
Good for adults & children. Not appropriate for dogs.
I think there was a disabled route but closed on the day we went. Main route we did you need to be able to walk upstairs, use a lift & walk on wet slippy floors underground but there is a small handail on right side most of the time.
Enjoyable interesting trip that I would be happy to do again

We took our 5 year old grandson here during half term and had a great visit. He positively loved all the machinery and especially the trip underground. Remember, this has to be prebooked separately with the entry ticket. The whole team here was friendly and helpful and gave a great idea of what life was like when coal was King in the Welsh Valleys. Surprisingly, he was also fascinated by the Pit Baths, the concept of having neither toilet nor bath in a house was difficult for him to grasp.
Entry is free and the Car Park charge of £5/day is the same as other Museum of Wales sites like St Fagans.

A terrific experience for young and old. A real coal mine now turned into a museum. The underground tour gives a realistic insight into conditions underground and a good idea of how the mine was worked. The pit head baths demonstrate another aspect of mine life capturing mining history as well recent history regarding the closing of the mines. There is a galleries features, which shows some of the more up to date mining methods, comparing them with the more traditional ways. Entry to the complex is free but parking is £3. Plenty of parking available. After April 1st it is possible to buy a £5 priority pass to give preferential access to the underground tours. Remarkably the underground tour can offer a wheelchair facility. Expect a great day out, to learn a lot about mining and coal, and expect to experience some real Welsh humour. Highly recommend.

I loved being able to go down underground, kitted out with hard hat, head torch and other gear. We went down in the ‘cage’ and had a wonderful guide who explained some of the history of the pit and coal mining in general. Our guide included adults and children in his commentary and was extremely engaging.
I also loved the fact that the whole entrance fee was the £5 car park ticket for the car and it’s passenger, although, you could make a contribution at the end of our tour underground as well, it was not mentioned or requested. It made it a cheap outing for families instead of some of the extortionate entrance fees at some attractions.
The Bath House was also fascinating with its rows of showers and banks of lockers with information about some real miners and their work both back when the mine was in private hands and later once it was nationalised. This building also had some information about mining in general and the real dangers of the industry.
Altogether, a really interesting and worthwhile visit which made me appreciate the hardships of miners and the conditions in which they worked.

Highly recommend visiting Bit Pit. A fascinating underground tour being shown the old workings. Emma, the guide was enthusiastic, knowledgable and left us with pure respect for the miners who worked the mines. Wouldn’t recommend anyone who is claustrophobic going underground, however there is an excellent re-creation above ground which you can walk through and which gives you the feel for what the mines were / are like. Very friendly cafe at the top of the site where smashing home-made cakes were on sale. As part of the same building the old mine shower / locker areas held a really interesting exhibition. Went there expecting to spend an hour and ended up staying for 4. Very interesting and we’ll done. Highly recommended.

My husband and I, along with my parents, visited the Big Pit National Coal Mining Museum on the 2nd of July, and we were not disappointed. Situated in the picturesque Brecon hills, this museum provides a fine reminder of a sadly departed industry which provided the heart of many a Welsh community. Although the current COVID-19 restrictions deprived us of the opportunity to descend into the pit workings, the enthusiasm and passion of the staff, who were former miners from the Welsh coalfields, more than compensated, especially when they were explaining about the mining structures or equipment, or providing personal recollections and anecdotes about their time as miners. My husband and I look forward to returning here when the opportunity permits.