Creswell Crags

What a beautiful location and a great place to visit. I visited yesterday with my other half having booked the rock art tour. We turned up a couple of hours early and had a lovely time in the museum (small but perfectly formed) and a nice cup of coffee at the cafe. Our guide Andrea was very knowledgeable, she had a clear passion for her subject and took time to ensure that everyone in the tour was included. No question was a silly question and we had a great time discussing our theories about why the art was in the caves and where it was. Would thoroughly recommend for anyone, it takes you back in time and gives you a new appreciation for what our ancestors were doing 12,000 years ago. Also I had no idea we used to have hippopotamus and hyenas in Derbyshire! The price is an added bonus, extremely good value for money, particularly bearing in mind we effectively hired an anthropologist for the afternoon!
Also the cave spiders were fine, I’ve evicted larger from my house, although perhaps not one for the arachnophobes.

Really interesting and enjoyable day out with lots to do and see in the fresh air. Cave tours are personalised and the perfect length and you’re free to wander around the lake and surrounding areas. In these Covid times, everything is sanitised regularly and we felt safe. Cafe food was good value. Abi, our tour guide, was simply brilliant, keeping our 7 and 10 year olds transfixed with her knowledge of the history of the Crags. She had all the information about the ice age that they wanted to know and added the bonus of the witch marks. Her enthusiasm and ability to paint a picture in your imagination has given her our vote as the best guide we’ve ever had, anywhere! Thanks Abi 👍

After turning up on the wrong day (my own fault for not reading the date properly when I booked), the lovely lady on the reception desk managed to change my booking for the following day.
She was extremely helpful and friendly. I had to pay for the new tour and have the tour I'd previously booked refunded - which might I add was the quickest refund I've ever had.

The next day, we arrived for our tour. The same helpful lady from the day before was on the desk again. She not only remember our faces, but our names too - massive customer service points to you! (Sorry I didn't catch your name).

We then went for a wander around the gift shop while we waited for our tour time. Whilst we was browsing our tour guide Simon, came over and introduced himself. He said that he was ready if we wanted to start the tour early so off we went.

Simon was absolutely fantastic with our son. He got down to his level to speak to him, kept calling him by name and even checked he understood everything he was explaining.

During the tour Simon's knowledge about the area really shone through. He welcomed any questions we asked and answered everything he could. His passion for his job was obvious and made the tour that much more enjoyable.

My son is learning about Cave People at school at the moment and this was a fun family day out that gave him chance to see in real life, exactly what he's learning about. If you can make education fun I'm all for it. We all learnt alot from our tour, even Simon when my partner spotted a Cave drawing he'd not seen before. It really is a little gem full of its own discoveries.

Cresswell crags is definitely a must see, had an absolute fun time exploring the gorge, took the Robin Hood cave tour with fantastic guide,Simon. The museum has some amazing finds from the caves and the witch ‘apotropaic’ markings are truly breathtaking and mysterious. A COVID secure environment to be commended, this is a great venue for teachers to bring their students, with on site learning centre and helpful, knowledgeable staff to boot. Thoroughly recommended even if you just want a walk through the gorge and some fresh air. So what are you waiting for, get in touch and book your visit - support our museums!!.😄

The scenery and walks were great. I enjoyed learning about the long history and seeing artist depictions of hyenas roaming the land long ago. But I must say, the cafe food was bad and a rip off. A white bread tuna sandwich smashed up in cling film was £4.50!
Good visit but I recommend taking your own food

We visited today for the first time with our 13 year old and ten year old. We had booked the “Life In The Ice Age” cave tour and arrive about 30 mins early, which was just enough time to look round the exhibition beforehand.,

Our tour guide was really friendly, very knowledgeable and pitched the tour just right for the audience. He was very engaging and we all thoroughly enjoyed the tour, even our very sceptical 10 year old.

We had lunch at the cafe in the visitor centre, which had a good selection of paninis, soup and jacket potatoes as well as cakes and drinks. Unfortunately, even fairly early on, they had sold out of quite a few options (we were there by 1pm and I got my third choice).

After lunch we had a walk around the lake (for families with buggies and wheelchairs, the path around is relatively flat and smooth).

Then to the gift shop! Some good souvenirs, some at pocket money prices, as well as books on the history, geology and archaeology of the site.

A really good day out, and we’ll be back for the other tours.

We visited Creswell Crags whilst staying at the nearby Forest Holidays. As the size of the cave tour group is quite limited we booked our cave tour (Life in the Ice Age) online on the day prior to our visit.

The gorge (with its lake) whilst nice is even more interesting once you know the history – it is not hard to image woolly mammoths wandering around. The tour, whilst informative, does spend most its time in the first chamber of the Robin Hood cave – this was almost too long in one spot. You get a hard hat with light before setting off on the tour, which helped create a sense of adventure – due to some low roofs I was very glad to have had the hard hat. You may find that a separate hand touch is useful.

Museum Exhibition was good, but smaller than expected. Café was fine

We went on a booked tour shortly after they reopened. It was really worth it. As a family of four it was fantastic having our own guide John (or JC as he is known) who was extremely informative, knowledgeable and willing to tailor the tour to our interests and question direction. The 'Witches Marks' are a fascinating and relativity recent focus in the caves and they conjure up all sorts of theories and discussions.

The site itself is a great place for a walk and is unique in the setting - you would never know that a busy road once went right alongside the caves. The staff we encountered were welcoming and helpful and the museum is great for putting things in context. Catering is understandably limited at the present time but the fact that much of the produce is sourced locally is great to see.

Well worth a trip a day out.

My sister and I spent a wonderful 4 hours here today, parking was cheap and entry free. We booked a cave tour for £10 each and it was prompt and value for money, helmets with torches included (lasted just over an hour). The tour Guide Simon (not John 😂) was utterly wonderful and made our day with his knowledge, passion and anecdotes. (A special thanks for the extra chats into your break!!) A good place for all and we brought a picnic to enjoy in the dappled sunshine. The gift shop has a great selection of items and sells duck food for £1 which is much better for them than bread, the museum is really interesting with a selection of the archeological finds and the history behind the discoveries. Theres a cafe of site too. Truly memorable day out! Who knew hippos used to bathe in Nottinghamshire!!

I think booking the visit the day before on-line including the 'Art in the Ice Age Tour', car parking and a guidebook and then providing my booking reference to the very helpful receptionist made for a smooth arrival. Even the car parking lady chipped in with some useful advice. We visited Easter Saturday and the weather was glorious with so many people having picnics around the meadow area. I had booked a public tour for our family of three but in the event there was just us three on the tour with Simon our very knowledgeable guide. He is clearly passionate about Art in the Ice Age and the tour and the information he shared with us made the day for us. After the tour we explored the rest of the site before visiting the Museum which again was well worth a visit. The shop and cafe were also busy on the day. We spent over 6 hours at the venue and will certainly return to sample the other tours on offer. I previously reviewed this venue on 1st January, 2022 and was scathing after we arrived to find the venue closed despite the website indicating it would be open. We are all so pleased we returned because it really was an informative and enjoyable day out.