The wood is amazing, felt like in a fairy tale. But the price is so expensive (with no discount availability) and the wood is not too big, also dogs are not allowed and so has to be prepared in advance as the dog-sitting facilities (2of them) were not available the time we went. Overall, worth to see once.

An amazing place that I'd definitely worth visiting! Not somewhere I would advise visiting if you have mobility issues but accessible to most. Loved the dramatic features of the wood and the branch fences

Fantastic & worth a visit. Make sure you wear footwear with good grip as the rock paths are very slippery.. as I learned when we visited 🤣 Cafe and small play area on site, as well as a maze and a few animals. Fun for all ages, apart from those with mobility issues.

I love this place, it's just beautiful and awe inspiring. My 3 year old loved meeting the animals and exploring Puzzlewood and so does Mummy. As a massive Tolkien, Star Wars, Merlin etc. fan it's an awesome place to visit and try and spot the locations used. Really worth a visit as it truly is other-worldly.

Amazing forest with famous scenes from movies. The woodland really feels enchanted. It is a great program especially with kids. There is a cafe, little gift shop, trim trail, large picnic area with tables+benches if you bring your own food, some animals to see. We combined this experience with visiting Goodrich Castle (English Heritage) nearby.

Visited on a Wednesday and it would have been much more enjoyable if people could respect others, the beauty of nature, and keep the noise level down. That's a hard ask, I know, but it did unfortunately detract from my enjoyment. The place itself is wild and gorgeous. TONS of garlic in the spring that you probably shouldn't try to pick but the scent was lovely. Definitely worth a visit.

It is an amazing ancient woodland with fascinating tree and rock structures and interesting pathways to explore.. highly recommend to anyone interested in nature walks. I'd also suggest being cautious on the slippery surfaces when visiting after light rainfall.

Lovely to walk around, has a history for filmed scenes from movies like star wars, harry potter and others. Entry is £9.50 per adult and concessions only for +60 year olds. Takes about an hour or so when walking around and enjoying the scenery. It's a very unique setting and the moss that covers all the trees and rocks is very pretty. Some tree and root formations have grown very impressively, almost like something out of a fairy tail. I have been here many times and I've never seen it as busy as today - Easter 🐣 Sunday !

I'd been before when I was a child, nice to return with my niece. Enjoyable walk, there were balloons around with bunnies (presumably an Easter themed game for children). While a good idea it did slightly get in the way of photos. Regardless, great place for an interesting walk. A great deal of film and TV shows have been filmed here too. Have to visit at some point if you've never been.

What a find and a great place to visit with the family. There is a small park, maze and farm. Then you walk into the woods, which are amazing. What a magical place my photos do not do it justice. If you believe in fairies, then this would be where they would live. There is so much to see and explore and so much more. The trail was easy to follow, and there are coins on cards to make sure you walk the whole way around. There are lots of photo opportunities with lots of little hooks to find.

Really lovely place, very magical feeling about it. Will look gorgeous when all the flowers come out. It is very muddy throughout though so wear sensible footwear. If you're a Harry Potter fan, it's a must see!! Takes roughly 1hr to walk the paths,..try not to get lost!! There is a cafe, and play area, great place for tye kids get mucky and run around.😍

We very much enjoyed our 4 night stay in Puzzlewood Cottage for the second time. Mary was welcoming and made sure we were comfortable. We particularly enjoy visiting the woods early in the morning and later in the evenings when it’s closed to the public. So lucky to have it to ourselves. A great base for exploring Forest of Dean and Gloucester during the day.

We chose not to research before our visit so we were very pleasantly surprised with the size of the wood depth and colours. Less than £10 entry includes unlimited access to wood on day of visit and a few small animal enclosures. Basic clean cafe and ample parking.

Beautiful forest, but is there a map?? I needed a map. We went on a muddy day, wellies needed, and wandered around the forest looking for some of the movie filming sites. It would have been nice to have signs or a map with the sites marked. I know it's a forest maze, but I wanted to see it all and go the best routes. Visited on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the end of September. Plenty of parking. Wasn't too crowded. Purchased a tickets on site.

Awesome.... the energy as you walk into the actual woods, washes over you and envelops your senses. It brings home the reason so much folklore contains enchanted, ethereal and magical forests. Filled with faeries and tree spirits. Faces seen in rocks and witches in prominent stone. Despite star wars, Harry Potter etc being filmed here in parts, it is like walking through a far cry game or uncharted. If anyone has seen labyrinth (David bowie) you will not be able to walk through here without quoting many lines from it 👌 even though it wasn't filmed here, it could so easily have been. We went on a Monday and it was fairly quiet. Really nice staff and cool animals to see. It would be good for kids as they have a maze, a toddler go kart thing and mad chickens, donkeys etc. But wellies are useless. A good pair of walking boots required. The caff caters for vegetarian and vegan diets. Yes, you can walk in many forests for free and I would highly recommend that, but the hard work that has gone into making this place so magical, you just won't find anywhere else. I have a knackered back, and with care managed all aspects. But it's a forest, so nature's trip hazard 😆 Primary bonus is the good for the soul, being able to forest bathe in a really special place. ✨️

Beautiful woods and especially pleasant on a sunny day. The lad at the entrance was polite and there was no wait to get in. I would not recommend this area to anyone with very young children or who can't walk unassisted, as the terrain can be quite dangerous, especially when wet, and no pushchairs are permitted for obvious reasons. Good and gripping footwear is most definitely a must. Some cute animals at the site also, and the most amazing chickens🥰 Would definitely go back♡

The family went through the Mine and we did like it. It was shorter than we thought and it was nice there was things for the children to look for. Very dark and cold down there as expected. Lovely gift shop with Nice friendly staff. Nice cafe there too, where we got a lovely hot chocolate.

A wonderful experience, a true old retired iron ore mine / caves. There are many caverns to explore and breathtaking underground lakes. It's a self guided tour which made a nice change to walk around at your own pace. Has a lovely cafe also, a small play park and a gift shop . We went at 10 and was the first and only people in there, was fantastic. We spent just over an hour here and would recommend it. There is a small free to use carpark.

Absolutely brilliant. I thought it would be good as I had heard good things from others but I was blown away when we got there. So many high quality decorations, so many lights, good distance walk, lovely toy for my baby after meeting Santa. Honestly can’t fault it. The amount of effort that has gone into it is amazing. Can’t Recommend it more highly. Best thing we have done in years. Thank you

Absolutely spectacular Christmas display ‘Archie and the Unicorn’ at Clearwell Caves. There were so many Forest creatures in multiple caves and named parcels everywhere so the search for family names is fun. The number of trees underground is amazing and everywhere you turn there is a beautiful scene.

This is a gem of a place to visit, a very interesting insight into the mines, over many years. The underwater fish lights are a must see. You can loose 10 minutes just watching them alone. A great little gift shop that sells Kendall mint cake(winner👍) Also a cafe with some lovely snacks and coffee on the menu. We shall return again one day and do the caving experience, once i have talked the missis into doing it. 🤗

Amazing cave. Very big, plenty to do and explore. Nice little mining museum as well. Definitely worth a visit. Just remember to bring appropriate shoes with good grip and a jumper as it's very cool in there.

The stalactites and stalagmites formations were a breathtaking sight to behold, and the history hidden within these caves is truly fascinating.The guided tour was informative, and the guide's knowledge about the geology and mining history added depth to the experience. The underground world is a whole new realm to discover, and I was in awe of the natural beauty preserved here. Safety measures were well in place, and I felt comfortable throughout the tour. I highly recommend this destination to anyone seeking a unique and educational adventure. Don't miss the chance to explore the hidden treasures beneath the earth's surface!

Many thanks to our guide for making it an experience! Around 3 hours of walking, crawling, climbing etc around the caves, learning about the history and geology. Maybe it was a bit long for some kids but still very much enjoyable for most! The overalls, helmets and shoes were dirty and smelly- so be prepared for this 😅 Otherwise- a highly recommended experience that you won't find anywhere. Thank you 🙏🏻🌸

A nice place to visit at a reasonable price. The staff are friendly. The caves are great to see and they're is a lot of literature, so its interesting. The cafe is good and you can play games (chess/drafts/etc). I recommend the carrot cake! Don't visit if you have mobility issues as there are a lot of steep paths.

Amazing time seeing Santa and having a hot chocolate in the underground cafe would be amazing day out without Santa but at Christmas it made it extra special. thank you to everyone involved making the day a very memorable one would highly recommend to anyone to have a day here especially if you book for Christmas!!

A really good place to visit. Plenty of information boards dotted around. Can be a bit slippery in places but sensible footwear should avoid any slips. Take your time walking around as you may find you get round too quickly.

Came on a Saturday afternoon as a second stop on a day out. Plenty of room in the car park and a short walk down the path to the entrance. We booked online and it was very straight forward and easy. No wait at all and was relatively quiet. You enter the caves via a short museum like room with some history and old machinery. Once you enter the cave it is quite impressive and more than what you expect it to be. We liked the touches of having mine carts and bits and pieces of the past dotted around which gave it a bit extra. In places it does get slightly dark for taking pictures so remember your flash. It goes on for quite a distance so took about an hour in total to get around. Near the end there is a pool of water with some light displays in the water and on the wall showing some animals and stuff which my boy thought was great. Nice little usual gift shop at the end. There is also a nice little cafe on site with reasonably priced sandwiches etc which was all delicious. Extra tip get the special suasage roll. It was amazing.

Really interesting experience, I felt like there was more to explore and see than advertised. You could get up close to it all. The story behind it all was riveting and the museum and items from the mine was very well presented. There's a cafe, toilets, free car park and lovely mining/caves. All you need! Nice to hear the history of mining iron.

My brother and I visited Clearwell Caves yesterday.That was amazing, beautiful and breathtaking experience. I am still excited. We already booked Deep Level Caving. I can't wait to go back there.

Five grandchildren ages 7-12 went down the deep mine with Andy their leader. The safety instructions were made very clear and obviously important for the children to understand. Andy was very friendly, informative and made the whole experience great fun. The five beaming faces that emerged from the cave entrance, the chatter on the way back to the Lamp room, of which bit they liked best, the Rabbit run or the Mouse hole, clearly they had a brilliant time.

Really interesting and much better than I expected! Lovely little touches bring the history to life. Well worth a visit.

Wow, wow totally blown away, what a fantastic treat, we visited today and tbh honest I thought yeah a couple of trees a few lights but it’s a day out with friends. I was WRONG, just amazing and interactive, a Christmas market at the bottom chamber!! seriously, the trees the story figures, santas grotto swing kids and much more, now sitting in their cafe talking about what we’ve just see and all thoroughly enjoyed. You’ve got to come see this! Photos don’t do it justice at all

Great bit of history! Very surreal when you're in the mine! Very good experience, definitely worth the visit!

Lovely visit as ever, the caves are beautifully lit again this Christmas. Well worth the time. Wouldn't take a pushchair, but toddlers on reins are fine.

Lovely place to spend the day. The children thought the train was absolutely magic, getting off at different stops to play in different areas. We think it's great that it's also a dog friendly venue. Our boys very much enjoyed petting some dogs whilst we waited for the train. We will definitely be returning

Small train with a few minutes train ride. There are activities (for kids) by the railway stations in the track. You can get down, do some activities and join the next train available. They have both steam and diesel engines. Also there is a wedding location which was a new thing for me.

Great adventure for little ones as well as adults. Stuff friendly whole area well looked after nice and clean . Only issue during bank holiday weekend ticket kiosk was closed when its quite obvious there will be a busy day, and everyone have to queue in the coffee shop to get the tickets. A part of that very nice place, great play ground for kids.

Not a lot to do here. Train ride was OK for my younger children. The indoor tiny village play area was OK. The outdoor play areas was OK. It was something to do to waste 2hrs. Even the "Christmas" theme wasn't really Christmassy! Not really somewhere I'd visit again.

A lovely little attraction for all ages, we purchased our tickets online on the morning of our visit and we’d recommended booking in advance as it was very busy coming up to lunchtime. The train ride was fab, the carriages were clean and well maintained. We bought our own food to have in the picnic area (last stop) with a little park and woodland we could comfortably leave our child to play on his own.

A lovely diversion during a countryside drive. A pretty setting for the short steam train journey with loo and cafe facilities and plenty of walks and play areas. They should consider offering family and Seniors tickets IMHO.

Great fun, little ones love it and if you like trains you will probably have fun too. The staff were polite and there is a good amount to do for a couple of hours. Plus you can ride the train as much as you like on a single entry ticket.

Lovely little place, trains are fun to ride, cafe is clean and tidy with reasonable prices. Several parks with lots of equipment for the kids and seating for adults. And an indoor play area aswell.

Perrygrove railway tourist attraction is not a very big place. Kids will love this place. The entry tickets costed like 9£ for adults and 7£ for kids approximately. The train service have 4 stops. When you get down at the last stop there is a play area for kids with swings as well. They do also have a maze puzzle playing area for kids. Coming back to the entry point they do have toilets, small food court which will be serve ice creams as well. This place do offer you to organize a party or wedding reception with complete privacy.

What an absolutely fabulous day at Perrygrove Railway, what a shame it rained be still a fabulous turn out. The engines were brilliant, even though the drivers were wet, they kept a great service all day. The people who run Perrygrove have thought of everything. Little stools in the bathroom for the young children and dog bowl for the 4 legged customers (yep dog friendly) £1 got their own ticket. Absolutely loads to do for the children, cafe with drinks & food not over prices. Plenty to do in the station & a fabulous play area & picnic area at the top.

Fabulous day out with our granddaughters, and even the rain didn't spoil our enjoyment. Reasonably priced Evans as was the food. Will definitely be back!

Fantastic hidden gem, in a superb quaint village. Brilliant narrow gauge railway, the engines work hard, and plenty for kids to do. Cream Tea option on events days is a must. Extremely good value for money

One of the finest tourist places near Cheltenham.summer is the time to visit. Trip is almost for 30 mins with almost realistic experience. Also have a play area at another stop, you can relax there how much time you and can return in any other train. At last it's very good experience for tourists

Really great friendly experience for our grandchildren. There's a nice little, somewhat pricey cafe but the ice creams, sausage rolls and cornish pasties were decent quality and tasty so no complaints. The coffee was alright too. The trains are great fun and combined with the fun house, picnic areas and adventure parks there's enough going on there to keep little ones and not so little ones occupied for quite a few hours.

Great little steam train ride. Great park, short forest walks and magnificent tree house to play in. Good indoor play house too. Very limited selection in the cafe but cakes are lovely. Recommend taking a packed lunch

Perrigrove is a wonderful place for children and adults of all ages. The trains are full of character, well maintained and a delight of a journey, especially at Christmas! But there are other attractions aside. The ride on tractors, miniature railway, treetops adventure and playground with a picnic site are just as fun! If I was to raise any faults it would be that the cafe is very basic. Quite limited in number of ready made sandwiches and savouries, abundant icecream, crisps, chocolate, tea, coffee and cold drinks. You would be advised to bring a picnic or book a pub lunch nearby for afterwards.

It's a nice place to visit for a couple of hours. The train ride is fun (relaxing) and it has 2 outdoor and 1 indoor play areas - all good. The trails are nice, but can be muddy and slippery.

Great place for the younger ones 1-9yrs. Stops around the park to get off and explore new areas. Take your own food cafe is awful, expensive prices but sandwiches with no filling.

They really need new staff in the cafe/gift shop. The 2 girls working in there today were dreadful. & that’s not something I would say lightly, I understand that working in hospitality isn’t easy at times but there was no excuse today. Only us & one other table in there at this point, firstly the girl never told us they were out of baguettes & gave us a cold hard sandwich that wasn’t even wrapped properly in cling film. It took her 20 minutes to make these in the back. I don’t think the bread had been out the freezer for long, I took it back as it wasn’t what I ordered & not something I’m willing to pay £4.30 for. Why not just say ‘we have no baguettes’. After 25 minutes I politely said to the other girl we are waiting for a tea cake to which she snapped ‘Yes I know I am doing them now!’ I laughed & said okay, (it takes 90 seconds to toast a tea cake doesn’t it really) :) the tea cake appeared 10 minutes later looking like it just left the crematorium…lovely. It was the over all attitude of the tattooed girl, I do wonder how they will cope when it gets busy as they were falling apart with these 2 tables. In between this other people came back in to say they hadn’t received orders/orders wrong from outside. Just no customer skills/food prep it was really shocking, it’s a shame because staff who don’t care can really ruin businesses. The kids parks, Forrest & trains were cute.

Great place for kids (3 & 5) loads to do, tree top trail with little houses, ride the train, indoors play area, park with slides. Easy day out on a sunny day. It was raining when we went but still spent 4 hours there.

Excellent attraction open all year but I suggest you go in the summer, well laid out with plenty for the kids amusement, quite a few little engines run in the summer including small Diesel engines. Great café with hot food and reasonable prices. There's play areas dotted around and all are safe from moving traffic. I had a great time.

A splendidly maintained narrow gauge railway. Very popular with small people and even the slightly older generations! Expect it to get busy. A £10 adult entrance ticket allows you unlimited trips on the railway (if you can get on again), 4 stations to get on or off, some wooded walks, a picnic area, children's play areas and a small cafe. Free parking as well. It can get extremely busy.

Small stop on the line, but excellent to break the trip and walk into Lydney for a bite to eat.

Good newspaper but not very to deliver papers for.

Good helpful staff who make it easy to do what you go for.

Never receive paper in the post anymore 😭😭😭

Interesting

Poured with rain and still enjoyable walk and worth it. The sculptures amazing and signage great. Definitely download the trail map on your mobile before you go. Car park fees weren’t working for cash, however you can use the Ringo car parking App or pay via credit card in cafe. Well worth it.

Beautiful trail through the ancient historic Forest of Dean. The sculptures are definitely worth seeing and add to the experience as you get rewarded every so often with something to stand and admire for a moment. My children thoroughly enjoyed it, even with all the walking! At the end they still had the energy to go wild in the play area. Some of the sculptures were a bit underwhelming, to me at least. Especially when you have to immediately turn right around and loop back on yourself. A minor gripe in an otherwise enjoyable experience. Parking also a little expensive, but as the trail is free to all I guess it's worth it in that respect. If you don't mind a walk to the start of the trail then you can park for free in various places around the Forest. It's a stunning place to walk, hike or cycle so I'll definitely go back at some point to explore off trail and adventure deeper into the Forest. I highly recommend it.

First time visiting, visited mid-week morning. Car parking spaces were easily available. You pay for the car parking using the machine located under the arch of the building (you need your car reg number). Toilets and free water available, close to the payment machine. The full Sculpture Trail took us around 3 hours. Some of the sculptures could be easily missed, due to poor signage, but the sculptures are a bonus to the lovely walk through the forest. The track itself is fairly even underfoot with a few fairly easy climbs. . Worth a visit.

The sculpture trail is well signposted but I would recommend downloading the trail map as it also explains the vision behind each piece of art. Do allow yourself at least 3 hours to walk the trail - this will give you enough time to think a little about each of the pieces, rather than just glimpsing then and hurrying on to the next. Wear sturdy and comfortable footwear, and be prepared for the trail to take you uphill and downhill several times.

Good trail but be warned it's very hilly for little ones. Some good short cuts but they miss out on some of the best sculptures so we made our own route. Parking is £5 for 3 hours and goes to the maintenance of the forest (yes you can park down the road for free but come on). The coffee and cafe are also nice. Playground was a good bribe to get the kids back around to the start again and a nice 10 minute end to the walk

Sculptures made it that bit more interesting for kids. There is also other kids trail. areas of the park can be quite if you go off the main trail which can be bit busy.We popped into Speech house on route for Jubilee celebration which was fun! Cafe and toilet, good for families to cycle too

A lovely walk through the forest. This has well managed pathways although some areas are a little rougher but brilliant for all ages and abilities. Wonderful picturesque location that winds through the Welsh landscape with some thoughtful and clever sculptures. Choice of walks and distances. There's a lovely cafe and toilet facilities at the main charged carpark site, although there is a free carpark further up the road. Brilliant day out

Had great hike around the trail albeit that it rained. Good fun for adults and children trying to find the not so obvious sculptures. Fantastic time had by us all.

Love it. Plenty of parking. Nice cafe. Plenty of walks of different lengths, most of which have gentle slopes and gradients, which will suit walkers of most ages. Great to visit during the week when it's quieter. Parking metre which you can use in conjunction with an app, RingGo, which cost £4 for two hours. The trail and walks are clearly marked and generally well maintained. There are plenty of benches and tables next to the cafe plus a children's play area and toilets. Level 9 Google reviewer; 900 plus reviews, 1.4 million views and over 12,000 photos with around 45 million views and still going strong 💪. Check out my other reviews 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟.

Refreshing, plenty of space to walk around without bumping into anyone. Seen some cattle grazing on the grass sitting under the sun enjoying themselves. The sculpture trail didn't have much sculpture due to it being decommissioned and Beechenhurst cafe was closed on the weekend which seemed sad as there were a lot of people around looking to get in. Loss of business for owners and a need for a cuppa or ice cream. Good thing the toilets were open though 😅

A really lovely walk. It’s easy to find via sat nav and the car park was plenty big enough. There’s a cafe serving hot drinks and food, clean toilets and a children’s play area. I would recommend picking up a map for £1, as it’s easy to keep track of your progress and it is also interesting reading about the different sculptures. There are signs along the walk, and there are shortcuts to take if you don’t want to see everything. The entire walk took us around 3 hours. The sculptures are lovely, some better than others. The stained glass window was my favourite. After you see the final sculpture, the walk back to the car park is pretty long and boring which is the only negative. Overall a brill afternoon out!

We love this walk. It's not too taxing, but is up hill and through the forrest, as well as down hill and on the dirt track, so you do need to be careful if you have mobility issues, or heart problems. That said, the piece and quiet is worth the walk. Toilets are in the main area, along with cafe and information.

A pleasant walk among beautiful and interesting works of art. There is a large parking lot. Clear directions. We did not use a map. I recommend!

Excellent place for children and adults to explore. Plenty of sculpture to find. Will take at least a couple of hours if not more to complete the trails. After witch you can enjoy a drink and a bite to eat in the cafe or enjoy your own picnic as the cafe is a quote pricey.

An exciting walk of discovery with a variety of completely different sculptures to spot along the way. You pass through some of the most beautiful parts of the Forest. This is one of the best things to do in the Forest of Dean.

Great walk which starts with a decent climb. Some sculptures are a bit hidden. We loved the natural stuff e.g.cone, boats, deer and the railroad were good, but some of the other stuff actually seemed to not really fit well with the surrounding area and feel out of place. Well signposted and we had a lovely picnic in the "Grove of silence" Would be great to display QR codes or info about the sculpture to learn more. Amazing 4 hours in the woods 🌲🌳🌿🌱

Lovely woods and great facilities, plenty of places to explore for all ages and we took the dog who had a blast sensing all of the wildlife around. We did a little over an hour and don't recall seeing a dog bin other than at the start and end (not that we needed it). Plastic free water refills for humans and dogs a nice touch. We got a little confused with some signage at the end of the trail.

Great for hikers and who love hours of walking, not so much for sculpture admirers. Woods are beautiful,plenty picturesque places. We also saw squirrels and couple of deers wondering in woods. Sculptures on the other hand are not so great and it takes very long walking to get from one to another. Would not recommend with small children.

Considering the wet weather over the last 4 or 5 months 95% of the sculpture trail was good under foot, a few squelchy spots towards the end of the full loop but remained passable with walking boots. The constant rain did mean there were lots of little bubbling streams/drains throughout the walk. Completed the full loop in 2 hours.

We enjoyed our trip to the sculpture trail. There was quite a variety, and they were spaced out. Unfortunately we did not see the stained glass window so not sure if it is still there. It's not a walk for young families, and the trail is quite long. We spent over two hours in total, with stops at the sculptures, and did not see them all. Facilities are good though, and it's relatively easy to find. My teenage daughters all found the walk interesting which was great, so definitely something for older kids.

A little gem of a cafe. We visited with no booking but we were greeted by such friendly people you'd think we were regulars. It's a bright spacious cafe serving a huge selection of food which is all home made! We had steak pie which was tender, rich and full of meat. I had cottage pie with veg and a good jug of gravy. Again, it was clearly home made, really tasty and huge portions. Despite being a bit full we couldn't resist the dessert, having pavlova and Malteser cheesecake. As you can see from the photos, the puds were gorgeous. All this teams up with a good pot of foresters tea. None of your one bag rations here! I can't recommend this cafe highly enough. It's a real gem, even if at first glance, it's a little unlikely from outside. Don't be put off on a rainy day, you'll get the warmest of welcomes. The history that adorns the walls inside, about the Freeminers of the Forest Of Dean clearly shows their commitment to the area and the adjoining pit which is well worth visiting too.

An outstanding mine tour. Rich was incredibly accommodating and offered an insightful and interesting tour for a large school group. We’ll definitely be back!

A really interesting tour of a small mine. Rich was really knowledgeable and informative. Our boys (4 and 7) were fascinated. The food at the cafe was also great!

An amazing experience, with a out of season tour - we couldn't have expected anything better. We made use of the Café on site before meeting Rich who was our tour guide for the mines. The Café itself does great food, snacks & drinks and for the season was very festive! Meeting Rich was great, straight away very friendly, funny and informative on the process going into the mines, and during the mines! With us all being kitted up ready to go in. We had group 1 going in first and then a second group going in 40mins to 1hr later for the second tour. Small groups of 8 which worked really nice. Rich told us everything we needed to know, told us stories about the mines and even got us all to turn our lights off and experience true darkness for the first time. I think everyone took away something from this experience! and rich was more happy to answer any questions we had. Overall 10/10 for everything!

We booked this tour on a bit of a whim, not really knowing what to expect. None of us had any particular interest in mining nor did we know anything about it before we went. The gamble paid off though because the tour was really fascinating and run by a freeminer with a wealth of knowledge and who was such a pleasure to listen to. Definitely worth the entry fee. We started a bit late for our entry time but I think the tour took about an hour in total.

Spent a couple of hours here this past weekend for a convoy run with a car club, the venue and location is very charming and in the middle of a utterly gorgeous part of the valley, high mountains and tree lines, lush forests and roads going through. The colliery is well preserved and rich in details and lore. The cafe itself is presentable and spacious inside with some more memorabilia on the walls to mull over as you eat. The food what I had ordered was well cooked and tasty, however the pricing was absurd and forced me to reduce my order between giving my order and being told how much the total is before paying, as I was utterly taken back by how much it was going to cost, in the end settling on feeding the children I'd brought with me with just 2 'kids' meals that were far too large for even my 8 year old who would scoff up most plates. A child's chicken nugget and chips meal was a massive plate full of food, which not only was too much to consider a child's meal but was 6quid, I ordered 2 of these which fed the 5 of us ironically, my original order come to over 34quid, when it was expected to be about £15 Overly that feeling of being cheap and not actually carrying that amount sullied the whole experience for me, which would've otherwise been a good visit.

Great tour down the mine to learn about the coal industry. Lots of history and information along with a cool guide. Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone in the area. Wear good shoes as the walk down and up are steep!

What an amazing tour. The mine and history is fascinating. Richey, the tour guide was brilliant, a real font of knowledge which was delivered with passion and humour. He even thrilled our two teenagers who really enjoyed the experience. I would recommend booking because if you miss this, you have missed a treat!

Interesting 200 year old coal mine. The pre-booked tour takes you down the mine to the coal face. Lots if detail and information given by the guide about the mine and how it's built. A good value tour & well worth a visit. The cafe serves good food with friendly staff and there is a picnic area too. Book tickets on website beforehand.

Nice cafe, lovely breakfast. Also brilliant underground experience. A good place to stay for a few hours. Even just for a cup of tea or coffee, and if you're lucky enough to chat with the free miner's.

Absolutely loved this tour into the mine. We were a group of six with four children and the guide was excellent at sharing information in a way that covered adults and children. He also gave a chance for the children to ask all their questions and the whole experience is a real memory-maker.

Fantastic experience. Went with 2 kids (7 & 9 ) we all loved it. Tour guide gave lots of interesting information & great at answering kids questions. Food in the cafe was delicious. I'm sure we will be back

What a gem of a find we arrived early so took advantage of the cafe which was amazing so friendly everyone was and the food was stunning also as for the tour our guide was a local free miner so was very experienced and knowledgeable was glad to take there advice and had sensible foot where on recommendation to all he was amazing

Lovely area. Great facilities, cafe a bit expensive but easily sorted by taking a picnic, lovely staff. Clean toilets. Great to have so many options for walks.

It's a BRILLIANT place for everyone of any age and abilities. There is a great café that serves food and snacks, coffees and a good range of tea, soft drinks etc. Staff are lovely and very helpful. Good loos and usually very clean. The trails, tracks are extensive and are accessible to very nearly everyone. It has a sculpture trail, which is updated regularly and has GO APE, for those with a head for heights. Plenty of parking and is a pay and display, machines are situated in a few key points. Do go and enjoy our forest, I'm sure you will love it! Sorry, nearly forgot. It's very dog friendly too!

Beautiful place. With a fantastic sculpture trail

Let’s start with the parking shall we… pay and display and it’s a good sized multi level woodland car park Over a few acres. I’m partially disabled which made the 300yd round trip most amusing. There’s maybe two machines to pay. These days there’s a billion ways to pay for parking. They chose the stupidest one. The areas nice for a walk so that’s fine. Now to the ice cream procurement phase… queue at the counter for 5 mins. Told there’s a sign saying pay first and bring receipt( sign is minuscule and not near the queue) . Queue for a further 10 minutes. Come back out to face a further 5 minute queue to swap your receipt for ice cream. Honestly it’s the pay and display of ice cream purchasing. Forestry England. Utter muppets. Bring your own food and drink it’ll be great. Lol

Great place for walking, lots of routes and things to see. Also has go-ape and a large cafe

The young'uns went off to do the Zog your with lots of cool interactive VR, whilst I did the mountain bike trails. The red was very muddy with slippery roots and technical single track but the blue sections were dry and quick. There is also a pump track and some short black down hill. Good coffee shop/cafe that seemed to be well organised. Also has a playground for children.

My family and I had a fantastic day at Beechenhurst. We took part in the Zog trail, and the sculpture trail, and then sat and enjoyed a coffee in the park area while our son played in the impressive play area. There's lots to do and see, and our two spaniels were welcome too.

Great location and the kids enjoyed ‘Go Ape’ immensely, but the cafe is far too expensive and the food, whilst it looked okay, was awful. Miserly kid size portions. Best to take your own picnic!!!!

Well laid out tracks with clear directions. Cafe is a little expensive (£3.60 for a flat white). I parked in a free car park about 10mins from the centre as I didn't know how long my visit would be. Adjacent to Go Ape.

I have very fond memories of visiting the Beechenhurst Visitor Centre & Cafe in the Forest of Dean over the years. For as long as I can remember visiting as a child with my parents, then as teenagers and young adults before taking our children or with family & now just visiting as a retired couple to enjoy a good walk along the sculpture trail and then a hot drink & snack at the cafe. There's plenty of parking; £2 for two hours when the machine's working or £2.36 via the RingGo parking app, so long as you can get a mobile phone signal. There are so many different walks & on a warm day or even in the winter wrapped up warm it's a great place to visit and to relax. The walks vary in difficulty & length and are all well marked and signed. They also have ice cream for the pooch, never cheap but it keeps her happy 🐶.

Lovely for long not to steep hill walking plenty of trails and plenty of little woodland activities for the kids. Look out for the fake rain deer about lol. Lovely place to be.

Great dog friendly day out. We did a short walk - about an hour in total, but you could easily spend the whole day there walking. There seems to be good paths for cycling as well - we saw a fair few cyclists on our short walk. The cafe is quite comfortable - we had some sandwiches there, which weren’t particularly cheap (£4.50 a sandwich) but were very tasty and good quality none the less. There’s lots of activities and play areas for the kids. There are some signs for various insects, so there must be some sort of activity trail for the kids to follow. If you’re a FoD forestry commission member, the parking is free and you get 10% off at the cafe. You’ll quickly break even on the membership when the parking can be £5 for the day.

Yesterday, I came here for the first time with a group I met through Social Heroes Adventure Club. We drove from Horfield (North Bristol) and it only took 45 minutes so I was really pleased that an amazing mountain biking venue was not that far from where I'm based. There were a lot of facilities there including toilets, a cafe, a mountain bike shop and a place where you can rent mountain bikes. It was a small group, just three of us, but that meant we could take it slow and really take in the stunning scenery. Fortunately, I had my own full-suspension mountain bike and the other two rented bikes. The Forest of Dean Cycle Centre has a fantastic range of routes from easy to very challenging so it's perfect for all abilities. The lighting was amazing, especially as we kept climbing. Around 12pm the sun was at its highest and the sun glowed through the trees, producing some very beautiful shadows.

Really great place to ride! There is something for everyone and you can make it as challenging as you like. Geared up for family's and kids too with a more gentle trail. The jump park was really cool and super busy. Definitely one of the best free places you can go and it's kept really well the owners clearly care and understand trails. Cafe good too, the loaded fries were on point after a long ride 👌

A good place to ride for all ages. Some good choices of trails to ride with some jumps, flow and root sections. The blue trail has had lots of work and is simple yet fun to ride. The cafe has a good choice of drinks and food and the staff were super friendly. Uplifts and parking are available.

Have used the family trail & the off road routes. Had a great time on both. The car park gets busy, so you have to pick your time to come.

Blue and red trails were really fun, nice bikes to hire. The drop off and jump lines were really good to practice on too. Looking forward to coming back again. *Was a super hot day when I rode, the cafe was closed and all the taps were switched off. Had to ride around for a while to find the other visitor centre to get some supplies.

We had a fantastic Friday afternoon in the forest. The electric bike hire was expensive. £80 for an adult. So if you did this regularly you'd be be better investing in your own bike. (Most people there on the Friday had their own bikes) Google maps say that weekends are incredibly busy Also not you u have to book the day before for the hire of electric bikes.

I really like it here, costs £8.36 to park for the day (using the RingGo app). The uplift is £4 a ride or £40 for the day, it's not as regular as some of the big parks and is independent and not run by the shop. You definitely don't need to use it if you have a electric bike. Great cafe, £13 burger which was excellent. Shop looked good and well kitted out, there's a rental too and bike repair place. Everyone knows their stuff. As for the trails, the downhills are great, not a huge amount of them but all good fun (I loved the blues). I rode the blue cross country and it involves a lot of peddling.

Recently did an uplift day here and had a brilliant time. There's a couple of really smooth, flowy tracks for beginners to cruise down or experienced riders to hit very fast. Plenty of technical sections and a variety of jumps and drops on the higher graded trails DH trails. Did find the grading was a bit off as a 3 dot was easier to ride than one of the 2 dots and the others in my group agreed. Some of the runs were either errorded or just had large puddles and boggy sections that looked like they hadn't had any maintenance for a while, with a bit more trail maintenance I'd give it 5 stars, but overall a fun day of riding.

First time at the Forest of Dean trails and really liked them , red and blue where good fun and the family really enjoyed the blue. Downhill tracks is what I want to do and they didn't disappoint , 100%going back again to them and do more of them 👍. Cycle centre shop was OK but a very small range of products and spares, surprised considering the footfall of the place .

Nice family trail. The blue run would be a red elsewhere. Great long downhill finish. Despite lots of cars and people there on a Saturday the XC trails were empty.

Forest of Dean, fantastic trails, excellent facilities, good food lovely and clean, my only disappointment, didn't see any wild boar 😁

Great location. Verderers may be blue but you need to be fit!

Lovely scenery, very accessible and reasonably priced car parks and the mtb trails are fantastic. The staff in the bike shop and cafe are very friendly. The food is great and well priced.

Lovely! Nice variety of tree (as you'd hope), free parking, dogs running maniacally after elusive squirrels, good paths all round the place, proper gates - a lovely welcome to the forest walks surrounding. (Also nearby is a lovely looking lake)

Great part of the Forest of Dean. One pro which is also in my opinion a con is it's completely fenced in, which is great for people to take their dogs, but the con is with all the dogs off the lead you can get mobbed to the odd dog and there is always going to be dog mess somewhere even though there are bins.

Beautiful place unfortunately ruined by dogs and owners that don't respect boundaries. Not all dogs want to play, be approached or be friends. Would be a wonderful place to enjoy, if people ensured they had recall before letting lose their unruly dogs.

Just wow! The dogs enjoyed a walk around here and we absolutely loved reading when each tree was planted and what they were. Free to enter, and what a beautiful spot.

Beautiful walk with an enclosed area for dogs to be let off their leads.

We visit here regularly to exercise our dogs in the enclosed and gated area. Two good car parks make access easy and also gives you direct access to forest trails for longer walks.

Loved this place! Hadn't really experienced much of the forest of Dean so decided to take my dog and explore a little. Was not disappointed! The arboretum itself is small, but peaceful, however it extends well beyond with endless tracks and paths, lakes and woodland/ forest. Could walk for hours. Worth a visit for sure! Free parking too.

There’s a few car parks, we always find a spot. There’s no parking charge. Lovely woodland with a huge variety of trees. The arboretum is secure for the dogs to be off lead. We do a few laps of the arboretum before heading out the rear gate into the forest. There’s forestry work going on at the moment so the trails beyond the arboretum are rather muddy and torn up. Lovely walks

Delightful small arboretum in the Forest of Dean. The arboretum itself is fenced in and is well laid out with paths and benches. Outside of the arboretum itself there are further paths leading into other 'less manicured' woodland areas. There was some labelling of trees but if there was more I would have given this location five rather than four stars. There is a small (free) parking area.

I often go here when I'm in the Forest of Dean. Lovely place to walk the dog, all enclosed so no fear of traffic and lots of lovely, unusual trees, like the Giant Redwoods.

This place is only open on Friday and Saturday's. It was closed when I visited, but that was fine as I only wanted to take photos of the signal box, and this was easy to do.

Excellent local museum - and amazing volunteers. Learnt loads from a fantastic 15-minute summary of the principles of signalling in the beautiful restored signal box from an expert. Highly recommended.

What an experience. I was not expecting an incredibly detailed guided tour that lasted over 2 hours. The wealth of knowledge and passion is amazing. There is so much to look at and take in, and it is like going into someone's private collection. As a railway fan I still learnt so much, and I think any established railway or engineering enthusiast would thoroughly enjoy this.

Incredible number of full size railway items shoe-horned into a small space. Even a full size working signal box from Cogload Junction! All thanks to the effort and determination of the late Mike Rees.

This museum was a breath a fresh air. In a 'virtual' world here is a real 'hands on' museum with real people who are happy to show you around an extensive collection of railway exhibits from a full size steam loco to a signal box where you can 'have a go' at operating the levers.. Really enjoyed our visit and the train ride was great to..

I had a lovely time at Coleford GWR Museum yesterday, looking at the exhibits and chatting with the staff there. I'm a volunteer at the Mid Hants Railway and they are both volunteers at the Dean Forest Railway, so it was interesting to compare notes on railway operations during the COVID-19 pandemic! I'd love to give more stars, but I feel there's a lot of work to be done. The volunteers I chatted to are aware of this, so it's no discredit to them. Given the fantastic location (both in terms of being so close to the town centre and being in such a wonderful original building), there's a great opportunity for a really accessible museum which tells the story of the railway and its relevance to the area to a wide audience. What they actually have is unquestionably an impressive collection - both in terms of its size and variety -, but much of it is chiefly interesting if you already know what you're looking at and what was used for. So much more could - and should - be done to explain these items in accessible terms. To transform this from a collection into a really good museum would, of course, be an enormous amount of work, and the volunteers here are obviously working with very limited resources. I hope they get some more volunteers and are able to keep heading in the right direction. Thank-you for an enjoyable visit. Keep up the good work!

Lovely little independently owned railway museum with enthusiastic knowledgable volunteers. My husband spent a very happy time in the signal box learning the complexities of signaling

Only open for a couple of days a wk. Run by volunteers. Low price car park right next to it. Shops all close and places to eat. Talk given. Ride miniature train.

Amazing little place, a wealth of knowledge and passion from the volunteers who took us round and showed us everything. The engine in the engine shed is amazing! They even allowed our large dog to join us. £4 tickets, cash only. Worth 5 times that to an enthusiast!

A lovely place to visit. Mike was very friendly and knowledgeable. Kids (and big kids) very much enjoyed the mini train ride

Visited the Museum on Friday 9th Sep whilst on holiday, the volunteers are incredibly knowledgeable and we were given a tour of the workings of a steam engine, and of their signal box with hands-on demo. Many interesting items on display as well, so well worth a visit!

What a gorgeous little shop! Debbie and Paul were so helpful and clearly have a passion for all of the items that they stock. There is something here for every budget, my boys even spent some of their pocket money! Thank you, I shall be back for some Christmas shopping shortly

I stepped for the first and last time in this "shop". Obviously the owner doesn't want any customers. I was told to not touch anything straight from the door and if I touch anything I have to pay it. All that in a shed full with old furniture It's not even antique shop. other shops use Disinfectant on the door. Other shops are nice and want to keep customers. And don't blame your customers for spreading the virus. Shame

Rude, unhelpful, ignorant, no social skills, obviously hates other humans!! Sarcastic, if we could give a lower than zero rating we would. Unfortunately Zero rating is the lowest we can give!!

Yet another fabulous visit to this wonderful shop, a real treasure trove of amazing pieces. Paul and Debbie are so welcoming and so knowledgeable. I would highly recommend everyone calls in, don't drive past!! I am excited about looking for unusual Christmas presents. Just has to be my most favourite shop.

Very amazing nice people aswell 😌

5 stars for Let's Ring!

Lovely church and well looked after.

nice place.

It's a lovely walk around the lake where you'll many varieties of birds. Further around the perimeter of Woorgreens are wild ponies and many rare low nesting birds which entertain you with their singing during summer months as you meander along the trails.

Park opposite the crematorium, follow the track round until you reach the gate with the sign for cattle. Lovely natural habitat, flowers, scenery and nature. The cows will be hard to find, and are not intimidating at all

A beautiful reserve that's easy to access. Lovely lake and walks further into the forest if you fancy it.

Lovely relaxing walk and so quiet good place for taking the dogs

For the wildlife not a dog bath!

Lovely nature reserve can see Dartmoor Ponies

been going there for 40 odd years. great place