Beamish Reviews 78

This review is long overdue but so important to give as myself and my partner visited Beamish Museum on the 30th of August and had a wonderful day. My partner loves vintage and old vehicles especially trains. Luke, Peter (driver) Sarah (fire person) along with the other Peter (guard) and John, as a surprise offered my partner to travel in the engine with them. It was such a lovely thing to do and we can’t praise them enough. Their enthusiasm and kindness, professionalism and knowledge, was second to none. I personally chatted with Luke for a while - what a fascinating and interesting man. Thank you guys. I very much hope you get to see this and apologies it took us so long. Carolyn and Chris

Visited during October half term. Very long queues to get in, would recommend buying tickets online prior to visit, as this queue was shorter. Our party of 7 included 2 people using mobility scooters, and 3 people with varying neuro diverse conditions. Whilst there was an accessible bus available, much of the site was difficult to navigate as the pavements were crowded and there were many obstacles to those with mobility issues, such as cobbles and lack of drop curbs. Also many of the building exhibits did not accommodate scooter or wheelchair access. A plus point was that carers got in for free. Would go again, but in warmer weather and not during school holidays

The place was beautifully kept, lovely and clean, not a scrap of rubbish anywhere. You can tell the employees, volunteers must have pride in where they work. All colleagues were a credit to Beamish, very helpful and knowledgable. It was great day out.

Visited on Monday with my college and had a great time. The workers were all very friendly and informative, especially the woman working in the clothing shop who demonstrated how it was all done and had a lovely conversation with us and another worker named Kate who we spoke to, she told me and my friends what it was like and answered all our questions as best as possible. We discussed our opinions and our favourite parts etc, I left feeling positive and she had left a good imprint on our day. There are many great things to see and there was no long queue times.

Waited over 90 mins to get a ticket. Spoilt the start of the day. £86 for 2 adults and a child Expensive. Ice creams £3.75. Small fairground £2.50 a ride but had to buy £10 of tokens. The pub was charging £1.85 for small bottle of water and £7.00 for a pint of beer. Trams and buses all full so finished up walking most of the time. Small mine - we couldn't understand a word the man said. Had to ask for a map of the site. Trams and buses had no destination on them so no one knew where they were going. Had taken our 7 year old Grandson as a treat - asked him if he wanted to visit again - No. Nothing for children to keep them entertained. This is meant to be a charity so taking names and addresses for every one to get the tax back on your spending caused the long entrance queue. We live over 200 miles from Beamish so this was a one off visit. Unable to get round most of the site. Wanted to get our photo's taken in the period costumes but were told - had to book within 2 hours of opening.

BEAMISH OUTDOOR PERIOD MUSEUM It took us 90 minutes in the Q to pay and get in today. Eventually the tills dealing with prepaid folk tried to help 'puters seemed really slow to process folk..couldnt get a tkt, had to rtun at the end of the day for them. Someone needs to get it sorted
I KNOW its school hols but the Q system spoilt it for me.it quicker to do London Tower...and last week 5 min wait at Warwick castle and that included a bag search..and the month before..airshow entrance just 15 mins and there were thousands of us!

Loved this place. Wonderful experience and will certainly be back.

I’ve visited Beamish many times and always enjoyed myself, especially with the addition of the 1950s town, it's fantastic. My last trip was during the Easter holidays 2025; although it was busy, it wasn't overwhelming. The site is enormous, with so much to see and do that boredom is never an issue. My ticket, cost £23/£24 plus a £5 donation (optional) and since it’s an annual pass, you can visit as often as you like for a year.
This year, I decided to return with my family and was taken aback to find that, just a year later, an adult ticket now costs £33 an increase of nearly ten pounds. They promote the ticket as an annual pass, but realistically, most people probably visit only once a year (point proved by the fact it’s over a year since I’ve been so had to pay for a new ticket). There’s a pricier “Friends of Beamish” pass, which includes a magazine, but otherwise offers little extra value. I chose not to donate this time, as paying £91 for 2 adults and 1 OAP felt generous enough.
The day we visited, the place was absolutely packed, long queues for buses and trams, and even longer lines for food, drinks, and the sweetshop. It was clear the site was understaffed. We ended up not eating all day because the wait times were just too long. We visited the famous sweet shop but we only got the sweet menu as we walked in so we got to the counter to be greeted by a very grumpy member of staff who was clearly frustrated with us not knowing what to buy since they didn’t have what I normally get I ended up wasting money on a bag of hard boiled sweets that no one wanted, so make sure you know what you want BEFORE entry or prepare the wrath of the enraged staff. On top of the already steep entrance fee, there’s a fun fair that was another £20 for tokens its £2.50 per token so £20 is expensive but best value. One token per 30-second ride.
Perhaps I’m being nostalgic, but I remember when the staff stayed in character and shared the history of the place; now, most were chatting about shift times or everyday 2025 matters. I left disappointed. If we do go again, it will only be while this annual pass is valid. Once it expires, I doubt we’ll be back.
It’s a shame because as a local, I used to be proud of Beamish and recommended it to everyone. Now, sadly, it just feels like an expensive place where you spend most of your time standing in queues.

Great day lovely staff everywhere
they could certainly help in putting destinations on each bus/tram stop as most people in queue were confused where it goes.
The crazy golf was very disappointing the clubs need replacing the actual base you play on was full of holes and uneven also some of the Woden things on the base were rotten n fallen apart making it difficult to play and not enjoyable
Mine staff brilliant very knowledgeable and friendly

Needed a mobility scooter and the accessibility provisions were exceptional! I felt seen and respected and the whole process was made super easy for me. 100% would recommend

We visited Beamish today, we hadn't been for a while, so we looked forward to it. It didn't disappoint, my daughter needed a mobility scooter, the volunteer was so helpful. The 50's area was totally amazing, the volunteers in the cinema were so friendly and informative. The bakery and chemist shop in the 1900s were so good. My husband loved the garage the volunteer was great, even the lady in the gift shop needs a mention. Well done to everyone itbwas excellent

Had a lovely day at beamish lots to do do and see .only problem was certain employees were very rude and unpolite,lady in bakers was very sharp when asked questions. Very unprofessional.

Went to Beamish 17.06.25 as they promote it as a dog friendly place. We have two small, very quiet dogs but in EVERY staffed indoor exhibit we were told dogs were not allowed. Beamish should be honest in what dog friendly means to them and perhaps have signs outside exhibits where dogs are not allowed.

A wonderful day at Beamish.
I am an 84 year old man with walking difficulties. On Friday the 20th of June my wife, Di, and I turned up at Beamish on what has since proved to be the hottest day of the year. Without prior arrangement we were cheerfully provided with a wheelchair and advised to use the access bus. We set off to the bus stop and asked the tram driver to radio the access bus. This he happily did and within minutes we were welcomed onto the bus. This became the pattern of the day. Nothing was to much trouble and the volunteers did everything for us with patience, kindness and good humour. As a consequence we were able to visit several superb exhibits and we're looking forward to coming back another day. Thank you.

Never again. Two hours queuing to get in at 12.45 and then another hour and 15 mins for simple chips. From there we thought we'd get a bus or tram, but after queuing for 45 mins and seen two modes of transport leaves us full, we started walking. It could be so much better. More staff, more transport, less profit focus. So very, very disappointed 😞

Like marty McFly it's going back in time . Great place and really big like a whole village love the 50s town mh grandmother has a house and furniture just like this . Kids love the old trams and buses and loved petting farm such a fantastic place . Love the fact your tickets are valued for whole year amazing hope to return later in the year Davey's fish and chips beautiful and cooked on old fashioned fryers

Excellent day at Beamish museum.
Shout out to Val ,who explained everything in the exhibit she was manning .
It was the dentist in the town .
Val was very knowlegable, really lovely .
Thanks Val.
Also shout out to the bus drivers who were so friendly and the very helpful people in the 1950s toy shop.
We had a fab day 😀
Thanks.

I have to say that this is probably the best museum in the country. If there is one better I have yet to hear about it. The day was fantastic from the moment we got there to the moment we left. There was so much to do for everybody. Toilets everywhere transport around all the attractions. The staff were brilliant and very knowledgeable. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. Thank you for one of my best days out ever.

A wonderful interactive educational day out. Impossible to see everything in one day so we will be back. The only thing that really needs changing is the queuing. Huge ques to get in and a lack of enough eateries /drink stands meant queuing was an issue and added a considerable amount of time to your day out.
This could have definitely been improved especially on entrance and perhaps with added drink stands/carts around.
However we took our dog and found it great. Obviously lots of places you can't take them in but you can take it in turns to go into the houses and shops. Fish and Chips are amazing and staff very knowledgeable adding to a great experience.