Ilam Park Reviews Summary

Scenery and Walks

Pros:

• "Absolutely stunning scenery and the walks around the hall and down by the river are tranquil and beautiful."
• "Through Italian gardens down to St Bertram's Bridge hearing the gentle trickle of the river stream helps to enhance the peaceful tranquility."
• "Beautiful scenery the country park was very tranquil."
• "Ilam Park has beautiful grounds and many nature walks."
• "Simply stunning place!! Set in the awesome peak district, Ilam has it in spades when it comes to views, beauty, architecture. walks."
• "Beautiful place for walking."
• "Stunning views of Dovedale & perfect for a long walk or short stroll."

Cons:

• "Dovedale was a lovely valley with great views, although a bit overhyped and busy."
• "Very very muddy you need good walking boots!"
• "At the moment the main drawback is the wet weather, which has encouraged the paths to become rather boggy."
• "Then it gets quite busy when walking along the river."
• "We headed on the walk to the stepping stones on a weekend and had to turn back as it was ridiculously overpopulated."
• "The rivers in Dovedale to flood in some areas making progress difficult."
• "The Italian garden is a joke of any garden most certainly of all an Italian garden."

Parking and Accessibility

Pros:

• "Good amount of parking."
• "Parking at ilam park cost £5 for the day and there are toilets and a takeaway cafe... river walks.. farmland.. cattle.. sheep.. woodlands."
• "The Car park is large & cost £3.00 for around 4 hours."
• "Free parking for national Trust members, park and house are great."
• "National Trust property. Has a free car park which allows visitors to walk the grounds of Ilam and visit the tea room."
• "Very nice and peaceful with nice picnic spots. Good parking and toilet facilities."
• "A beautiful location with a good sized pay and display carpark, free for NT members."

Cons:

• "Parking not too expensive but the parking price £3.50 seemed a lot for not a lot."
• "No phone Signal, so be mindful and careful not to get into tough situations."
• "The National Trust own the land, so you'll be charged for parking."
• "Parking is free for National Trust members or £7 for the day otherwise."
• "Parking pay machine just accept coin payment for non member visitor, no card/online payment option found."
• "The car park is large, but does get very busy so arrive early!"
• "Car park full so guess in summer it would be a bit chaotic!"

Facilities and Services

Pros:

• "Stopped for delicious tea and scones with jam and clotted cream."
• "Their scones are big & tasty, & if you are lucky and found freshly made hot scones you will never forget your tea experience here."
• "Tea room has cakes, soft drinks, hot drinks, beer and various food offerings."
• "Lovely tea room has fresh scones and everything else you would expect."
• "Café food is superb!"
• "The cafe had some nice food options, we had the curried cauliflower pasty and it was delicious."
• "Great soup, kids meal pack and hot drinks from the estate cafe."

Cons:

• "One issue is the electrical power. We had access to 4 power sockets, but these were wired into a single socket further down the room."
• "Grab and go coffee shop staff totally unhelpful and disinterested coffee average at best."
• "Nowhere to get a cup of tea apart from paying £2 for a disposable cup of it at reception."
• "The cafe closes too early! Cleaner wasn't happy we used the bathrooms as he had to mop again, he replied!!!"
• "No shop, small range of food in the cafe and worst of all they shut the toilets in the middle of the day for 'cleaning'."
• "The cafe isn't dog friendly so you are turning custom away from a lot of dog walkers!"
• "Toilets disgusting not clean no soap and no sanitizer and no toilet paper."