Address: The Reeds Rd, Tilford, Farnham GU10 2DL, United Kingdom
Phone: +441252795571
Rating: 4.6
based on 124 reviews.
General Experience
Pros:
"What a great day out this place is. For a few years now I have been regularly attending the rural life center."
"Great day out where can learn so much about all sorts of things... Definitely worth the visit we got yearly ticket. Bargin"
"Fantastic. Loved the experience, a great day out."
"Always a great day out. Halloween and Xmas events are fantastic."
"Brilliant day out in rain and shine! Great fun and lots to do."
"This place is 5 star!! Such fun, educational, interesting and a pure joy to visit."
"We had a great family day out."
Cons:
"Very disappointed, won't be returning."
"Santa special was disappointing for the price, experience ok but had much better for the same cost."
"Overall it was a very disappointing experience compared to our previous visit."
"We found the whole day quite boring."
"The whole experience was under 30 minutes compared to two hours in 2019 and there was nothing magical about it."
"It struck me as a place you might go if you needed to stop for a bit and get some mediocre entertainment for the kids."
"Sadly very wet day, which took the shine out of the day, although most things are under cover or in buildings."
Facilities & Accessibility
Pros:
"Facilities include free on-site parking, a café serving refreshments and lunches, a gift shop and toilets."
"Great place to visit and a festival we have just been to this years weyfest brilliant as usual loads of acts on four stages over three days. So friendly also all needs provide for, good disabled access and toilets."
"Loved it, went with my disabled husband in a wheelchair, my son, daughter-in-law grandchildren 5 and 9 years and 2 dogs."
"Nice peaceful setting with ample parking and lots to see."
"Reasonable parking, tea rooms, toilets and facilities for disabled (Radar key)."
"Good place for families, lots of little houses for explorer inside. Easy walking around. Good café."
"Dogs on leads are welcome."
Cons:
"The downside is the entrance and exit is via the shop."
"The only slight let down was the cafe which was mediocre and expensive."
"Some of the paths are quite uneven so my sister's all terrain pushchair was useful."
"Entry is a bit pricey for a museum as is the little café."
"Sadly the train wasn't running."
"Even on a bank holiday Monday, the steam train wasn't running and there were no demonstrations either."
"Most of the places had doors locked no one on a side to make it interesting for kids."
Value for Money
Pros:
"It's not an expensive admission either."
"Good affordable prices especially with family tickets and young children get in free."
"This place is more than affordable, I would suggest coming here at anytime of the time and the food is not half bad either."
"Standard ticket prices seemed like good value at £10.75 for adults, £7.75 for children when we visited."
"It's well laid out and good value. Well worth a visit."
"Annual passes definitely worth the money."
"Very interesting museum and they have many special events throughout the year Santa special is well worth a visit."
Cons:
"The train ride is pleasant but it scores low on value for money compared to other attractions I have visited."
"Overpriced or they charged me too much (£37 for 1 adult and 2 kids)."
"Definitely take a packed lunch unless you want to pay out in the cafe - ice lollies were around the £3 mark so again be prepared to pay out for those."
"The cost of entry is a tad steep considering."
"Not a great deal here in comparison to the Weald and downs museum."
"The cafe/restaurant is horrendously overpriced for what was on offer."
"But needs some modernisation, and better roads signs to find it."
Food & Dining
Pros:
"The food in the Cafe is not bad at all. The soup was actually delicious."
"The cafe has a good choice but is often busy."
"The cafe is great. Coffee and cake were very nice and reasonable price."
"We had a very nice reasonably priced lunch and cup of tea in the cafe served by a helpful cheerful lady."
"Good reasonably priced cafe with friendly service and excellent homemade sponge cake."
"The homemade soup I had was sublime."
"Also, we bought delicious homemade bread."
Cons:
"Food was a bit basic."
"The only slight let down was the cafe which was mediocre and expensive."
"Massive disappointment, not really a lot to see for ten pounds. However the biggest issue was with the crazy prices charged in the cafe."
"Entry is a bit pricey for a museum as is the little café."
"Definitely take a packed lunch unless you want to pay out in the cafe - ice lollies were around the £3 mark so again be prepared to pay out for those."
"The cafe/restaurant is horrendously overpriced for what was on offer."
"Sadly the cafe didn't have the staff to keep up with demand on the day we visited."
Activities & Events
Pros:
"A fun old-fashioned playground is a favourite for the kids and the light railway was a lot of fun too."
"Great place to visit and a festival we have just been to this years weyfest brilliant as usual loads of acts on four stages over three days. So friendly also all needs provide for, good disabled access and toilets."
"What a magical day. A short trip on a steam train, helping Santa's elves in their workshop."
"The volunteers obviously loved working there and always ready to chat and answer questions."
"Obviously the vehicles were an added bonus, but there was plenty to see from the permanent fixtures of the museum and my 6 and 9 year olds particularly enjoyed the school and playground."
"Various events take place throughout the year - we attended the Dennis Vehicle Extravaganza in June 2023 and saw a great selection of vintage, classic and modern buses, fire appliances and cars."
"Excellent place to visit with children - activities we did today were rocket making, fossils in plaster casts, bug hunting, washing with tubs and dollys."
Cons:
"Santa special was disappointing for the price, experience ok but had much better for the same cost."
"It's definitely not a 'living' museum unless they only do this on specific days in which it should be stated."
"The train ride is pleasant but it scores low on value for money compared to other attractions I have visited."
"Sadly the train wasn't running."
"Even on a bank holiday Monday, the steam train wasn't running and there were no demonstrations either."
"Most of the places had doors locked no one on a side to make it interesting for kids."
"The staff were very pushy to move us on."
Staff & Service
Pros:
"The volunteers obviously loved working there and always ready to chat and answer questions."
"Very friendly and accommodating staff, a trail for the children to look for things and write it down, lots of things for the children to do, toys old and new, play area."
"Brilliant staff who are happy to see you."
"Really well set out with lots to investigate and the staff/volunteers were super friendly and helpful."
"Good reasonably priced cafe with friendly service and excellent homemade sponge cake."
"We had a very nice reasonably priced lunch and cup of tea in the cafe served by a helpful cheerful lady."
"Firstly let me say that my family and I first did the santa experience in 2019 and it was a wonderful experience."