Fishbourne Roman Palace Reviews Summary

Guides and Staff

Pros:

• "The tour guides are enthusiastic & informative & it is well worth taking the tour."
• "the guide was very good told you everything you wanted to know about the palace and very pleasant and polite"
• "Great place lots of very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides/staff, they really want you to get the full experience here."
• "A very good was given by Nigel a guide."
• "The guided tours are outstanding: highly informative but at the same time still funny and light."
• "The tour guide Alan was very friendly, knowledgeable and keen for people to ask questions."
• "We joined a talk given by a member of staff, which proved the highlight of our day."

Cons:

• "the staff at the entrance were talking very loud and I drown out the guide talk on palace"
• "Quality indifferent, as were the staff"
• "Staff seem to have a very good interest in the palace, which comes across well when you ask them questions."
• "Was expecting more for the money and was a bit off putting from the renovation."
• "Cafe could do by being a bit bigger for the amount it was serving, staff seemed to be a bit short for space."
• "Only briefly visited the cafe as passing with family, however couldn’t recommend the experience less."
• "The cafe could have been a lot better. There was no coffee, a very meagre cake selection, and the table was very sticky."

Mosaics and Exhibits

Pros:

• "Wow! Fishbourne Palace was unlike anything else in Roman Britain."
• "The permanent display of the villa mosaics were lovely too."
• "Extensive mosaics and artefacts on show."
• "Some of the mosaics are beautiful."
• "Superb set of floor mosaics, that show how in some cases the Romans simply put in a new floor right on top of an existing one when fashions changed."
• "Stunning mosaics that come in large quantities; really worth a visit if you are interested in Roman architecture and art."
• "Some remarkably well preserved mosaics…"

Cons:

• "Avoid. A few broken up and generally rubbish Roman mosaics, and thats about it."
• "The mosaics were interesting but there was not enough to see to warrant a second visit, we were quite disappointed."
• "I have seen more and better preserved examples of Roman mosaics elsewhere."
• "The 'walkover' mosaics were beautiful.... displayed as they were uncovered."
• "Some of the mosaics are quite heavily damaged."
• "Unfortunately much of it has been 'robbed out' though so don't expect to see any standing remains."
• "Main attraction: ...you really need allot of imagination to make this place interesting, I found myself trying to find the place engaging."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

• "Good covid-19 measures too."
• "It is covid safe and wheelchair friendly for the majority of the site."
• "Wheelchair accessible."
• "Access has ramps and large turning areas gor wheel chair users."
• "Very good disabled access ramps within site so was able to see all the mosaics."
• "Lovely cafe and picnic area. Plenty of parking."
• "On site cafe with decent indoor and outdoor seating and plenty of parking at site."

Cons:

• "Pea gravel in garden areas was a bit deep for the mobility scooter but we managed to get through."
• "The roof over the excavations is leaking in several places and the show garden with herbs, medicinal and display plants desperately needs gardening attention."
• "The only downside was on the day we went the weather wasn’t very nice and the only place to eat our lunch was outside."
• "The cafe was only open for takeaway and the toilets are basic."
• "Cafe: erm..yeah. shortbread was nice, staff nice but the place was a bit filthy."
• "The lovely gardens are a bit overgrown!"
• "The garden was appalling and not maintained well, plants were not watered and dead."

Value and Experience

Pros:

• "Super amiable staff and cheap entry."
• "The girls at the bar offer an excellent and cheap food."
• "Very reasonable price with free car park."
• "Parking + toilets is free."
• "Excellent experience. Ticket give repeat admissions for 12 Months."
• "A wonderful way to spend a couple of hours."
• "Great day here with the kids. The tour guide was very engaging, the staff friendly, a quiz for the kids and of course lots of mosaics."

Cons:

• "Overall: Spend your wonga else where unless you're genuinely curious about the place, just didn't do it for me and my group."
• "Muesum was interesting, however the recovered wing was fairly boring and didn't have much architectural innovations to admire compared to other sites. Bit pricey for what you get."
• "For such ticket price, I would expect them to reconstruct the Roman villa so that people nowadays could not only imagine but see how Romans lived."
• "The prices in the coffee shop were obviously set for VERY rich visitors or people who didn't have time to find elsewhere"
• "Tad expensive for us 4 oldies."
• "Way too overpriced and very limited."
• "The cafe serves good quality food and drinks, however a little pricey for a family on a budget."