Address: Abbey Rd, Kirkstall, Leeds LS5 3EH, United Kingdom
Phone: +441133784079
Rating: 4.6
based on 377 reviews.
Visitor Experience
Pros:
"Wonderful place to visit and explore."
"A lovely, peaceful and moving place to visit."
"The Abbey Museum was great, we spent 4 hours inside looking at everything and crafting in the area set up."
"Visited today and got a lovely free tour from a volunteer called Ian."
"A really beautiful place with a lot of history."
"A beautiful Abbey, right in the heart of the city, easy to reach, well kept and maintained."
"The Abbey itself is beautiful and easy to get to with parking nearby and the Abbey house museum for kids."
Cons:
"The signs around the place could be a bit childish and personally I prefer a more detailed guide book."
"Staff that guard the entrance into the Abbey are rude."
"Unhelpful service. Asked to charge my electric scooter, and as a picnic of about 100 people outside who are buying lots of ice creams, a unanimous decision of the staff replied 'we don’t charge scooters'."
"We were most disappointed that the super cafe in the museum is no longer there, the alternative cafe only had prepackaged sandwiches and apart from soup didn't provide any hot food."
"The only downside was the pretty grim male toilets in the visitors centre itself. Cobwebs and 'mess' everywhere..."
"I went to the sneaky experience hidden Xmas market and what an appalling event. Barely any stalls, no entertainmaint, overpriced food, terrible decoration and had to pay for the priveledge."
"However, the 2 staff manning the Abbey itself were more interested in going home than admitting paying customers."
Events and Activities
Pros:
"Also check for events happening - they have markets and shows on regularly."
"They also hold many food festivals there as well other events."
"Once a month there is a market."
"Fantastic day at Kirkstall Festival. So many families. So many variety of stalls. Music. Food."
"They have events throughout the year including monthly farmers market & Kirkstall Festival in summer."
"Visited on 19th may went to the fairy and flowers day, our grand daughters loved it plenty of things for them, nice food, clean toilets had a lovely day."
"This place has great markets on, a fair, runs and special out door cinema events which are so much fun."
Cons:
"Its perfect place as long as you don't get attacked by wedding hunters...who milking you for being at here...no photos ;))) x4 of us was just so surprised...our wedding ceremony was very very small...but we still got attacked."
"The market is too limited in size to keep you entertained for more than an hour."
"I honestly think they should reduce the fees when certain galleries are not available to see."
"The only downside I would say is the cost of parking at £15 a car on the day."
"For what should be a lovely trip, it is just another venue that is abused by trashy people littering everywhere."
"Unfortunately the Abbey is closed due to the pandemic but is fabulous to just get lost exploring all the nooks and crannies when open."
"The park around the abbey is better than the abbey itself these days."
Facilities and Accessibility
Pros:
"Entry to the ruins is free. Access is through the gift shop."
"The surrounding park, which in pre-austerity days was the home of the council's Classical Fantasia concerts and outdoor Shakespeare performances, is still very well maintained and a good place for a peaceful stroll."
"Lovely museum and cafe close by across the road."
"Very reasonable entry fee with free parking across the road near the museum."
"Free entry. The historical site closes relatively a bit early during summer time, but the park around it is also nice."
"Free entry, free parking."
"Parking is opposite of the Abbey and is free."
Cons:
"Parking can get very busy and crossing the A65 to get from the car park to the abbey can be tricky."
"Rubbish Coffee and shop at Kirkstall Abbey."
"Unfortunately the miniature railway has been removed."
"unclean bathrooms. Closed cafe."
"There is a busy main road that runs adjacent to the Abbey so be aware if with small children."
"Closed on Mondays, and parking can be difficult."
"bin bags full of rubbish stacked up inside the abbey and a random garden shed."
History and Education
Pros:
"Although some people say that Kirkstall Abbey is one of Leeds haunted place, the good news is that this is a heritage site that has a great history and it is great that Yorkshire still has these places existing for the generation to realise how much important history is."
"The abbey itself is steeped in history."
"One of the best features of Kirkstall Abbey was the audio guide because it offered excellent information from professionals who have worked there."
"Beautiful ruins with fairly good explanations on the usage of the structure."
"The Abbey is very interesting, it has a lot of well documented history which is presented on notice boards all round the ruins."
"Just love our local abbey, there is a visitor centre full of information about the abbey itself and what it meant to the surrounding area and the population."
"One of the highlights of my visit was the abbey's museum, which provided a fascinating insight into the daily lives of the monks who lived here."
Cons:
"There are no historical interest boards or anything explaining the Abbey or its history, which is sad."
"Some of the Abbey has been badly restored and the main road to Leeds did run straight through the middle of the abbey long ago."
"The museum on the opposite side of the road is overrated and they charge you 6 pounds (adult price) to get to see 2 floors."
"Great place to explore, but expensive (for what it is) to bring non-leeds resident visitors, who won't make any use of an annual pass."
"The museum across from the abbey has a Victorian Street that allows kids to see how people in late 19th century Britain lived."
"A pleasant walk by the River and around the abbey, astonishing history, and sad for the monks here used to routinely beat subservient monks, and call it religion."
"The information centre is interesting, with free toilets but they are quite rundown."