RSPB Saltholme Reviews Summary

Visitor Experience

Pros:

• "Staff are very friendly and passionate as you would expect about the local bird population."
• "Saw some great wildlife on the various walks from goldfinch's feeding to new born lambs and a fierce looking heron."
• "Lots of wide open space with a variety of birdlife to see all the year round."
• "Great for a day out, plenty to do."
• "A fantastic place to visit for bird watching."
• "This place is an amazing tonic for all ages, we all need to see and feel nature."
• "Such a lovely tranquil place, surrounded by nature & birds, so much space & things to look at, & interactive things to do."

Cons:

• "Very sad to see the dead birds hope the bird flu goes away very soon."
• "Maybe this place would be better to visit in summer months, avoid in winter."
• "If you want peace and quiet… forget this reserve."
• "Disappointed to see dog run closed, with very lame reason."
• "Waste of time. Wanted to see owls. Told us where they were about 30 minutes walk away... just needed a guide help."
• "Only issue is that some of the sights on the routes are looking worn and tired."
• "The rspb site is ok, needs more signs."

Facilities & Accessibility

Pros:

• "Good visitors centre with a nice cafe."
• "Most of the walks are on flat made paths so our fellow visitors included wheelchair users."
• "Great parking, good food nice clean toilets."
• "Nice walkways and good park. My little boy especially loved the underground tunnel."
• "Great facilities, fully accessible."
• "One of the most amazing RSPB centres in terms of facilities."
• "There is good access for people with disabilities and motorbility scooters on site that the less mobile can use."

Cons:

• "Lovely place to visit and paths are easy to get around with a mobility scooter and pushchair. Downside was the cafe."
• "The cafe has gone downhill and seemed more like a crèche."
• "It's a little pricey if you're not spending a decent amount of time there."
• "Some of the further paths could do with improving as they lack features of interest unlike the main loop."
• "The kids park was bogged down with mud."
• "The path from the carpark used to be safe for families and children, not now, it is severely overgrown and has direct access to a very busy road."
• "Paths were tired and uncared for."

Food & Cafe

Pros:

• "After spending some time watching it and walking around the rest of the reserve, we had a lovely cuppa and a piece of delicious cake in the cafe."
• "The cheese scones in the cafe are nice too."
• "Bird feeders by the windows, gift shop and delicious food at a good price."
• "As for the prices, they are cheap and good value."
• "Cafe offers sandwiches and hot food for what seems like a reasonable cost."
• "Food is good but presentation could be better but the coffee and caramel shortcake 😋to die for."
• "The meat and veg pie was amazing."

Cons:

• "Downside was the cafe."
• "Be warned - the food is expensive for the standard."
• "Very limited choice and over priced for what you get."
• "Cafe area, which whilst clean and well stocked is very expensive."
• "It's a shame the menu is limited now."
• "Food wasn't as nice as in previous visits, and the lady serving was quite abrupt."
• "Most expensive cafe in the north east, £7 for two sausage rolls had a 20 minute standing wait."

Value & Cost

Pros:

• "Free for members of the RSPB or those that take public transport to arrive, but not expensive for non-members."
• "The price was very reasonable."
• "If I wasn't a member, I'd still be happy to pay the cost. £5 per car load or free to rspb members."
• "The admission to the reserve itself was very good value for the experience."
• "Prices entry was very cheap (£5 each for adults)."
• "We sampled the food from the cafe and foe the money you can't go wrong for homecooked food."
• "Always a great place to visit."

Cons:

• "It's a lovely place. But thought £6 for two adults to take a child to play on park was a bit expensive."
• "Price for binoculars was quite high for hire (£7)."
• "Unfortunately no one came to clean or tidy any tables whilst we were there which did make me feel anxious about covid."
• "The cafe does close quite early though and often stops serving before the advertised closing time so you need to take care to avoid missing out."
• "It's a lovely place. But thought £6 for two adults to take a child to play on park was a bit expensive."
• "The rspb site is ok, needs more signs."
• "Very poor. Cannot imagine many tourists going there."