Druridge Bay Country Park Reviews Summary

Park and Lake

Pros:

• "Lovely country park and lake with a good walk around the lake."
• "Beautiful park, well looked after."
• "Its vast, with ample parking, a fabulous play area, a well laid path around the lake & loads of others to explore."
• "Fantastic place, lots of wildlife and lots of walks and cycling with a beautiful lake."
• "Beautifully kept park and lake. Very scenic with lots of picnic areas, well kept footpaths with lots of different areas to visit, and plenty of wildlife."
• "Lovely place to walk around, you have the lake, wooded areas, open meadows and beach."
• "A lovely country park which is well maintained."

Cons:

• "The cafe in the visitor centre, which had seen better days and was overpriced."
• "Only concerning part was on our first visit there we came across a needle on the rocks as you walk down into the beach."
• "The walk around the lake is a little on the lacklustre side though as the Chinese Bridge is little more than a short and simple arch with wooden sides."
• "Although when I was there there was blue green algae in the water which is poisonous to people and dogs so do be weary of that."
• "Play Park is a bit old now and run down."
• "Trouble was dog poo all over the paths."
• "Just a shame to see all the trees blown down after gales a couple of walks closed but still a lovely walk around the lake."

Beach

Pros:

• "The beach is within 5 minutes walk and is huge. A great day out with a picnic in the sun."
• "It's lovely! Lake with a good cinder path round it (30-40 mins walk), cafe, toilets, good kids play area, grass, huge empty sandy beach/seaside."
• "Beautiful bay, we accessed it via some wooden steps."
• "The beach is lovely, and has plenty of space."
• "This has got to be one of the best beaches in this country."
• "Huge open beach with firm and soft sand. No crowds. Walk for miles on sand."
• "Absolutely stunning beach and area to walk around."

Cons:

• "Parking isn't free anymore."
• "Car park is not free so people park on the roads."
• "Parking does cost... It's not free as some posts suggest."
• "The path trough to the beach would be better wider for the traffic using it."
• "Just disappointed on a sunday morning enjoying coffee with some unruly children screaming and running around causing mayhem."
• "Knocked a star off because the toilets in the visitor center were absolutely disgusting. Sanitary products overflowing onto the floor from the bins, and the smell was terrible 🤢"
• "There was only one toilet open and it was pretty disgusting that we didn't use it and went elsewhere on our way home."

Cafe and Food

Pros:

• "A nice little cafe with good food and drink."
• "Great walk around the lake, nice little cafe."
• "Had a coffee and a cake before walking around the lake. It was a lovely experience."
• "Lovely walks around the lake, a nice children's playground and a brilliant café serving really good takeaway food & drinks."
• "The cafe has takeaway service on at the moment, and the latte we got was very tasty!"
• "Cafe is lovely, staff are very friendly and food is lovely and service is prompt."
• "Cafe was clean prices not to bad."

Cons:

• "Tried one of their cakes with a 'coffee'. Although the cake was excellent, had to tip the cup away as it was simply awful."
• "It was quite busy and as a result the selection of food was limited."
• "Cafe (though staff are quite stroppy)."
• "Could do with a better cafe, that's open more often, it was closed when we visited."
• "What a shame that there is confusing and contradictory signage and a cafe which opens at an undisclosed time and then does so little to work around covid restrictions."

Parking

Pros:

• "Also parking is now FREE!"
• "One hour free parking next to the visitors centre but loads off free parking on the coastal road."
• "Parking was free for the first hour."
• "Free parking for an hour, £2 for 2 hours."
• "Lots of car parking, free now."
• "Car park is free (@Aug 2017) and accesses both the country park and the adjacent beach."
• "Great place to park for 'rugged' (wide off-road tyres) wheelchair access to the beach."

Cons:

• "Parking charges minimal really."
• "You have to pay in the car parks sadly it's about £3 for the day."
• "It's only £3:00 to park all day, or £1:60 for a couple of hours, cash only no card payment."
• "Parking isn't free anymore."
• "Car park is not free so people park on the roads."
• "Parking does cost... It's not free as some posts suggest."
• "Disappointed that parking is £1.60 for 2 hours or £3 for all day (8am-8pm)."

Facilities and Services

Pros:

• "Cafe and clean toilets at visitor centre."
• "There's a small centre with a shop and toilets which is handy to have near by."
• "These toilets have running hot water which is a bonus when you have small children."
• "Modernised visitor centre with a large cafe serving hot & cold food and drink, lots of toilets, outdoor picnic area and a large playarea."
• "Toilets clean and easily accessible."
• "Toilets were immaculate, with extra facilities to ease the waiting during lockdown."
• "The toilets were spotlessly clean."