Threave Garden Reviews Summary

Gardens

Pros:

• "The garden is well maintained and there are lots of paths and areas to discover."
• "Gardens are just amazing and you can totally see the amount of work and care that goes into maintaining them."
• "Beautiful gardens with many different areas to explore."
• "A lovely place for an afternoon visit with beautiful formal gardens, a walled garden, less formal gardens higher up the hill, and beyond those, some native woodlands."
• "Especially loved the vegetables and fruits growing in the walled garden."
• "Beautiful gardens with an interesting house to visit."
• "The entire garden is beautifully designed and meticulously maintained - a jewel in the Trust's crown."

Cons:

• "The other sections were OK but a bit samey."
• "Parts of garden were lovely. Other parts rather neglected."
• "The 'woodland walk' was somewhat overgrown and had stinging nettles in some parts."
• "Some of the paths are very muddy, the garden of contemplation especially so if you are in a wheelchair it will be hard to use."
• "Only slightly tarnished by the massive ride on mowers buzzing about during our entire visit, seemingly without anything to do, which made a lot of noise and made it a bit hard to relax with a toddler who loves exploring."
• "Walled garden hard going as shingle though."
• "Some of the paths which were gravel proved a little challenging for our wheelchair."

Accessibility

Pros:

• "Entry is overly expensive and while it is accessible it's by no means an easy place to push a wheelchair around."
• "Our party of 4 included a wheelchair user and we were really impressed by the accessibility of the gardens."
• "There's ample parking including disabled spaces and the staff are friendly and welcoming."
• "Very accessible from main roads."
• "They do have a couple of electric scooters if required."
• "It is a bit hilly in places so be aware if you have walking problems however it is fully accessible if you are in a wheelchair."
• "The provision of a motorised scooter and a pre-planned route rounded off the great experience."

Cons:

• "THEY ARE NOT. Steep gradients, Mum nearly fell out at one point, took 2 to hold the chair back, rough sloping poorly maintained tarmac paths, grass paths, gravel paths, crazy paving paths with deep cracks impossible to push chair through."
• "It’s very steep. No good for a wheelchair, you’d need an electric chair or scooter."
• "The doors are very narrow and it was difficult to get in (I am a manual wheelchair user)."
• "Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed anywhere inside the gardens nor in the facilities."
• "No maps or signposts in the gardens."
• "Outrageous entry cost to walk around a lot of lawn steep hills and trees."
• "Sadly it poured with rain when we arrived. The café said they had water pressure problems and we couldn't have a hot drink but some customers were offered tea."

Cafe and Food

Pros:

• "The cafe was pricey but very tasty with generous portion sizes, so is well worth a visit."
• "Staff very friendly and coffee and scones very tasty."
• "The coffee shop was reasonably priced and the service was excellent."
• "We went to the cafe and had the sausage roll followed by wonderful cake and coffee."
• "The café does delicious food."
• "Prices are not too dear with good portions of high quality food!"
• "Lovely cafe with some hearty fare."

Cons:

• "Food from cafe was quite basic and not worth the cost."
• "The cafe had a limited menu mainly of soup or pasties and when we tried to leave a tip for the waiting staff we were told National Trust for Scotland does not allow tips!"
• "Cafe is a bit overpriced, we easily spent £30 on a panini, a couple of rolls and small drinks."
• "Called in for lunch and found out Restaurant is closed until March."
• "Sadly the scones did not live up to our expectations and were a complete let-down from the usual standards at Threave."
• "Very disappointed that I couldn't have a cheese and pickle toastie..... although I could have had it in a sandwich!"
• "They lose a star for the cafe though....despite what others have said, I think they could do better. Limited range of cakes and snacks, and eye wateringly expensive."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Even a couple of cafe/tearooms to stop for refreshments."
• "Staff very friendly and coffee and scones very tasty."
• "The staff are very friendly and helpful."
• "All the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful."
• "The helpful attitude of staff (special thanks to Chris whose support was outstanding)."
• "The gardeners are only too happy to answer questions."
• "A fabulous location, garden and staff. A real pleasure to visit and wander among the well cared for plants."

Cons:

• "Wasted trip and alienating potential visitors. Two women on till quite snooty!"
• "Welcome staff can be a bit grouchy so make sure you give them a big hello when you arrive."
• "Only reason for not giving a full 5 stars is because there are no bins throughout the gardens whatsoever so you have to carry all rubbish until you get back out to the car park and entrance."
• "I had expected more to be honest for the cost."
• "Not sure we will return."