Bodmin Jail Attraction Reviews Summary

Guided Tours

Pros:

• "Caroline was our guide and did a fantastic job of recounting the history and bringing the attraction to life."
• "Highly recommended to book a guided tour to get that extra detail."
• "Our guide, Gemma, was fantastic. Her knowledge of, and clear interest toward the history of Bodmin and the Jail was so clear to see."
• "We booked an afternoon slot on the day online as the weather was too wet for the beach. We spent about 1.5 hrs there in total and family ticket was about £52.50 online."

Cons:

• "We did the guided tour and it fell short of expectations, it ran over quite a lot and had a few too many people in the group."
• "The guide couldn't answer a lot of questions and was talking about her own family rather than the prison."
• "Tour guide couldn’t answer a lot of questions and was talking about her own family rather than the prison."
• "For a local person who lives by the jail, I think this place is a joke. They build more and more attractions and yet source no parking for the horde of clueless tourists that descend on it each year."

Accessibility

Pros:

• "It's very accessible - both my dad and I use a walker and they have lifts there."
• "The dark walk at the start is very well done and you can certainly see that a great deal of money has been spent to get it to the standard that it’s at."
• "We were standing in a room with fake bookcases on the sides, flickering lights, a portrait of someone, and a countdown timer. It got more and more dramatic until..."
• "We went up to the counter, paid £18.50 (which I thought was a lot at the time) and went through the turnstile (there's the first clue this wasn't a normal jail museum)."

Cons:

• "Not really wheelchair friendly, although there are lifts to get to most places. Steps abound though."
• "There is no parking so be prepared to find a spot on the road and walk in!"
• "Parking isn't very good at all. If you're mobility impaired, I would recommend arriving as early as you can to secure a space at the front of the building."
• "Parking is a bit of an issue at the moment due to a large car park being closed nearby"

Overall Experience

Pros:

• "We booked onto the Ghost Walk Spooktacular and would 100% recommend it for a fun evening out."
• "An absolute must to go and experience. We had the 2 hour guided tour with Carl, and he was fantastic, full of enthusiasm and knowledge."
• "The interactive experience at the start of the tour is excellent for all. Follow this by a short tour of how convicts lived in small cells. That's about it!"
• "We had pre-booked tickets for late afternoon. What a bonus, there were hardly any other folks inside."

Cons:

• "The start was very good but slowly went downhill. Expected a better tour around the whole building and not just the few cells and rooms."
• "The actual jail was just a few cells to look around. It says 2-3 hours, we were done in under 1 hour."
• "Would highly recommend going here, we paid for the guided tour and we were not disappointed. (£50 for 2) Carl the guide was great, he had so many extra little stories which kept us all intrigued."
• "Really disappointing, pricey to go in and over commercialised, which detracts from the history, you actually don't get to visit the jail as this is now a hotel, so unless your staying there no point."