National Museum of Rural Life Reviews Summary

Attraction Facilities

Pros:

• "Had an excellent day here with my 3 year old grandson. We went on the tractor to the farm."
• "Very good family friendly attraction."
• "The tractor ride to the farm. We were lucky enough to see newborn calves, lambs and piglets."
• "Excellent facility in great grounds."
• "Explore life in the countryside, a historic farmhouse and working farm."
• "Great for seeing how a working farm runs. Very educational for the kids."
• "Perfect place for children to see the animals and learn about farming."

Cons:

• "Playpark should be much better."
• "Not many interactive activities for children, other than the small and somewhat dated wildlife room."
• "Sadly lots of the farm machinery is crammed into a warehouse with little by way of explanation."
• "Whenever I've visited, the play park has been too muddy for toddlers to play in because it does not have a suitable surface."
• "Used to love it here but tractor rides have stopped due to Covid, playpark is closed."
• "The tractor not running because of Covid is definitely a miss."
• "Children will get quickly bored looking at (no touching) old machinery and models enclosed behind glass."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Pleasant friendly staff. Very informative."
• "The staff at the museum and the farm were just great."
• "All of the staff were friendly, approachable, and accommodating."
• "Great staff in cafe, great coffee & scones welcome children and accommodate people's needs."
• "All staff pleasant and so helpful."
• "The staff were very friendly and incredibly help full."
• "Staff are knowledgeable and helpful."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately we had to leave earlier than expected the café card machine was broken and there was no cash machine in the building."
• "Restaurant staff not as friendly and you would be better to bring your own over priced and poor quality."
• "Staff member up at the farm was massively uptight as well."
• "The only criticism I would make is that there are not enough tables in the café."
• "A very uptight 'check in' made us feel quite unwelcome."
• "When I asked for a dairy free option for my daughter (who is sick from dairy) I was offered a 'gluten free' sandwich (that had dairy in it)!"
• "Restaurant is not set-up well for families."

Value and Accessibility

Pros:

• "Excellent value and interesting place to visit."
• "National Trust so free for NTS members."
• "Entrance tickets give unlimited access for 12 months so very good value, especially for families."
• "Ticket lasts a year so return visits are possible."
• "Admission price gets you an annual pass."
• "Really reasonably priced and can go back for free for the next year."
• "£10 adult ticket for a year's visits."

Cons:

• "It was so sad to see the calves kept in individual pens where they could barely move."
• "I can't get tickets. Sight said available apr 12 2021 but you need access code to use their ticket provider site (eventbrite) and there is no way by email or phone to contact either them or evenbrite to tell them of the issue."
• "The tractor to take you to the farm is off due to covid so it was quite a walk with a buggie over the stone path but otherwise a great day out."
• "Currently a bit limited/restricted due to covid regs."
• "If cold or wet no real facility to eat your own packed lunch in shelter."
• "But when you get there it's a struggle to fill the half hour before getting the tractor back down."
• "If you're disabled, you have a blue badge and you use the carpark, there may be a woman who will harrass you for not being disabled enough."

Café and Food Options

Pros:

• "Cafe is clean, well-stocked and plenty to choose from in terms of sandwiches soups and cakes."
• "Great selection of food for wee ones and adults in the cafe too."
• "The Café is better than the local hotels because they have soup which your Mum would die for."
• "Food in café very good, service excellent."
• "Restaurant has some nice bakery products and food is decent quality."
• "Also stopped at the café which was 5 stars nice staff and food."
• "Cafe is good too with Coeliac visitors well catered for."

Cons:

• "Cafe pricing a bit of a joke - I award the prize for most expensive Irn bru 500ml, ever, at £ 2.80."
• "Childrens packed lunch rip off."
• "Only negative, the tea brand in the cafe is not so good."
• "Don't bother right now!"
• "Not dog friendly."
• "Special events are fantastic and great for kids."
• "It would have helped if the staff and volunteers had an understanding of the Sunflower Lanyard Scheme to help accommodate for all visitors appropriately."