Creswell Crags Museum & Heritage Centre in Leek

Located just outside of Worksop in North Nottinghamshire and sandwiched between the M1 and the A1, the Crags are described as an archaeological park enclosed limestone gorgeImagine having caves in a ravine showing evidence of habitation dating back by at least 10,000 years.There is a shop and museum and you can also book a cave tour.You’ll also find a small cafe, although I cannot comment as I haven’t been in, however many other reviewers do speak very highly of it.The Crags are most definitely well worth a visit.

Really good place for a walk or a picnic, has a great cafe too! The most impressive thing is the caves which are amazing! As they have some of the rarest art in the world!Have been here on many occasions but this weekend I booked to go on a private tour of the Church Cave with the art in, this was due to my lad learning the stone age at school. He absolutely loved it and was made ever more enjoyable by the lovely guide John who was amazing! Cant thank you enough loved it! Highly recommend!!

We were lucky with the weather in October, lovely walk, beautiful views and pleasant cafe with friendly staff.

Nice place to have a walk around but cave tour very disappointing, at £11 each it wasnt worth the money, we did the Ice Age tour, which sounded good on the websitebut only consisted of entering a small cave then going down a small low tunnel to another, the guide was informative but the information was probably more suited to children. I know it relies on the money for funding but unfortunately I wouldnt recommend it.

This is an enchanting place. I always visit when Im in the area. Met,Hannah one if the Cresswell Crags team, early in the morning and stayed on to go on her Cave tour in the afternoon, all about Cave Art, dating back, over 12,000 years.Hannahs talk was absolutely brilliant and delivered with so much, knowledge and passion.This is definitely one of the places, to put on your "Bucket List"

car park fee is £4. free parking at creswell village just 10 minutes walk away. the visitor centre / archaeological museum is worth £3 admission fee.

Very interesting visitors center, clean toilets, good cafe, lots of walks could start and finish here.Parking is pricey @ £4 for 4 hrs, £6 over 4 hrs, hopefully most of the fee goes towards the continuation and up keep of the center. 9/10

I attended the 12pm tour today with my 4 boys. The tour guide ( I think her name was Ray?Is an absolute credit to the place, exceptionally knowledgeable and very interactive! My youngest is 5 and autistic, he asked some questions (not always at an appropriate time🤣🤣 and not always fully comprehendableshe understood him, answered him and included him. Not everyone understands how to interact with those who are neurologically different, but she did. So inclusive!! Thank you!I would really want to give this place 5 stars but the cafe let the place down. Food is enormously overpriced for what you get (kids pack is almost £5 and you get half a sandwich,pom bears, raisins, small pack of biscuits and drinkits not enough to keep over 3s full. We had a sandwich which was not a sandwich but a cob,that covered in flour it was horrendous (£4.50 for a clingfilm covered egg cobspent £32 and everyone is still hungry. Next time we will bring a picnic. I want to support the cafe but its too expensive and lacking in quantity. They may do better if they rented a pitch to a cob van in the car park.

Great afternoon visit to Creswell Crags, lovely walk round the lake and interesting tour in the caves. Nice sandwiches and coffee too.

Lovely place and beautiful to walk around and all the natural parts (that havent been gated offare amazing. However, the paid tours are disappointing and the advertising is misleading, you only go into the first section of most caves and the information is tailored for children. Cafe is fine but dont bother with the bird food since the bird feeding area (a large, full bird feeder on a random tree along the pathis also quite misleading! We booked onto 2 tours and after seeing the whole vicinity of the 2nd tour while on our first (misled regarding the size of the caves by the websitewe could see there wasnt much more to it and tried to cancel or swap the second tour tickets. Lady on reception definitely could have been friendlier, wouldnt swap the tickets for another tour (claimed all booked but we could clearly see availability onlineand advised wed need to speak to the bookings manager on Monday for a refund which was absolutely fine - if it was true, however come Monday weve been advised refunds arent possible (reception should have told us as we would have gone on the tour for the sake of not losing the moneyand ignored after that.Highly recommend visiting the area for the natural aspects, anything youre being charged for is likely not worth it 😊

Simon was our tour guide and he was brilliant. Managed to balance the tour well with humour, knowledge and left some room for the imagination.

An ice age home to our ancestors, this primarily open air exhibit is a delightful walk through nature and history. Significant visitors to this location over the past 120,000 years include mammoths, hippos, neanderthals and even hyenas. Specific tours allow for cave visits but one can walk around the gorge and its central lake area. There are sections of stairs leading off the path to the small cave openings. Dogs are allowed but not in the gift shop/restaurant/toilet building. Parking is pay and display.

First time visiting we really enjoyed our time here and would come back. It has a cafe so nice to have a drink and take in the surroundings

A place where you can arrive outside the opening hours of official attractions. A charming corner, you can rest here in silence, embracing the wild nature. The noise of streams and rocks make you feel like you are in the mountains.

Finally got around to visiting the Crags having gone past many times. Reasonably priced car park and exhibition in the visitor centre. Didnt do the cave tour this time but intend to do it on a future visit.

Lovely day out, very well organised and informative cave tour (we did the Hyena Den tour). A fascinating experience, much enhanced by a knowledgeable and friendly guide (Maisy).The museum is also really well laid out - its not huge but it does a lot with whats there and makes good sense of the material.We werent visiting with little ones but were impressed with the playground continuing the ice age theme! Im sure it would be great with younger kids - not too much to overwhelm but plenty to intrigue.

Very popular. Good for young children with an interest in ancient prehistory. Dogs have to be on a lead at all times but there is a walk out of the Craggs to Welbeck that has plenty of opportunities for them to be off-lead. Interesting place.

Beautiful place. Nice little museum showing some of the local history & finds, & then steps (or liftdown to the Crags themselves.

Set on the edge of Derbyshire this is a little oasis of countryside calm. We popped in on Sunday afternoon for a quiet coffee. There is a small cafe, a shop, an exhibition centre and meeting rooms. There are walks around the woods and lake and from time to time, guided tours around the cave paintings. The cafe is modern with indoor and outdoor seating. Floor to ceiling windows with views to the woods. Typical National Trust/English Heritage coffee (so averagewith packaged ice cream, cakes and soft drinks. The setting and surroundings make this forgivable. From the interest perspective this is a lovely place to explore and have drink. If you are looking for fantastic coffee and cakes this is not the place. Would recommend however and will go back.Good parking with excellent disabled facilities. Can get very busy. Expect to walk. Great for kids who like to explore and for short walks.If you found my review helpful I would be grateful for a thumbs 👍

One of my favourite places. It has such a lovely feel to it, beautiful just for a walk then theres the amazing history and archaeology of the place which is so well explained by the knowledgeable and friendly tour guides (thank you Simon for a fantastic Ice Age Art tour today!).

A serene place. Can be busy but a most interesting area. The meadow area is ideal for picnic. Just ensure dogs to be kept on leads throughout the crags to protect wildlife.

Very picturesque, fascinating museum with some truly unique artifacts . I-sand feature is brilliant fun (for all ages. Cafe has a great selection and reasonable prices, can be accessed without paying entry to museum, but there is a parking charge. Gift shop has a broad selection of items. Reccomend booking on a guided tour, guides are really knowlegable and friendly and its possible (on the appropriate tour to see the oldest art in UK. Third visit - never disappointed.

Parking was £4 for 3 hours which is manageable but we paid £6 for all day.Tour was £11 each. We did the Robin Hood Cave and were told to meet 15 min early but this was not required as guide showed up on time. No artwork and very little cave exploration. Most content was aimed at children and had props that could have been shown outside of a cave (the bulk of the tour). Enjoyed the last 10 mins actually entering the deeper section of the cave. Perhaps a private tour would be better for adults without children? Didnt feel value for money if Im honest.The walk around the lake is lovely and we did this in less than an hour which was ideal.The museum was limited but worth a visit for all the cave finds and info.The shop is well put together with some lovely items to purchase at reasonable prices.All in all an enjoyable day out. Would give 3.5 stars but thats not what Google allows.

I went with my wife and three children and it was a great day. The staff 1 men and a young lady were great and have extensive knowledge and the lady told me that she had a Phd in archeology. Very interesting to listen to them. The man who guided us was great with children and tried to involve them. fantastic day!

A brilliant tour for the family. Excellent knowledge of the artifacts and how they would be made and used thousands of years ago. Very friendly staff and a very engaging Cave tour by Joe (I thinkand a new member of staff with incredible knowledge. Overall a great day out with the family.

The ice age art is superb. The bird is exceptionally clear, the bison less so, but surprised to see so many carvings so clearly. Tour exceeded my expectations

Gorgeous gorgeous place to visit. Visitor centre is great, with displays downstairs kids can get involved with. The shop has gorgeous items from jewellery and cards wooden items to stones and gems, tarot cards, incense, stuffed animals and much more. Staff are lovley. There was no issue taking my assistance dog in the centre. Free blue badge parking. The walk around the crags was stunning. We hope to take part in a cave tour on our next visit.

Loved our visit, all the wild flowers were out. It was great to wander around. I would like to book a cave tour next time. Cafe good. There are plenty of places for picnics. Only drawback was the £4 to park which would put me off visiting regularly. I think its a bit much if you only want a short walk.

Interesting place. Pleasant walks along gorge & can look into caves. You canpay & go on a themed guided tour. Some prehistoric finds in the small museum. Cafe has good snacks at fair prices. Nice to sit & eat outside on balcony

Great value for money,lovely walk around and took a tour of witches symbol caves, really great! Toilets on site clean,cafe good prices,nice food and gift shop reasonably priced. A great day out for all ages.

My first visit here. Nice gentle walk. Great for kids. Nice Cafe, friendly staff, coffee so so... I loved the gift shop.. Knowledgeable staff in there.

Great place to visit for both walking and finding out about our history. We went on one of the tours and the young archaeologist, she was full of passion and enthusiasm for the subject in question which was great to see. My 8 year old Granddaughter wants to go back for more so will be going in the Summer.

Creswell Crags is a truly beautiful ,amazing,mystical place to visit,it has plenty nature and wildlife,its very tranquil and peaceful great for unwinding,it also has a very interesting history attached to it,dating back millions of years,also has many caves,1 in particular were the legend Robinhood supposively hid from the Sheriff of Nottingham many years ago,it also good for ghost hunting,which I have experienced as Im a paranormal investigator and have captured many apparitions at the caves,it is well worth a visit and especially to the museum where there s lots of historical finds,a fantastic gift shop and lovely cafe for a coffee or meal,you wont be disappointed,its a great day out an all.

Lovely walk around the lake crags on each side, lots to see and very interesting also small but informative museum on site just a shame people leave rubbish in the caves but still a lovely few hours out

Lovely place for a walk and the tours of the caves are fascinating. Great little cafe with cakes and coffee too!

First time visiting at the weekend and it was a lovely walk round!You do pay extra to take a tour, and saw a few people doing so, and you also have to pay to enter the museum (£3 per adult, children free. Unsure of max age for thatwhich was interested but felt a little empty in parts. Overall, a really nice few hours out!Car park was charged at £3. Best to check this before going, as Im unsure on what time that allowed you 👍🏻

Nice Little place for a walk through the valley with cliffs and caves on 1 side and the river on the other. Museum is small but tells you about the area and bones/tools found in the crags.

Thought it would be bigger and less busy but its a nice place for a walk. Didnt go inside the caves cause my parking was running out of time.

Creswell crags was an interesting afternoon stroll. Took about 1hr to walk around the Crags lake. Lots of interesting caves both sides to peer into. Did see some people making use of a tour guide to go into the caves, you have to book in advance to do this. Nice places to stop and have a picnic along with a modern visitors centre and small museum you can visit for £3. Parking is pay and display with lots of available spaces.

Took grandchildren who soaked up the whole experience. Ages 11.12 and 4. They all took something out of the visit. The caves were fascinating to them.Joined in the story time at the visitor centre which they thoroughly enjoyed. Simon kept a room full of children and adults entertained for the hour.Beautiful scenery. Wonderful walks and a lovely cafe.

We booked on the Witch sign tour the tour guide, made it fun and explained everything she was very informative and answered all of our questions.Well worth £10.00 of anyones money.The location is very pretty and the cafe and musem part was an added bonus.

Beautiful tranquil place, lots of walking and a lot to discover,Staff in the gift shop were really nice,

Good place for a walk, a walk around the crags is about an hour, but part of it is connected to Robin Hoods Way so can be as long as a walk as you like. Dogs allowed but on leads as there is a lot of wildlife around.

When you first walk up and see the lake and surrounding cliff faces on either side its very impressive and does have a Jurassic World feel to it . The caves along the route are mostly gated off unless you book a guided tour which was quite disappointing. However the walk round the lake is a lovely walk and entry is free ( £4 for parkingonly paying if you want a guided tour .

Lovely place to walk. Peaceful and picturesque. No charge to get in (other than the carparkunless you go on an organised tour with them but still very reasonably priced. Cafe good. Friendly staff. Would definitely recommend for a relaxing afternoon out.

Nice Walk around the gorge but cave visits are £10 each which is a little expensive. The cafe is nice and has shaded outdoor seating on multiple levels. Has disabled access and so OK for pushchairs. Its free but would like a voluntary Continuation. Plenty of toilets and parking available and a small shop. They do special events. We went for a living history one which wasnt great, very basic and couldnt find the flint knapping bloke but the ladies in the cave were great and informative. Kids enjoyed it. Had a map. And butterfly trail for £2 which was a bit of fun

Fantastic day out exploring the caves and ancient woodland. Lots to see and do , and cafe is well located with outside tables on 2 levels.

What a stunning place to while away an hour or two. With added bonus of knowing that Ice age people lived there. Like walking umongst our ancestors. Highly recommend a visit. Plus a cheeky ice cream at the cafe to complete the joy.

Beautiful scenic views, great place just for a walk. My husband, son and I took a guided tour of the caves. Our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and tried very hard to give us a great experience, wish we did have. However, I think £40 is a tad expensive but, I would imagine that its not cheap for them to maintain the site say hey ho 😃 Definitely wear trainers, and you will be thankful of your hard hat!

Think Alton Towers without the thrill rides.Must be excellent to have a proper guided tour and be able to get inside the caves which are barred to entry.Plenty of things to see and a prehistoric animal climbing area for the kids to play on.Big visitors centre with café and seating areas outside.Take a walk around the gorge, about a mile, and take all the diversions off the pathway to explore the caves.Great stuff.