A Day Out At Cheddar Gorge

Last weekend we went on a little adventure to Cheddar Gorge. Both the husband and I had been when we were kids but we’d never taken Little H before. The weather forecast didn’t look good but we were determined to get out and about.

Cheddar Gorge is just under 2 hours from where we live. It’s not that far distance wise but takes longer because of the windy country lanes and lack of motorway!

The skies were blue the whole way there – until we reached our destination when it turned very grey. Typical.

Cheddar Gorge

Driving into the gorge to find somewhere to park is very cool, you’re surrounded by the high cliffs on both sides complete with little goats and sheep dotted around.

We’d bought our tickets online in advance using our Tesco Clubcard vouchers, but you can buy your tickets on the day.

I was quite impressed that Cheddar Gorge hasn’t been turned into your typical commercialised tourist attraction. Except for a Costa Coffee it’s just little shops, cafes and a very local little pub. Anyone visiting England from abroad will love it here, it’s just what you’d expect an English village to look like.

It’s a nice place to go for a walk, and on a sunny day you can go for a walk along the cliff top.

There are several attractions included in your ticket…

Gough’s Cave

This is the main attraction. You get given an audio guide which talks you through lots of interesting facts and information. Good luck getting a child to listen to it though! In Gough’s Cave you can see stalactites, stalagmites, secret caves and where the Cheddar Man skeleton was found.

Museum of Pre-History

Only a small museum but definitely worth checking out. There are interesting exhibits, it’s all very child-friendly, and has some good hands on things.

Open Top Bus Tour

The Open Top Bus runs in the summer and also on nice days at other times of the year. Not sure how it was running when we went as it was a very overcast day. It was dry though so we thought we’d go on it – only for it to absolutely pee down with rain when we were half way round. As you can see Little H was not at all amused! It’s a short journey, only about 10 minutes, but is definitely worth going on to see the views through the gorge.

Dreamhunters

This is another cave but with a fab light show. Videos are projected on the walls of the cave telling the story of early man. It’s very dark, has flashing lights, and some parts are extremely narrow so it might not be for younger children or those who don’t like small spaces. It’s definitely not suitable for pushchairs.

Jacobs Ladder and The Watch Tower

Up 200 odd steep steps of Jacobs Ladder is The Watch Tower where you can look out over Somerset. The views are amazing, and I imagine even better on a nice clear day. My photos don’t really do the views justice as it was so gloomy and overcast.

As well as all of this there’s plenty of ice cream shops to stop at, plus of course the cheese factory which is a must when in Cheddar.

We had a great time and it’s nice to do something a bit different. I would recommend a visit here but I would say that it’d most likely be a waste of money for kids under 5, and as mentioned above it’s not at all practical if you have a baby in a pushchair.

I imagine it’s jampacked in the summer, so if you can go out of season I’d advise that. We didn’t have to queue for anything which was the one bonus of going in rubbish weather.

I’d also recommend using your Tesco Clubcard vouchers for your tickets if you have some. For our family of 3 this would have cost us £50 which I’m not sure I would want to spend.

Have you been to Cheddar Gorge? What did you think?