This place is lovely, a really nice place to walk around in and discover bits of welsh history…read more Free to enter, which is a novelty for an English girl like me, as places of this vain over the border such as blists hill and beamish charge entry. You can leave a donation, and there's a small fee for parking, but after that you're on your way. You can take a picnic, or you can eat in one of the cafes, get stuff from the bakery. We ate in the cafe, and had the welsh afternoon tea, welsh cakes, scones, sandwiches, all lovely, the bakery wasn't open as late as it said on the door, which was the only bummer, but the rest of it was great. A mock village made up of buildings of different eras, with a good number of buildings that illustrate history and culture. Livestock, shops, gardens, vehicles, all informative, with signs in welsh and English. It's open air, so its a family/couples/cultural friends day out for a pleasant day, you want to give yourself some time to get around it!

Set in over 40 acres of parkland around the 16th century St Fagan's castle, 4 miles (6km) west of…read moreCardiff, this was one Europe's first open-air museums. It includes over 40 buildings from across Wales which illustrate its history and culture, such as schools, workshops, churches, shops, civic buildings and of course a variety of dwellings. The museum has a range of activities taking place associated with the buildings, with craftsmen making a variety of products (food, pottery, metalwork) for sale. The farm features collections of traditional breeds of livestock. Some of the buildings also contain displays of historical objects, clothing etc. A nice touch is the row of mine-worker's cottages, each one furnished to reflect different periods from the late 1800's to the present day. The museum also hosts a number of festivals during the year, and there is a restaurant, cafe and tea-room. When I lived in Cardiff, this was a regular destination to take friends from outside the UK. It is an excellent introduction to Wales and Welsh culture: but allow a whole day to do it justice, and wear comfortable footwear...

We went to the Big Pit in Blaenafon a couple of decades ago but wanted to go back now that our son…read moreis old enough to visit with us. It's still excellent. Our guide, Steve (a former miner), taught us so much about the mine and mining, and he shared his sharp wit many times along the way. We loved the tour. This is a national treasure. If you haven't seen it, go! We arrived about 10 a.m. and didn't have to wait, but it can get busy with tourists and school groups. We also had lunch in the Big Pit Canteen. Despite being shorthanded that day, the staff produced a wonderful lamb cawl and roll for £5.65 each that was nourishing and delicious. With beverages, the three of us ate for £20.85 (approximately $26).

This was a FABULOUS experience. You suit up, get prepped and go down deep in a real mine once…read morefully operational but now run and maintained by the National Museum of Wales. Our guide was fabulous. He led us through dark and tiny tunnels. He told us about the history of the mine and the people who worked in the mines. (Some of the history and conditions the people and animals were put through were quite sad.) We got to experience how dark the tunnels were and see how you mine as well as where the horses were kept. I was a little scared. Two of my friends couldn't handle the tight space and close quarters. However, if you're not claustrophobic and up for a different kind of adventure; I whole heartedly recommend it. Guide was fun and did everything to make sure we were safe. For instance, you must leave all electrical devises on the surface for fear of any current sparking a fire because even though this is run by a museum now, it's still an active mine and I wouldn't want it any other way.

This is a museum in South Wales which tells all about the colliery history in the area. In the same…read moremanner as The Big Pit, Rhondda Heritage Park strives to tell the story of local toil, plight and humanity through a delightful series of galleries and interactive exhibitions. Unlike The Big Pit, however, you cannot go down into the mines here, as they have long since been closed off. They do have a very convincing reenactment space though, and for those easily beguiled or young at heart, you might just believe you really are far underground. At the end of the tour there is a Simulation ride, where you are flung along cave tunnels in the back of a coal cart. This is, from what I remember of childhood visits, probably the highlight. The guide many years ago said that everyone begged to run the ride again, but they would never do it. Not even for the Queen, he said. (At 9, this shocked me.) Rhondda Heritage Park is a good place for a family afternoon out; particularly amusing if you're visiting with someone afraid of the dark.

This is a wonderful park to have a day out in with children! There is just so much to see and do…read morehere, I have fond memories of when I was a child, going here to this park. I even have some dreams about the place as walk back along the small, grey rocks that lay on the flat and hard ground that seems to be near something like a train station or something. Then I just fade out of it, quickly... I remember feeling terrified at the thought of going underground and following the footsteps of what a minor would have used to have taken. We had a story and health instructions given to us before we entered the mine and the dark, cold and a narrow lift with one small light bulb lighting it up. We had to wear hard helmets with small, light bulbs blaring out from the top of you helmets. You can at first go and see The Visitor Centre, which has; an Art Gallery, a café on level one, a gift shop and a period village that has been re-constructed called Village Street. Entry to this heritage park is mostly free; if it is a special event day there then you have to pay to enter the place. I recommend this place to all, especially to children and their parents.

Right, 5 star rating for sure here. What a (as the name suggests) treasure!…read more Firstly, a stunning drive to our destination which always puts you in a good mood (and the baby sat chattering in the back instead of screaming which always helps mummy!) and pulling into a carpark with ample parking which makes us smile was a good start to our day out. When we entered we were greeted by a lovely lady who ushered us through to the museum part. Entry was £8 each for adults, and boo was free as she is under 6. She gave us a map and some information before we entered and then we turned around to the treasure trove within. This is a place that will throw you back into different era's. There is something for everyone ranging from tractors to toys, from clothing to cigarettes. I particularly enjoyed the old alcohol miniatures and paraphernalia, and hubby enjoyed the toys and electronics. There is a massive collection of colourful tractor seats in the last room which is beautiful to see. You can spend hours in front of one cabinet here. The women's hygiene/cleaning products were so fun to see, as was the gorgeous wedding dress donated by a lady who wore it in 1955 (or around then) Collections of many different types of things are on display here (shaving pots, steam engines, tins, signs, tobacco and alcohol stuff, perfume, books etc it just goes on) There is a café attached which we didn't have time to relax in, but it looked lovely. A very small gift shop which I think they could make bigger and have more items for sale, but we got two very humourous postcards and a magnet to take home. I am so glad we came here, boo was enthralled the whole time (only problem she wanted to touch it all haha) Would come again as you would see different things every time.

Do you ever get the feeling at the weekend that you'd like to do something but you're not sure…read morewhat? You kind of want to see or do something but don't want to spend loads of money. Well perhaps Oakham Treasures is the ticket for you. You will happily be able to spend a few hours on a trip down memory lane here. Relatively new to Bristol opening in 2008 Oakham is a fascinating collection of memorabilia, everything from vintage sweets to huge tractors are on display! It's £6.50 for one adult, or 2 adults and 3 children can get in for just £15! Something for everyone.

I stumbled upon the Time Machine Museum recently on a short visit to the sleepy little village of…read moreBromyard and would like to recommend it as certainly somewhere a little different than the ordinary run-of-the-mill attractions, and the perfect place to entertain the kiddies for a couple of hours! The building itself is actually the Old Bakery and looks like a very quaint old-fashioned village grocery store-cum-tea shop, but step inside and you will not only find a stunning Elizabethan style coffee shop, but also THE TARDIS! Step inside the old Police Box and you will immediately find yourself transported back in time to a fantastic wonderland consisting literally thousands of rare & collectable antique toys, bears and dolls just to name a few. There are also dozens of famous film memorabilia including life size droids & characters of The Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray, Star Wars & of course, Dr Who & the Daleks to delight the enthusiast! There is also a permanent puppet display - the ONLY one in the country, a Railway, and Dads Army memrobilia including a genuine, Millitaria Display. Also, not to forget to mention - Disney! All in all, there is something for everyone, hours of fun for both young & olda magical collection of both fantasy & nostalgia that will take your breath away - I was totally amazed!

I'm about as far from a Sci-fi fan as you can get but as my brother loves all that so a friend…read moresuggested I take him here...... It's a little hidden gem and brought back memories of all the Dr Who I hid behind the sofa during. It's worth just turning up for a chat with Andy the owner of this private & vast collection. No spoilers here but if you were born in the 60's its a great way to spend a couple of hours reliving childhood memories, one or two exhibits are unique gems for avid fans too. Would agree maybe not for kids and OK its £8 adult but something has to pay the bills! No cafe that I seen but Brew just up the road is lovely, Combine with a stroll around Bromyard & its a great and reasonable day out

A small friendly museum in easy walking distance from the docks. It has a car park with a few…read morespaces and is wheelchair accessable. Regular interesting exhibitions. We popped in to see a fascinating one on the second world war, with interesting details about local charicters. There was also a wonderful photography exhibition and a room of local historical pottery amongst other things. Shop and friendly staff on site. Worth the visit (free by the way!!).

I was quite disappointed at the Swansea Museum. I remember how much I enjoyed visiting the Maritime…read moreMuseum when I was a child, but I definitely didn't see the same excitment in my children when we visited. The museum is a somewhat disjointed affair, taking in all kinds of themes, transport, industry, technology, culture and history. When we visited, a lot of the 'hands-on' exhibits for kids were out of order or simply not working. The building itself is fabulous, obviously a lot of money has been spent, but it just didn't do it for us. Maybe we're just spoiled or something.

I remember as a kid visiting the museum when it was located under the town library - I was always…read moreafraid becasue one of the first exibits was a WW2 Gas mask and I found that very scary! Nowdays teh museum has a bright new home on the ground floor of the old Market Hall, beneath the Metropol Theatre. It's run by volunteers who do a fab job of maintaining the history of Abertillery - They have stone age bronze age and Roman artefacts but for me the most important ear of the towns history was that running from the Industrial revolution when our cola helped run the world, through to the late 1970's when the mines began to close - and life in this time is amply recalled in the museums displays which include a Miners Kitchen, along with the social aspects that dominated at the time which include of course; rugby and Webbs brewery! - Come and see Abertillery Museum particularly if you live there - it6's worth seeing.

This museum is the perfect price. Free! It is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours. There…read moreis lots of natural history as well as cultural history. Everything is in both English and Welsh. The natural history area had videos ad well as exhibits detailing the geographic history of the region. The Art of the Selfie exhibit had a small cost which was quite fair. Van Gogh's Self Portrait was the main draw, but they also had Rembrandt and other artists. In the other rooms, there were so many artifacts. Rooms within rooms and beyond, you can lose hours reading about everything on display.

it was a pretty good experience, but no one warned me that the bloody dinosaurs are getting starved…read morebecause they are literally just bones. animal mistreatment is NOT a joke I want to support, I cannot believe the STATE of this museum. Good value for money as its free. Cool stones and a selection of STARVED AND DEAD animals. and the service was poor because they encourage this. the toilets are good for kids, AND OTHER THINGS.

If you think of mining in Wales you normally think of huge slag heaps and grey countryside. Think…read moreagain when you think of gold mining. Dolaucothi is a small site in terms of mining but exceptionally pretty, overlooking the Cothi Valley. Workings in the mines date from Roman times but mining has taken place here as recently as the 1930s. Guided tours will take you through the workings of the mines and show the conditions that were endured. If you have an energectic group you may well find that your guide is prepared to take you on an extended tour which will take in parts of the mines above ground too. For children there is a gold panning set up. The site is suitable for children who are old enough to walk themselves through the tunnels and stairs - it's not suitable for very young children. All must wear hard hats (provided). Although this is true mining and the tunnels quite small in places it is not a very deep mine and shouldn't prove too problematic. A campsite is available on the site with 35 pitches. The shop sells Welsh gold (more expensive than foreign gold).