Near Wells, Somerset
All-weather attraction with caves, soft play, crazy golf, and lots more
I’ll start by saying I’d read a Tripadvisor review of Wookey Hole that described it as a ‘random mish mash of activities’ – and I can’t disagree! But is it a great day out for families with primary school aged children? (Maybe age 3 up to around 12 years-ish?) – 100% yes!
The main attraction is the system of natural caves, taking you deep inside the Mendip rock to discover the chambers hidden within. Lit up in greens, blues and purples, the experience is quite spectacular for all visitors, with high ceilings, deep turquoise pools and the river Axe flowing quietly below.
Legend has it that a witch inhabited the caves over a thousand years ago, casting spells on villagers that fell foul of her favour, explaining the running witch theme throughout. (Witches and wizards fancy dress welcomed here!)
The cave experience is either operated on a free-flow system where you wander through at your own pace, with guides dotted around to pass on information as you go, or as a more organised tour at quieter times (term time.) We visited in the Easter holidays and took about 35 minutes wandering through, checking out the famous Cheddar cheese maturing in one of the tunnels along the way.
Things to note – it drips constantly in the caves so you will get a bit wet, wellies/boots might be best as there are puddles under foot.
Don’t lose your paper tickets given at the ticket office as you’ll need to show these to gain entry into the cave.
Buggies are not allowed in the caves but can be left at the Ice Cream Parlour – infants need to be carried or in a sling. Baby backpacks would be tricky as there are sections of low head height requiring you to duck and walk short distances. You’ll climb and descend 200 steps throughout the route but these are not particularly steep or long and could be managed by confident young walkers.
What else is there? Well, once you’ve finished in the caves, there’s…. a lively circus performance (in school holidays), a 4D cinema show, a dinosaur zone, a giant King Kong to behold (randomly), a vintage penny arcade (take some small change and pound coins), a mirror maze and funky mirror room, and pirate-themed crazy golf. Oh! And a paper making museum where you can watch paper being made out of various types of pulp, and a small cave diving museum. And an indoor soft play.
So, there’s a lot of themes going on at Wookey Hole – do they all hang together harmoniously? Not exactly, the 4D cinema experience starts off in the Wookey Hole Witch’s parlour with an intro from a talking bat and then goes straight into a 4d cinema film featuring Scooby Doo, and then you go via the historical paper mill into a soft play. But do the kids care? Absolutely not.
We spent pretty much a full day at Wookey Hole and enjoyed bouncing from thing to thing, finishing off with pirate crazy golf.
You can buy food on site at the restaurant, take a picnic, or pick up snacks at a couple of kiosks. The whole site is quite compact with everything in easy reach, including lots of toilets with baby change facilities along the way.
Parking is free and a short walk to the entrance/ticket office.
Tickets aren’t cheap – a family of 2 adults and 2 kids costs £78. But – as usual, late to the party, I finally discovered the point of exchanging Tesco vouchers for tickets - £26 worth of vouchers covered our entry fee so well worth looking in to if you shop at Tesco!
Book in advance online.
A great day out with kids under 12-ish with lots to keep them occupied.
