Thursday 20 April 2017

Beamish - A Brilliant Day Out For The Whole Family

Whenever anyone asks me where to visit in the North East my number one recommendation is always Beamish. It is such a unique and wonderful place to visit that the whole family will enjoy, everyone from babies and young children to adults and elderly relatives will have such a lovely time. I remember visiting Beamish as a child myself and now I visit with my own family, no matter how many times I have visited I always see and discover something new, there really is so much to see.

Family Day out at Beamish


Beamish is a world famous open air museum located in Stanley in County Durham (about 30 minutes south of Newcastle) it tells the story of life in North East England in the 1820s, 1900's and 1940's. Set in beautiful countryside everything is set out in little towns and villages to look exactly how they would have done back then. Getting from place to place is really easy too as if you don't fancy walking you can hop on and off the old-fashioned trams and buses that travel between the different areas.

Beamish museum pit village

We visited Beamish at the weekend with our 2-year-old, 3-year-old and 14 years old and all three of them had a brilliant day. First up we visited the 1900's pit village where you can go into the pit cottages and see what the cottages were really like, complete with outside toilets and tin baths. You can go on a tour down the mine, visit the pit pony stables and spend time in the school complete with teachers dressed in period costumes. slate writing boards in the classroom and a playground complete with booler games.


Everywhere you look there are members of staff dressed in period costume who really make you feel like you have stepped back in time. With coal fires burning in the cottages and from Davy's old-fashioned chip shop and old-fashioned trams, buses and cars trundling past you really do get a feel of what life must have been like back then.

Beamish 1900's town centre

My children adored being on the buses and trams, the open-topped bus was a big hit with my pre-schoolers so we did spend a lot of time hopping on and off the buses and trams to get from place to place. After a short ride on the open-topped bus we arrived at the 1900's town which is my favourite part of Beamish, the town was bustling with customers queuing at the bakery and sweet shop for Easter treats.

1900's Coop store Beamish museum

The 1900's town is made up of a lot of original 1900s buildings that have carefully been moved from locations in the North East to Beamish. The town is made up of Herron's bakery which serves up traditional bakery treats, chemist, photography studio, bank, masonic hall, garage, co-op store, printers, dentist, stables, a pub and not forgetting the sweet shop. No visit to Beamish would be complete with a visit to the traditional sweet shop to stock up on sugared mice, merry maids, Kendal mint cake and bonbons.

sweets from Beamish sweet shop

After a quick lunch stop in the town park with treats from the bakery and snickers cabin, we headed to the fairground to ride the mini-train and shuggy boats and watch the chair-o-planes (my youngest two were too small to ride them).

Beamish fun fair

 Climbing the bridge at the station we discovered a steam engine embarking on a journey up the track, unfortunately, we did not get to ride as the queues were too long with impatient children in tow. We ended the day with a  ride on the steam waggon way at Pockley instead, much to the children's delight.

Beamish steam train

We visited the 1940's farm where the children spent some time doing some Easter crafts with a member of the land army in the evacuee's cottage. The farm is also home to some of the biggest pigs that I have ever seen, along with some hens and horses. As it was Easter weekend there was lot of activities on around the site for children and adults to enjoy. There were egg hunts for the children, military displays and easter baking along with crafts for everyone to enjoy.


As it was Easter weekend and the sun was shining it was really busy when we arrived just after 10 am, however, as the site is so big we managed to see everything we wanted easily and did not have to queue for long for anything. There is plenty of toilet facilities dotted around which is ideal when you're on a day out with two pre-schoolers. There is also a lot of snack huts serving hot and cold drinks and snacks, we brought some sausage rolls and pasties for lunch from the hut near the mining cottages and they were delicious.

coal beamish

We ended the day with some ice cream and cold drinks from the gift shop on the way out before heading home after a wonderful family day out. As a family with children with a big age gap we do sometimes struggle to find somewhere that the whole family enjoys but Beamish really is a day out that we thoroughly enjoy and never get bored of.

mine area beamish

If you are looking for a family day out that the whole family will enjoy in the North East then you really do have to visit Beamish as I guarantee you will love it just as much as we do. You can read all about our last visit in 2015 when we visited as part of the Marriot Beamish package.

Beamish sign

Follow the Beamish Facebook page to keep up to date with the special events they host throughout the year, next week it is the heavy horse week.

You can see what fellow blogger Lisa from Travel Loving Family thought in her Beamish review

Prices - Tickets cost £19.00 per adult and £11.00 per child (5-16 years) with under 5s going free, you can also buy a family ticket for 2 adults and 2 children for £49.50. Once you buy your ticket it will last you a whole year and you visit as often as you like, making the entrance fee amazing value. 

Beamish is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm and has plenty of free onsite parking. There are also regular buses from Newcastle city centre (Eldon square bus station) every half an hour with journey's taking just under an hour. Full details on opening times and prices etc can be found on the website www.beamish.org.uk  

Beamish Museum 
Beamish 
County Durham 
DH9 0RG

Disclosure we received complimentary entrance to Beamish for the purpose of this review, however, all opinions are my own. 


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35 comments

  1. Fab photos Lindsay - I completely agree, there is so much to do at Beamish that we see something new every time we visit. Although to be honest, Jack would be happy just riding around on the trams all day as he loves them.

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    1. Thank you so much Sam. Sophia is exactly the same as Jack, all she wanted to do was ride the trams and kept going in a huff when we got off them xx

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  2. I used to visit here on school trips as a child. I can't wait to take my children to visit.

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    1. So did I, it is somewhere I always remember visiting as a child. Hopefully you get to visit with your own children soon and they like it as much as you did xx

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  3. Wow! This looks like a blast from the past and reminds me of many similar places that are in Yorkshire you can visit! It's like entering a time wharp!

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    1. It really is like a time wharp, especially as they have actors dressed up in traditional costumes all over

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  4. Aww I love the Beamish museum! When I was at university up in Durham we went a few times - I love that it transports you back in time :)

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    1. It is such a lovely place to visit isn't it? xx

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  5. This looks like a great day out. I've never been anywhere like this before.

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    1. It is a great day out, they have so much to see and do xx

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  6. Oh this place looks idyllic - an old sweet shop is RIGHT up my street...I love it. I'm now going to have to talk my husband into a visit. I know it's the sort of place we'd all enjoy.

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    1. I love the sweet shop and could easily spend a fortune in there. xx

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  7. I visited Beamish when I was on holiday with a friend about aged 12. I remember it being good but it looks like it's got loads that I had forgotten about. I'm sure we had a photo taken in old fashioned clothes?!

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    1. Yes you can get photos taken in old fashioned clothing. I visited as a child too and no matter how many times I visit I always discover something new xx

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  8. Oh my gosh, this looks amazing! What a great way to teach children about English History. It's such a shame this isn't closer to where we live.

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    1. It is a fab way to teach children as they get to experience things first hand. I remember when I was at school learning about mining they took us here to go down the mine and visit the pit village xx

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  9. OMG! It looks so gorgeous! I def would love visiting this type of places, so adorable the pic where they pretend to be in the old school!

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    1. Thank you, it is a brilliant day out with so much to discover. xx

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  10. This is my first time hearing of Beamish but it reminds me of a postcard. It is so quaint I love it!

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  11. Aw Beamish looks so picturesque! It reminds me of a postcard town, I bet it was fun x

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  12. I used to live not far from here as a child and want to revisit. Hopefully we will be up this way in the summer

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    1. Oh I hope that you get to visit, you will love it and so will the children xx

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  13. Looks like a great place to visit and I'll ad it to the list of places we want to go. Love the way in brings the past to life, kids will adore the steam engines

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    1. It is such a great place to visit for a family day out xx

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  14. I am positive I have been here (or somewhere very similar before)Pictures look fab!

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    1. Thank you, it is a great day out you will have to revisit xx

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  15. Looks so amazing, my overly energetic kids would love the fact that there is so much outdoor space to run around. I love that the guides are dressed up and can interact with you. What a fab place!

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    1. It really is a fab place, my children adore running around the open space and exploring xx

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  16. We absolutely loved Beamish, especially the school and the sweetie shop (although my then 18 month old chocked on a piece of hard candy he was given after watching it being made! Don't remember a steam train though, my kids would have loved that! Great review - makes me want to go back!

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    1. Oh gosh that must have been scary! We love the sweet shop too, I find it hard deciding what to buy as I want to try them all.It was the first time we had seen the steam train working, You really should go back someday xx

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  17. Looks a great place, love the steam train!

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    1. It is a brilliant place, the steam train looked like lots of fun x

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  18. Wow, that looks like such a good place. It reminds me of the Welsh Museum of Life, St Fagan's, which I managed to visit before we left the UK. I'd love to visit Beamish though to go down the pit, just to see what it's like. Thanks so much for linking up to #wanderlustkids last month.

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    1. It is brilliant, it really is just like stepping back in time as everything is in character of the era xx

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