Brilliant day out at Beamish Open Air Museum | Things to do in Durham

One of the many things to do in Durham… The Beamish Museum!

The highlight of our long weekend in Durham was our absolutely brilliant day at the Beamish Museum. When you think of a museum you think of a dusty dark room filled with artefacts off bounds to kids and their sticky fingers.  This could not be further from the reality of Beamish open air museum, known as the Living Museum of the North.

If you’ve not been you are truly missing out. It’s a highly interactive, authentic, educational and fun day out for ‘kids’ of ALL ages. (My hubby and I enjoyed just as much as our boys!)  It’s not like any museum we’ve ever visited before. We loved our day wandering around the authentic pit village, cottages and shops many of which were taken down and literally rebuilt brick by brick from their original locations throughout the North East. We spent the day chatting to costumed staff and volunteers who made us feel like we’d gone back in time to life in the 1800 & 1900’s.

We arrived just after the attraction opened at 10am and we were the last ones to leave at 5pm although we still didn’t get to see or experience everything that the attraction has to offer. It’s definitely a place you need to plan to stay all day.  We would have returned the next day if I’m honest as we felt like we rushed around.  We  didn’t get time to go underground at the drift mine and completely missed out the 1820’s Pockerley Old Hall.

Highlights of our visit to the Beamish Open Air Museum

My boys loved learning about life down the pit, and were fully engrossed by the pit mens tales of the pit ponies and demonstrations of the pit lifts. They ran around excitedly checking out the cottages in the pit village and had to be bribed to leave the school playground where they loved trying out the traditional games!

They were literally giddy with excitement riding in a 200-year-old tram and beamed from ear to ear when asked to take control of the flag by the steam train conductor and wave off the train.

At the fairground I felt slightly ill riding on the waltzer but they loved it and kept shouting out for the ride operators to make it go even faster!

The last area we visited was the 1900’s town. We would’ve spent all day here. It’s unlike anywhere we’ve ever visited before and we were all absolutely fascinated by it. We wandered in and out of shops and cottages chatting to shop keepers about life before the First World War.

My eldest son was fascinated by the Co-op store and asked a very patient shop keeper lots of questions! (He clearly takes after his daddy who later had to be dragged away from the car mechanic at the garage after bombarding the poor guy with a zillion questions!)

Tips for visiting Beamish Museum with kids

Transport – The trams, buses and stream trains are free for visitors to use but you should expect to queue for them on a busy day.  We found there was a long wait near the entrance so we walked to the Colliery, 1900’s pit village and 1940’s farm (less than a ten minute walk between the sites even with youngsters).  We then hopped on a tram where the queue was a little shorter to the 1900’s town.

Pushchairs – The ground is, as you would expect for an authentic open air museum, uneven with steps etc.  We saw lots of parents with pushchairs  although a baby carrier would also be handy for walking around the inside of buildings.  (Dogs on leads are also permitted at Beamish, we saw many during our visit. Only guide dogs are allowed inside buildings).

Dining with kids at Beamish – There are catering outlets across the site including traditional fish and chips in the Pit Village and a coffee shop in the entrance building.  We had lunch at the Tea Rooms in the 1900’s town where they served kids packed lunch boxes, a good variety of hot and cold food and delicious cakes!  As we visited during the Easter bank holiday weekend it was very busy in the Tea Rooms, we waited 20/30 minutes for a table and then had to queue up again to order food at the tills.  On a dry day I would recommend taking a picnic, there are lots of places to sit and eat, particularly on the grass near the band stand (in the 1900’s town).

Expect to pay extra for – Rides at the Fairground and traditional sweets from Jubilee sweet shop in the 1900’s town!

Exploring with kids – We started our day at Beamish at the Colliery Yard and made our way clockwise around the site. We were very lucky to jump onboard the last steam train at around 4.30pm, a unmissable experience for any little train fans.  This interactive map gives you an idea of what to expect.

Length of time needed at the Beamish Museum

Beamish is huge! It’s spread out over 300 acres and currently spilt into six areas. It’s due to get even bigger and better too with a £18million project underway to build another town, farm and addition of an inn for visitors to stay overnight. You definitely need to spend at least a full day here, ideally two. If you are fortunate enough to live close by you can take advantage of the Unlimited Pass, all visitors pay once and can return for free all year which offers excellent value for money!

Beamish Museum address & prices

Address – Beamish Open Air Museum, Regional Resource Centre, Beamish DH9 0RG

2018 prices –  Adult (for 1 year unlimited membership) £19, senior & student £14, child 5-16 years £11.  Like I said above. brilliant value for money!

What age is Beamish Museum best for?

My boys are nearly 4 and 7.  They absolutely loved it and soaked it all up, asked lots of questions and really understood the concept.  I would say that there is something for all ages and interests at Beamish.  It’s definitely worth taking a look online before you visit to make sure you visit the attractions that will most appeal to your kids, i.e. for car and bike enthusiasts head to the Motor and Cycle Works in the 1900’s town, kids into baking should definitely head towards the Bakery where there will learn about the traditional techniques they used to use for producing bread, cakes and biscuits, train buffs should head to the Colliery Railway in the Pit Yard and Rowley Railway Station where you can see inside the signal box and ride on a train.  Animal lovers will enjoy visiting the Pit Pony Stables and 1940’s farm to meet the resident shetland ponies, pigs and sheep.  I could go on and on!  It truly is an attraction for all ages and interests.  For a second opinion check out Newcastle Family Life’s review of Beamish.   

Other attractions near the Beamish Museum

Check out our other reviews of attractions in Durham – Raby Castle, The Bowes Museum, High Force Waterfall (and coming soon Durham Castle and Cathedral).

Beamish Museum website: www.beamish.org.uk

Pin for later – Beamish Open Air Museum

Disclaimer – We visited the Beamish museum as part of our press trip at Hotel Indigo organised by This is Durham. All thoughts and words are, as always, my own.