Eden Project Reviews 137

Really disappointed.
We went last year for the first time at Christmas and it was a magical experience with full on light and laser shows in the rainforest biome. This year there are hardly any lights and no Christmas feel. It seems like they are trying to save some pennies and it shows, massively underwhelming. It’s almost like how it normally is throughout the year except a nighttime visit.

The Mediterranean biome was still good with a lovely band but that was the highlight.

Ice skating was crowded and we didn’t think much of the cafe system where to get a hot drink, a £2.50 pre charge for the cup was charged (this I didn’t mind) but It was the queuing up again for the refund, behind everyone else that was ordering food and drinks that was the problem. Lots of annoyed people being held up in the queue in front of me just to get their money back. A fast track queue for this service must be needed surely!
I think people just don’t want to feel ripped off, especially when times are tough. It didn’t feel very magical this year, just felt like they were trying to stay afloat like the rest of us!

Visited for the first time in a few years as a local. We used to go semi-regularly when our children were young. Met up with some family members to go ice skating and the place has really downgraded. No land trains, no making decorations for children or particularly festive feel- many, many things just missing throughout the grounds to see and do that used to be there.including plant information! It was always a bit if a disappointment for what it costs, but now it’s a lot of one- it’s struggling and it’s evident. Ice skating was ruined by the sheer amount of people they’re allowing in at once. It’s dangerous- so many tiny children mixed with teenagers and adults. A family member ended up really hurting themselves and had to go to first aid after falling hard to avoid collision with a falling small child in front of them because there was no where left to go as people everywhere, Even had the same steward twice almost make me fall as they skated anti clockwise to get to someone, but went straight in front me. Trying to get confidence skating is no easy task when constantly trying to avoid people- we just couldn’t have any fun as there was no room to. I wouldn’t go again, it’s very badly managed and needs different times for different types of skater - a small child could get so badly injured by an adult. They must know this by now after all these years which is why I think they don’t care - it’s profit over enjoyment and safety. This place could be amazing, but it just isn’t.

Drove an hour for the Xmas lights and music. The first time we came in 2017 the light and laser show was spectacular. I was totally unimpressed tonight. Every year it gets less and less. No WOW factor anymore. I doubt if I will return next Christmas.

Absolutely awful customer service. Must have tried phoning them for two weeks solid and never got through to anyone and they didn’t seem the slightest bit interested. When I finally did get through to someone they was so blasé it was insulting. As a charity you think they would welcome business, not ignore it. Avoid at all costs.

It is really not possible to understand how this is £40 each. A full day experience? Never. I had expected so much more from the Eden Project, but it really is just 2 tired domes.

What really irked was that for 2 entry tickets we were forced to give so much personal data, and finally the "money shot" - would we agree to GiftAid ... Eden Project apply to the government for tax refunds based on our tax data!!!!! A charity "scam" based on over inflated ticket prices, disguised as an annual offer!? In the end we asked the supervisor to delete our details, so she revoked the annual pass!!! No loss!! Its honestly not worth driving back across the country to visit a 2nd time!!

I’d advise anyone visiting The Eden Project to take their own picnic and drinks. The prices there are high, and the quality pretty low. We loved the biomes, but were fairly unimpressed with the outside areas. I don’t know why there are bird of prey kites everywhere, but the place was devoid of birdsong except on the peripheries. More attention should be paid to encouraging our many endangered UK species of wildflowers and insects. Signposting could be a lot better, and we found it difficult to navigate round the areas that were blocked to us due to work in progress. Labels identifying different trees and shrubs could be more plentiful too. The plants offered for sale were a very tired looking bunch, nothing interesting or unique at all. How about some orchids for a start? All in all, a remarkable project that seems to have lost its way a bit, but could easily be made great again with some new ideas injected, and I certainly went home feeling inspired to create.

It’s a very expensive version of Dobbies Garden Centre!!!

I have to say that it was a very underwhelming experience. Far too busy in the biomes which resulted in a slow shuffle along some sections of the path. Huge queues for food at all the outlets. Not much in the way of signposting to various parts of the site. Overcrowded children’s play area with not enough seating for parents. We did visit in the middle of summer holidays so I suppose we should have expected it to be busy, but it just felt like the place couldn’t cope with the amount of visitors. Disappointing!

Overgrown, overpriced, poorly signed for the able let alone the disable. Felt sorry for family’s dropping £100’s to get in and for what? Most gardens are half the price and better. This is not the Eden project research centre that I visited many moons ago. This is a place designed to keep your kids vaguely amused and your wallet empty. Tired and poorly maintained, the further from the failed bio-domes you go the worse the grounds become, it’s not wilderness it’s lack of attention.
There wasn’t a smiling member of staff on the day of our visit, the disabled parking had been overwritten by EV charging points and the whole place couldn’t handle the numbers of people yet it’s all about sustainability!!! Also so much concrete and so many non native plants….if this had been left as an old quarry the species and wildlife there would be amazing as it re-wilded itself. Instead a couple of failed bio-domes turned into fancy greenhouses that are so overgrown there are choke points for the people, half or it was being “maintained” er broken then. £40 an adult ticket !! No way, never again, felt sorry for families that used this rip off place in the rain. Awful and not very scientific and they don’t pay tax as are a registered charity so where is all the money going? Not on signage or access for the disabled (by the way I wouldn’t go there if you have walking difficulties, it may say accessible but it isn’t. Even the buses were diesel….I mean not very eco / sustainable ethos. Plus adverts for electric tools and vehicles…is £40 a ticket not enough? I would avoid, and buy a years membership to Heligan or the RHS instead.

Entrance fee expensive and not much use to have a year pass in the fee when you know you won’t use it. Food queues long due to being served by adolescents that don’t really have it together enough to be serving food without any adult supervision. Extremely slow and unnecessary waste of time spend queuing for food. New play area very limited. Enjoyed viewing the planting and naturalised areas of planting. Biospheres had some incredible plants and enjoyed the world regions as you ascended into the dome. Some areas of planting a bit tired in the biospheres. A lot of walking around the site and not many signposts to guide you to different areas. Walked back on ourselves several times trying to navigate around the site. Lifts not working for disabled visitors. Would like to see the option to use cash on the site too.

Visited yesterday, felt very disappointed. Overpriced, overcrowded. Needs more places to eat, queues were far too long. On the plus side, the staff were all very friendly and helpful

Saw Petshop Boys in concert and all the bars refused CASH. I will never return until they reinstate CASH. CASH is KING and CASH means FREEDOM.

What an amazing place! Eden Project has been on my bucket list for a while and finally decided to make the journey from Shetland.
I was blown away by the variety of flora and all the information on so many different plants. The biomes were incredibly and really enjoyed the "Tea talk" in the rainforest biome. Great cafe options that were busy but understandable at lunchtime! Plenty of benches for a picnic if you'd prefer to save some money.
Cost was reasonable as I spent 5 hours there which works out at less than £7 an hour. And the money is going into research and education around the plants of the world!
All the staff were super friendly and helpful too, always makes a day out better! Highly recommend if you're in the area, or even if not!

Over priced and tired, 2 adult tickets £66.00, expected a lot more for our buck, long queues for food and drink, some food outlet shut, the Biodomes my be impressive from the out side, but not so impressive inside, lots of tropical trees etc very little labeling of anything, and it's just a shuffle round, as lots of people. Even if they halved there prices I would not return. Save your money, join the National Trust, and enjoy visiting much nicer places with beautiful gardens.

Don't get me wrong we had a great night at kasabian concert. This review is about the fiasco car parking conditions.
We arrived quite early, despite this we were directed to park in a field a good 20 minute walk away. It seems they fill up the furthest car parks first so arriving later you actually get a better parking space (this is how it seemed anyway and we were passing EMPTY car parks as we walked down (Eden project please let me know if I have this wrong). Coming out there were people walking here and there in all directions. No signing to our car park and people going round in circles looking for car parks (anyone know where 'lemon' car park it etc. Along the walk trying to find our car - no lighting - my husband (aged 64) tripped over as did a huy walking behind us (also trying to find his car) (and no we hadn't been drinking).
It took us 45 minutes to get back to our car and even that was more luck than anything else. Eden! Sort YOUR act out.

We visited the Eden Sessions last night to see The Pet Shop Boys. And They were amazing. Absolutely outstanding, belting out hit after hit for 2 hours, accompanied by a fantastic light show and amazing costumes. Really good.

However, the venue. A real let down. The disabled access is about as far away from the arena as is humanly possible. And yet they have been holding concerts for 20 years. And they have never improved this access. But you can install zip wires above the site to earn more money. Honestly!!!

Anyway, knowing that my partner would struggle to stand for several ours, we upgraded and paid over £150 per ticket - and for that we still didn't even get a seat!!! There were limited seats in the area - first come first served. Ridiculous for a VIP experience!!!

I have to say the food was probably the most expensive but worst tasting slop I have ever experienced anywhere (£6.95 for 5 spoonfuls of curry in a pitta bread - honestly. Do you think we dont know how much a 1 pot meal with some bread costs to make??? ). In previous years there have been a variety of vendors offering eveything from burgers, to pizza and more. Not this year - just the Eden project capitalising on a captive audience and serving no choice. I know we expect prices for food to be high but give us a choice at least!

But it gets even worse. After the event.

So, It took a good 30 mins to get from the arena back to the carpark (via the lifts right over the other side of the park). Then as your exiting, you reach the ticket office/shop area where there are queues and people loitering and almost causing crushing because the delays are that bad.

This is followed by more uphill walking to the actual carpark (ours was Apple II - a disabled area). And honestly, the signs to direct people to the correct carparking area was either so poorly lit you couldnt read them or just not present - causing multiple problems. (In fact, a guide helped us and told me that despite working there, he often cant find the correct part of the car park). Once in our car it then took a further 30 - 40 minutes just to get out of the car park wo we could start or 40 minute journey home.

As a VIP experience - Its just awful. I would not do this again or recommend this to anyone. It just feels like the Eden Project is out to make as much money as possible without trying to improve anything (disabled access, improved signage and lighting for the carparks are just the start).

In addition to any onsite improvements, they were just badly organised from start to finish, especially the finish, departure from the site is just chaotic. (In fact many of the security team were leaving along with the ticket holders - just adding more bodies to the throng of people trying to exit).

I cannot fault the act we saw (either the Pet Shop Boys or any of the previous acts) - but I suspect they only receive a small percentage of the money paid usually making their money on t-shirt sales, etc. Also the staff were really helpful and I have no bones with them.

The big problem is that there has been no investment into these areas mentioned above. I've been to see several bands at this venue in previous years and whilst these problems have always been there at some level, they are only getting worse and this year really saw them surface. I think because word has spread and more people want to see live acts there which is great for the Eden Project - but how about you invest some of the revenue earned (which you should have done in previous years BTW) into improving some of the areas mentioned above, instead of just hiking prices up to try and discourage casual music lovers or fleecing more serious ones who aren't deterred by the price...

Visited Eden Sessions last night for the amazing Lionel Richie, supported by Gabrielle. It took 28 minutes to get there and the venue/concert was fabulous, especially as the sun was still shining. Unfortunately getting home took the edge off the evening. It took over 28 minutes to even get to the queue for the park & ride. Then it took 1 hour stood in the queue for the bus, only to be told there was a reduced service of 3 buses. Once at the car park, it took another horrendous journey home due to local roadworks (no fault of Eden), so we eventually got home at 1.17am.

Eden need to do something to improve this. There were disabled people in wheelchairs, people using walking aids and it was just chaos exiting the venue.

So disappointed with this!.. as two pensioners visiting from Ireland, we looked forward to visiting the Eden project. We arrived to be told admission for the afternoon would be over £70!…this would allow us to visit for the full year.. bit of a joke considering we are tourists from another country!!. There is no daily rate!.. what a lost opportunity!.. we would happily have paid £10/ £12 each but there was no such option ! Over £70 is just ridiculous for a few hours!

Whilst the Eden Project was an excellent visit 20 years ago they now seem to be only bothered about extracting the maximum profit from people. The entrance fee is very pricey, the sights don't change between visits and anything different appears to be constantly "Under Construction". The messages are very preachy and full of virtue signalling, the food overpriced and mediocre. To top it all they are card only and don't even accept cash anymore. My advice would be to spend your money elsewhere at another tourist attraction.