The Lost Gardens of Heligan Reviews 33

Absolutely amazing visit. I loved looking
around all the different areas.
Highlights definitely The Giants head, Mud
Maid and the Magnolias blooming
Some great purchases from the souvenir/
plant shop.
It was crowded, but that was due to it
being a free locals week, but you could still
walk around in peace.
we didn't eat or drink onsite as we'd
already spent £70 in the gift shop, and the
food menu wasn't really our thing,
We did get some of the best tasting and
filled pasty's from the Farm shop near the
overflow car park
Lovely friendly staff from the ticket office
the gardeners and the shop staff
I managed to get a Golden Wedding
Anniversary Rose for my parents, who will
be celebrating it this year.

If I could give 6 stars I would. What an incredible place. It has been a privilege to see how Heligan Gardens has evolved over the years. There is something magical about Heligan. There is always something different to see and experience. The staff always go the extra mile to make your experience unforgettable. The facilities are always kept beautifully clean. And the restaurant and other food outlets are excellent and very reasonably priced. The admission fee covers you for a whole week and you really do need this long to properly appreciate the whole Heligan Estate.

Visited here in October this year and what a complete waste of £50! If you want to spend a lot of money for what is just a walk in the woods, then go ahead! There is nothing to see or do and a very uninteresting place to visit...basically just crap! As far as I'm concerned the lost gardens of heligan can stay lost!

We love Heligan,this was our fourth visit and it did not disappoint, a truly beautiful place. However on visiting the restaurant some of the staff were extremely brusque to say the least! Menu poor,no sandwiches or paninis so we headed to Stewards House for a snack.......2pm sold out only a few cakes left! Really not good enough.
Get your act together Heligan or your cafe will lose custom to the farm shop cafe at the entrance.......much better!

My friends and I visited the lost gardens of Heligen last week, we have visited and enjoyed the gardens on previous occasions.
This time we decided to visit the restaurant and was totally underwhelmed by the quality of the food we received. We complained and were directed to the duty manager.
Instead of offering an apology for our experience, which would have sufficed, we were met with rudeness and barely veiled sarcasm. Apparently he eats there every day and did not recognise any of our complaints , surely that is irrelevant and it is the customers experience that counts. He even said that we had criticised the whole menu, which would be difficult as we had only ordered 3 food items and not tasted the who menu!! There was no need to speak to us in this manner as much as we tried it did spoil our enjoyment of the gardens which we have always enjoyed.
I can only assume that the person in question was having a bad day but perhaps some training on customer relations wouldn’t come amiss.

Too expensive, not wheelchair compatible, have better things in my garden, we live in Cornwall and will be telling friends and family Not to bother!!!!

What fantastic gardens! I didn't know what to expect but was very pleased by the variety of plants and trees there were, with a number of different areas based on different themes. The lower part of the gardens is very natural with plenty of woodland, whereas the formal gardens were much as you'd expect from an old estate, with lots of produce and plenty of flowers despite being past peak flower season. All staff we spoke to were very friendly and helpful and answered our queries. I was pleased that the gardens weren't at all overcrowded, unlike a nearby establishment costing significantly more.

Fantastic staff, always took time to discuss things. Gardens very beautiful, absolutely loved it there, as did not seem crowded, unlike Eden Project. Much preferred the Lost Gardens of Heligan, compared to Eden Project.

Wonderful place. Plenty of parking. No queuing. Staff very friendly and helpful. Plenty of very good quality refreshment opportunities, again no queues. Lovely and informative guidebook with beautiful images. And the gardens are fabulous. Their work and principles behind the rare breed farm is also inspiring. We took our dogs who also thoroughly enjoyed it.

Really looked forward to a return visit to this old favourite garden of mine. We first visited shortly after they opened and I was entranced. This time, however, the experience was completely marred by their website taking payment and not registering it, so that I had to pay again at the gate and was warned that it may still go through and that I should contact reception for a refund. It did and I contacted reception. After several emails and excuses like my colleague was dealing with this, I eventually received a call, no apology, just a check of the card details and that I should I should expect repayment in a few working days. Not good enough, Heligan. It has spoiled the memory of an otherwise pleasant day out, with me having to chase you and then wait, much longer than you were prepared to, for my money.

This is about the open seating area just before you go into the gardens , theres a small coffee shop set aside from the resturant we purchased among other foods a sausage roll which although hot was very greasy not edible also being served with a hot coffee .
I tried putting a take away lid on it that did not fit spilling most over my hand . found a suitable table but looking around at the rest of them including ours were totally covered in a green mould, bird droppings all had seen better days.So much so we could not sit on any of them ,come on Tim Smit put some of your your profits back into some decent tables and benches or at least clean them up !.

Very disappointed. Apart from the small flower garden, unless you like rhodedendrons when in flower (which they weren't being June), there is very limited colour. It was very dark, (due to large rhodendendrons overhanging the path - dangerous in places), not very well signposted and the map provided wasn't particularly clear to understand. The paths were in good condition (although I'm no path expert) and perfect for mobility restricted people. The cafe was understaffed, the tables wobbly and the benches in the barbecue area were disgusting being covered in bird poo and rotting - unfit for purpose. £50 for 2 adults is a lot of money just for a wooded dog walk!! We have visited other gardens which are half the admission fee and the planting in our opinion is far superior and more varied. On a positive the toilets were clean, parking was good and free (bonus) and there was a large shop but in our opinion is too commercial. We will not be returning!

Have recently been there with friends and children however they offer absolutely NO concessions for OAP, Blue Light or Defence Discount Card holders of which I am all 3. Adult admission is £24.95 which is a bit steep for what is there and this has sharply increased in the past few years. They seem to want to pride themselves on return visits and memberships but as a one off on holiday felt the cost was a bit high.
Whilst we accept you can take a picnic and find somewhere nice to eat it, they do have a captive market for restaurants. Sadly again these are a premium to get a table. At the restaurant by the entrance there were lots of tables on the day we visited however not many had been cleared by the lacking amount of what seemed overworked staff. Food is also very expensive - with a lot of it padded out with rabbit food and chutneys just to make the plate look full and not an extensive menu for children who usually just want basic stuff not fancy things - Basic pasta not green pesto pasta). It really is NOT good value for money.
Overall, an expensive day made worse by overpriced food and poor service.
Note to management - please consider discounts for OAP's, Blue light or Defence Discount card holders who have actually done something for the country. You do it for students so why not the other end of the scale? Don't increase your entrance fee any more as it will become prohibitive and people simply won't go there.

Edit 18 July 2024
As management at Heligan can't be bothered to post a reply then I have dropped my review by one star. They may not care but neither do I as doubtful I will return there. Constructive feedback is for all and common decency should at least acknowledge good and not so good things, but clearly not the case here. At the time of writing, there are 4 posts and all 1 star - something completely a miss surely??!!