The Alnwick Garden — Attraction in Alnwick

After reading other recent reviews it would appear we’re not the only ones having a negative experience in the cafè, so perhaps management need to have an investigation into why this is, rather than trying to accuse customers of lying and being “intimidating”. Poor customer service.

Our party of four adults and one baby came to visit the gardens and Lilidorei. We went for lunch in the café. My daughter is 16 months old and was wondering around and, like many babies/toddlers, she did squeal at one point. In response to this, the woman on the till at the Hot Food station, pulled a face and made a very unkind comment.

This behaviour was quite rude and unprofessional, however I was going to put it down to lunch rush stress and her being startled by the scream, that was until she did it again. As we were leaving the café, my daughter did an excited squeal as she walked towards her grandad, this same woman screwed her face up and made a very audible unkind comment about my daughter.

While I can understand that sometimes the noises emitted from children can be rather shrill or startling, I do believe that there is no circumstance in which a grown woman should be making unkind comments about a 16 month old baby that has zero impulse control (due to her being a baby) and is innocently expressing her emotions in the moment.

If noises like this are triggering for this woman in question, perhaps she is not suited for such a customer facing role in a place that is popular with families?

My mother went in after we had left and made the woman aware of how rude and unprofessional her comments were, the woman tried to justify her actions by saying that the squeals were going through her.

I brought my concerns to Alnwick Gardens feedback team who basically accused me of lying and then tried to accuse my mother of being intimidating.

This interaction made me feel very self conscious and unwelcome in the cafe, which is an incredible shame considering every single other member of staff that we encountered throughout our visit was beyond friendly, helpful and compassionate.

Luckily my partner and family were with me to reassure me, but I can imagine that if a parent was struggling with their child and these comments were made, that parent would feel even more stressed and anxious, which isn’t how members of customer service staff should be making visitors feel.

The way Alnwick Gardens dealt with my complaint was shameful and unprofessional. It’s over priced, over hyped and the hot food...

Perfect family day out. I visited here with my family for the day it was just shy of £75 for the entire visit which is well worth the money. As you enter you go through the gift shop and plant centre with plenty of different flowers on offer to buy. Inside the gift shop are the toilets, that are cleaned hourly and were very well looked after. Once you are through the main entrance you are greeted by a breathtaking view of the Gardens, a large cascading waterfall ahead with fountains firing water here, there and everywhere, it truly is a sight to behold. You are also greeted by a lovely looking café at the side of the entrance, unfortunately we had brought our own picnic and drink so didn't need to buy any, however as we walked past the aroma of the food was delicious. There are multiple walking paths to direct you around the park and an easy folding map that you can carry around to help you on your way. The first garden we visited was the Serpent Gardens, filled with mesmerising sculptures flowing with water, they all had individual names and you could get as close to them as you pleased, we did get quite wet but we enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards we stopped on the main grass area to dry ourselves off and buy a few waffles to share, from a small waffle van in the main centre (well worth the money.) We then headed up the main garden walk toward the swing seats on the hill surrounded by blossoming trees a lovely place to sit and relax for a few minutes and forget about the world. Following the garden walk we continued up to the main gardens at the top of the site. In the main gardens there are hundreds of different flowers growing all over the place, in a word, Gorgeous. As we left the Main gardens we walked down the cascade and found a nice spot in the shade for our picnic which gave a lovely view of the waterfall unobstructed by many people, so we sat here for a good hour and a half. Once we had finished our picnic we decided to walk through the Poisonous Gardens, after being given a safety briefing about not eating, touching, smelling or trying to steal the plants we entered and had a look around the garden. We then had a last 20 minutes on the main centre grass sat on some beanbags which were lovely to sit on. All in all a lovely place to visit, and a great family day out as we spent nearly 5 hours there with plenty to do, well worth the price and if you want a day out I would highly recommend this for...

Disappointing and overpriced experience - the Georgie Shore version of a decent garden.

I was genuinely looking forward to visiting Alnwick Gardens as a highlight of our Northumberland trip, but sadly left feeling disappointed and short-changed — especially after paying over £40 for 2 of us. Wish I had read the reviews before I went.

From the start, the experience felt chaotic. After getting your ticket you are funnelled through a crowded retail area more reminiscent of a garden centre at Christmas than a serene garden entrance. The ticketing process was clunky and confusing — a flimsy receipt that wasn’t scanned at the entrance but they need to see it was easy to lose, just 10 steps from the till. Why not use a sticker or staple it to the map?

The biggest let-down was the Poison Garden, which was my only reason for visiting. We were told at 11:10 to return for the 12:00 tour. We did — arriving at 11:55 — only to be told the tour was full. There was no clear system to manage capacity or expectations, and staff made us feel like we were at fault. A simple numbered ticket system (like a deli counter) or proper signage and proper explanations from the staff at the entrance would solve this. Need a tour every half an hour as you can read from all the other 1 star reviews. Instead, we were left disappointed, having wasted time and energy on poor communication and planning. They deliver on the marketing and then piss poor in the implementation. Oh If you can't in the Poison garden there is a tent with laminated sheets designed by high school children for you to read instead! yay.

We left the gardens after less than an hour, thoroughly frustrated. For the price, it simply didn’t deliver.

Yes the cherry blossom was nice and the rest of the gardens were beautifully maintained and impeccable planting, with hardly a weed in sight, yes the fountain is lovely but all ruined by the visitor entrance/cafe pavilion thing - it might have been designed by a brilliant architect but it looks like a cheap wedding marquee! No wonder the duchess stepped back from this Northern version of Disneyland.

On a positive note, the formal gardens and Roots and Shoots Allotment outside the gardens were lovely — well-kept and thoughtfully designed. But it’s telling that the best part of our visit was the free section. As someone who’s visited gardens all over the UK and abroad, this was sadly not worth the cost...