Torquay Museum — Attraction in England

Absolutely fascinating! I have family local to the area and I've always wanted to visit mainly for the Agatha Christie Exhibition but there were so many other exhibitions that I loved.

Firstly the admission fee is fantastically cheap at £10 per adult, £5 for children between 5-17 and children under 5 go free. They also do other admission bundles that you can ask about on the day or view on their website.

The thing that makees it terrific value for money though is the fact that you can pay once and visit for a whole year for free. I didn't manage to get around every exhibition on my first trip but due to my free entry I returned on another day to make sure I saw everything.

The staff/volunteers were also outstanding and I wanted to thank them for their great customer service! Every person I met was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and welcoming and it made the experience so much better.

As I mentioned previously I was very excited to view the Agatha Christie exhibit and I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint! Whether it was the fantastic sets and costuming from the David Suchet series of Poirot specials, the visually stunning displays of Christie's books with their gorgeous artwork or even the amazing props and costumes from Joan Hickson's time as Miss Marple everything exceeded my expectations and I learnt a lot about Torquay's most famous export!

The Agatha Christie Exhibition wasn't the only standout however as I also really enjoyed the display of Egyptian artefacts they had alongside the legendary explorers display and the many different pieces from a variety of cultures from across the world. I was particularly interested in learning about the many famous explorers who were either from the area or departed on their famous journeys from and around Devon including; Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Burton and most importantly for me we're learning more about Sir Francis Drake as I'm a huge Uncharted fan and Lt Col Percy Fawcett and his search for his Lost City of Z as I rather enjoyed the 2016 film where Charlie Hunnam played him.

There are plenty of other exhibitions and displays I loved that I don't want to spoil for people that want to visit. On top of all that there's a pretty sizeable gift shop that's great value for money so you can indulge in your souvenir needs as well as Pengelly's Cafe that I unfortunately didn't get to visit during my time there.

I can safely say this is a great day out for the family or even solo explorers like myself. I also think this pairs great with a visit to Kent's Cavern in Wellswood as some of the pieces displayed in the museum came from there.

I will be visiting again when I'm next down in Torquay to see any new temporary exhibits...

A hidden little gem in Torquay

I visited with my two adult children at the start of August this year. It is true that “All Areas Accessible to Disabled Visitors”. There is a modern lift for the main levels and a large, disability adapted toilet on the ground floor. If you need to get to a maisonette level (like you would for the Agatha Christie exhibition) there is a ramp lift. If you are a disabled visitor, your carer goes in for free. Also, make sure that you keep your tickets, as they allow one year free entry to the museum, as many times as you want, to whatever you want, however many times you want. Although we went specifically for the “Agatha Christie Gallery”, what we enjoyed the most was the “SAMURAI: WARRIORS OF JAPAN”. What made it stand out was the many armour, weapons, and costumes that one could try and take a picture with. We spend a good 40 minutes in there trying on different things and having a real laugh at how we look as a samurai, ninja, geisha, etc. If you want to catch this, make sure you go before the 4 September 2016, as this is when this temporary exhibition closes. Going back to the “Agatha Christie Gallery”, it has some very interesting information on about 10 large display boards and a few items that are noteworthy - a real mink coat, Poirot’s cane, a few first edition books. However, it is a very dry exhibition - nothing is interactive, there is nothing to try on, no digital displays. Thus, I’d say it’s predominantly for die-hard Agatha Christie fans. Otherwise, we just walked past the other exhibitions - quite a few seem concerned, naturally, with Devon and Torbay. There is also a gift shop and a cafe, but we sampled neither. Overall, all three of us are very happy with the museum, well worth the entrance price, would recommend to anyone going to Torbay for the first time, especially on a more gloomy day - you definitely leave having learnt...

As a lecturer of tourism at University, I support all museums and love visiting them. Even this one wasn't so bad itself, it had an exhibition of Agatha Christie, but it cost £28 for a family ticket (28th August 2023) to enter which was surprising. I truly believe in supporting the local economy and local jobs but many council museums up and down the country are free and it's wonderful to give a donation and even though £28 isn't a lot, its extortionate for this museum. If the fee was half or less than half of £28 it might not be so bad, but to pay this much for what is otherwise quite an uninteresting museum was sad. I was looking forward to seeing displays/reading material to do with the history of Torquay and how it grew and developed since pre Roman times, but there really wasn't much. A bit on explorers, ancient Egyptians, rocks, a typical Devon farm, gladiators, ants and the Agatha Christie (all really rather random exhibits). We were disappointed and left within under an hour. Cafe was shut too. Whoever owns the museum - make it free or if you are going to charge this much, make it worth the money with fun, interactive and exciting...