Hassop Station Cafe and Monsal Trail Cycle Hire — Restaurant in Derbyshire Dales

Clearly an incredibly popular place with walkers, cyclists, general tourists and locals but despite the queues the service was efficient enough to mean the wait wasn't long and once ordered food arrived quickly. There are several seating areas including a large undercover outdoor section that seemed popular with dog walkers. One thing I would note is that some of the indoor areas had a bit of a sweaty stench to them, not the fault of the establishment obviously but a little disconcerting when eating a meal.

Speaking of food the quality is excellent, the pricing incredibly good and as already mentioned the service is very quick. All of our food was great and all the other dishes being brought to others looked very nice. Great to have Henderson's Relish as a condiment too, as anyone in the know is aware it's a real game changer in chips in lieu of vinegar as well as generally awesome.

The site itself has a car park you have to pay for and it's cash only (there may have been some free parking but it was so rammed we ended up at the back) but pricing is fair. For those on bikes there's tools, a bike pump and even a jet wash to clean up at the end of a ride.

There's also a book shop that sells gifts and a few other bits and pieces but they have a separate entry on here.

Generally a great place, if you're in the area I...

I'd like to be able to leave two reviews, one for the cafe and one for the bike hire!

The cafe yesterday was efficient, despite being quite busy, and the breakfast was delicious and filling. We were there at 10am; later in the day the place was rather busier, but the queue at the order point was still small. They also offer ordering by mobile phone from your table, which helps!

The bike hire - well, the actual bike was great, and the trail is really good.

What is really bad, though, is the administration of the bike hire. I'd booked a bike (as it was an ebike) beforehand - but still had to wait in a queue for 45 minutes. Eventually a member of staff consented to take me, and two people who had been waiting even longer for booked bikes, out of the queue (I was getting pretty grumpy by this stage); if he hadn't we'd have been another 15-20 minutes waiting.

Come on, guys - it's basic customer service these days to take a booking, take payment on line and be ready to provide what has been ordered when someone gets there, not the best part of an hour later. If the cafe can take payment on-line, so can you. If you want to keep some bikes back for people who just turn up - fine, don't list them all as bookable. But there's really no excuse for this, not in...

Lovely place to eat or relax with a coffee. I travelled here on the Sightseer Stagecoach bus, it allows 'hop on, hop off' through Chatsworth house, Baslow, Bakewell, Calver and here Hassop Station costing just £6 (£4 for children and concessions).

I travelled here to explore the Monsal Trail which is a gem in the Peak District. Staff are very friendly and helpful when hiring a bicycle to ride the trail.

The trail itself? Just WOW! Epic scenery, a well maintained path to cycle (or walk on) it can get quite busy, but I was thrilled to see such a diverse mix of people enjoying the countryside and getting some exercise. There were young children through to retired pensioners all able to enjoy the trail as its completely flat (it covers an old rail line, complete with the old tunnels to walk through!) and quite a few tourists enjoying their day.

A little further up along the trail is Thornbridge Hall which is a RHS partner garden costs £7 entry (I didn't have time to enter but intend to another time) however I did enjoy a sausage roll and a pint from their famous brewery. Lots of families were enjoying themselves here as there's a delightful playground with sandpit and splash play in a fountain.

A very nice and...