Matlock Bath

We visited Matlock Bath recently with our 2 & 1/2 yr old little girl who had disabilities including not being able to walk. We were excited to go with family to visit the Aquarium only to be told on arrival prams weren’t allowed in with us, so I asked how would we then be able to take her round and was told unless we carried her we couldn’t. She’s getting big and carrying her for a long period of time hurts anyone’s arms/back etc.
I sought out the Manager in the hope of at least some sympathy and was met with complete arrogance and he was totally blaze about the matter. I asked him if it was just a case of ‘no disabled allowed then’ and he just arrogantly told me he didn’t have to meet any requirements for those with wheelchairs etc as his building is old. Don’t get me wrong I get that, but when someone is so unsympathetic to your problem in this manner it certainly doesn’t leave me to believe that everyone is welcome, especially school trips as stated on his website. Unless of course no school child has any disability requiring any frame or wheelchair, you know the kind, those in a “perfect world”.
His attitude did nothing short of disgust me and all our family left with no desire to visit the small village again. Highly recommend school trips find other entertainment, someone as small minded as the owner does not deserve tourists or locals keeping him in business. Utterly Disgusted.

Matlock Bath is a beautiful place with a wide variety of fun things to do for all ages. Some nice pubs with good live gigs, restaurants, takeaways and some different attractions for younger people. It's a Great day out.

Great place to visit with children, very cheap entrance fee and can keep the kids entertained for about an hour, for £2-3 i think thats a bargain. Kids loved looking at the fish and especially loved the turtles. The 2nd section had holograms which really mad a change from other things they have seen.

Matlock Bath is located close to the town of Matlock on the A6 which runs from Derby into the peak district. Matlock bath is home of Gullivers kingdom, which is located on the hillside along the river derwent, Matlock Bath has a rail station with services to Derby, Nottingham, and Matlock, these are very limited and run around every hour, East Midlands Trains operate these services. Matlock bath is the tourist town of Matlock, with several fish and chip outlets, and arcade ammusements, and souvineer shops. There are several walks along the hillside, called lovers walks, and these offer spectacular views accross the derwent, and matloc bath located next to the river.

Brilliant place. Love looking at the fish, 20p to feed them. Greta way to spend a Sunday afternoon, can easily fill 30-60 mins in here. 2.40 each is a bargain. Lots of things to look at but not in a boring museum way.
Arcade machines on way out but also greta fun if you want to play.

Great place….very good value for money only in the place for an hour but the kids spoke about it all day, huge fish, even fish to buy! massive old swimming pool with fish you can feed, holograms are great may have to pick younger kids up to see some. Arcade at the end, park accross the road. brilliant day out.

We were enjoying a lovely day out in Matlock Bath when my son asked if we could go in the Aquarium. I didn’t even notice it was there but what a fantastic little place it is. As someone else said too what a bargain entry fee of £2.40 each you can’t say no to that.

On your way in you can look at the old Petrifying well which has a history of hundreds of years in Matlock. You can really see the items that have been “turned to stone” by the well from the water.

Next is the actual aquarium which houses the hugest Piranhas I have ever seen. They look very menacing and they come right up to the glass to see you. I love looking at all the different fish. There is also a huge exhibit of Turtles in there. We did get a little lost in the Aquarium area as it wasn’t made clear which door was the way out.

The next attraction is the old Victorian Baths from whence Matlock Bath gets it’s name. It is now the home of many varieties of Goldfish and Koi Carp, for 20p you can buy a handful of fish food to feed them.

The final exhibit is a big surprise but it is a gallery of holograms. They are really amazing! Although some are set quite high on the wall and my daughter and I being quite small weren’t able to see the effect LOL.

We really enjoyed the 45 minutes we spent in there and on our way out played on the arcade machines.

a wonderful place to take the children, It’s fun and enjoyable plus they are learning.Check out the old swimming pool used in the early 1900s. There is also a penny arcade just to the side of the entrance, so if Aquatics and history aren’t your childs (or OH for that matter) thing then they can stay in here.

matlock bath is a beautiful place to go and is very cheap for 2.40 per person you can see some cool fish but best of all you can see some pretty amazing holograph art its soo amazing must see it!!!

Fantastic value for money!

This is coming from someone that doesn’t normally set foot inside a museum!

Great for the whole family - definitely worth a visit

Thank you for the recommendation jleigh. We were happily enjoying the April sunshine in Matlock Bath when it started to hail. The Aquarium was just what we needed. We spent a happy hour out of the rain and emerged into sunshine.

We were fascinated by the petrifying well where the warm (thermal) mineral water is continuously sprayed over items such as tea pots and shoes, turning them into stone.

The fish and the turtles/terrapins kept people amused, as they always do, even though the Koi carp in the swimming pool were so well fed that they refused to come to the top to gulp down the food we throw in.

And we were all fascinated by the holograms. I’ve never really seen the point of holograms before but there is something great about a picture of Dracula that seems to sit up and make a grab for you as you walk past or a clown that blows a paper party blower right out at you. Unfortunately our short 9 year old and average sized 7 year old couldn’t see the holograms properly unless they were lifted up which left some of us with tired arms!

This is a great find. Hidden in one of the ammusement arcades on the main stretch of the Matlock Bath Parade, there is an old victorian swimming pool in the roof of the building. In this pool there are dozens of Coi Carp some as big as (by my estimations) 80cm in length. Children have the opportunity to feed the fish by buying handfulls of feed from dispensers by the pool- 20p a go- Bargain! Its amazing how loud the noise is as the fish are scambling to the surface to get as much as they can. My niece just loves it!
There is also a very well laid out aquarium upstairs (just before you get to the outdoor pool) This has approx 30 tanks filled ith differnt fish... Nemo's included. There is also a large section dedicated to Terepins.
It is educational in a fun way as along the way kids get to press buttons and objects that highlight places on a world map where the species derives from.
The hollogram exhibition is interesting although maybe a little scary for children.
All is accesible for just 2.40 per person. Kids under 5 free!