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Pro
Stunning scenery, yummy cheese
Con
Are there any??
In a nutshell
If you are within 50 miles of Cheddar, visit the gorge!
uglyscot Says: The ticket for the caves and gorge costs 8.90 GBP per adult.This permits entrance to Gough's cave and explorer audio-guide; Cheddar man and the cannibals, Cox's cave and the crystal quest, Jacob's ladder, lookout tower and cliff-top gorge walk, and gorge tour bus in...
alancollins Says: Gough’s Cave is named after Richard Cox Gough. Gough was a local man who with the help of his sons started to dig the silt out of the entrance to the cave and discovered the chambers beyond. Since then the cave has been opened up and you can now walk 800 metres into the...
awladhassan Says: The caves were formed millions of years ago, but discovered in the 19th century, and because the land belongs to the Marquis of Bath, he has developed the site. Even now fresh exploration is being done. Care has to be taken as the ground can be wet but hand rails give some...
CheekyDee Says: At the bottom of the gorge, there's the Cheddar Cheese Company, the only Cheddar made in Cheddar! You can take a tour of the factory and find out how the cheese is actually made! Still made by hand to this day, each batch is unique in taste from every batch before hand, you...
WulfstanTraveller Says: The Cheddar Caves are interesting and striking caves. They also are the place where 9,000-year-old Cheddar Man was found. Tests on Cheddar Man revealed that he has a direct descendant living in the area today, a teacher. This shows how the successive waves of people who have...
WulfstanTraveller Says: A beautiful, scenic gorge with unusually dramatic scenery for England. It's a great hike one can do right from the centre of town. One can hike one way along the ridge above and the other way through the narrow gorge below.
DUNK67 Says: Cheddar Caves are definately a must see. For centuries people have lived in and around them.A centuries old body was found in one of them and was so well preserved, it is now on display in the Cheddar Museum and is known as Cheddar Man.The caves are full of stalagmites and...
hayward68 Says: This is the oldest complete skeleton in Britain and it was buried almost 9000 years ago, though only discovered in 1903 during excavations near the entrance to Gough's Caves. Analysis of the skeleton shows that the front of the skull was severely damaged, possibly he had...
44 Opinions
28 Opinions
Explorer cafe: scones, butter, jam and clotted cream
uglyscot Says: The restaurant is part of the Gouch's Caves complex. We bought senior citizen tickets which gave us a cream tea option. The cafe is clean and self-service. There is a menu with sandwiches, local dishes, international dishes and other options like a ploughman's lunch. the...
Lion Rock Restaurant: Some Antiques with Your Meal?
hayward68 Says: The restaurant, located on the main road near the Caves, is reasonably priced and the food was good. All I had was a cup of tea and a slice of lemon cake but it was very enjoyable. Around the restaurant there are various bits and pieces for sale, old glass, knickknacks, etc...
Helpfulness
It's easiest to get to Cheddar if you have use of a car though buses do come from certain towns such as Bristol.
If driving take Cheddar exit 22 off the M5 and follow the brown signs for 8 miles. From London it takes approximately 2 and a half hours.
If coming from Bristol take A 38 for 8 miles through Churchhill traffic lights, then left at garage for Shipham, then 3 miles to Cheddar.
There's a car park north of the caves.
Written Sep 4, 2003
The Cheddar Sweet Kitchen: traditional sweets
uglyscot Says: This is a shop selling traditional sweets that I remember from my childhood- aniseed balls, mint bulls'eyes, lollipops, lemon drops, fudge, liquorice, rock, clove balls etcBeside the shop tourists can watch a man actually making sweets , and then go through to see the sweets...
any in the Cheddar area: Cheddar Cheese
uglyscot Says: Cheddar cheese is a hard red cheese good for eating and cooking. Story has it that a dairymaid left her milkpail in one of the caves, and when she went back found it had changed. Thus, Cheddar cheese was discovered and became big business. Nowadays the mature cheeses are...
Cheddar Valley Cheese Depot: The Cheese Stands Alone
hayward68 Says: This shop is one of several in Cheddar which sells the local Cheddar Cheese. There are also several other varieties available along with such goodies as Lemon Curd, jams, wines, liquers and the infamous Somerset Cider. Cheddar of course! Aragina bought me a small round of...
Helpfulness
Have you ever wondered how Cheddar Cheese got its name? Well, local legend in the area says that a village milkmaid left a pail of milk in the Cheddar Caves, and upon returning to fetch it, discovered that the milk had turned into this substance which became known as Cheddar Cheese.
The cheese of Cheddar is so famous that Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, after visiting the Mendips in 1724, wrote a book titled "A Tour of the Islands of Great Britain" in which an entire section was written about Cheddar and its cheese.
Written Sep 4, 2003
uglyscot Says: Because the area is of karst limestone, the rock is liable to crack and fall. There are warning notices reminding people that rock fall is liable at any time, so be careful. This applies to where you park your car too.Inside the caves the passages can be slippery and wet, so...
hayward68 Says: Do be careful driving along the road through the Gorge as many people, such as ourselves, stop to take pictures from their cars of the cute animals grazing on the cliffside. The road is very winding and you might come around a bend and smash into the back end of another car...
To be able to explore the caves, you need to buy the Caves & Gorge Explorer Ticket. At £10.90 I believe this is a huge rip off. The only thing really worth seeing on the ticket is the actual cave and gorge. And since you can see the gorge for free you really are paying just to see the caves.
As part of the ticket, they operate a seasonal open top bus tour of the gorge. They take you halfway through the gorge and then turn around again and drop you off at the caves. I was expecting it to be more comprehensive - a five minute ride up and down the gorge is not really what I would expect from a "tour".
If it were possible to buy a separate ticket to view the caves, then it would be worth doing that. The explorer ticket is just a way to extort money out of unsuspecting tourists.
Written Mar 16, 2005
uglyscot Says: I like all of Cheddar! It well deserves a visit to see the natural beauty, the amazing caves, the river and all the traditional products. Having the tea, scones with butter, jam and clotted cream
hayward68 Says: I was taken to Cheddar by two wonderful VT members with whom I was visiting in Bristol for the weekend, Greebo and Aragina. Greebo agreed to accompany me into the caves and while we were in them a group of miners, returning from the depths of the them, walked past us in a...
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Cheddar Gorge is an area of stunning beauty that should be seen to be believed, preferably in the sunlight, though with English weather you never know what you will receive. The Gorge starts at the......
The Cheddar Gorge is a wonderful place for a day out. The gorge itself is steep-sided and has good vegetative covering, sheep and rock formations, in addition to the famous caves. At the far end of......
The scenery is breathtaking and the caves are amazing. Potholing is on offer here, as well as rockclimbing and some more sedate walks. Something for everyone I'd say. On the two days we spent here, it...
It must be almost 40 years since I was last at Cheddar Gorge. Nothing much has changed with its spectacular caves and views. With the passage of time you now have an audio guide instead of a tour...
Cheddar is a pretty village famous for, amongst other things, Cheddar cheese. It is also famous for the beautiful, striking Cheddar Gorge, a deep chasm unusual for England, the Cheddar Caves, and...
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