Eden Project, St Austell

At £22 per adult, it really is overpriced. We visited with a BOGOF from The Gaurdian, £11 each felt much more acceptable. It rained during our visit, which made the long walk to the biomes even longer, although, it would have been wonderful if the sun was shining. Biomes are incredible. Restaurant is confusing and too 'eco' for it's own good. Whole place feels 'anti pushchair', lifts are small, there are no automatic doors and walkways are tight, very difficult with a double buggy. One visit is enough, glad we've been...wont be going again.

The Eden Project in Cornwall is a great place to take children for a day out. When you first see it it looks like something from out of space – it’s a series of bubble like rooms that link into each other, each housing a vast range of flowers and plants from around the world. They call the bubble rooms ‘Biomes’ and there is one housing plants from the Rainforest and one housing Mediterranean plant life. There is also ‘The Core’ which is a wooden building that houses exhibitions and children’s workshop. There is also a super foods café providing healthy food and drink for visitors

We visited the Eden Project this year with our 2 and 4 year old. Even though it is a real fascinating place and very interesting for adults, there was not a lot for the children. They liked the giant bee on the way in but kept asking when we would reach the children’s play area… there isn’t one! Our two year old had great fun running around in the huge Biome so we spent most of our time trying to keep up with him, not good in tropical temperatures! Our 4-year-old daughter did seem to enjoy ‘The Core’ which had lots of hands on activities so kept them amused for a while. We run out of things to do pretty quickly. I know they do have activities for children so it’s probably better to check the website and leave your visit until they have something more children orientated. Oh, café was hugely expensive too!

We went to the Eden Project last summer whilst on holiday in Cornwall but it is not on our "family" Top Ten Cornwall list. Being a keen gardner I was very interested, however my children got bored after 2 or three hours. They enjoyed the tropical rainforest dome but after that lost interest very quickly (they are 8 and 13years old). This ended up spoiling the day for me. They enjoyed the interactive exhibition and the sculptures but would not choose to go back for another visit. The facilities are very good, and child friendly, but I think that next time I would go by myself or with another adult with botanical or horticultural interests. My rating on this venue is from my children's point of view - not mine! Personally I think it is a fantastic project and very educational, but perhaps more suitable for older children who would appreciate the aims of the project.

The most exciting thing about the Eden Project, my children felt, was seeing the amazing domes. Once we were inside the actual domes my teenagers were actually quite disappointed and soon got bored with a ‘load of plants’! The best dome is the rainforest and this was quite interesting for me but 10 minutes was enough for my children. It is hot and sweaty like the rainforest and it is worth seeing the waterfalls and banana plants but children soon get bored. We ate in the huge cafe but food was very limited. There is an education centre and this was definitely the best bit and my children spent a good hour touching, looking and interacting with various displays. Much of the Eden Project is actually outside but to be interested you really need to be into gardening. The hydroponic systems are well worth a look and will interest most children. Mine were spoilt as we have a hydroponic greenhouse at home and they already know about it. They have made a real effort to make the Eden Project child friendly but other than the experience of going there to see the domes and also the education centre, there isn’t that much to see for a child. If I went again I would make sure it was a day that they were operating a workshop aimed at children. Look out for these.