Blue John Cavern in High Peak

This is my third time spanning about 50 years. Our tour guide Ryan was fantastic. Extremely knowledgeable and engaging. Great value given the overall experience and the knowledge imparted. Our only regret was that we didn’t carry any change to add to the teams tip box.

Interesting and guide very knowledgeable

It was closed when we got here, but even so, the views and the way up to here was breath taking. It was pretty amazing. I will definitely visit again when it is open.

Fantastic tour which had different information on the way down than on the way up. The guides are really knowledgeable and friendly. We took our 4 year old who took a bit more time on the stairs but we never felt rushed.

250 steps up and down with some cavern stalagmites and stone age river marks

Very knowledable guide, fantastic experience, although not for unfit or infirm people.

Great tour in a lovely bit of the Peaks! Our tour guide, Nigel was a good laugh too! It's all really interesting and the Blue John stone is like nothing else! I'd definitely recommend!

I was probably 8 or so when my parents took me here, I took my kids around the same age. Yesterday as we were near by I took my wife. An absolutely wonderful place, quite unique in many ways. The tour was lead by Nigel whose knowledge, enthusiasm & humour really made the numerous steps worth while. Highly recommended.

Great place for free overnight parking to start a good day of walking/ biking from.Please note we didn't visit the cavern on this occasion but we have in the the past and recommend doing so.

Really interesting trip. Great guide. Yes a lot of steps but in manageable stages. I am 65 and husband 70 and it was not a problem.

Tour itself was informative however i arrived at 10am when website says its first tour leaves approximately 10am only to be told i cant go because i am on my own and i would need to wait for others to arrive and join them, website doesn't tell you this it does say tours leave every 20-30 mins but i had to wait an hour until 11am to join a group for the first tour of the day, why not let us pre book so you know what numbers are arriving and have a cut off so we are not stood around waiting. I pre booked at pooles cavern and was on the tour on time no matter what numbers turned up a far better experience

Nigel was the guide and was brilliant . Very noligable and a great character. It's an amazing place to visit .would go again , especially if Nigel is the guide 👍

Cave is nice and the guide is very informative. But for me the price is expensive. Dont like the staff they seem rude especially the guy who i think owns the dog, staring at us and not even greet back. Except the lady on the tills when we bought ice cream who greeted us back when i said goodmorning. First time to encounter that we felt not welcome. Will not recommend at all.

Honestly, when we first arrived I thought "what a long trip to see such a sorrowfull looking little entrance shack, and expected nothing more than another rip off museum tour without much of note. there was a fifteen minute wait until the next tour, and honestly, despite the nice jewelerry and earings for sale though, the reception and shop made us feel like just driving off! anyway we paid for a tour, but there were no tickets given, and it all seemed a bit 'down at heel" really. I took a pee in the outside enclosed stainless trough which stunk of urine even though it was outside...and so all in all we were NOT IMPRESSED. HOWEVER, when we were asked through the entrance door by our guide "Brian" things got much better very quickly. it's a vast 50 minute tour which goes down about 100 metres (I think) and is an impressive sight. Details you would otherwise miss were skillfully pointed out by our guide Brian, who told us he also mines the blue john in tandem with giving tours. Personally I hate dogs, but my brothers dog was allowed on the tour, (which I think is wrong) in any event, I found it really educational and interesting . I would advise prospective customers to reserve judgement until after the tour...and I would strongly advise the management to make the extent of the tour more known, and to DEFINATELY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE AWFUL looking reception area. Try decent toilets, some waiting for the next tour chairs, and ask yourselves "why are we welcoming dogs on a cavern walk?" it is for obvious reasons unacceptable to most. Also get a payment card machine that WORKS..we almost drove for three hours to find we couldn't get in because we nearly never had enough cash! The card payment machine needs to be 100% working all the time. overall really enjoyed despite the shortcomings though.

Very knowledgeable guides, good tour

Well worth the visit, but please note the bigger part of the cavern is 6⁰C so you should dress accordingly. Dogs are allowed there and ours quite like it. Also lots of steps but it doesn't feel like too much during the guided tour as you get all the explanations etc.

Wonderful views. Lovely little shop. Glad we could get a coffee.

Great place to visit and stunning views

Beautiful place. Lovely area nearby to hike and go for a walk.

Nigel was fantastic! Very informative and funny. Lots of enthusiasm. The caves were fantastic and well worth the price for entry. If you're trying to decide whether to go for this or Speedwell Cavern GO FOR THIS!!

I went on the last tour of the day, guided by Nigel, who was very friendly and knowledgeable. Incredible cave system. Well worth a visit. Just be prepared to walk back up those stairs, and a steep hill back to the car park!

Group was too big to fully appreciate the experience. I feel someone ought to be counting the size of each group and putting a defined upper limit in place.

Not that much to see for £19 just a cave really. I wasn't impressed. But if your not fit don't attempt it as you descend a lot of steps and have to climb them again to get out... a lot of people had to stop to take a breath!!

Fantastic place and we had a guide who was patient, informative and projected their voice well. Only thing I’d say is it’s not great to call little girls sweetheart and darling if you’re then going to call the boys “Boss”. Sure it was unintentional and unaware but helps solidify those ideas from a young age. Well worth a visit if you’re in the area!

Good day out definitely recommended although parking isn't great

The guides were extremely friendly and were very keen to pass on their knowledge, not just of the cavern. But the whole area. With plenty of advice. The tour is really worth it. However, accessibility is restricted to quite a few tight steps down to the lower caverns. So be aware not for those with poor mobility. Personally, my favourite of the 4 show caverns in the area, and is very recommended.

It's an awesome cave system, with very knowledgeable and friendly staff.

Great tour given by George! Very knowledgeable and kept it interesting and engaging! Love that it's both dog a child friendly!

Our entertaining tour guide George made our journey into the Underworld of Blue John Cavern an exciting and educational Adventure.

Would you like to know more about this incredible tour? Then you’ll have to go and visit for yourself and get on the tour with the irrepressible and knowledgeable ‘Nigel’. Only Nigel can link the wonder of The Blue John Cavern with the towering heights of the Spire in London and ancient fossilised sponges! Just go, you’ll love it. Thanks Nigel. Oh and the jewellery on sale is lovely too.

What a wonderful experience this was for my family and I, especially for my 7-year-old child. Kevin, the tour guide, was absolutely fantastic - his thorough knowledge of the mines, coupled with his wonderful sense of humor, made the tour an absolute delight. Descending the 245 steps into the mine was quite an adventure. The first 90 steps were challenging, but each step taken was breathtaking, offering incredible views of the stunning Blue John caverns. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Blue John Mines, and this would not have been possible without Kevin's lovely personality and charming character. His passion for this historical site was evident throughout the tour, and he truly helped make it an unforgettable experience for our family. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Derbyshire. Thank you so much, Kevin, for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with us. It was a pleasure to have you as our guide.

We had a lovely visit to the cavern yesterday. Nigel was our guide. He was very careful to make sure none of us were injured during the tour as the steps were very slippery in places. He was very knowledgeable about the formation and the history of the cavern.

A most enjoyable tour of the cavern, with all its extraordinary features and history. Our guide, Nigel, made it all very good humoured as well. As it’s 8 degrees it’s worth wearing a coat. (Have put no to whether or not to book in advance as I went on a quieter day but obviously I would check by phone on weekends, etc).

Very cool experience with a great guide. And dog friendly too!

You can but tickets in the gift shop

We visited today we all really enjoyed our visit and George was a brilliant tour guide.

Me and my husband decided we would take our dog ted to Blue John cavern and was amazed by the information and the helpfulness of our tour guide . Brilliant experience 😀

Very interesting and informative tour. Understood to be the best example on the UK of caverns formed by hydrothermal forces, creating spectacular subterranean spaces. And especially rare occurrence of feldspar (calcium carbonate) in blue-yellow colours from which the caverns get their name. There's a small gift shop which sells jewellery using the unique stone still mined here. There's a shop also found in the village of Castleton nearby. Recommend avoiding public holidays.

Nigel was very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and fun. The caves were beautiful and fascinating. Much bigger than expected. This experience complimented our Mam Tor walk.

This cavern is fascinating. 245 steps down and then back up. I visited a fair amount of caves, but this one was very different, and I would say one of my favourites. Our tour guide was very friendly and had many years of experience mining, he told us so much history, explained about minerals and fossils they found in this speciffic cave. What surprised me was the size of it, and the colours inside the cave were just wow, puctures dont do justice. At the bottom of it, we found a waterfall, which is fascinating as it was so deep underground. To get down there was fairly easy, slippery but easy, to go back up many people struggled, definitely need to be fairly fit to be able to do it. There is a shop and a small caffe, car park short walking distance on the hill, free of charge, but not very big though. Cavern visit definitely worth the money. Oh, and to mention the temperature down there is approx 8 degrees, when we visited it was warmer in the cave than outside 😊

A brilliant day out with the family, a fantastic place to visit, the staff were very knowledgeable and funny at times. Definitely worth a visit.

Fantastic cave system with amazing geology behind its creation. The tour takes you almost 70m deep and some of the caverns are 30m or more from top to bottom - massive in other words (240 or so steps)!!! Probably the best caves we’ve been to. Our guide Nigel was very knowledgeable and provided excellent information about how the caverns were formed (not the way you’d think!). Great sense of humour too and happily gave us good tips for other sights in the area. Highly recommend this experience.

Absolutely fantastic visit of the Blue John cavern with our guide George who was very knowledgeable and aware of our safety. Tours go down every half hour so there is never much wait, and what wait there is is well worth it!

A wonderful place to go, it's a shame it costs so much but absolutely beautiful

A fascinating tour through this section of the caverns. Our guide, Paul, was so knowledgeable and obviously had a passion for the topic which came across in his natural and funny delivery. Would highly recommend this as a place to visit when in the area.

Really enjoyed the tour. Very interesting and informative. Our guide Paul was very knowledgeable and pleasant.

Excellent tour. Very interesting and also very good and patient with my slow but determined elderly dad! Toilets available. Buy tickets there.

Really interesting tour given by George. Fascinating insight how Blue John was discovered and mined. 245 steps down and back up but 4 or 5 stops with more information. Including miners snot and fossils from millions of years ago

We recently visited the Blue John Cavern and enjoyed an informative and engaging guided tour through the cavern. Our guide, Nigel, was very knowledgeable. Really interesting to learn how the mineral formed and was mined. Well worth a visit

5* absolutely loved our visit even the 490 steps was all part of the fun. Hats off to Nigel full of fun facts and very informative. Made the experience even more exciting.

Brilliant place to visit . Guides are knowledgeable and friendly . Ideal gift shop with cafe and toilets. Ideal for all the family .

What an amazing day we had, and our tour guide Nigel was such a nice guy,a credit to the company the man with the blue coat as he called me 😄

A huge surprise, an incredibly informative and interesting tour aided and abetted by Nigel the guide whose knowledge knew no bounds. Very enjoyable and highly recommended. Worth every penny!

Interesting tour, friendly tour guide

Nigel was our guide and he was extremely knowledgeable about the caverns and surrounding areas. I learnt a lot of new things let alone the kids. It was a really great start to a day of walking. I don't think it's expensive for a guided tour with a knowledgeable guide and you literally cannot find blue John anywhere else on the planet so this experience is unique. Great visit.

Great visit to these cave and we loved the experience . There are however over 200 steps down and the same back up. Not suitable for anyone who is unstable on their feet or with heart conditions that limit exercise.

Visited the Cavern yesterday and it was amazing. We had Nigel as our guide and he was very informative and funny. We are a family with a 5 and 13 year old who both really enjoyed it. Would definitely recommend a visit.

Very interesting and enjoyable tour from our knowledgeable tour guide, Tony.

Our tour guide, Nigel, was a real hoot, knew the cave inside out, shared some fun facts, and entertained us with his cave theatre - 11/10 would go again!

I took my 4 year old for a tour today and it was absolutely brilliant! Nigel was our guide and he was great, he was entertaining, full of facts, I would highly recommend.

Nigel is the most enthusiastic tour guide ever . He is a legend! Thanks again

We had an absolute blast at the caves. Our dog enjoyed this attraction also. The tour guide called Nigel was brilliant and very engaging throughout the journey of the cave system. Definitely recommend this!!

Great visit and thank you NIGEL our tour guide he was brilliant and made the visit a lot of fun and we learnt a lot of amazing facts about the area also. The steps coming back are steep and wear shoes that have a good grip as parts are very slippy under the feet. Some of the walk is in a tight space and narrow so if you’re a bit claustrophobic I would avoid the visit.

Great visit. We found it very interesting. Our guide Nigel was very knowledgeable. Deffo worth a trip

A much recommended experience. Various areas of interest with different history and stories behind them explained well by the tour guide. I do not want to give spoilers but there is a lot of ancient history in the cavern. Nigel was a brilliant guide and with his story telling I could really imagine how the cavern would have been many years ago when miners were using it. There are a lot of steep steps some of which are a bit slippery or steep, but using the handrail anyone with moderate fitness won't struggle. It is very echoey down the cavern so not good for small children who may cry or scream. The price may seem quite high but it's definitely worth it as it's not something you do everyday and it will create good memories and there is a lot to learn about the cavern and our planet from the tour

Really good trip down and the guide was fantastic

Fantastic experience, I've travelled from Wales to visit Mam tor and the caves. Great learning experience for the whole family or just to do something a little different. Watch out for the yellow lines there are traffic around!

We stopped by Blue John Cavern yesterday as part of our Castleton hike and I’m so glad we did. Nigel was our guide and he was so knowledgeable, fun and friendly. Going down into the cavern he stopped at various points to explain the formation and history of the caves, used his light to help us get some lovely pictures and cracked some jokes, while also motivating us to keep moving. We learnt so much during the tour and it was a once in a lifetime experience being inside such a fascinating structure. 100% worth the trip and the entry fee - before we went down we were wondering whether it would be worth it but within the first ten minutes we knew it was. Thanks Nigel and the team 💜

big up nigel!!!! you deserve a pay rise. didnt have any questions because you were so amazing!! from the 2 norfolk girls!! see you in norwich airport !

Had an absolutely amazing experience. Our guide Nigel was amazing in his presentation of the information and his knowledge of the cavern, the history of the different people that mined for Blue John and different ways in which is was mined was absolutely amazing. The presentation of the information was amazing and was able to present informative information to adults as well as keeping our 5 year of children engaged. He kept everyone well informed of the different sections and the challenges in getting down each section. And made sure everyone stayed together on the 247 steps to get back the surface. All in all and amazing experience and one you should definitely not miss. Thank you Nigel and Blue John Cavern

Went to Blue john cavern with my husband as we had been staying in castleton seen the shop with the jewellery and trinkets etc and thought it would be great to visit the cavern to see the stone in its natural environment on entering the cavern entrance it was very unwelcoming( very dirty not anything like the website would suggest and I don't hold with excuses it's outside of season any attraction should have standards) going inside to the shop/ cafe the reception from the staff was even worse the woman behind the counter was very abrupt when my husband asked about the tour the response was £18 card or cash and leaves at quarter to and that was it then we had a quick look around the shop for my husband to ask the charismatic lady behind the counter where the toilets were to be told OUTSIDE ( no guidance) we then went on the tour which was not a great one down the steps in to some caves with a bit of the so called blue john cemented in to the wall only then to be informed by the guide the lady in the shop had spent the winter in one of the little dig outs in the cavern excavating blue john (maybe she left her manners and customer service skills in their when she exited the cavern) it was not the best but the worst of any attraction I have visited in this fair isle so far not worth £18 of anyone's money and on exiting my husband again went into the shop to get some water only to be greeted with (what do you want) well needless to say we were expecting great things from this experience but the only thing we took away is we won't be going back and would not advise anyone to visit very very very disappointing.

What a fabulous day out! Castleton is so pretty and the Blue John Cavern was something else, absolutely amazing! Very ethereal and quite emotive at times. It was quite mindblowing to realise that at the lowest point, we were 100 metres underground. Photos really don't show the majesty of it all! Our guide was super knowledgeable and very fit seeing as there were over 200 steps down and back up again and he gave a tour 3/4 times a day. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit and came back with a beautiful piece of Blue John jewellery as my birthday present.

Visited the Blue John Cavern on a very wet Mother's Day, March 10th 2024, with my daughter, son-in-law and my grandchildren. We didn't have to wait very long for the tour to start. Our guide, Nigel, was very knowledgeable about the geological history of the caves as well as the history of lead mining & the discovery of the seams of Blue John. Amazing to realise this beautiful part of the Peak District is the only place in the world where Blue John can be found. This is the largest & deepest of the caves and visitors descend 70 metres so there are lots of steps, which you are warned about in advance. It's quite a trek coming back up all the steps but our party, ranging in age from 6-70, all managed fine. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and Nigel looked after us and kept us entertained. All the Peak District caverns are worth visiting and each has unique features. Derbyshire is a beautiful county with diverse scenery & attractions - well worth visiting.

Fantastic visit today thanks to a guide George who was very interesting and knowledgeable

Impossible to park on a weekend during school holidays. Went back on the following Monday and plenty of spaces to park. Cavern was very quiet so we ended up with two guides to a very small group. Guides were very conversant with the history and details about the caverns. Really enjoyed it. Was a bit harder for two of my party who could not speak much English being Ukrainian refugees.

Fascinating tour of a live mine and cave system

Very rude and raciest never go again

Great guid that makes everything looks even more beautiful.

Very positive experience, well organised tour with a guide who could bring people together and make them listen, H&S is on a good level with signs, bariers, handrails and verbal information. Bring a sweater or two, a hat and good waterproof boots though :P When you finish, there is a gift shop outside for your pleasure, not sure how your wallet will see that ha ha.

Exploring John Blue Caverns with Nigel as our guide was fantastic! Nigel's expertise and enthusiasm made the journey truly memorable. I do think the £18 adult ticket is a bit steep although the experience was great!

Great tour! Ended up being a private one for me and my partner as it was 11am on a Monday. Our amazing guide George really knew his stuff about the history of the caves and stopped periodically to point out various features, super interesting and a really fun way to spend an hour. Thanks again!

Brill day out. We took out 7 year old. The steps are definitely something To consider. Very steep and uneven. Definitely a little workout on the way back up. Sensible footwear is a must would recommend gloves for the cold metal handrail. Our guid was very nice and knowledgeable. Our tour was a small group of 5 and took a little over an hour. Only reason for the 4 Stars was I thought it was quite pricey £47 for two adults and a child. But we did enjoy it thanks again.

Very interesting tour, well worth a visit, George the tour guide was very informative.

Really great experience, lovely tour guide.

Lots of steps, guided tour. Was really interesting. Definitely worth a visit if you’re into caves. Blue John is a kind of stone that was mined here.

Great guide. Interesting experience. Great for kids.

Had a fantastic time, massive thanks to Nigel who was informative and had answers to all our questions, big recommendation to go in the quieter winter periods so you get a smaller and more personal tour.

Had such an amazing time. Our tour guide Nigel was really amazing, funny, welcoming and very knowledgeable. Would reccomend this to anyone. Thanks Nigel for making it a brilliant experience.

Had a great chat about geology and a good hot chocolate to warm up

Really interesting. Very knowledgeable volunteer guides escort small groups. You need to be able to negotiate some tricky steps up and down and expect to be dripped upon at some points as you travel 100m below the surface. Very humbling to consider the extreme labour intensive working practices and conditions of previous generations. Staff friendly and tea and gift shop a must after taking the tour. At the foot of Mam Tor with parking available.

Beautiful place to visit, the surrounding scenery is stunning too

Enjoyed the experience of the Blue John Mines. Individuals need to be reasonably fit to do the tour. We enjoyed the spectacle of the mines but we found the tour guide: 1. Walked at a very fast pace & so we felt under pressure to keep up. 2. Appeared knowledgeable BUT spoke too fast & at the same tone & we felt very rushed. I think the tour guide desperately needs to go on a course for presentation skills as he raced through a very rehearsed script at a very monotonous tone. I thought the entrance fee was extremely expensive. We paid £50 for a family of four, which is a lot of money & makes it too expensive for a lot of families.

Really interesting cave system. The tour was good and informative. It was nice that there were stops built in to the tour both on the way down and back up.

Excellent nights stay surprisingly peaceful this time of year

We enjoyed our visit so much. Thanks to our guide, unfortunately I have no good memory with names. Go and visit yourself.

Very interesting, our guide (Nigel) was very knowledgeable and injected some humour into the tour too. Thanks!

Such a great experience for all ages! Traveling down the mine was very informative and fun. Our guide was very knowledgeable and answered every question we could think of. He explained the process and history behind the mine. It’s amazing to think this is a working mine. Will be back with my Scouts!

Nigel, what about absolute legend. Thank you for showing us around and sharing your knowledge with us. Highly recommend the tour to all, very interesting and worth doing. Steps aren't bad at all.

Some of the steps are much deeper than the average staircase, so you definitely need a reasonable level of fitness to get down to the bottom and back! A lovely set of caverns with fascinating information about formation. The guide was very knowledgeable and was able to answer all our extra questions.

Really good for people interested in geology or for those who want a nice day out. It's surprisingly deep and the shop has nice things available