Blue John Cavern in High Peak

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Great guid that makes everything looks even more beautiful.

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.

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.

Really great experience, lovely tour guide.

Great guide. Interesting experience. Great for kids.

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

Beautiful place to visit, the surrounding scenery is stunning too

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.

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.

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.

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

Our Guide and absolute legend, Nigel, and the wider BJC team have really one of the very best things to see in the entire Peak District. Anyone from Sheffield, Manchester, York, Rotherham etc - get yourselves there! Finally, thanks again, Nigel, for the truly wonderful experience and really engaging tour.

Blue John cavern was excellent well worth a visit and our guide Nigel was excellent he made the visit

Thank you for the amazing tour George, it was very entertaining and informative 👍

A must see for anyone staying nearby in the Peak District. The cavern is a marvel and the tour is especially good. Our tour guide, George, gave great insights into the cavern and the famous Derbyshire Spa deposits that are down in the depths of the passage ways. Highly recommend!

We had a brilliant time today at Blue John Cavern. Our tour guide George was fantastic. We learnt so much, not just about Blue John itself but about the formation of the cavern and lots of geology! Fantastic tour. Thanks George for being so engaging!

parking is 20 metres from the cavern surrounded by hills its simply amazing it is all lit up and you can see right in you go down the concrete stairs and you see where the water is and you can see like iceicalls hanging down don't forget to take your camera

I have a wonderful experience with our guide Bill, the tour was amazing, and it’s not as hard as it seems to be.

Really great place to park up, it's was great I could take the dog down so not to leave her in the van, guide was really great and very informative

Blue John Cavern is an absolute marvel nestled in the heart of Derbyshire's natural wonders. The captivating limestone formations and the elusive Blue John mineral make this cave a true gem for both nature enthusiasts and those seeking a unique geological experience. The guided tour offers a fascinating journey into the depths of Earth's history, revealing the intricate beauty that time and nature have sculpted. Don't miss the chance to explore this enchanting underground world – it's a mesmerizing adventure waiting to unfold!

Lovely walk around caver 250 steps down .

Great guide, very knowledgeable, lots of steps though. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Interesting place with experienced guides

A great tour with a knowledgeable guide (Nigel)

Visited this place in 2017 and found it very interesting. The guide I can't remember his name was very knowledgeable and humourous. Yes the shop on the surface is expensive but at tourist spots they always are so take your own food and drink and save a bit of money.

Great place to visit and dog friendly

What an experience, highly recommend, easy going down, not so easy coming back up on old joints. Our guide was super and did warn beforehand about the steps. The cavern was definitely an education worth getting to know.

A decent tour and information by the tour guide. However very very pricey for what it is. Shop staff seem miserable and unhelpful on my visit, definitely got a Royston vasey vibe going on! I sent an email of enquiry and still after 5 days I've had no response.

Sign said open at 9:30 at 9:40 staff were still arriving, when finally open was initially ignored. As I was visiting solo was told they don't do tours when one person. I mentioned I saw others in car park so I'd wait and asked for a coffee said that'd be 20min. The manner they spoke made me feel like an unwanted inconvenience so just left without coffee or tour. Ruined the whole experience for me.

Always loved this place my grandson really enjoyed it the tour guide was very good

My daughter and I visited on November 6th. It is a really fascinating place. The guide, George, tell the story of the caverns and the miners who worked there in such a lively and interesting way. We loved the tour. We'll worth it, and thank you George!

I'd go again.Friendly staff and very knowledgeable.

Stunning, your time just right, guide hard to hear sometimes though.

Great place to visit, and walks are amazing too

Great experience, loved the tour of the caves and Neil the guide was very informative.

A real gem of an experience learning about the history of the Blue John mine. Kids loved it and our guide was clearly a long serving guide of the mine, with vast experience which made the experience very engaging and enjoyable.

Great little place, returned for the second time after a 45 year gap, still impressive and John our guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable.

Well worth the 240 steps and various slops.

Absolutely fascinating tour! The tour guide was really informative. The sheer scale of the caverns left you staring in awe. Warning - it seems a lot further back up the 245 steps than it did down....

Definitely breathe taking! Very impressive and beautiful place to visit. Chris our tour guy was magnificent. Love the stories and jokes too. Chris has kept us entertained and engaged in the conversation at all the times. Great and friendly staff. Reasonable prices and lovely shop as well. The hand made jewellery was beautifully made and exposed for our eyes. Will recommend it to everyone!

Fascinating place. Super tour with an engaging knowledgeable guide.

Great exploration of the cave system and some history of mining in the area. Beautiful caves, impressive interior and beautiful part of the world.

Excellent experience, quite difficult access as you would expect for a cavern. The guide was very informative and amusing

Lovely cave with an excellent tour guide who is very knowledgeable. Be prepared for steps, slippery surfaces and gloves are recommended.

I was genuinely amazed at the geology of the caves. Tony's commentary was both informative and entertaining and confirmation that comedy is no laughing matter!

Absolutely worth visiting. The guided tour takes about 1 hour, very interesting and informative

Jaw dropping caverns and a very insightful and enjoyable tour from our guide George. I learnt a lot about the local geology and people. Would highly recommend it if you're in the area.

Just an amazing place never really thought of going but just awe inspired By the sight of 300million years of creation Infront of me I could touch and feel it

Brilliant, very interesting tour.

Great place to stop off and explore. Very friendly staff and our tour guide, George, was very knowledgeable.

We arrived on a bit of a spontaneous let’s go out and do something, before we knew it we were on our little tour with George (not Bill 😉), who was bloody great. Very knowledgeable about the cavern, the geography and the history behind it all. He travelled at a speed that suited us; we were not far from closing time to it was us and another couple with a dog so it was really rather nice and personal. He stopped and talked about main points, was very attentive to where we were looking and made sure to talk about the bits we are looking at as well as the standard tour. The carvern itself is great. We do loads of these cave/mine tours and cave/abandoned mine exploring generally so we have seen a lot of them. Some good and some not to good, but Blue John Cavern is one of the small but brilliant ones. We saw the water fall inside as it had rained a couple of weeks before so it was really coming down in the cave - if you don’t know why this is then go here. I can happily recommend it to anyone who isn’t fragile/poor mobility might hinder you. There’s steps and handrails with flag stone floor so it’s not like actual cave exploring, but this suits the greater audience so definitely go and check it out. There’s a little shop with refreshments, toilets and gifts/souvenirs. I won’t be adding photos as I don’t really take many, it’s just a time to live in the moment.

We had a fabulous tour with Nigel today , very informative and humorous, i would definitely recommend this tour

Amazing experience I would recommend to anyone George was full of knowledge, facts and also very funny!

240 steps down. Tour guide was knowledgeable. You can buy tickets in the gift shop

I visited Blue John cavern Nigel was our tour guide and he took us down into the cave. Nigel made the whole experience so interesting and enjoyable. He had everyone captivated in the way he told the history of the cave. Nigel had us entertained throughout our visit. I would highly recommend visiting the Blue John cavern and would recommend Nigel as your guide as his commentary was spellbinding!

Excellent expecially nigle our guide

Very interesting and lots of walks around this area

Brilliant experience, knowledgeable guide, stunning colours. There are 240 steep steps .

It was a nice 1h tour. The guide had a proper British sence of humour. Many steps, so only for ppl who have no issues with knees. Small dogs are allowed (but not allowed to carry them in hands) so they need to be able to walk many stairs... Videos are not allowed, but you can take photos at certain points. You can learn many interesting things and see something different.

George the guide was both informative and entertaining. We'll worth a visit.

Had a fabulous tour guide. Stunning place

The tour host was informative and knowledgeable, the underground sights were unique. The floor was a spot slippy in parts but mostly very good. It was however quite short, I guess there are only so many areas in the cavern but given the many steps that isn't such a bad thing.

A lovely few hours, the tour guide was very knowledgeable and also made us laugh, there are a lot of steps and it's a bit slippery in places but this is told to you before you go in. Would recommend

This is a really interesting place to visit in a beautiful area. The cavern tour lasts around an hour and takes you around 100m below ground through a series of caverns formed over 200million years ago. As well as learning about the mining of a unique mineral (Blue John) there was lots to learn about geology and the history of the mines. There are visible fossils in the cavern wall apparently up to 500million years old! There is free parking on the road and lots of lovely walks in the area. There is a shop and they sell basic drinks/ice creams but I'd recommend going the short drive into Castleton for many better cafe options. There are toilets at the visitor centre. It's not cheap for an hour long tour and not suitable for those with mobility issues (200+ steps and no lift) but otherwise highly recommended.

Wonderful and informative. Very tiring.

I liked inside the cave was very interesting, but the tour guide was a bit off-putting when we were starting the tour. It says no refunds will be given he spent most of his time talking us out of going inside. I was expecting more than a little bit of cave will try another one next time. He was telling us we could possibly have to swim out when it was forecast to rain and my 4 and 8 year old was panicking then. Just to negative and to serious for me. But he was very knowledgeable and enjoyed what he learnt and showed me of course. Once he stopped saying we may struggle walking in there to me it was easy. I understand for others older or health conditions may struggle me and the kids was great. Just wish I took my coat and suitable shoes.

Whilst only lasting approximately an hour or so. This experience was very educational and fun. This wouldn't have been possible, if not for our wonderful guide, George. Full of rich information and personality, the man was truly a delight. Thank you, George!