The Bishop's Table in Mendip

Beautiful place to visit, lots to see, food for the soul, 😀

Private gardens that are pleasant to walk around

Lovely historical attraction with great info about the history and importance of the Bishopric, including the Bishops' role in royal coronations.

Really beautifully maintained gardens and interior. Staff were super friendly and very knowledgeable. Highly recommend a visit.

One of the most interesting and beautiful places I have visited. Spent 6 hours there today covering all the buildings and gardens. Went on a guided tour at 11 a.m. to see inside the buildings which were great. Then at 12 noon a guided tour of the gardens. Excellent tour guide - very entertaining and informative. You can walk on the ramparts if you can cope with the steps and look over to the moat. Loads of lovely trees, shrubs and flowers in the gardens along with a small lake and waterfall. £14 each for adults entrance, there is a good cafe and toilets. Disabled access is good to most areas and they are refitting a lift so you will be able to access the upper floor of the palace. Well worth a day out and you also have the Wells Cathedral as a backdrop.

Beautiful place to visit, toilets lovely café, beautiful gardens and house.

The Bishops Palace is a delightful place to visit. The gardens are lovely and the Palace itself is full of history. The ticket price gives you free repeat entry for a year, which is great value. There are also many fun and interesting events held throughout the year in the gardens, often with historical or cultural themes. To top it off the food in the on site restaurant is delicious. Probably my favourite place in Wells

The park area in front had the swans sunbathing, lots of cafe culture and people just out enjoying a lovely day. It's such a pretty spot.

Visited today and was pleasantly surprised with the free street parking nearby, the nice walk around to get to the castle and Cathedral, the lovely people nearby, the clearly cared for and clean and tidy area and town, and lastly the lovely castle, gift shop and surrounding gardens. I personally feel £20 per person was a bit extortionate as theres not a huge lot to see and do, but if you have the money and the time, it’s a fantastic thing to witness. The castle itself is surrounded in a beautiful moat with thriving wildlife, well kept greenery, and beautiful details. The gift shop had a few nice trinkets, the café had a nice selection of food and drinks as well as a good seating area outside. There are free toilets nearby and very wheelchair friendly.

If your in wells this place is a must visit absolutely brilliant

We have been to Bishops palace on a few occasions, Christmas lights and ambience wonderful, May fair, now that's another story, incredibly underwhelming to the point of boring, not over 25 stalls, petting area was a couple of rabbits,goats and a pony and required a separate entrance to exit, people just sat at cafe tables without a drink when we wanted to order food, My opinion.....poor show

A stunning place to visit with a good coffee shop on site. We visited when there was a Viking event going on which was fun to be a part of

Overpriced, not worth it at all. Visited today while a county fair was on, and the entry to get in was £16! Was told that it’s usually £14 but the fair added £2 on. Let me tell you, it’s not worth it even for the £14. The ‘palace’ hardly has anything in it, the rooms are boring with not much to see and it’s so small, we walked through within 20 minutes and the gardens were overrun with the fair stalls (as was one whole room in the ‘palace’). I see that their responses to other reviews state it’s a year long entry with that £14 but we’re from overseas, so can’t even utilise that. Other responses to reviews talk about their collections and exhibitions that are on… like I said- boring and not worth looking at. You’d think having a county fair on and blocking/ruining some parts of the ‘palace’ would make the tickets cheaper but whatever (not to mention why should a county fair even be paid entry??) We are not the only ones, as we were walking out I heard a few people/families talking about how it was too pricey for them to enter. And to buy souvenirs from the shop you had to join the long ticket queue. Left feeling regret on visiting the whole town tbh.

Lovely cafe in the free area of the grounds in front of the croquet lawn with tasty food. The gardens are beautiful. The paths through the gardens are mostly easily manageable with a wheelchair. The wooden bridge into the main garden is slightly tricker but not too hard. It made for an extremely pleasant visit.

Grand day out. Cafe was nice with polite staff. Great for a post-lunch constitutional.... and there are plenty of places in Wells serve a nice lunch......

A beautiful location. Grounds lovely with lots of areas to sit and admire the views. Good facilities. Nice palace to walk around with personal audio experience.

I have visited wells many times. With friends and family and alone. Always an enjoyable walk and the swans ringing the bell for food was a great hit with the children. Grace the female Swan is sitting on eggs so will be back soon to see the cygnets and the two teenagers who are reluctant to move on and leave their mom. I can't remember the males name gilbert ? Gideon? He is obviously very protective of his lovely mate. Lovely place for a walk again. Update 7 beautiful cygnets await your visit

Gardens are stunning and totally worth a visit. The palace is interesting in the historical detail. However it is the gardens. I wish I lived in Wells so as to buy a very reasonable season ticket and take a book Into the gardens to read. Very relaxing.

Palace is lovely. Restaurant is overpriced, unfriendly, rude and desperately unhelpful. Plenty of nice places in Wells so avoid the restaurant unless you enjoy being taken for granted or abused.

If you like extraordinarily well kept gardens with interesting plants and trees, a genuinely fascinating historical building, and a well presented video guide and tour, you will love this place. We didn't expect to be so enthralled by the development of a religious building and community, but quickly got a sense of how important this place has been in the city, the county, and the region. The gardens were full of surprises, including the wells from which the city gets its name. We learned a lot about how to dress a bishop, and enjoyed the swans waddling around among the visitors

Lovely day out, interesting place to look around and ticket prices are cheap, bought a years pass 2 adults & kids for £65 which includes events throughout the year. Clean and tidy, lots to see and the moat outside is a great place to feed the ducks and swans, and is a nice (pedestrianised) walk. Halfway down there is the entrance to a large park with kids playarea that is much more equipped and interactive than the one within The Bishops Palace grounds. Overall a nice few hours out for a family.

The Palace isn't very big but quite interesting, the grounds and garden are good. A years ticket is good value. Which allows entrance to some of the special event as well. There is a cafe and toilets.

Attended the new Secret Supper Club at the Palace. Absolutely fabulous! Food, ambience, service all excellent, and very good value for money. Highly recommended!

Put off to start with, as had to reject various items of cutlery, and then when the tea’s arrived, had to rejects the mugs. Looks like nothing gets cleaned - unbelievable the staff send items out like it. Overall, the food was fine. Masses of tuna, in the jacket, lovely breakfast bap (for lunch), and lovely sandwiches.

Went here after visiting the cathedral and had a pleasant time. The Palace was fascinating to behold and the gardens were incredibly beautiful. Entry was cheap thanks to the joint ticket option with Wells Cathedral. I very much enjoyed coming here and highly recommend it to anyone visiting Wells.

Lovely place to go and have walk around.

Amazing place to visit and relax beautiful buildings and gardens

Wonderful food, great coffee and really friendly staff. We have visited several times and would highly recommend. The food is freshly prepared and very tasty, even the salad garnish is well dressed and delicious, which is so often not the case in other establishments. Plenty of seating, both indoors and outside, and arguably one of the nicest settings you will find. We will certainly be visiting again when next in the area.

Beautiful place to visit, lovely gardens.

Love the place, have visited many times since moving to Somerset, but what a shock when we visited today, the price rise for annual tickets. We will not be renewing when our tickets run out in October, it looks like the Blue light card reduction is no longer available, so a 67% rise in ticket prices is disgraceful, I know things are going up, but not at this rate.

Stunning and surprisingly expansive grounds that are well worth exploring 🤩

Amazing spot to walk around. So much history and architecture to take in. The paid tour is worth doing. It’s a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the history of Wells, the local area and England at the time.

Great to see but not as big as I thought, a bit expensive unless you combine the ticket with the abbey.

Love the peace and quiet of the gardens.

Lovely garden which is always changing throughout the year. Excellent value if you get and use an annual pass. Very good cafe as well.

visited the cafe there , i love proper made ground coffee i could not drink this stuff where do thay get the water from out of the moat,3 pounds a paper cup full ,cake at 4.25 per small slice disgraceful /i was ripped off

I thoroughly enjoyed strolling through the grounds. It’s going to be even more breathtaking once the trees don their leaves and the flowers start blooming. The architecture is simply magnificent. There’s also a charming little cafe serving delicious food, located outside the paid entry area, so everyone can enjoy it. I combined this visit with a trip to the Cathedral.

Such a lovely palace we walked around it. And was so detailed still and admired it's history. Love that it still has a moat around it and is so well kept it is a must see in wells

It is a beautiful 😍 tranquil and magical place ✨✨

Took Mum in law for a visit and Afternoon tea. Staff all lovely, gardens immaculate. Gardeners also very friendly and Afternoon tea was absolutely delicious. Came away having joined for the year

The service was friendly and professional Food hot served quickly and very tasty Chips - best ever GF cake amazing Coffee was awesome Highly recommend

Always a wonderful day out in these magical gardens and the historic buildings of the bishops palace . These and are enchanting !

The palace, built around the 13th century with a chapel, moats, fountains, well pools and ducks, swans, multi-membered sculptures, grottoes and benches - we did not have time to go around everything in 2 hours, we definitely want to come back here! Very friendly staff, cozy cafe and shop

Wonderful to explore the gardens. The long gallery is an exceptional space and the chapel is of beautiful proportions.

I concur with the carefully worded review submitted by @RaqsMax (February 2025). We have used the Bishop’s Table for more than ten years but unfortunately the quality of its food has gradually declined. Today we each had a mug of leek and potato soup and a sandwich. I was dumbfounded when I was told to select a pack of sandwiches from the cold cabinet, - just as you might in a motorway services. In the past the food was freshly prepared, the bread was delicious and plentiful. The packed sandwiches were frankly (putting it politely) incredibly disappointing. But the soup was an even greater disappointment. It was impossible to tell what flavour it was meant to be, it was peppery but otherwise bland. I couldn’t finish it and would certainly not purchase soup there again. What is going on with the management of this café? The lovely wooden furniture has gone and in its place we have plastic chairs. The food quality is often poor. Is anyone monitoring the standard of service and the food on offer?

Beautiful and generally peaceful. Lovely setting and free if you don't actually go inside

Been several times. Each time, we see something new. Our dog loves a walk in the gardens.

This is an idyllic spot and should be a wonderful place to have refreshments. My husband and I are both members of the Bishop's Palace, but have stopped using the cafe for several reasons: 1) I am a diabetic. I have repeatedly asked both servers and duty managers if they could stock sugar-free syrups as other cafes do. My request is usually met with bored disinterest or a half-hearted assurance that they will pass the request on. 2 years later and still no progress. 2) in the High Street, we currently have a #Coffee 1, a Caffe Nero, a Costa, a Greggs and a couple of other independent cafes that all serve better coffee at a better price. There is stiff competition for my pound! 3) The cakes are overpriced in comparison to local outlets and frankly, there is an uninspiring selection and they are often dry. 4) The serving staff are often quite young (nothing wrong with that) but they do not always seem to be well-trained in customer service basics, such as smiling at customers, going out of your way to be helpful, etc. (Loren is an exception; she is consistently smiling and helpful).

This was a lovely place. The part of the building that you are allowed in was great, very informative, and interesting, the people who worked there were all helpful too. The gardens were beautiful and lovely to walk around, I will return in the summer, I'm sure there'll look even better in Bloom. It costs £14 or £25 with free return for 12 months or you can get a package to visit the cathedral as well.

A really beautiful place 😃 I really enjoyed my visit there. A serene garden behind the palace and a few streams around the area. A nice day trip from Bath (just take a bus over)

Sunday lunches at the Bishop's Palace are now located in the Undercroft - the interior door is only closed to stop drafts, so just go on through. The tables are arranged together bench style with candleabras and small white lights. It looked quite magical. Our party consisted of 3 adults and a 2 year old. She was more comfortable in a high chair. Our roast dinners were excellent (beef, turkey and vegetarian) and the portions were very generous. We ordered side dishes of cauliflower cheese. At the end we asked for some boxes to take home! The service was excellent. We will return...

I greatly enjoyed my visit to the illuminations on Monday evening. What a beautiful display! Though, being in my mid-seventies I found that it was a little difficult to discern the paths in the dark, and I felt a little unsteady. I wondered if edging the paths with fairy lights might give helpful definition to where we should be walking. Nevertheless, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the evening.

The Bishops Palace was stunning, we went for the illuminations and it was beautiful. Inside the palace was also beautiful and very interesting. I particularly enjoyed the Coronation display. I have bought an annual pass so look forward to many further visits. It will be interesting to visit in daylight to see the gardens.

Being the wedding photographer at Bishops Palace Wedding and Events Venue was an absolute joy and privilege. From the moment I arrived, I could sense the care and dedication that had gone into preparing for the big day. The venue itself is stunning, offering a variety of picturesque spots that made capturing special moments effortless. Whether it was the elegant interiors or the beautifully landscaped gardens, every corner of this venue seemed to be designed with weddings in mind. What truly sets Bishops Palace Wedding and Events Venue apart, however, is the incredible team of staff who go above and beyond to ensure everything is perfect. Their attention to detail, warm hospitality, and ability to handle every request with a smile made the day not only enjoyable but completely stress-free for the couple and their guests. I am genuinely excited to return for weddings in 2025 and 2026 and to work alongside this fantastic team once again. Thank you for making my couple’s day so magical and unforgettable. Best wishes, James Clarke at Just James Wedding Photography.

A delightful place for a stroll. Very interesting history

Visited using my annual pass to see the Christmas light show. Very magical all staff friendly and polite. The swans stole the show as usual.

Have a look what's on your doorstep before you venture far & wide.!

Bishop need to try his/her own cafe. What a terrible place to eat. food was cold, coffee's were cold and the service was diabolical. Young servers just stand around chatting while constantly playing with their hair and rubbing their noses. All very off putting. Our order was wrong, and we waited way too long on a quiet day.

A very nice place to visit, plenty of options for coffee cake and food

Great gardens and a very interesting palace.

Lovely place to wander around the gardens for free, but can also pay to go inside the palace. Very peaceful.

Just left there and will not go back. This used to be a nice cafe in a pleasant setting. It seems to have changed. We found a table but there were no menus - the only ones I could see was at a table that said reserved. I simply picked up one to have a glance and someone from the cafe comes charging over proceeds to tell me off and was extremely rude. Apparently you can’t have a 30 second look at a menu on a reserved table. Rather then provide a menu to us (is this not the job of the waiting staff?) I just got told to get one from outside. We eventually obtained one to discover the only option was a roast diner at £20. At that price they can keep it and their ride staff

Can highly recommend a wander around the gardens, they are beautiful. Well cared for and lovely views of the Cathry There is also a play park for the children, mine loved it even though they are older teenagers/young adults....never to old

An interesting collection of items and information about Wells and its Bishop. There are displays detailing 800 years of history. The Palace has gardens to enjoy. We went on a rainy October day and couldn't see a lot from the ramparts due to the mist. However, we would like to return on a clearer day to see if we can spot Glassonbury Tor in the distance. An adult ticket for the Palace and Gardens is £17.50 but this can give you entry for a year. There are some concessions and family tickets available, and there is a joint ticket that also gives access to the cathedral. That's worth getting if you intend to visit both sites (they're next to each other). Accessibility is good. The inside of the building is mostly level, and there is a platform lift. There is a clear even path around the gardens. The ramparts are only accessed via stone steps.

Magnificent little castle/church... To see and relax as much as possible🥰

A beautiful house and gardens, An absolute joy to walk around.

Fabulous place to visit, lovely gardens and wonderful palace to explore. A must if you are in Wells.

Fantastic morning walking around the Gardens and Palace. This is a must visit location at any time of the year.

This is a wonderful garden and has such interest buildings surrounding it. The walking is a bit uneven on the walls but the garden beyond the bridge is very peaceful next to the water and lots of benches to sit and relax on.

Busy little cafe with slow but mostly friendly service. Tea and coffee was a good price and OK. Sausage rolls were hot and tasty. Probably as good as any other cafe in Wells.

Beautiful place. Very tranquil. The gardens are stunning. And the resident cat was more than willing to pose for photos 😄

Wonderful architecture steeped in history stunning City plenty of green spaces lots of shops cafes restaurants

The tour guide Melanie was superb! Thank you to her and all the staff

Beautiful place to visit and lovely to see the swans ring the bell for food too. The cafe was lovely and had the most amazing gluten free millionaires shortbread and coffee, highly recommend a visit

Stunning gardens palace guided tour if required we went around on our own plenty of information sheets giving history about each room nice up-to-date cafe with toilet facilities at two locations We spent 4 hours her only managed to see half .will definitely be going back.

I generally grab a sandwich or pasty for my lunch, something I can eat on the go. Today I ordered the soup as it was such a horrible day and I needed warming up - it was delicious! Homemade leek and potato with croutons plus plenty of bread too. It’s great to know there are plenty of takeaway options, and the packaging was all recyclable, extra bonus!

Only visited the cafe but that provided excellent cakes, teas, and coffees.

Unfortunately due to the weather 🌧️ we didn't get to appreciate the gardens and outdoor areas. Interesting history, definitely better to get joint tickets for the cathedral, as it's quite expensive.

Lovely gardens, but tends to be a bit busy.

Beautiful place to visit , soo much to look at , inside the palace and in the garden

Very interesting you could wander around with lovely gardens

Beautiful gardens and structures. It's a pleasure to wander. There are snacks and breakfasts at a fair price. You can feel the history.

Absolutely beautifull ..peacefully and serine.

Beautifully kept area of Wells. Situated at the top of Wells High Street, through the archway, is the moated palace. It is free to walk around the moat and free to enter a part of the grounds. There is a good quality cafe and toilets on site that can both be used without paying to enter the Palace gardens proper. I would say if you are visiting Wells, this and the Cathedral green and Vicar's Close are the places to see.

Very dissapointing. We had to have beef in a roll rather than pork which they had ran out of. There was so much horseradish in the roll that it was burning my mouth. The price of the meal was almost £13 each and definitely not worth it. We won't be dining in there again.

Beautiful, was lovely to explore, the gardens are fantastic.

We got a joint Wells Cathedral & Bishops Palace ticket. It was well worth it, the Palace and gardens are very scenic. Loved it.

Wonderful garden s and so much to look at and see the spring water flowing with ducks and other water birds and when we visited wells it was market day wonderful . Market and very nice shopping area and there is one bakery's am that stands out and the muffin s t

Well worth a visit, really interesting place, also nice food in the cafe,friendly and helpful staff.

I would recommend coming here if in Wells. Really enjoyed the walk about. 🙏😊

Amazing step back in time. Wonderful gardens . Of course the Cathedral is breathtaking. Much of the surrounding area gas been used in TV series Good cafe. Well worth a visit

Beautiful! Unfortunately we had our dog with us so were unable to go in, but being able to go as far as we could was pleasure to see. With a lovely little cafe in the grounds for you to sit outside and enjoy the views. Would definitely go back and explore more without the dog.

Just a nice place to visit, got all necessary for a holiday maker.

Magnificent palaces and gardens. However, the palace deserves to offer an audio guide to share more stories and information about these places.

Beautiful, tranquil, elegant, sophisticated, romantic… just wonderful. I love it here. Don’t miss it. I pay once a year and go at least once a month. A single ticket for as many visits as you like - excluding their ‘special’ events, which is fair enough.

A beautiful place to visit with fabulous gardens. Our children loved the trail to collect letters from around the garden, and also enjoyed the play area and ice cream. We were impressed with both the Palace and Wells.

Over priced sub-standard food. Suggest that you wander into the town to one of the many local cafes & restaurants for a far better experience.

This place is amazing. Very well organised even when very busy like today. We found a table and I queued to order and pay. I really thought they would take ages to bring the food but it was with us in no time. Delicious too. Staff were very courteous despite one or two difficulties with a few customers. Highly recommend this place.

Yes £6 extra to the ticket for the cathedral to include the gardens. Well worth it.

Free to historic house members and also if you are visiting the cathedral you can get a joint ticket which will save you a fair bit of money. First up the gardens are simply breathtaking , and well worth a leisurely walk round multiple times. The palace itself isn't particularly grand but is interesting, with a fascinating history. The architecture is beautiful and paintings and objects are interesting. There is a lot too read which can be tiresome by the end. But don't let that put you off this wonderful place. There is a nice cafe on site too . It's a must visit if in the area