Cornwall 2018: Eden Project, St Austell

Our first visit to the Eden Project eight years ago was an absolute delight, so we were all keen to go back, especially my mum who is a keen gardener.  It also meant we would be out of the rain and cold and for some parts of the Project, in the heat.

The Eden Project consists of a number of areas: a tropical dome, a Mediterranean dome, children event and play area, an outdoor area and large area of shops and canteens .

Both the tropical and Mediterranean biodomes were as interesting and enjoyable as we remembered them (I will write about those individually), but the thing that really stood out was the accessibility of the site.  There were free buses from the parking area to the domes with the kindest most helpful bus driver you could ask for.  There were covered walkways to get us out if the rain.  But more than that there was an attitude and feel that the place cared about accessibility and had gone out of their way to make it as accessible to wheelchair users, those with other disabilities and families with small children as possible.

One of the things I really like is the art that you can see everywhere, I remember quite a few of these displays from our last visit:

We spent most of the time on the domes, but once we were done the children spent some time playing the games in the children’s are and trying to win small prizes for completing as many as they could. The boys had fun running around this maze:

We don’t tend to eat out and take picnics because we don’t know what vegetarian or halal options will be available, but the small café in the children’s area confirmed that the chips were not made with any meat product.  I can’t tell you how over the moon the kids were.  Hubby and I shared the deserts.