Gough's Cave
The main show cave, with an audio guide and a chamber where Cheddar cheese matures among the stalactites.
In a small cave at the bottom of this gorge, in 1903, someone dug up the oldest complete human skeleton ever found in Britain, a man who lived here roughly nine thousand years ago; and, as local tradition has it, wheels of Cheddar cheese had been ripening in the same cold damp dark for centuries before that, and shelves of it still mature in the cave today. Cheddar Gorge is England's largest, a limestone cleft with cliffs up to 137 metres either side of the narrow, twisting B3135 that runs along its floor, about 32 km south-west of Bristol in the Mendip Hills of Somerset. The view itself costs nothing: walking or driving the gorge road and the cliff-top paths needs no ticket. What you pay for is the Day Ticket bundling Gough's Cave (the big one, with an audio guide and a chamber where the village's cheese matures at a constant 11C), Cox's Cave with its short 'Yeo's Journey' light show, a small Museum of Prehistory, Jacob's Ladder, 274 steps up to a lookout tower, and 'Beyond the View', a fifteen-minute film on a 270-degree screen that flies you over the gorge. Booking online before midnight the day before fixes the adult price at £23.30; at the gate it is a few pounds more, plus £7 for parking. Advance booking is not compulsory, but it is cheaper. Is it worth the drive from Bristol? Yes if your children are past five or six; the caves are well lit with paved paths, but Jacob's Ladder is no place for a pushchair, and the walk between the attractions strung along the road takes around twenty minutes each way. In the school summer holidays the gorge is genuinely crowded; arriving before 11am is the difference between an easy parking space and a long crawl. In winter it opens only 10am to 4pm, with a scattering of closed days in January, and the cliffs are gloomy and slippery after three, but the caves keep the same temperature all year, so it is a fair wet-weather choice. Realistically you come by car: 45 to 50 minutes from central Bristol via the A38 and A371. Public transport is a chore: train to Weston-super-Mare and then a bus to Cheddar, about two hours each way. Cheddar village itself is modest, with shops selling the locally made cheese and ordinary cafes; suitable food options are limited, so bring what you need and spend the rest of the day in the cathedral city of Wells, about twenty minutes further on by car.
The main show cave, with an audio guide and a chamber where Cheddar cheese matures among the stalactites.
274 steps from the gorge floor to a tower with the whole cliff line and the flat Somerset Levels beyond.
Driving or walking the twisting road beneath the cliffs is a complete experience in itself, ticket-free and suitable for everyone.
The Cliffs, Cheddar, Somerset BS27 3QF
If you only want the scenery, the road and the upper paths are free and an hour at a lay-by is plenty. The ticket earns its price only if you will do both caves and climb the ladder; with toddlers or older relatives who struggle with steps, stick to the free gorge.
Bath wins if time is short: a fifteen-minute direct train and everything walkable. Cheddar needs a car and a full day, but it is the only one of the two if your children want landscape and caves rather than museums and streets.