Things to do in Matlock, England: The Best Sights & Landmarks

Now open daily. Take a spectacular cable car ride to the Heights of Abraham, an award-winning hilltop park. Your cable car ticket gives you free admission to all the facilities at the top, including 60 acres of landscaped grounds, exhibition areas, Masson Pavilion Film Theatre, adventure playgrounds, woodland walks, and two famous show caverns with guided tours, audio visual effects and remarkable stories to tell. Cavern tours take place throughout the day. NEW self guided audio heritage tour available via your mobile phone. Enjoy stunning views across the Derwent Valley from the Vista Restaurant and Bar. Dogs are welcome and travel free on the cable cars, but are not allowed down into the Caverns.

Currently closed due lockdown - hope to be open every day from the 3rd December. Find out about the lead mining heritage of Derbyshire from Roman Times to the present. Interactive exhibits, mock tunnels and shafts to climb, moving models. The new Matlock Bath Through Time exhibition tells the story of a village that was one of the top Georgian Spas in the country. Then visit Temple Mine and find out what it was really like working underground followed by a try at gold panning. Suitable for all ages. Family ticket £28 (2A and 3C)

The construction of the Cromford Canal by William Jessop and Benjamin Outram, partners in the Butterley company, was completed in 1794. It is 14.5 miles long and joined Cromford with the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill. The site has a wealth of industrial heritage and lies in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage site. The canal is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its entire length from Cromford to Ambergate. The 3.3km southern section from Whatstandwell Bridge to Ambergate is a Local Nature Reserve. The canal is a haven for water vole, a threatened and declining species, and for grass snakes, little grebes, moorhen and coots. The southern end towards Poyser's Bridge is excellent for dragonflies. The canal can be explored from the towpath between Cromford Wharf and Ambergate, a distance of just over five miles. The walk from Cromford Wharf to High Peak Junction is suitable for pushchair's and wheel chairs. We manage the section from Cromford to Ambergate for recreation and wildlife. The canal has a very rich and diverse wildlife running through the attractive Derwent Valley and part of it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserve. The Nature Reserve can be accessed from the north end at Whatstandwell or at the southern end from Ambergate by a towpath off Chase Road. The old towing path which follows the canal is a public footpath - please note that this path is narrow and uneven in places. Birdswood, a restored narrow boat is run on scheduled trips through the year by the Friends of Cromford Canal. Open to all members of the public. Come and enjoy a peaceful journey along the canal, from Cromford Wharf to High Peak Junction, introduced by a booming announcement from the FCC President, Brian Blessed. Birdswood is also available for private hire and for specialist educational trips. Limited canoeing is permitted on the Cromford Canal between Cromford Wharf and High Peak Junction. Because of the sensitive nature of the canal, numbers are strictly controlled. There's a Changing Places toilet for use by the public in the car park at Cromford Wharf.

The Leawood Pump House was built in 1849 to supply water to the Cromford Canal, built some 50 years previously. It is a Grade II* listed building located a little along the canal towpath from High Peak Junction, it stands to a height of 45 feet (14 m) on the right bank of the River Derwent, at the end of the Derwent Aqueduct, and has a 95-foot (29 m) chimney stack with a cast-iron cap. The pumphouse worked continuously from 1849 until 1944 when the canal closed. It was restored in 1979 by the Cromford Canal Society and is run periodically.

Matlock Meadows is a modern purpose built ice cream parlour and coffee shop set within a working dairy farm. The farm has diversified by making italian style hand made ice cream here on the farm using the fresh milk from our dairy herd. The coffee shop serves 15 flavours of ice cream, also sorbet's, ice cream sundaes, a range of hot and cold drinks and snacks, giftware and local produce. We have a small outdoor play area and in the adjacent field and barn we have a micro pig, sheep, chickens, cows and calves. We are a real working dairy farm rather than a major visitor attraction. We do not charge any entrance fees and therefore rely on the income generated from the shop sales to maintain our facilities which include outside play area, free car parking, toilets, and baby changing. The farm has disabled access and facilites and can accommodate educational group/school visits also childrens birthday parties.

Cascades Gardens is a beautiful and interesting garden to visit in Derbyshire, in the historic village of Bonsall near Matlock. Ideal for garden enthusiasts, plantsmen and for those who just want to relax in the beautiful natural surroundings and visit a garden in Derbyshire and the Peak District. Come and explore this fascinating garden which originates from the 18th century and surrounds the ruins of a corn mill, with pond and mill race, canal and an old lead mine. Cascades gardens is set on many levels with a new "garden room" around every corner-perennial flower beds, roses, waterside planting and alpine and conifer rockeries. There is a great view from the cliff top path. Every season brings new surprises with hosts of snowdrops, hellebores, hosta, daffodils, unusual perennial flowers, shrubs, trees and conifers. A wide range of plants in the garden are available for sale in the nursery. The informal gardens have been designed to blend in with the spectacular natural landscape of rocks, cliffs and woodland. The Bonsall brook runs through the garden and flows over the ruined corn mill and many waterfalls which gives the house it's name. In the winter the water can be a torrent and in the summer a gentle trickle. Group visits are most welcome and refreshments for groups can be made available by prior arrangement. Talks are given by Alan Clements, the owner, to clubs and societies. Please contact us for details The historic village of Bonsall has many old buildings, and is a great place to walk in the hills. It has two attractive old pubs that offer a warm welcome and serve good food.