Matlock Bath Aquarium and Arcade

Negative experience: Bit naff for £6.50 per person. Glorified pet shop. Not enough here to justify the price, spent 20 minutes there maximum.

Fantastic experience: Went to Matlock bath while on a weekend away down the road, originally wanted to do the heights of Abraham but it was shut, ended up giving this a go it won't take long and isn't too expensive

Positive experience: Small but excellent space and learnt a lot about fishes. Not a bad prices to enter and you can feed koi fishes if you got 50p coin. Upstairs the is light luminous reflection weird pictures make my eyes funny and arcades ground floor.

Fantastic experience: Fabulous attraction with something for everyone. Including a petrifying well, giant koi carp in a Victorian swimming pool and a hall of holograms

Fantastic experience: Lots of different things to look at and a brilliant selection of fish! Kept us all entertained and really cheap too. Best arcade I've ever been at we won lots of times on the 2p machines and everyone was lovely.

Fantastic experience: Traditional English stop- off place. Good food prices also good variety. ,Busy and helpful staff.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic fun for the family...

Positive experience: As adults the £6.50 fee seems a bit steep But there's a little aquarium with cute fish, a victorian bath with a large number of koi and then a little museum bit. It wasn't bad but wouldn't repeat the cost

Positive experience: Great way to spend an hour or so. Reasonable value for money. Holograms are very interesting to look at. We loved the history of the baths. The aquarium houses an interesting collection of marine life. Well worth visiting, with or without children.

Positive experience: Small Aquarium loved the idea of using a swimming pool for the fish, the holograms were good and the illuminations. Also has an arcade which was a bit of fun worth a visit if in the area

Fantastic experience: Great ticket price. Interesting variety of aquatic life. Loved the old Victorian pool with the koi. You can feed them a handful of food for 50p via a vending machine located next to the pool. The holographic collection has reduced fromy last visit (years ago) but you can tell they fade over time. There were a few interesting new items added to the gallery.

Positive experience: A lovely little gem. I enjoyed walking through this small aquarium and amusement park with my little one. A small fee to enter, and kids under 4 years go free. Good selection of fish, and well looked after. Would recommend.

Positive experience: Im not sure what I was expecting, I felt it was costly for what you got to see.. however I also appreciate the running costs into places like this. Was clean, and the light room was really good, little one loved this bit.

Fantastic experience: It's not the sort of place that you can spend hours in, but it is definitely worth a visit.

Positive experience: Wonderful and intriguing place. The aquariums were very beautiful and well looked after. My kiddos love the axolotls and the koi carp in the old Victorian bath house was quite something!

Fantastic experience: Really nice place to visit with my 2 and 4 year olds. They enjoyed seeing the fish. The light display was also very good.

Fantastic experience: Amazing. So worth the price of admission.

Fantastic experience: Took the granddaughters to Matlock for the day they love this arcade and I loved all the bikes!

Positive experience: For £6.50 it serves as a reasonable place for aquarium enthusiasts ... However, we all thought the place was looking rather dreary and somewhat in need of a good freshening up - The mirrors were good fun... Also, please be prepared for an extra-ordinary lack of available toilets throughout the main area of Matlock Bath ... There are some near to the Midland Pub but you will need a 20pence coin, or a card - now there's a sign of the times ... do you recall the days of needing just a penny to gain access !

Positive experience: Cute aquarium mixed with different showcases and an arcade. Came during a sunny day to visit Matlock and decided to try it out, for an aquarium, it is slightly underwhelming. The Koi fish are its biggest highlight, which you can feed pellets to.

Fantastic experience: Small but good value for the money

Fantastic experience: Cool place… get there early to avoid traffic and crowds…

Positive experience: It was lovely as always..... It's therapeutic....

Fantastic experience: Great town too see the abraham heights

Fantastic experience: I spent an enjoyable hour here. Loads of interesting fish, loved the axolotls. The petrifying well was interesting, it's a shame they don't still do this!

Fantastic experience: Really cool place to visit, had it to ourselves, fish are stunning, the holograms are incredible, the mirros are fun and the pool is beautiful. Lovely way to kill an hour on a friday evening.

Fantastic experience: It's not very big but It was a lovely place to have a look round, my granddaughter loved it especially the mirrors and how they make you look.

Fantastic experience: Nice place, like the a seaside resort without the sea

Fantastic experience: Really terrific family experience. Love stuff like this.

Fantastic experience: Unforgettable experience, a highlight of the Peak District

Fantastic experience: Had an amazing time. Small but perfect. A brilliant price as well. The illuminations are great. I would recommend to family day out

Positive experience: Aquarium could do with a spruce up, other historical exhibits also quite interesting...except the holograms, which were hilariously bad and outdated! All round, good entertainment for an hour.

Fantastic experience: Kids loved the fish, their favourites were the puffer fish and the strange frogs. My youngest didn't like the holograms as some are a little creepy. The old baths turned koi carp pond was a nice touch. Worth a visit of you are in Matlock bath.

Positive experience: Quirky aquarium in the old baths. Also a light show and display of holographic pictures

Positive experience: Quick little walk around. Small room of fish tanks with a good variety of tropical fish. Great use of the old baths with now being a koi pond that you can feed.

Negative experience: Displays poorly labelled, not many aquariums to view for the cost. Don't expect to see anything rare or breathtaking (I have seen more fish and aquariums at pets at home). Fish well looked after, and tanks clean. Holograms OK, but nothing amazing. A few interesting bits like the Petrified spring - but not visibly flowing when we visited.

Fantastic experience: Great little aquarium worth the money as only cheap but great to support a small business

Fantastic experience: Great experience for a very decent price. Totally recommend the lights tunnel, the holographic room and the fish tank

Fantastic experience: I have been here a few times and keep coming back because it's just so good, the new light show is fantastic and the fish collection has also changed since I last visited. The staff here are really helpful especially Pete and Nathan, great value for money.

Fantastic experience: Great experience! Excellent value for the price, with fun and well-maintained attractions. Loved the fish. Friendly staff and a clean environment made it even better. Highly recommend!"

Fantastic experience: We visit here every couple of years or so. Small aquarium but our children (now 6, 9 and 12) always enjoy the visit. The hologram gallery is also cool.

Negative experience: Website says 10 am opening. Arrived at ten past, person inside but doors locked. No indication outside of a problem or opening times. Returned twice more but by 10:45 still not open. Other people also trying to visit but turning away and leaving. We gave up. Won't try again.

Fantastic experience: A lovely little quirky place to visit. A little gem hidden in Matlock and definitely worth a visit. Our son loved it and it was definitely something a bit different. There's lots to look at and a fair price to get in. It also sheds some light on a little history of Matlock which was really interesting.

Fantastic experience: We've been here a couple of times before and always worth a little walk round. The aquarium part is nice. I like a chilled out sit with the Koo Carp outside and then there is the 3D picture exhibit which is always fun. There is a new section where you walk through an illumination room with lights and mirrors which the kids liked. Great for a little family walk through but probably done within an hour unless you like reading everything from top to bottom which I do.

Fantastic experience: Really good time at the aquarium. Had three distinct areas - the aquarium, the holograms and the illuminate room. Was a good way to spend an hour and for 6.50, wasn't too bad a price either. To be honest, expected to see more of the petrifying well, but was interesting. Lots of different fish to look at and the koi carp exhibition was pretty good too - interesting to see the evolution of the Victorian baths. Hologram exhibition was fun, whilst I thought the illumination room was exceptional.

Positive experience: It's a fun blast of childhood nostalgia. We did twopenny shove, and with a few quids worth of two pennies we had a chilled half hour of fun. Recommend for the nostalgia, stayed for the vibe.

Fantastic experience: Good atraction with lot's to see and do. The main event of the pool is brilliant and if you have any spare 50ps take them as you can feed the big fish and they fo wild for it. Will go back again for sure

Positive experience: The amusements were great albeit small but the aquarium is accessible to the disabled and it isn't really worth the money. Doesn't take long

Positive experience: A small aquarium, petrified well, hologram gallery. You won't spend long here but it will keep the kids entertained for a while. It's attached to one of the arcades in the centre of matlock bath and ut costs £6.50 to go in.

Fantastic experience: Amazing place. Good history. Bits are outdated. Overall great time spent and will go again. Love the fish!!

Negative experience: This place made me really sad. We came for the petrification well (which was interesting if a bit gross) but passed through the aquarium afterwards. By my second dead axolotl I kinda felt like crying. The tanks are gross: tiny, dirty and bare. In the biggest tank of fish about 75% had obvious fin rot, and I saw a couple in other tanks swimming upside down. Please, please don't keep animals if you don't care about their wellbeing at all. Super disappointing, please don't go.

Positive experience: Slightly disappointed as the price is very steep for a 20 minute walk around. Enjoyed looking at each section but wouldn't visit again.

Fantastic experience: I went with my great grandchildren and they loved it. Ages 8,10 and 12. They enjoyed being able to feed the large goldfish. They loved the holograms and the distorted mirrors. Well worth visiting and good value for money

Positive experience: We had a great time exploring the aquarium. It was fascinating to see the history of Matlock Bath. I particularly enjoyed seeing the old photographs of the baths in their heyday. The kids enjoyed the funny mirrors and all the fish. We all really liked the light tunnel. I haven't experienced anything like that before! The experience itself didn't last that long, probably done in about 30 mins. I felt the cost of £26 for four of us was a little steep but we had fun before heading into the arcade.

Negative experience: For £6.50 would expect a little more things. It can last 5 minutes when it’s not busy. Not really worth it. May as well go to the really big ones

Fantastic experience: Really happy with what was there for the price my daughter absolutely loved it. Great little place.

Fantastic experience: brilliant visit, the aquarium was wonderful some beautiful fish, lovely to feed the koi in the swimming pool, the holographic exhibition was fascinating and the house of mirrors hilarious such good value for money

Fantastic experience: As a biker my self this is just bike mecca been going here for the usual walk around fish and chips for years and years always a good laugh with people I haven't seen for a while all revolving around our love of motorcycles big and small plus it's one beautiful place

Positive experience: Koi fish were cool and the new exhibitions are cool.

Fantastic experience: Certainly a talking point! We got lucky with some abysmal weather keeping the town quiet so parking was easy for once. The chap on the front desk was very friendly and conscientious and it is clear the business is a much loved place. An eclectic combination of history, geology, aquatic life, holograms, fun house spectacle, and an arcade!

Positive experience: Lovely little gem in the heart of Derbyshire. The fish are clearly looked after and it is well informed about the history of the water here. Only thing I can suggest is having hand washing or sanitiser after feeding the fish, as there were no public toilets available at the venue.

Fantastic experience: Lots of history with this place . Some great fish . But pricey for what's there but I think you have to go at least once

Fantastic experience: Really liked this little place. Well worth a visit! They have lot really for the size. Fish, turtles, axolotl (our favourite), gemstones, holograms and much more.

Positive experience: Great little place. Some stunning fish both inside and especially the koi in the old outdoor swimming pool

Positive experience: I think for the price, the aquarium was pretty good! I liked how it had some history about the Matlock baths- it kept my dad entertained as he loves that side of history. The fish were adorable, and there was quite a few tanks- my favourite was the massive gourami who kept following me around. I loved feeding the kois, but I wish there was a sink to wash my hands off after feeding them. The bench there was a really relaxing place to sit. The hologram room was pretty freaky and interesting, I think especially children would find this cool. I loved catwalking in the light room. I wished it was slightly bigger though. The arcade was a regular arcade, fun to go in but nothing extremely special. But still a must-go-to when you come to Matlock Baths. All in all, I 100% recommend coming here if you are in Matlock Baths!

Positive experience: Great little place for young kids. £6.50 entry for adults, £5 for kids. Please bear in mind this place is only small, but for the money isn't too bad. There's an aquarium, petrified well, some gems/rocks, 3d photos & a tunnel of lights. It only took us 20mins but was fun to look around.

Fantastic experience: It's not a bad little place for the kids. It is a very small attraction but has some great views and facts to be seen. Takes less than 25 mins to get around the venue. Adults cost £6.50, but I'm not sure how much for children. Take 50p pieces if you want to feed the fish.

Positive experience: A nice leisure place to tour around with friends and family.A lot cafes and restaurants can be found.Matlock bath ,bridge and train station are all nice places to visit.

Fantastic experience: My toddlers love going here. Staff are friendly, the stools for the little ones are a big help. Definitely worth the trip. I'd recommend going early for parking though!

Fantastic experience: Absolutely lovely place. We'll worth the visit and the new light gallery is absolutely amazing . Great value for money .

Positive experience: I visited the aquarium with my wife and elderly mum ,12 July 2024 ,it cost £6:50 each .I think that the price is a shade expensive nothing has changed in there for many years and some of the exhibits are in poor shape . The plus side was upon leaving you exit through the arcade which my elderly mother absolutely loved,it took her back many years, couldn't get her off the 2p games

Fantastic experience: £6.50 is definitely not a fortune and for that you get few aquariums and a big one full of random fish. and a corner of water that turned items into stone? and funny mirrors upstairs with some holographic pictures. Spent about 1 hour, had fun.

Positive experience: Loved this place! It's cheap and affordable. Nice to spend time in. I did come here a few weeks ago. I had returned to Matlock but not here. Rating Atmosphere- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Service- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Quality- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Worth price paid-⭐⭐⭐⭐ Child friendly-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Overall-⭐⭐⭐⭐

Positive experience: This could be somewhat of an harsh review , there was a few things that I would have preferred to see such as more exhibits showing fish species that would naturally live together in the wild as having fish from both south America and Asia could be technically misleading. However, it was very good value for money , the koi pond was brilliant, with lots of facts about the towns history and for the price good value for money. Arguably the best aquarium/slot machine arcade going .

Fantastic experience: Fantastic visit and really good value for money. Besides the aquarium there is the restored swimming pool with koi carp.then there is the holograms ,mirrors and the light display. Spent an hour in there and it's dog friendly

Positive experience: Stumbled across this completely by chance but ended up really enjoying it. The holograms are ok. Mirrors are fun but wear off quickly. Didn’t feel the ‘well’ attraction had been very well maintained. There was a lot of dirt and dust around this area. The fish in the aquarium seemed healthy, happy and well looked after which is something I’m always looking for at these sorts of attractions. My favourite thing was the koi pond. Stunning fish. Well looked after. History of the building was amazing. Would have liked this to be more of a feature. Was a sunny day which definitely made a difference. A nice bench to sit and observe and it was quiet when we visited so plenty of chance to get pictures. Would recommend for adults and kids alike. £6.50 a ticket did seem a fair price.

Positive experience: I came to Matlock today on my day off and came across the aquarium I've been in this place before along time ago, I was on my own and I forgot what the place looked like. I loved the experience, the smallness of it. Feeling like you're being portalled a 100 years ago, and the variety of aquatic life and items in there! The light show was lovely to stand in. I think the only reason I didn't give it a 5* is because whilst seeing that the aquatic life is beautifully taken care off, the tanks are clean. They've got items in there and they look healthy. There was not alot of stimulation or something. I noticed a few of the fish kept going back and fourth, one of the sharks they have (cannot remember the name of the shark) kept trying to swim into a corner and was doing nothing else. The blowup fish seemed like they wer going back and fourth, and I had an encounter with one of the bigger fish just before going to the turtle section. And all I did was interact with them, not trying to scare the fish at all and just be present. And they seemed curious and one kept swimming right up towards the end the tank where the exit was from the room everytime I tried to walk out. I think they just need some stimulation or interaction of some sort, either encouraging people to not tap on glass but to be present with the fish, learning to just stand with them and show interest without expectancy and maybe do games. I did one with my hand, I placed my hand on the glass and the big fish (can't remember the name) eventually came to my hand curious, and slowly I moved my hand to snother part of glass and they followed. I know it's seems strange to write this in a review, but I suppose like many animals that need some stimulation, then it would be nice to see that in some form or another. I felt dreadful leaving honestly because I wonder how long they stay in there without any sort of interaction or difference other than going back and fourth in their tanks. That's a presumption I know, but it just felt lonely. I have no doubt the caretakers don't care or look after them so I hope this isn't misunderstood. It just seemed they needed a little extra attention from calm eyes and patient people. But overall, I'm really grateful I got to experience that realisation that fish are more than what we see. And also see the history, and aquarium as a whole.

Positive experience: Expensive for what's there.

Positive experience: Rather disappointing given its status as the oldest Victorian aquarium. Everything just looks a bit tired and as though nothing has been changed or updated in the last century. I should add that I'm no fan of updating things for the sake of it, and prefer originality, but there seems to be so little to offer here. I suspect I've been spoiled by my recent trips to the Natural History Museum etc and I'm expecting too much for the fairly low entry fee. Hopefully others will find this little aquarium more pleasing than me!

Negative experience: Review of the arcade. Truly awful place. Machines rigged so hard they bring children to tears. More coins and prizes going down the sides and secret trap doors than ever reach the hands of the poor kids pumping coin in. Embarrassing and shameless.

Fantastic experience: Adorable, cute little place, loved the fish and the koi pond was brilliant, loved being able to feed them!

Fantastic experience: Unexpectedly excellent!! Thought it was quite expensive on entering but couldn't have been more wrong! Not just fish but lots of fascinating holographic pictures and crazy mirrors, the whole thing was a very entertaining hour for all the family.

Positive experience: This is a lovely way to pass some time if a little dated , probably not worth the 6.50 each fee but enjoyable all the same. Plenty of history to read up on as well otherwise you will do this very quickly.

Negative experience: Went today for a visit. It's a small space. The story behind is interesting and the koi pond is a clean and tidy place. However, the tanks inside are terrible, most fishes had small tanks for their needs and many showed symptoms of distress and disease. The tanks were dirty and it really affected me how these animals were treated. A shame for a place with potential

Fantastic experience: A great inexpensive way to spend a fun hour! We visited this on a whim, attracted by the idea of a petrifying well and fishes. Tickets are bought on the door and there are a number of stairs to walk up. The aquarium is small but has a great number of tanks, with a wide variety of fish and aquatic life. There are signs with information about what's contained in each of the tanks. The petrified well is worth a look, the process and items with are fascinating. There are displays of gemstones, fossils, animals and curiosities as you walk around. Following the aquarium you reach the restored Bath, with some great signage about the restoration of the baths and the huge amount of koi that now lives in it. Even as a group of 30/40 something's we very much enjoyed using the little machines to get fish food. Don't forget your 50'ps. After the Bath experience, there is a curious display of holograms, a walk of mirrors and the Illumate walkway. There is a section dedicated to the history of the Baths and Matlock. You come out into the arcade, which has a fun range of 2p & 10p cascade games, among yhe othet typical arcade features.

Negative experience: The petrifying well is underwhelming but a curiosity. Then there's a handfull of fishtanks full of cyanobacteria and lethargic fish, the old thermal pool has some Koi in it and the holograms are nothing special. £5.80 is a bit much to get out of the rain for less than an hour.

Negative experience: Really disappointed, the fish room is like walking round a fish pet shop. Dirty glass too, I thought for £5.80 I was there 10 minutes. Koi pond is lovely but again you can visit better places to see fish.

Positive experience: Matlock is beautiful and we walked up High Tor which I'd a steep climb but had plenty of benches along the way to rest if needed. Can be a but muddy in places after long periods of rainfall but this is throughout the walk and only in small areas. At the top the views are breathtaking but don't go too close to the edge. Cable cars weren't on when we went due to high winds and was told it was about 28 quid for 2 people to go up in them. There are plenty of fish and chip places along the front and arcades for those who want a quick gamble. The place was hammered when we went and thr crowds make it hard to get down the front. Seems to be popular with the motorbike folk. There are a few coffee bars and the front almost felt like the seaside without the beach. I'm not sure why they have so many arcades along the front nor what draws the crowds here as I've seen nicer places in the peaks. Overall had a good walk but not somewhere I'd stay over in as there's not really alot going on bar the caves and arcades. Also parking was a NIGHTMARE and gypsies have set up camp on the carpark.

Positive experience: We visited on 20th March and were surprised to find most of the shops and cafes shut! We went into the arcade with a toddler as a way to pass half an hour. They had the usual slot machines plus a small selection of other amusements. Ok for a short visit.

Positive experience: Nice place to spend a few quid enjoying the retro atmosphere of a traditional style arcade. Simple fun like slot machines combined with a few games and the usual worthless trinkets, coupled with bright lights and music - these places just suck you in. It's very small but adds to the seaside feel of Matlock baths.

Fantastic experience: Great fun and reasonably priced variety of displays great way to spend an hour

Positive experience: Cheap and cheerful, nice to see they've added some new attractions. Make sure you take some 50 pence coins in with you to buy some food to feed the big koi

Negative experience: The experience was good and worth the money paid, the lights were a short walk and could have been more. The tanks needed a good clean on the glass which was a shame as the fish were nice. Two members of staff sat in the booth on mobile phones and didn't really interact with us which was a shame, he spoke about three words in total. Not as impressive as advertised a shame really. Two stars are for the fish.

Negative experience: Cute little aquarium, few different fish but only takes about 20 mins to see all, and the "light walk" was dissappointing. Also states nowhere and as a warning this place is not pram/disabled friendly. Wouldn't recommend or go again.

Fantastic experience: A nice way to spend an hour or so. Just over £5 isn't bad for a small aquarium, some history, holograms, and some illuminations. It's not the greatest attraction on the planet, but it's a great little place to visit. Well worth a visit if you're in Matlock Bath.

Fantastic experience: Came here for a little date day. Just me and my partner as we were child free. :) For 5.80 each we decided to have a wonder around the aquarium. We wasn't disappointed :) we enjoyed looking at all the large and different types among fish :) They came up to the glass as if they were inspecting us as much as we were them Nice bit of history. Looked at the petrifying well, Barbie has been turned to stone (can you see her ) Worth a look round and finish in the arcade down stairs. You have to have a fo on a 2p machine

Fantastic experience: Amazing little aquarium. Under 4s go free. £5.80 for a ticket. The kids loved the light room. It is only small and we spent about half an hour here.

Negative experience: To start with never been there but just watched a video on YouTube with koi in a small pond with a waterfall, the fish don't look to healthy which I'm not to shocked about with all the Cooper coins sitting on the bottom off the pond. This needs to be addressed for the welfare of the fish living in that environment. I hope the management see this and look at addressing it

Positive experience: Nice little place to have a look around. Lots of fish to see and some very big ones. The mirrors were fun.

Positive experience: Interesting little aquarium. Cheap entry. Only takes an hour to do all of it. 50p to feed the fish.