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Lights twinkle against old stone walls and Santa waits to hear Christmas wishes.
Families are invited to explore the wonder of Christmas in a setting unlike any other – a real historic coal mine. Descend 300ft underground and walk through authentic mine tunnels, where generations of miners once worked, now filled with Christmas cheer.
Families will:
Travel 300ft underground in a genuine coal mine.
Meet Santa with your tour party with an opportunity for all children to chat with Santa individually and receive a special token to exchange for a gift following the underground experience.
Important Information:
This experience will last around 40 minutes.
A ticket must be booked for each person in your party. Adults will be required to accompany children at all times.
This experience is not suitable for children under 1m tall. But Mother Christmas looks forward to welcoming little ones for a cosy Storytime.
All visitors will be required to walk for the whole experience carrying a battery pack and wearing a hard hat.
Gifts will only be provided for child tickets. Please ensure you select the correct number of child tickets for the children in your party.
We reserve the right to cancel tickets for technical reasons and will endeavour to notify you as soon as we become aware that this is necessary. In such circumstances a full refund will be issued.
Please be aware that Santa’s visit takes place along our wheelchair‑accessible route. There might be a chance that a tour group including a wheelchair user may need to pass through during your experience so they can continue their underground tour. If this happens, Santa will include this into the experience. Thank you for your understanding.
When booking a Welsh Language session, please note that Siôn Corn and our underground Elf will be Welsh speakers. However, not all staff you meet during your visit will be able to speak Welsh. We truly appreciate your understanding.
For Health & Safety reasons wheelchair user tickets are available at 10am and 3pm.
You will need to check in at reception 30 minutes before your booked tour.
As you will be underground in a real coal mine, please note that due to safety regulations, photographs with Santa will not be permitted. However, there will be an exclusive opportunity for you to take your own family photographs when you come up from underground. Because it’s a real coal mine, not even Santa can break the rules!
Our public programme is generously supported by players of Postcode Lottery.
Santa Underground
Open daily 9.30am - 5pm Last entry: 4pm Underground tours: 10am - 3.30pm
Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. For safety reasons, we reserve the right to conduct bag searches when entering the Museum.
General advice and advice for our disabled visitors
If you are arriving by car you will need to pay on arrival. £5 per day. FREE for disabled badge holders and motorbikes. This charge is for parking only – entry to the Museum remains free.
You can plan your journey using the Traveline Cymru website or by calling their helpline on 0800 464 0000.
Our Gift Shop, which has been inspired by the underground experience and our collections, will be open during your visit, selling a wide selection of bespoke products and gifts.
Our Coffee Shop is open daily 10am-4pm serving a small range of hot and cold drinks, cakes and snacks.
You're welcome to bring a picnic to the Museum, but please take your rubbish home with you and help us keep Big Pit tidy.
We’re always working on new and exciting exhibitions and events – why not be among the first to hear about them?
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