The Vindolanda Trust

Fantastic museum and grounds, with excavations still in progress. If the weather is dreary, take heart that the indoor exhibits still make the drive worthwhile. The restaurant on site has a great selection of food--more than I expected--and the prices are great. I had a good sized ploughman's platter on £5, with a slice of cake for about £2. They even had a section of gluten free pre-packaged foods.

Visited on a late December afternoon and wish we had longer as loads to see. Unfortunately we were kicked out at 4PM despite what iit says here and the website (5PM).
Also alarmingly the paths around the fort excavations were so icy that it was a real hazard to negotiate with little sign of salt being put down. A couple with a wheelchair were in real danger going down the steep icy path to the museum. Back in the US this would be a lawsuit in the making and reason for me only giving 3 stars. On entering the museum I asked about this as the journey from the parking area was also tortuous. The staff said it was even worse in the morning as though the situation was beyond their control.

Excellent working archeological site. The staff are excellent & the museum is brilliant. If you have any interest in Roman Britain then please do go.

Fantastic view into the Roman world, beautiful countryside. Plenty of parking & toilets.

I wasn't expecting much from Vindolanda as I thought it was just ruins. But it surprised and impressed me mostly because starting in late spring into early fall, the ruins are actively being excavated looking for treasures from 2000 years ago. While we visited the last week of active excavations, the head archaeologist was more than happy to answer questions and provide information about their work and discoveries. One of which they had the previous month discovering a buried 30 inch sword that had already been cleaned and put in the museum. Better yet, they use volunteers to help with excavation. The only requirement being your willingness. How wonderful would it be to hike or cycle Hadrian's Wall and take a couple of days out to help uncover these buried relics. The museum down by the creek was wonderful and had a lot of great information about Hadrian and the settlement. It would be hard for the rest of any of the other sights along Hadrian's Wall to top Vindolanda. This was one of the most memorable sights during our three weeks in London, England, Scotland, and Paris.

Vindolanda is a great place to visit if you have any sort of interest in ancient Roman or ancient British history. The site is still undergoing archaeological excavation and there are new finds all the time. The remains of the Roman fort and settlement are extensive but very 'low-rise'. It can be difficult to grasp how it must all have looked over the various stages of its history but you can't help but feel a sense of excitement when you consider that much of it is in the region of 1900 years old. But to me the absolute gem of Vindolanda is the museum. It is simply wonderful. Leather shoes, pottery, tools, utensils, jewellery and much, much more is on display as well as a section dedicated to the famous Vindolanda writing tablets. The particular peaty soil conditions of the site mean that many things were preserved on the site of Vindolanda which simply rotted away elsewhere. There are pretty gardens around the museum too making it a really pleasant place to relax on a summer's day. The museum building also houses the obligatory shop and cafe so all in all you can spend a very pleasant couple of hours or so at Vindolanda. When I visited it cost £6.25 for adults, £5.20 for OAP's and students, £3.75 for children or £18 for a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children). They do always try to sell you a joint ticket which gives you admittance to both Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum which is about 7 miles down the road, but my companion on this occasion had previously been to the Roman Army Museum and had been singularly unimpressed so we gave it a big miss this time! There is ample parking at the site which is accessed by a single track road with passing places.

Was A Good Place But Got Locked In The Grounds. Was Funny And Lucky A Staff Gate Was Unlocked So We Could Get Out!! Got there Around 330pm Said The Were Closing At 6. But We Was The Only Ones There So I Think They Closed Early Forgot We Was There!! Had A Good Time Tho.