Would need more than one visit todo it justice but it is free to go in. £3 parking and overflow car park is close by.
Lots of volunteers around to explain things.
VERY moving place with a lovely peaceful feeling.
WW1 trail was interesting to follow, shot at dawn memorial was particularly poignant

Set in extensive grounds this is a place of beauty and peace. We were just in time for the service which is held every day in the chapel and then went around the the grounds on the Land Train. This gave us a good overview. I was able to find the memorial to The Desert Rats of Tobruk, the Eighth Army Regiment my father was with. Allow plenty of time ...one visit may not be enough.

Visited this memorial centre last year and oh my god what a sight to behold. It was so peaceful upon arrival and we didn't know how vast this was until we got inside. It was in a lovely peaceful area with the sense of calm and peace around it upon walking around the vast area. The actual memorial at the centre was stunning and very emotional when reading all the names and seeing the beautiful bronze statues depicting the war effort, A very stunning tribute to all our fallen heroes and will definitely pay homage to the people who undertook building this. We spent a whole afternoon there but needed a full day as we didn't get to see the whole area so will definitely be going back. It is well worth a visit and very moving. Please go see.

You really must get here and if you do, make sure that you take a whole day over the visit, making sure your cameras have plentiful batteries and storage space - you will need it!

I arrived at just after 10am which I deemed to be about the perfect time. It allowed me the chance of a coffee and some breakfast in the onsite restaurant, before making my way to the onsite 'Chapel of Peace and Reconciliation' in which is held a Service of Remembrance every day of the year. Following on from the Service (which is not mandatory) is a very interesting 'Welcome Talk' giving the history of the site.

If you are of limited mobility I recommend either booking ahead one of the 'golf buggy' guided tours (sorry do not know the price), or alternatively paying £5 for a ride on the 'Land Train', which goes around most of the site and on which you will hear a pre-recorded commentary as you go past some of the memorials.

If you think this place is all about military remembrance - think again, it is not.

Whilst the vast majority of the memorials are dedicated to members of the three armed forces (I am ex-Army myself) and there is the impressive 'Armed Forces Memorial' in the centre of the site, there are many many more memorials dedicated by charities and civilian organisations, such as The Fire and Rescue Services, and avenue of trees called 'The Beat' dedicated to the Police Services and other charity based memorials such as the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society.

For me the point of the visit was to visit the Armed Forces Memorial, as well as a number of regimental/corps memorials that I was interested in.
However I urge you not to miss the Far East Prisoner of War (FEPOW) Exhibition and Memorials - for me, the most moving part of the site. Please go into the exhibition but be warned, it 'pulls no punches' about the treatment of the FEPOW and the natives of the islands the Japanese invaded. However I thoroughly recommend it and defy you to come away from it unmoved.

Entry to the Arboretum is free, but a charge of £3 for all day parking is levied.
The Land Train costs £5 for over an hour's ride.
A 200 page colour photographed Guidebook will cost you £6 and is well worth it.

The visit may cost you no more than the parking charge, but all money raised in the restaurant and gift shop goes straight back into the running of the NMA, no profit is taken nor made.

The vast majority of the site is accessible by all, both able bodied, wheelchair users and visually/hearing impaired visitors. I would check with the plethora of volunteers for wheelchair accessible routes to the Armed Forces Memorial, as this is set on a hill up a flight of steps in the centre of the site.

Please - go!

I thought that I was prepared for the memorials to our fallen,but I was wrong. The sheer scale of the place is quite overwhelming. Immaculately maintained,it is a superb tribute to the fallen. After 3 hours or so,we could not take any more in. We will be back later in the year.Brings home to you the sheer scale of the range and diversity of people from around the world who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Truly,"we will remember them"
Visit this place once in your life,but, be prepared to be humbled.

Set in a beautiful backdrop of grounds with beautiful memorials, that bring it all home of what many personnel from all backgrounds did for these islands and the commonwealth. It is so peaceful, gives you time to take all what was involved during conflicts all over the world. Only £3 for parking, we were directed to the train ride round the grounds which does help with understanding of what many memorials represent, well worth the ride for 45 mins for only a £5 charge. After the ride when had lunch then walked round many other memorials and visited the main memorial with all the names of the forces personnel that lost there lives from the wars. Rather chillingly were the blank walls, just hope they do not get filled. A truly lovely place to pay respect to all that have fallen.

I visited the arboretum with my sons and an elderly relative. We especially wanted to visit the Royal Air Force memorial as we had a family member who had served in the R.A.F.
However, we discovered, another family member who was a prisoner of war in WW1 and another who was a prisoner of war in Burma.
We left feeling shocked, deeply saddened but enlightened.
I would recommend everyone should take their families here, take time to reflect and appreciate what others sacrificed.
The arboretum is a beautiful place.

I had wanted to visit for some time. I wasn't disappointed. Far from it. Following a late breakfast in the on site restaurant , we attended the 11:00 gathering in The Church which included a two minute silence. And a site briefing. Off to the 11:30 'Noddy Train.' This gave us an insight to the numerous memorials around the huge arboretum. We then returned to visit 'our special' one's. WRNS, RAF, Chindits and Burma Rail. As our day unfolded more and more visitors arrived yet the magic was never broken. A definite, must see,

Set in almost 2,500 acres it easily absorbs the number of daily visitors, the volume of visitors only being noted by the full car parks. Car parking is £3.00 which we were unaware of prior to the visit, a fair charge but we struggled for the change. The tranquillity of the park is truly absorbing, and is the same peacefulness found in the war memorials of France.

During the summer & other school holidays events are laid on for children at minimal cost, therefore it was disappointing to see such a poor uptake (maybe it was just the day we visited). A great idea intended to encourage families to visit the memorial. Our son (& Dad) loved the 'furries & critters' event which was sadly only attended by 6 other children. An excellent, educational event it was a shame it wasn't better attended. Children visiting at this time missed a treat.

The memorial in general seemed to be frequented by few families, which is disappointing as it is both educational & respectful that our children are imparted with the knowledge of sacrifice & dedication of those who have fallen in service. A guide advised they cater for school groups during term time but it should not just fall to schools to provide this type of education.

As you would expect many visitors are of a certain generation.

The restaurant is reasonably priced & the staff/volunteers very pleasant. It would seem huge investment is to be carried out over the next few years & we look forward to paying our respects again in the future.

Note - if you have a pram try to avoid parking in the overflow as it extremely difficult to push a pram on the unsurfaced ground.

Me and my mum visited the National Arboretum yesterday. On arrival we were greeted by staff advising on the centre. We spent the first hour wandering at our leisure and then went to The Church for a brief welcome talk. This is highly recommended as we were given a huge insight into the centre and key places to visit. From here we went on to explore the locations we were told about in the talk with a little more insight on them!!

Clean toilets, nice cafe. Just didn't give ourselves long enough. Arrived at 12 and left at 4.15. Needed the morning to fully see the whole site!

A wonderful day out, a great place to pay respects to all our fallen service men and women. Very peaceful despite the large number of people visiting.

A lovely place to visit with very friendly staff. £3 for the car park + whatever you feel like donating. Cafe on main centre and train/electric buggy rides for the less mobile. The stone memorial in the centre is a fitting tribute to the armed services that have fallen in battle over the years. Very peaceful (except for the day I visited when a RAF Tornado did a very, very low fly past)

My family and I visited the National Memorial Arboretum the other weekend and really enjoyed our visit. It is absolutely huge so you could definitely go for a whole day out. We didn't get to see all of it in an afternoon so will definitely return. It was really beautiful and peaceful, really recommend.

We travelled from the north west for a day trip. We were not disappointed. It is a lovely calm, tranquil place. Gives us all time to reflect on the people that gave the ultimate sacrifice. The memorials are all beautiful and special. We we were especially moved by the Shot at Dawn memorial.

a wonderful tribute to all lost service men and women, a special place for family and friends to pay their respects, the grounds are impeccably kept and very respectful just beautiful

Lovely place to visit, peaceful and well kept. Quite an emotional place and need to allow a few hours to get around it all.

Not sure what to expect, but was overwhelmed, managed to make the 11 am 2 minute silence at the chapel, the introduction to the Arboretum very informative before and after the silence so try to make it for 10.30 if you can. We took the land train, again the commentary was very good,but keep focused or you will miss out,need to be short to be comfortable, leg room not good, 5.8" female!! Maybe the buggy a better bet, our fault, did not do our homework well enough before our visit. Walked the whole site after the train, very moving, and the site was immaculate. The visit made us realise that so many are affected by the loss of loved ones, stillborn babies, Military (near and far) RNLI, Police,Fire Service, Fairground Personnel,Volunteers, and what we found very moving, Shot at Dawn Memorial, I defy anyone not to be moved by this Memorial. There are plenty of volunteer staff in yellow shirts to answer any queries you may have, and don't be put off by the steps to the central memorial, just ask and someone will help. A visit is a must, if only once in a lifetime,and don't forget the trees, planting and variety worth a visit on their own, and can only get better!!

we got there early and the first thing was to get on the little train which took about 45 minutes for the tour with a good commentary then we were able to visit areas we had not been to before

A very moving place in over 150 acres of woodland and gardens there are over 300 unique memorials to those who have lost their lives while serving their county.

We found this a very emotional visit and spent over 5 hours walking around the site and still did not see all there was . It is very well presented and made you think about all the people that it was dedicated to. We found the staff which were mostly volunteers very knowledgeable and attentive. At 11am each day they have a 2 minute of remembrance in the chapel. There is a trolly type train that shows you around the full site at a cost of £5.00 per person and it was well worth it, Parking just outside the entrance at £3.00 for the day.

This was our first visit to the National Memorial Arboretum and we had a perfect day weatherwise.The grounds are beautifully kept and very pleasant tp stroll round. We took the train to cover a large section and then walked back to spend more time at the memorials we wished to inspect further. We, mistakenly, thought it was only for service men and women killed since 1945 so were surprised to find memorials to many different causes, the RNLI, pre natal and still birth babies, the Royal Britsh Legion, the Fire service, to name but a few.

For me,the most moving was the "Shot at Dawn" memorial. There is a post in the ground for every one of these soldiers,read the names and ages of these men, most of whom we would class as children. They were NOT cowards, they were,for the most part, frightened and shell shocked. Look out for the memorial to the travelling fairground men who fought in the war, it has a lovely carousel horse by the side.

There is a monument to the men who fought at Gallipoli, my husband`s great uncle died on the first day of this disasterous battle and we knew we would never be able to lay a cross for him on the memorial at Helles, but here we could buy a cross and quietly remember him. There is a statue for the DLI, Durham Light Infantry, I was lucky, my Dad came home, but it was still very moving.

I would also recommend the little buggy tour, Jan took us round and we accessed all the "off the beaten track" memorials, away from the more visited areas the Quakers memorial is set in peaceful woods, there is a tree planted to every serviceman who died in Northern Ireland, do their families know this?
The visitor facilities are clean and reasonably priced and although it is free to go in, it is £5 each for the train tour and £5 each for the buggy, the buggy is well worth the money and unless you are superfit you would not cover it all in one day.
I would like to go back in the Autumn when all the leaves are turning red and gold as being an arboretum there is a huge and wonderful variety of trees.

A fantastic place of Remembrance. Every one should go at least once and all school children should go to understand the cost of going to war

Avin visited this wonderful place we should be proud we av this site in England the work and Dedication off the staff on the up keep off the Grounds and monuments is first class well worth a visit.

An amazing afternoon spent visiting this national treasure. I was in awe of its size and didn't quite capture it until I went around on thr land train. Although I went for business, the volunteers were all dressed smart, were very knowledgable and scattered everywhere.
The sheer vast amount to look around could be an all day event. I am returning with my grandad on the weekend.

A trip not to be missed if you are in this area. I have to admit although living quite close to the memorial arbouretum I had never thought about visiting. While having my elderly Mum staying with me and wondering how to keep her occupied we decided to take her there. We all found it very moving and for my Mum it bought back a lot of memories both happy and sad.A truly special and peaceful plac