Rhondda Heritage Park Museum is thrilled to be the only recipient in Wales of the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s Coach Friendly Award!
Coaches arrive from all over the UK and beyond to experience the fantastic group travel offer at Rhondda Heritage Park Museum. From the moment the coach is welcomed into the large, free car park, groups are entertained with bespoke packages including performances from iconic male voice choirs, fantastic catering options and of course, the star of the show, the unique Black Gold Experience Underground Guided Tour. Visitors are fitted with miners’ helmets and guided underground by our ex-miner tour guides who worked the pits of the Rhondda Valleys and have fascinating tales to tell of life underground. It’s safe to say no two tours are the same as our guides are full of facts, stories (and the odd joke)!
The brand-new interactive exhibition is also proving to be a real hit with visitors. Rhondda Heritage Park Museum is based on the footprint of the Lewis Merthyr Colliery in Trehafod, near Pontypridd, and the exhibition brings the old coal mine to life as visitors can see its story unfold on screen. The range of topics on offer span from 1809 right up to the closure of Tower Colliery, the last deep mine in South Wales in 2008, making it the most comprehensive and fascinating interactive exhibition on mining life and history in South Wales.
Featuring historical footage from the archives, over 140 artefacts and touch screen puzzles, quizzes and more, it provides a fascinating insight into the history of coal mining including the Miners’ Strike, the Rhondda Coal Rush and lots more.
Visitors can scroll through the screens at their leisure and all the content is available in English, Welsh, French, German and Chinese for our international visitors! The largest screen also features a British Sign Language element.
In addition to all this, coach tourists can enjoy full days out and 2-day packages by booking our partner packages such as Coin, Coal and Cheers, Mint and Mine and more. These packages take tour operators through Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan to The Royal Mint Experience and Hensol Castle Distillery where visitors enjoy tours, striking their own coins and gin tasting.
A new package with Penderyn Distillery is now also available where tour groups travel through the beautiful scenery of Rhondda Cynon Taf, into the foothills of the Brecon Beacons to visit Penderyn Distillery – Wales’ first whisky distillery in over 100 years. Here, visitors can take the tour and discover the whisky making process and visit the tasting bar.
The Confederation of Passenger Transport is the voice of the UK’s bus and coach industry, helping the bus and coach industry to provide better journeys for all, creating greener communities and delivering economic growth.
