The National Memorial Arboretum is a wonderful place to visit all year round. The memorials and gardens are many and growing each year.
As there were 6 of us we decided to book the tailor-made tour which cost £175 in total.
We arrived on the day for 11am start and greeted by our guide- Phil Nixon. Over coffee he explained how the day would pan out. This is a brief summary of the tour:- traveling around this vast but beautiful arboretum was by a 7 seater golf buggy ( blankets provided ). Phil would stop at various memorials giving us the history and story behind them. At 1pm a two course meal + drink was provided on a reserved table with waiter service. . I must add the meal was excellent.
We then continued with the tour until 4pm taking in most of the memorials of interest then returning to the restaurant for coffee and final summary by Phil.
To finish l would just l Iike to give a massive thanks on behalf of our party to Phil who proved to be extremely knowledgeable and very friendly.

The focus of the arboretum is the large hill top memorial to all British service personel lost in service snice the second world war. The rest of the park is full of smaller memorials dedicated to all sorts of military and non military groups. There is an amazing array of styles of memorial and it is a fascinating place to visit.

Absolutely fantastic !! So sad and so uplifting at the same time.

Very moving, well thought out, plenty to see. Unfortunately the river had burst it's bank's & flooded part of the arboretum.

Great all rounder for kids and being dog friendly its a good choice for families - better signage needed for the start of the fog route which i eventually found after asking someone - the map didnt really help me to fund the small sign across some grass through the staff carpark (randomly) kids easter hunt was brilliant though

Fantastic place

Stunning place. Beautiful, peaceful and humbling.

A lovely walk, pram friendly, and some interesting memorials. A nice cafe for a coffee afterwards.

I visited the national memorial arboretum near alrewas with my friends. The first port of call was the FEPOW memorial building where there is a display of items made by the pows and a fairly graphic description of what the men and some women were put through during there capture it is a must place to visit and very emotional don’t miss it. The main memorial is truly amazing and also quite emotional to see all the names of some of the people who gave their life for their country. If you have got a limited time scale make the first two memorials a must it will take all day to see all the memorials on site but it can be very cold so you need to bear that in mind. We only managed a short visit as it was quite chilly the cafe is really nice and clean there are also several guided tours on offer not to costly and a train to take you around if your not too good on your feet
All in all a very emotional/educational and wonderful experience
It’s free to enter. There a car park across the road £3-00 all day

Excellent memorial, lots to see and do, the armed forces memorial and the Royal Navy memorial areas were of significant interest.

A great place to visit in fantastic grounds. Plenty of space to walk around and accessible for all abilities and disabilities. Great restaurant facility. Guided tours excellent and knowledgeable volunteers. Small car park charge but free to enter so it's only fair to make a donation. Such a fabulous place to remember those who have given their lives so freely for us. Thank you and to those who give up their time freely to keep the National Arboretum going strong!

Our 3rd visit here was as moving as the first. As it was raining we did not walk outside. This time we paid for the exhibition inside. Very interesting and very moving. Staff are excellent.

Love this place, everyone should visit here at least once, young and old.

Great place to visit and so friendly.

My daughter, who's 27, and myself visited NMA.
We are from a family of 'forces men and women' and I have an uncle that was lost after WW2 and my daughter sadly lost a very dear friend in the Afghan war in 2010 when he was only 19 so we were a little tentative about the visit and emotions etc.
I had looked at reviews prior to our visit and so was prepared and more than willing to pay the £3.00 parking fee unlike some on this website !!
The car park was easily accessible and clean, well laid out. The visitors centre also was very clean and well laid out.
NMA personnel were there to greet you and offer guidance and advice.
My daughter and myself decided we would not choose to go on the train as I had read that you don't get to see memorials close up which is what we wanted and the weather wasn't too good on the day.
We decided that we would walk to the memorials we wanted to see which was RAF (for my uncle) and Army for my daughter's friend and also my husband's side of the family which were coldstream guards.
The awe inspiring and enormity of the memorial wall in the centre of the Arboretum took your breath away and even more so when you got up close to read all the names of people killed in action since WW2. We both found the people we were looking for, I am now able to go home and tell my 80 year old mum that her brother who was killed in 1948 has his name on the wall of honour. She'll cry !!
The sad part of the wall of honour is that there is so much wall left for future names ......
We then walked around some of the other memorials ...prisoners of war, evacuated children, veterinary services, medical corps, guards and hussar's,parachute regiment, engineers to name a few.
Another one that was quite humbling was the 'killed at dawn' memorial...............
We finished our visit with cake and coffee at the well established cafe ..........lovely.
Definitely worth visiting the NMA and would recommend everyone visits at one point. Both my daughter and myself will definitely be visiting again.

I stopped off at the NMA on a long cross west/east journey and really didn’t know what to expect. After a wholesome lunch in the restaurant I set out for a stroll around singling out the Naval Services Memorial and the Polish Memorial for my hour stay. I was completely overwhelmed by the memorials and the sense of dignity. The facilities are excellent too and all the staff helpful and courteous. Our country should be proud.

Fantastic place kept and so interesting. The volunteers were very knowledgeable and so helpful. The memorials were impressive and very well made.

A great place to go

Great day out .

The arboretum is really worth a visit very nice and peaceful,this is what happened to those brave men that lost their lives during the world wars and other conflicts,

Wonderful, uplifting experience. Great idea not to charge admission fee - just £3 to park the car for all day. Grounds are beautifully kept and NO LITTER! Been a few times, both with my other half and with the family when they come to visit and we are never bored - so many memorials, so much history, and every time that we visit there are additional memorials to see. Only 1 gripe - restaurant is expensive for what is offered and as many people go there before leaving, we feel that this may have a negative impact on donating further - the donation boxes are positioned after you visit the restaurant.

Lovely place staff are very helpful and friendly

Wonderful place with great staff always asking if we need any help, will explain anything you ask about monuments nice food and very clean, small charge for parking but worth paying for a great day

Brilliant, very moving

Great place. Very thoughtful. Wouldn't be great for small kids but for older ones with a history project it's great! Nice day out with a good walk!