Shrewsbury Prison: Unique Self-Guided Tour Offering Interactive Immersion in Prison Life History

Experience the world’s most interactive prison at Shrewsbury Prison. Immerse yourself in the history of prison life from the Georgian era to the modern day on a unique self-guided tour.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Shrewsbury Prison - If you’re looking for a day out with a difference, you’re in the right place. Explore the whole prison at your leisure, take photos and Selfies as you soak up the atmosphere of this amazing Victorian prison. An ideal day out for families with young children who would like to investigate at their own pace.
    You will be given a…
What's Included
  • All Fees and Taxes
Additional Information

Shrewsbury Prison stands as the globe’s most engaging correctional facility that informs and excites people by giving them a remarkable encounter of what it feels like to be behind bars.
Our main goal is to secure, conserve and highlight the rich history and legacy of the Shrewsbury Prison, by illuminating the public on life in prison from the Georgian…

Location
Shrewsbury Prison
The Dana
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(419 Ratings)
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Chris
Oct 31, 2025
Prison - Very interesting not Ur usual theme park .my son found it.very eye opening . .cafe was nice ..plenty to see will definitely return at some point
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Scottiboi93
Oct 22, 2025
An interesting historical tour behind bars - An interesting insight into Shrewsbury’s criminal history. Worth the visit for anyone wanting to see behind the prison walls.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rockydino
Oct 12, 2025
Dog friendly and welcoming - Very friendly staff and dog friendly too! Had a great visit on a rainy day. Interesting site, with lots of clear historical information. Will return to stay overnight!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Frank
Oct 5, 2025
Prison visit - Captivated my imagination during the tour if the prison. Very clean and a great coffee shop with a nice choice of food. Well done to all working at the prison. 👍👍
Review provided by Tripadvisor
908maxinef
Sep 30, 2025
Excellent - Excellent day out , good value , easy parking, Really atmospheric and interesting would highly recommend a visit . Good gift shop and staff were really helpful and friendly
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Piph967
Sep 24, 2025
Great customer service - I went to have a look around the Prison this weekend. I really enjoyed the visit, lots of historical & interesting information without being too overloading. What really stands out is the incredible customer service. I visited as an ambulatory wheelchair user, and due to the historical building, not every area is accessible. This is advertised on their website. The staff were brilliant with helping me find alternative routes and the easiest access points. The staff In the cafe were also extremely helpful. Well worth a visit!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Janc377
Sep 28, 2025
Interesting experience -quirky - Great value as it’s fascinating and the information boards are really accessible . We saw people on a guided tour and that looked very good too but obviously more expensive . It can be a challenge to move from wing to wing when you are self guided but a wonderful lady helped us . We have been to a few prison experiences and this was the most grim prison emphasised by how long it took to get plumbing ! Makes you think ! Some people there had done the escape room experience and were buzzing! Definitely recommended so long as you don’t expect to be spoon fed
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Vikinglongboat
Nov 1, 2025
Novelty experience. - There is a small pay and display car park opposite the prison gates / entrance which is very pricey and only accepts app payments / card payments. The railway station car park next to the prison is for rail users only. We wanted to spend a few more hours in Shrewsbury after visiting the prison so parked in the Abbey Foregate car park and walked up the hill, through town and to the castle / prison. It was only 60p an hour for parking at Abbey Foregate with ample spaces, but it is quite a walk. The prison self guided option allows you to wander around at your own leisure with a map. The map is needed as signage throughout the site is quite poor and confusing. We found the prison to be interesting and a different type of visitor attraction; however, apart from the 'haunted cell', execution room and novelty of visiting a prison - it was all a bit 'samey'. Once you have seen one cell then you have seen them all. Toilets were limited and the gift shop could have been better and had a better ambience. Staff we met were friendly and helpful. Overall I recommend this place for a different 'novelty' type of visit but we found it slightly underwhelming and a bit boring if truth be told.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chrismb7291qa
Oct 25, 2025
Interesting prison but let down by poor presentation - Having grown up in Shrewsbury and remember hearing the prisoners in the prison I was excited about going around. The prison is impressive and crazy to think people were held here until 2013. It's impressive and scary walking around the Victorian cells. However the 'story' is not desperately well told, for a self guided tour then you are given a map and let loose, it is not clear where you should go. The prison also runs guided tours, unfortunately given the space etc. you often end up caught in one of these or unable to read the information signs. Worth a visit but could be presented better.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marcgo3070xz
Sep 27, 2025
Prison Tour Good / Restaurant Terrible - We found the prison very interesting but the guide pamphlet and signage could be a lot better as not straight forward to follow. **Restuarant Review** Terrible..... the tables are dirty, the floor is filthy. For £22 we had 2 x Luke warm coffee. 2 x sausage rolls which were horrible, made worse in that they were microwaved! The saving grace was a slice of Carrott cake which was very nice.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $20
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).