Location: Harewood, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS17 9LG
Telephone: 0113 218 1010
Website: www.harewood.org
Transport:Parking available
Opening hours: Gardens 10am – 6pm April 1st – October 30th
Entry fee: £7 for seniors, free for under 4s
MoorMum Grandma Joan says:
We visited in April 2011 with our grandsons – 2 ½ year old toddler and a 9 month old. We only visited the gardens not the house itself. We were there from 10am to 2pm.
The journey from Ilkley is an easy ride taking under 30 minutes. We arrived at opening time and paid just over £7 per senior citizen, it is free for under 4s.
Being early we had the children’s adventure playground, our first stop, almost to ourselves. It provided over 30 minutes of entertainment before we headed off to the Bird Garden.
Lots of impressive birds. The penguins looked pretty miserable when we were there –the plastic one at the entrance to the gardens was more interesting! But in the cages the owls, parrots, etc. impressed and out in the wild flamingos, blue herons, and guinea fowl walking on the fence handrails attracted interest.
We also visited the Himalayan garden which has some really interesting plants and winding paths and a big wooden bridge to run over. A word of warning – this bridge and some of the lakeside paths are a little too open for young toddlers. Reins or very close supervision is required.
We lunched at the Courtyard Café which had a £3 children’s menu (sandwich, hand held veg and fruit) and tasty grown up food. A bit noisy (some of which caused by our party) but maybe we are just not used to dining with so many young people.
Overall a good day out – we had lovely weather but I did notice that there were Geopods for indoor play. Good paths for the pushchair. Some of the walks are quite steep. Lots of places to sit and picnic.
Always check that the venue is open before setting off.
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