Trentham gardens is a great place for family walks. There’s so much for families to enjoy. Firstly there are the fairy sculptures, 21 of them throughout the gardens. Then there is the fantastic play area with something for children of all ages. The lakeside walk is filled with things to capture the imaginations of children and there are plenty of facilities too.
Ad – We were given family entry to the gardens in exchange for this honest review. All photos, thoughts and opinions are my own.
Why we love Trentham gardens
We loved our visit to Trentham gardens. We were there for almost a full day and could have spent longer but we had swimming lessons to get back for.
As a reminder my girls are 9 and 6 years old and they loved their visit. The playgrounds are huge and have plenty for all ages. They love all the sculptures and on our visit we were able to complete the fairy quest where the girls had a trail sheet and stickers of all the fairies. They had to find all the fairies and add the stickers to their location on the map.
As well as the fairy sculptures, there are loads of other sculptures around the gardens. They really capture the imaginations of children and honestly, our girls never once complained they were bored of walking! We love family walks where there is something for all ages and Trentham gardens definitely fits the criteria.
Read on to find out more about Trentham gardens.
Trentham gardens
Trentham gardens is located in Staffordshire, just south of Stoke on Trent. It is approximately 1 mile from J15 of the M6 Motorway.
At the gardens you will find free parking, a large garden centre and a small shopping centre with a mix of independent and high street shops and eateries and the entrance to Trentham Gardens.
You will need to purchase admission tickets to enter the gardens. A family ticket at the time of writing it £39 (£35 in winter).
Once you enter the gardens, you will find formal Italian gardens, large play areas and Trentham Lake which you can walk around.
The formal Italian gardens are beautiful even in winter. There are fountains, sculptures and evergreens to keep the interest out of season. I can only imagine how beautiful the gardens are in the summer months
Around the back of the Italian gardens, before you get to the play areas, is a maze of small gardens including a winter garden which caters for wildlife with bug hotels and a small pond.
Trentham gardens fairies
There are 21 Trentham fairies all around Trentham Estate. They have been created by Robin Wight and have been bringing magic to the gardens for 10 years!
They really do bring a sense of magic to the gardens for all ages. They are beautifully crafted fairies made from wire. There are a variety of different sized fairies including small ones hanging from the entrance bridge and in the trees, to much larger sculptures mounted on plynths or simply stood on the ground. There are also some in the lake and fountains.
As well as the fairies, there are loads more sculptures within the gardens and around the lake. I always find that walks with sculptures keep children interested in the walk, less likely to get bored and noticing their surroundings. Most of my favourite family walks include sculptures.
To celebrate 10 years of magic, there is currently a fairy quest. This is £4 per trail from the visitors centre. The kids get a fold out map with a map of the gardens and a set of stickers of each of the fairies. There are riddles to solve to help you find all 21 of the fairies. At the end the children get another badge to show they have completed the trail.
Trentham gardens play area
Ask any parent, a playground on a walk certainly helps when you are out an about with kids. The playground at Trentham is huge and there is something for all ages from toddlers to teens.
For the youngest ones, there is a mini road network and tractors to ride around it, loads of sand play areas, an area with baby swings and smaller slides etc and then in an area of the gardens you can find this very cool wall of textures and ball runs.
For older kids there are two zipwires and a large play area with loads of balancing and climbing frames as well as a slack line and a huge slide at the heart of this play area.
All ages can enjoy the maze and barefoot walk. The maze is a series of circular hedge lined paths with a mound at the centre that the path winds up. The views from the top of the lake and gardens are stunning.
The barefoot walk was closed for the winter but you can see that there are loads of different textures to walk across.
There is also a small train ride that young children will love. This is over on the opposite side of the lake to the play areas.
Behind the play area is wider park land and there were plenty of sheep roaming around including close to the fenced off play areas which many children enjoyed seeing.
Facilities at Trentham Lake
There are plenty of facilities and places to eat and drink at Trentham gardens. Most of the facilities are located by the playground area which is obviously the most popular area of the gardens.
There is a cafe and some outdoor stalls for buying food and drink including Snugbury Ice Cream. The cafe is in stunning building with views across the lake and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.
Trentham Lake
Once you have explored the Italian gardens and managed to pull the kids away from the play areas (not an easy task) then you must walk around the lake.
There are several paths on the play area side of the gardens, some that take you nearer to the lake and some through the woods. Eventually it becomes just one lakeside path.
There are a number of fairy sculptures around the lake and a few other different sculptures including waves made of rusting metal and otters carved into a tree trunk. There is also a very cool willow dragon which kids can play inside.
How far is it around Trentham lake?
The walk around the lake is about 2 miles and it is completely accessible for all.
Are dogs allowed at Trentham gardens?
Dogs are allowed but they should be on short leads and they are not allowed in the play areas or barefoot walk.
Find out more about Trentham here – Trentham Estate
Where to next?
Trentham monkey forest is right next door where you’ll find free roaming monkeys!
Find 10 Places to stop on the M6 here.
Thank you for giving me a glimpse into a place I’m sure my parents would know well. #bloggerclubuk
You’re welcome
popping back via #countrykids
and again via #MyFamilyAdventures
What a beautiful place. Would love to visit when we are next in the area. #countrykids
You really must.
Do you know who made those gorgeous sculptures? I loved the one blowing the dandelion clock, though they’re all brilliant. What a great place to explore! It looks like it will be even better in summer.
Visiting from the #countrykids linky!
This looks like a lovely place to visit – I love the fairy sculptures!
It really is.
Trentham Gardens really do look beautiful, great to explore Summer or Winter! I love the fairy statues they really add a spot of magic to these beautiful gardens. I’m amazed by how there is to see and do there, I bet you can’t wait until summer to go back and see it in all it’s glory!
Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.
I really can’t. I think next time though we will focus on the gardens and park area and not walk around the lake. There is too much to do in one day with young children.
We visited here in the summer – mine loved the barefoot trail there. You obviously had a lovely day there. The fairies are gorgeous aren’t they? Makes me want to go back for another visit.
#countrykids
Gorgeous, I took far too many pictures of them. Good to hear from someone who has been on the barefoot trail.
This looks a beautiful place and I am very taken by the fairy sculptures, they are lovely #countrykidsfun
I took far too many pictures of them as I was so taken by them.
I’m really excited reading this post as I used to live on the roundabout by Trentham Gardens in one of the old estate houses. They were just building a hotel and doing up the gardens when I moved away – it looks wonderful now. We’d love to see those fairy sculptures. Great post and pics #CountryKids
It really is lovely.
Wow what a beautiful garden to spend the day! And by the looks of your lovely photos it was perfect weather too xx #countrykids
It really was a beautiful day.
We have spent many a day at Trentham Gardens- we were there today ! It really is beautiful on a sunny day, and so much to see and do there. Lovely photos ! #CountryKids
There is so much to see and do. Since it was our first visit we tried to fit everything in.
How clever are those statues! Such lovely gardens.
Very clever and very lovely.
What a magical place! Thanks for sharing 🙂 #countrykids
It really is magical.
It really was.
It was lovely in the winter so I can only begin to imagine how beautiful it must be in the summer. X
I have just been looking at Kerri-Anns pictures of Trentham as she visits alot with her family. Looks like you had a great day, and well done on having a picnic in February. We have not been for around 3 years, and looks like things have changed since we last went. I must plan a visit in soon #MyFamilyAdventures x
You really must. It’s a fantastic place x
You’ve captured Trentham so well, we’ve been visiting since G was a baby and I still find something new to explore. Did you see the sheep? The adventure playground is open now and its a real treat, we love the sensory garden too. I hope you have an adventure filled March. Thanks for joining in with #MyFamilyAdventures – the next post goes live on the 26th March x
Thank you. No we did not see the sheep. The sensory garden and adventure playground as well as the barefoot walk give us a reason to return this summer. X
Your photos are stunning xx popping back with #MyfamilyAdventures
Thank you
It’s such a magical place isn’t it? We loved going there and had so much fun sharing it with friends. Sad to have missed you lovely. We must all go again together. Gorgeous snaps. #myfamilyadventures
It really is magical. That would be lovely to have a meet up there. X
I’ve only been once before and the trip was 45 minutes long as J was poorly midway through our trip but I am desperate to go back. These are some gorgeous photos #MyFamilyAdventures
The fairies sculptures look amazing, and your photos really do them justice – so poetic and magical. I especially like the top one, and the one of your daughter’s hand touching the fairy’s hand, but all have something fantastic about them. Love them!
#MyFamilyAdventures
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I loved the sculptures and found them so inspiring.
What gorgeous photos 🙂 It looks like such a lovely place! I’ve never been there before, but it’s on my list of places to visit!
Thank you. It is a fantastic place. We are hoping to go back again soon.