Press Tickets
Exbury Gardens is around an hour’s drive away from us here in Bournemouth, so it is a lovely day out for us. I have been to visit the gardens previously, but the lovely team got in touch to see whether I would like to come along again in Spring, to see the different flora in bloom, and I was more than happy to oblige. Last time we had visited, during the pandemic, the railway had been closed, but it was reopen, so the children were very excited for a train ride. Exbury Gardens is also dog friendly (on a lead), so it was a chance for Bella to come along with us.
You book tickets in advance, which helps with social distancing, so we arrived for our slot at 11am and booked our train tickets for the next trip at 11.30. It is advisable to book these right away, as they do fill up fast. I was a little apprehensive how Bella would be on a steam train, as she has not even seen one before, but she really liked it, even if she did want to hang her head out of the carriage, meaning I had to have her on my lap! The children, especially Benjamin who is four, also loved the journey and seeing people waving to the train as it went around the gardens.
After the train, we started our walk around the rest of the gardens. We have been often enough now to know our way around, although they do provide a map, to make sure you don’t miss anything. The colours were beautiful, and it was lovely to be able to have a proper day out with Bella, who loved exploring (although definitely wanted off the lead at several points).
During our visit, there was an art gallery pop up too, which was free to visit along with your garden entrance ticket. It was really lovely, and I was impressed with Carly, who really enjoys drawing, who enjoyed looking at the different pieces by artists.
We spent a few hours at the gardens, but you could easily spend longer, especially if you took along a picnic, or decided to eat at one of the onsite cafes. We also didn’t complete the walk, which goes right down to the water, as we had been before. By the end, those of us with little legs did (mainly Benjamin) did get a little tired, so it is a good idea to take regular rests. What I love about Exbury is the fact that you can just dip in and out and not need to visit the entire site, to enjoy your visit. I also love how much the gardens change between the seasons, it is definitely somewhere we will keep returning to again and again, and I would recommend a visit, if you haven’t been before, or are visiting the area.
We were invited along to Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway, however all words and images are my own.
