Family Friendly Kent: We visited Leeds Castle near Maidstone for a fun day out
In the first of our fortnightly Family Friendly Kent reviews we chose to go to one of the county’s most iconic landmarks - Leeds Castle.
The popular tourist attraction is often referred to as the loveliest castle in the world. And with its beautiful views, historical gardens and a former royal palace linked to seven queens, it really is lovely. But kids don’t care about any of that.
What makes this place so special for families is that there is so much to do. There’s a huge playground, adventure golf, a maze to get lost in, birds of prey, grounds to explore and the castle itself to visit. You definitely need a whole day there if you want to do it all.
Arriving through the main gates we found lots of free parking and a few helpful stewards to point us in the right direction.
At the main entrance there is a kiosk selling coffee and ice-creams so you can grab something for the walk up to the castle - as well as a gift shop and toilets.
If you want to ride the land train you need to buy tickets in the gift shop before setting off - these are £1.50 for adults and £1 for children for one-way tickets. You can buy return tickets at the same time or in the castle shop. These aren’t dated so if you don’t end up using them, you can use them on your next visit. The land train picks up passengers just inside the entrance (follow the path to your left) and drops off near the castle.
On our visit, we chose to walk through the grounds in the morning and then get the train back, when little legs were getting tired.
If you choose to walk through the grounds, it is quite a way to the castle and then further still to the maze, play areas and adventure golf. But there is plenty to look at and keep kids entertained along the way.
We bought two bags of duck food in the shop as well as a pot of fish food and set off for the castle. These are £1 each and worth the money as it meant the kids could stop along the walk. The ducks and geese are very tame and were eating out of our hands.
The ducks can be a little too confident though. My son found out the hard way later on when he had half his sausage roll pinched.
We stopped at the little bridge at the bottom of the hill and fed the fish there. If you look carefully across the pond you might catch a glimpse of the castle’s famous black swans in a fenced-off area. There are only a few left now and they have to be kept separate from the other birds to protect them.
Just as you head up the hill towards the castle there is a large green by the old pavilion that is the perfect spot for a picnic in the summer. There is a little stream here too and when it is warm, children can have a paddle.
On our visit, it was cold - definitely not paddling weather - so we headed inside the castle to warm up.
There are more toilets in the courtyard before you go into the castle and there’s also a buggy park here too. The steward was happy for us to leave our picnic bag in the buggy shelter so we didn’t have to lug it around - and risk knocking something over!
You can borrow an audio guide as you go in or just take a wander around the castle yourself - there are plenty of signs with information to read as you go around if you want to learn about its history.
The castle is set up as it was when Lady Baille owned it in the 1920s and 1930s, complete with pretend food in the dining room. My two enjoyed having a nosey around and stopping to play dominoes in the games room.
After spending a good hour in the castle, we continued our walk through the grounds, passing the lake where you can feed the birds and then through the courtyard where there are picnic tables and a kiosk selling hot and cold food and drinks. There is also a restaurant here if you want to sit inside. But we had a picnic so continued walking.
After making our way through the historical gardens, we arrived at the part of the grounds which is packed with all the family-friendly bits.
We started with the maze, with my son leading the way. You need to be prepared to get lost! After quite a few wrong turns, re-tracing our steps a few times and dodging some big puddles, we made it to the middle. There, you can climb some steps for a great view over the maze and the rest of the grounds. Then we made our way back down the steps and rather than having to tackle the maze again, you can go out through the underground grotto.
Next it was the play areas. There are two huge castle-themed play areas - one for younger and one for older children with zip wires, climbing walls, and slides. The only problem was getting the kids to leave! And it wasn’t the best place for parents to spend too long as I don’t think there was enough seating.
After burning off a bit of energy here, I persuaded my two to head for the exit with the promise of our picnic. There are a few benches between the adventure golf and the maze or you can sit on a picnic blanket on the grass overlooking the lake. This is where you need to look out for those greedy ducks.
Despite the incident with the duck during lunch, my son hadn’t been put off birds for life so we headed to the falconry display which is on at 2pm each day in an outside arena behind the maze.
Younger visitors might not be interested in the talk but during it the birds of prey were flying right over our heads between the keepers which was a brilliant experience. Don’t worry too much about sitting near the front and look out for the keepers standing at the back - these will be where the birds will be heading. If you miss the display, you can see the birds in their enclosures at any time.
Just across from the display arena is an outdoor obstacle course for kids. But we skipped this and headed for the crazy golf. This was lots of fun. There are 12 holes based around the castle and grounds - so one looks like the maze, another looks like the grotto etc. There was an extra cost for this - £3.50 for adults and £3 for children.
After we spent over an hour playing, it was time to head home. We stopped at the kiosk to buy the kids an ice cream (never too cold for ice cream apparently) and two coffees for us. This came to £13.50.
This is also where the beach area is. An area of the grounds between the lake and the maze has been used to create the artificial beach, complete with sand and deckchairs. Even on a cold day, there were little ones playing there but we didn’t stop. We’ll make sure we bring a bucket and spade in the summer.
There is a little boat that runs across the lake which you can hop on for an extra cost and it cuts out some of the walk - but this wasn’t running on the day we went so we wandered back through the grounds.
As we walked through the courtyard, we couldn’t resist the smell of the hot donuts. These came in bags of four or six so we got four and continued on our way.
We caught the train back and there was a short wait for it to arrive but not long.
We arrived back at the car with two worn-out but happy kids and we’d all had a great day.
Entrance tickets last for 12 months and the attraction is open all year around so you can come back again and again. And there is so much to do so the kids won’t get bored of coming and you can have a different experience on each visit. It also means you don’t feel the pressure to cram everything in on one visit.
We know we can come back in the summer with a picnic to enjoy a walk, and it won’t cost us anything (except maybe the price of a couple of ice creams).
The attraction also runs special events during the school holidays - look out for the Knights’ Quest trail at Easter, The Queen’s Joust in May and Motors by the Moat in August.
Food and drink: Loads to choose from and a few different places to buy. Can be a bit pricey but no more than other similar attractions. And of course you can take a picnic and not spend anything. There are plenty of places to sit ****
Toilets: These are dotted around so you are never too far from one. They are at the entrance, the food courtyard, the castle and by the play areas. The ones we went in were very clean *****
Parking: Free and plenty of it. But it can be a short walk to the entrance on busy days as you have to park further away ****
Cost: An adult ticket if you buy online is £31.50, and it is £22.50 per child, while a family ticket is £79. These last for 12 months so I think they are well worth it *****
Kids’ verdict: My son loved the crazy golf, while my wannabe princess daughter said her favourite part was looking around the castle ****
Other information: Children's bikes and scooters are not allowed (except controlled smart trikes for toddlers). But you can take balls or other games to enjoy in the outdoor space. No dogs allowed, except assistance dogs.
Location: Leeds Castle is located just a few minutes from Junction 8 of the M20 and there are brown tourist signs to follow. If using a sat nav, use the postcode is ME17 1RG.
