Hever Castle & Gardens
Hever Castle & Gardens
Hever Road
Edenbridge
TN8 7NG
We have been to Hever Castle a few times since Oliver was born and most recently I went last month with my dad and Oliver. It is such a beautiful place! Currently due to Covid you need to pre-book online for garden only entrance, which you can upgrade to include the castle itself when you arrive, however we didn't do the castle this time.
It was busy when we went but the grounds are so big and there is alot of open space so there were not many times where we felt social distancing was a problem. Queues for ice creams, entrance etc. were all marked with where to stand to distance appropriately. Even the main path had arrows for which side to walk on, although some people did deviate. Some of the small bridges or narrow paths were one way. The only difficulty I found was in the toilets but I guess that is going to be a similar problem everywhere. It's very hard to stand away from people when its so compact, coming out of the toilet, getting to the washbasins, with others doing the same or coming in.
Back to whats there to see...there are amazing Koi Karp fish, you can buy fish food for 50p a bag at a kiosk just over the bridge past the castle. They also sell duck food. The swans are the tamest I've ever seen, literally wandering up right close to us and walking among people on the path!
There are some big adventure playgrounds which are now great for Oliver's age. They are currently doing 30 minute sessions and only letting in a certain number of people at a time, which I actually prefer. Sometimes you can't get your small person to leave once they are playing so it was good to have a time limit. We were pretty lucky with the queues aswell. The sandy one is best for the little ones as it still as a castle with a huge slide, loads of sand and things to climb on. Oliver said he liked it best of the two. The other playground is for all ages but the castle is so large and enclosed that unless you go in with them you cannot see them at all times. Oliver did say he didn't like not knowing where we were sometimes. I went in but as soon as he went down a slide or a section I couldn't fit, I had no idea where he came out and had to find him again. It is pretty awesome though definitely great for older kids pretending to be knights!
There are so many places to wander, sit and take in the views. Everywhere you walk you get a new view of the castle and gardens it is so picturesque. Plenty of benches and secluded areas to picnic, chill and watch the river.
We walked all the way to the water maze which was a long way with a 4 year old and unfortunately the queue was epic...an hour wait, no way Jose! So we abandoned that much to Oliver's dismay. But instead we walked back around the river to near the entrance to see if we could hire a boat. Pedalos were proving popular but we only had to wait 10 mins to get a rowing boat. For £17 for an hour I thought it was really reasonable! My dad did the rowing thankfully!! Oliver had never been on a row boat before and he loved it, it was like being on a little adventure!
Leaving that til the end of the afternoon was perfect, as we were then close to the toilets and the exit to the car park! The car park is free. Our ticket slot was for 11.45-12pm so not early and we still didn't have any problems parking. Neither was it a trek to get to the entrance. About a 40 minute drive from Coulsdon so not far at all for a day out! This is a brilliant place to visit for all ages and really reasonably priced at £15.55 for adults (garden entry) and under 5s are free!
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