Family days out at Trengwainton

Family building a den in woods — Family den building at Trengwainton | © National Trust/James Dobson

Here’s where you can find all the information you need for great family days out at Trengwainton. Whether you’re joining-in with seasonal activities during school holidays or visiting at other times, there’s 25 acres to explore together and leave with happy-tired children.

Planning your family visit

Baby changing facilities available in the main car park, café and garden toilets.
Three quarters of the garden is accessible to pushchairs/wheelchairs.
Children’s lunch boxes available from the café during school holidays.
Sensory bag available to borrow.
Pocket money purchases available in the shop.
All activities are free (unless otherwise stated) normal admission applies. Booking not needed.
A section of the walled kitchen garden is set aside as a dog-free area for quiet picnics and simple play items that are likely to appeal to younger children.

Family-friendly events

Summer of Play

Join in the family-friendly activities in the garden, including wild art, tug-of-war, skittles, colouring, bean bag toss and lots more. This year we're offering den building in its magical woodland setting all five days of the week that we're open. With over 10 activities to choose from you can try them all, then come back for more. Summer of Play is sponsored by Starling Bank.

October half term

Get welly-ready this October half term with our autumn-themed family activities. Follow the sensory trail and, touch, listen and smell your way around the garden. Collect fallen leaves to make leaf bunting, play pumpkin hoopla, fish for pumpkins and guess the weight of the pumpkin. Check out the recipe boards in the pumpkin patch, then buy a Trengwainton-grown pumpkin to take home and try them out.

Family-friendly things to do in the garden

Trengwainton is a wonderful place to make memories together and instil a life-long love of nature and playing outdoors. Wooded paths wind up through a colourful garden dotted with streams, ponds and giant tree fern glades, along with grassy areas and wide-open spaces for running and play.

Nature spotting

Nature-spotting highlights at different times of the year include fish, tadpoles and frogs in the two ponds, robins in the walled garden, butterflies and bees in the orchard and dragonflies by the streams.

Bikes and balls

Planted on the side of a hill, Trengwainton’s slopes and narrow paths means it’s not suitable for bikes and scooters, but gentle ball games are allowed in the open space of the orchard.

Accessible needs

Quieter times

There’s lots of room to spread out at Trengwainton so it doesn’t often feel crowded, but if you’re looking for quieter times to visit, then afternoons are generally less busy than mornings. You can also borrow noise-cancelling headphones from our reception for either you or your child if additional help is needed.

Guides

We’ve information about Trengwainton available in a number of formats including Large Print Guide, Easy Read Guide and Visual Story.

Dogs and dog-free area

Be aware that dogs on leads are welcome everywhere except inside the café or bookshop (assistant dogs are also allowed in these areas), but we realise not everyone is comfortable around dogs, so we’ve set aside a section of the walled garden as a dog-free area for picnics and play.

Check out the article ‘Your accessible visit to Trengwainton’ for full access information.

Adult and children having a picnic on a grassy meadow — Find your favourite place to picnic in the garden | © National Trust/James Dobson

Places to picnic and play

The orchard (next to the bookshop, toilets and café) is a favourite place for families to spread out a picnic rug in the sun or under the dappled shade of the apple trees. Half-way up the main drive another spot is the Royal Meadow with its Edwardian summerhouse, where you can sit and dream up tales of gingerbread houses, fairies and elves, or children can scamper amongst the trees playing hide and seek.

At the very top of the garden (a half- mile walk on a steady incline) is the Terrace; a grassy, open space with sea views that reach to the Lizard peninsula. Here there are benches where older legs can rest and room for younger legs to burn off some energy (beware of the hidden drop along the edge of the lawn known as a ‘ha ha’).

'50 things to do before you're 11¾'

Trengwainton Garden is the perfect place to have a family adventure and tick off a few of the '50 things to do before you're 11¾' at the same time. Here are some to get you started:

No.1 Get to know a tree: There are plenty to choose from at Trengwainton and some are even 'Champion trees' - the largest of their species. You can look, touch, hug and sniff, but please don't climb them as it damages the bark and lets in disease.
No.35 Discover what's in a pond: With two ponds as well as streams, hold on tight to someone and peer in - what will you see? There could be goldfish, snails, insects and maybe even tadpoles when spring is in full swing
No. 33 Go cloud watching: At the top of the garden the Terrace is a great place to stand and stare at the clouds and the sea. With a bit of imagination you might spot a wooly sheep, castle or dragon in the clouds - the sky's the limit.