This is a regular spot for us. We have membership as it is so close to our neck of the woods. We can pop there with friends and family for the whole day or just for a morning or afternoon to get some fresh air.
It really is so pretty in the spring and summer months and even though we’ve been so often, the boys always discover something we’ve not seen before and never seem to get bored of going. We can spend hours there wandering around, playing on the wooden play area, strolling through the orchards, exploring the tropical glass house, making things in the education area or just chilling out on the grass areas having a pic nic.
The real positive about Wisley membership is that you can take a guest in on your card and additional children too. We have a family pass so we can take a guest each and if they have kids they can get in too. You can get various forms of membership so check out the website for more info.
They often have themed events on too which are great for families. They always have something on for the kids in every school holiday. This year they had LEGO in the glass house! It was very popular. We would definitely reccomend booking a time slot for the more popular events as it gets so busy in school holidays and weekends in Spring/ Summer
We spend hours running up and down the different gardens and large green spaces. There are two large cafe/ restaurants serving hot and cold food and drink. They are quite pricey compared to our usual haunts, but they do serve good quality food. In the summer it is beautiful sitting outside on the patio area watching thd kids play or having a pic nic on a rug sitting on the grass.
Most years in January/ February you’ll find the glass house is transformed in to the most wonderful butterfly house. There’s a wide variety of butterflies flying around then stopping to visit the food stations strategically placed so that the kids can get a great view of them (they didn’t have them this year to give the plants a break. They had the LEGO instead).
All in all, a fab place to meet up with your friends and family and while the day away.
They are currently in the middle of a big expansion project so excited to see what develops there.
The one thing I would say, and a word of warning, is that Wisley gets incredibly busy in the school holidays and if there are any popular events on they struggle to manage the sheer number of people, often letting too many in I think. They have started to offer time slots for particular events that you can book online in advance, but even so, it can still be very busy.
During these busy periods, you can be directed to park a long way from the entrance, although they do sometimes put a free park and ride bus on. Even so though, on days like this, the play area is tricky and keeping an eye on your little monsters proves harder. Seating at the cafe/ restaurants can be limited at these times too so I’d recommend a pic nic if visiting in the school holidays or when popular events are taking place.
This aside, well worth a visit. For more information on what’s on and tickets/ membership visit:
A Stone's Throw 