Capel Manor Gardens

We recently spent a few hours at Capel Manor Gardens and mini zoo, and I can’t recommend it enough. Whether you’re a serious horticulturist or just looking for a peaceful escape from the city, this place is a total breath of fresh air. Every corner feels like a different world. From the meticulously kept formal gardens to the wilder, wooded areas, there is so much variety. The Japanese Garden was our personal highlight—incredibly serene and perfect for photos.This was such a delightful surprise! It’s well-maintained, and the animals seem very happy and well-cared for. Seeing the lemurs and meerkats up close was a treat for both my wife and myself. We visited on a weekend in early March, it wasn’t crowded, but I expect in the summer it will be very popular It’s spacious enough to find your own quiet spot to sit and enjoy the scenery. The staff were friendly and helpful. Be sure to check out the Holly-Gage maze—it’s harder than it looks but a lot of fun! Overall, it’s a fantastic value for money and a brilliant way to support a college dedicated to environmental education. I’ll definitely be coming back for a seasonal visit later this year.

· via Google

Wow I had no idea I had this at my doorstep. What a beautiful place to visit. For a nice afternoon stroll or with kids to see the animals and do fun activities with them, example the mase. We did go during the Easter break so there were alot of activities to do with the children such as face painting, treasure hunt, arts and crafts and meeting the eater bunny. However there was a £50 entrance fee for 2 adults and 2 kids, which I thought was very high, and ontop of that we also had to pay for the other activities inside, such as face painting and bouncy castles.

· via Google

Wow, what a place we loved it. It is like a series of mini gardens all encompassed in wider maintained landscape and planting. We spent all day wandering around discussing each of the garden concepts displayed and enjoying sitting in the many thoughtfully positioned seating areas. If you are new to gardening and/or looking for inspiration or ideas or just want to see what is in season then £10 seems to me to be a very cheap way to do it. A lot of the greenhouses and hot houses were open too allowing you to experience something different. We enjoyed the maze, too, which is not as easy as it looks (if you ignore the cut throughs!) Parking was free and there was plenty of it. We didn't manage to see everything so we will have to go back.

· via Google

Beautiful gardens. Lots of variety to see including individual types of gardens, woodland walks, fairy garden which seems like a great place for young children to explore. There was a maze and plenty of picnic spaces. We also discovered the small zoo although we did not go into it. Food/restaurant facilities were limited on Sundays. There was only a small outdoor food truck available with outdoor seating. On a cold, windy, showery day it wasn't suitable. All in all we had a very good day out there.

· via Google