REVIEW@ Peter Rabbit goes wild at Wakehurst

There's nothing much better than a bit of fresh air in beautiful surroundings.
Peter Rabbit is at Wakehurst Place for Easter 2018. Picture: Katherine Hollisey-McLean.Peter Rabbit is at Wakehurst Place for Easter 2018. Picture: Katherine Hollisey-McLean.
Peter Rabbit is at Wakehurst Place for Easter 2018. Picture: Katherine Hollisey-McLean.

Couple that with the fact that Peter Rabbit has landed at Wakehurst for Easter, and it was the perfect stop for a family day out.

We visited over the Easter weekend, and while the car park looked worryingly busy when we arrived, the vast amount of people dissipated into the landscape of the gardens once we were inside.

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Part of the Kew Gardens family, Wakehurst features more than 500 acres of ornamental gardens, woodlands and a nature reserve, and is also home to the Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild seed conservation project in the world.

Peter Rabbit is at Wakehurst Place for Easter 2018. Picture: Katherine Hollisey-McLean.Peter Rabbit is at Wakehurst Place for Easter 2018. Picture: Katherine Hollisey-McLean.
Peter Rabbit is at Wakehurst Place for Easter 2018. Picture: Katherine Hollisey-McLean.

Beautiful as the garden are – and we did explore them to check – our mission was to enjoy the Peter Rabbit-themed activities on offer.

As we walked in, our daughter was given a little guide book with information about the event and some activities to fill in on the way around.

The first one we came to was a tent where children could make their own bunny ears out of pipe cleaners. Not the easiest thing for a four-year-old to do without help, but once created, she loved them and kept them on all day.

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We also saw there were sack races on the lawn, but given the amount of rain we have had, it was more like a mud bath. We quickly steered our daughter towards the children’s garden instead, where there were Peter Rabbit inspired flower beds, and activities like digging for vegetables.

Next, we had a little tour of the Mansion, where children can use their guide book to play vegetable consequences.

Out the back of the mansion, there is storytelling every half an hour and the opportunity for children to have their faces painted for £4.

Around the gardens are figures from the Peter Rabbit stories, which our daughter enjoyed having her picture taken with.

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At the Millennium Seed Bank, children can also start an Easter egg hunt for an extra £4.

Factor in a stop for lunch, and a further stop for cakes later on in the afternoon, and we spent a full day at Wakehurst.

We left happy and exhausted, and with a hankering to go home and watch Peter Rabbit!

Wakehurst, in Ardingly, Haywards Heath, is open from 10am to 6pm daily (last entry is 5.30pm).