We have been visiting Leeds Castle in Kent since Arlo was quite tiny. For the first year of Arlo’s life we lived in Maidstone before relocating and so I bought an annual pass for £25 (babies are free).I would pack up the car with a picnic and head out for a stroll around the grounds – whatever the weather. There’s always an abundance of things to look at whilst walking. The grounds are so beautiful and with local parks charging for parking then I felt the pass was excellent value for money.

Throughout the grounds are various sculptures and beautiful things to discover. I made a point of stopping at this carved rest stop every time. During the school holidays they create little trails for children to follow along with an activity book and then exchange as they leave for a chocolate treat. Arlo was fascinated with the ducks/swans and from quite early on he would notice them and point – and one of the first animals he ever mentioned was duck – you can buy food at the entrance for £1 if you’d like a really close encounter, but be warned they are used to being fed and can gather around very quickly. You can also explore the interior of the castle – prams are to be left outside so I would pop Arlo in a sling for this and wander around indoors on a rainy day as there’s lots to learn about the local history – and some of it is not quite what you’d expect.

There’s a lovely restaurant about half way along the walking route, along with a Costa, and refreshment stores – and if you keep going through a beautiful kitchen garden there’s a brilliant play park, a cafe, the birds of prey display arena, a maze and a Battle of Britain presentation.

Arlo’s first ever experience playing in a park was at Leeds Castle – we had the place to ourselves one weekday morning.

Every time we visited there was more to discover. Our annual pass also gave us entry to special events happening at the castle, including the classic car show, medieval jousting event as well as the beautiful Christmas fayre – I’ll share our experiences at these events in another post.