If you've seen a lot of our recent post you will see that we are spending more and more time outdoors - there will be more coming up on why this is in a future post. But one of the things we've been doing is exploring where we live, we're very lucky to live in one of the popular tourist areas in the UK, East Anglia, it's beautiful with wide countryside either flat as far as the eye can see or gentle rolling hills plus we're close to the coast and the beaches around the area are amazing. One of the kid's favourite destinations and a regular visit for the family is Sandringham Estate - better known as the country home of the Queen and what makes it especially good for our family is that it is FREE, yes we have to pay travel costs to get there but with parents living less than 10 minutes (with no traffic) away it's somewhere that we return to time and time again.
Getting there
Sandringham is in Norfolk and it's not easy to reach via motorway, in fact, there isn't a motorway in the county of Norfolk. Saying that though if you can get to King's Lynn the nearest town to Sandringham via either the A10 or A47 then you can make your way up the coast road to Sandringham.
Parking
The Parking is FREE, yes that's right no pay and display no pay as you leave the car park at Sandringham. It is FREE and there is no entry fee into the woods either. There are a number of parking areas - some people like to park along the grass entrance way from the A149 but this gets busy very quickly. There is the "main carpark" which is split into small sections as you drive past Sandringham house entrance, again if you arrive later in the day this can be very busy as well. However, where we tend to park and have never had a problem parking is in the car parks between the grass parking and the main parking - it's technically an overflow car park but with a couple of small sections and then a huge open parking field there is always plenty of space.
Facilities
Often with free forest areas there are very little facilities available but because Sandringham House is the main attraction here and as long as the Queen isn't in residence you can tour the house and gardens for fee there are great facilities for making your visit a little easier. There is a restaurant, shop, ice cream shop and cafe. A couple of clean bathrooms for us as well as a small garden/outdoor shop. In front of this little collection, there are picnic benches so even if you buy your food inside you can bring it out and eat it on the picnic benches.
For the Kids
There is also an AMAZING children's play area. A couple of years ago it was revamped and turned from a fun area into a natural climbing frame of networked areas. Using logs and trees that had fallen down in recent storms they were constructed with slides, climbing nets and rails to create an obstacle course that is an adventure that can't be missed. With younger children, there is also a smaller climbing frame as well as some fun structures like a giant bug and a playhouse that they will enjoy as well.
A couple of years ago it was revamped and turned from a fun area into a natural climbing frame of networked areas. Using logs and trees that had fallen down in recent storms they were constructed with slides, climbing nets and rails to create an obstacle course that is an adventure that can't be missed. With younger children, there is also a smaller climbing frame as well as some fun structures like a giant bug and a playhouse that they will enjoy as well.
Using logs and trees that had fallen down in recent storms they were constructed with slides, climbing nets and rails to create an obstacle course that is an adventure that can't be missed. With younger children, there is also a smaller climbing frame as well as some fun structures like a giant bug and a playhouse that they will enjoy as well.
With younger children, there is also a smaller climbing frame as well as some fun structures like a giant bug and a playhouse that they will enjoy as well.
No dogs are allowed inside the play area so even if you just have a little toddler they can wander around secure in the knowledge that the area will be clean.
The sculpture garden is also a fun walk and can be found past the gates and the main car park. Inside there is a trail of wooden sculptures of animals, woodland creatures and more that you can walk around and explore.
The Forest
Within the forest, there are various trails to follow and also a paved area which is where we tend to take the kids with their bikes. In the winter, it can get very muddy especially on the yellow trail which my kids have named the Summer trail as it's almost impossible without getting covered in mud and slipping over.
The trails are well maintained and easy to find looking for the arrows around the trails and many loop back to the scenic drive paved road so you can adjust the length that you walk for your comfort.
In late Spring, the forest is full of rhododendrons all in flower and if you are very quite you often come across deer within the woods.
One of the management techniques that they seem to use in the forest is to fell broken and diseased trees leaving the logs that are very large laying around which provide an ideal space for the kids to climb along and jump off the end of.
Staying for longer visits
Like I said we are very lucky that my parents live close so finding accommodation locally isn't a problem for us. However, there is plenty of different options, the first being the Sandringham Camping and Caravan sites of which there are two. Sandringham Caravan Club Site and Sandringham Camping and Caravan Club Site both of which we have had friends and family stay at when they want an extended stay in the area and they have loved them, if this will be your first time camping check out our camping list with all the essentials that you really need for your family camping trip..
There are more options with King's Lynn having multiple hotels including some recognisable chains as well as smaller B&B's and then Hunstanton and the Norfolk North Coast is full of different places to camp, caravan, rent, and visit.
Cerys Parker
Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, high school teacher and mum. Realising that life doesn't have to be put on hold and you don't just have to survive whilst the kids are young she shares ideas to inspire you to LIVE with the kids, with activities to do together, recipes to cook and enjoy and family travel to make memories to last a lifetime.
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