We are currently on holiday and so far the weather hasnt been great but this morning we decided to take a drive out and explore. We couldnt decide whether to take Ellie to a nearby zoo or to visit one of North Wales National Trust places. Seeing as we have NT membership we opted for Bodnant Gardens and decided we would do the zoo after depending on Ellies mood. We never made it to the zoo as Bodnant Gardens was just so beautiful.
Bodnant gardens is a 20 minute drive from where we are staying in Pensarn but is close to Llandudno and Colwyn Bay in Conwy.
I must admit the car parking did scare me a bit. I am not used to parking at the top of small hills and having cars in fromt roll back slightly didnt help me feel comfortable either however the staff were great at directing people to the next spot and I found they were easy to drive in to, maneuver Ellie out and they werent too tight to reverse out either when the car park was quite busy.
To start with the walk from the carpark to the entrance is designed to fit in with the italian style gardens and once through the main entrance you are greeted with spectacular views.
Ellie was given some stickers as part of their Childrens Summer Holiday activities which I thought was amazin as usually she isnt included due to her age. She didnt understand byt she loves stickers! Children were getting stuck in with their art challenge to make art from foliage and other natural objects and some were so creative! Ellie must have been inspired as she spent most of her time picking up stones or pine cones and “tidying” them up on to the grass!
The gardens are hidden away in the Snowdonian foothills and cover 80 acres of land and is home to many different types of flowers and trees. As hubby is growing in confidence with our little garden at home he was loving taking note of all the types of flowers he liked and which ones we have at home.
We did find it quite tricky getting around some areas with the pushchair however this was mentioned by the lovely staff member we spoke to in the entrance. There were quite a few steps but usually there was a ramp quite close by. There were some slopes too steep for wheelchairs and pushchairs so we didnt attempt those areas. Ellie spent quite a bit of time in the pushchair as she was having a grumpy morning but she did pick up after lunch which meant she was able to explore as well.
Lunch was a sausage roll (shared with Ellie) a coffee for Luke and a carton of orange juice for E because I am an awful parent who forgot to pack her nuby cup! Thankfully there has been lots of shade and it wasnt too warm. Lunch was nice, an average lunch with quite a steep price (£10 for everything) however we didnt mind as it isnt ooften we dont take a picnic on our adventures and we didnt technically have to pay for entrance either.
We carried on walking after lunch and found some beautiful water features including a waterfall. The views were stunning and so well kept, which is expected of a national trust property.
The water gardens each looked unique and had different types of flowers surrounding them, not one part of the gardens looked the same which made it so much fun to explore. Walking around made me feel like we were in Italy or in a scene from Letters To Juliet. Even though it was busy it felt peaceful (or it did once Ellie had stopped having grumpy moments) and we could have spent all day there.
In fact we did spend a good 4 hours just walking around the gardens and watching Ellie take it all in which we weren’t expecting.
We were so pleased we ventured out somewhere different today and would definitely recommend it to anyone in the area!
Here are just a few more pictures as I took so many it would be a shame not to share them.
Mothering A Rainbow 