Godstone farm is a perfect day out for a toddler, especially in the spring when the daffodils are out, hopefully the sun is shining bright in the sky, and the newborn lambs are snuggled up cosily with their mums.
Nestled in the Surrey countryside, just outside of the M25, Godstone Farm is easy to reach from Surrey, Kent, Croydon and London, although it’s probably best to travel by car, as you need to travel to Oxted or Redhill and catch a bus from there if you want to go by public transport.
We’re lucky enough to have a pre-schooler pass, and normally spend about 2-4 hours at a time here, but there are still corners of activities that we haven’t seen, or bits we haven’t explored for a few visits, so you definitely could spend a full day there!
How busy was it?
We visited on a warm sunny term-time weekday in March, so crowds were fairly low. There were a few school groups, and lots of families, but we didn’t feel crowded at all. The farm opens at 9:30am, but the play barn (with the amazing soft play) opens at 10am. We spent time roaring at the dinosaur trail, playing in the sandpits and on the multiple (at least 10?!) slides and counting how many lambs we could see. The pigs were snoozing in the sun, the donkeys were eey-oreing away and the kids were running around having so much fun!
Our top tips for a Spring Day at Godstone Farm:
- Bring suntan lotion – there’s limited shade and it can get hot even on spring days
- Be ready to count the babies! There were lots of lambs, some baby guinea pigs, and the crias (baby alpacas) have grown up a bit and been moved into the fields.
- The animal encounter areas and reptile house sometimes close around midday, so keep an eye on timings on the map that you can pick up at the gate.
- The nicest toilets are in the play barn (where the soft play is). i think all the toilets are child size though – so great for your toilet trained toddler, but can be awkward as an adult!
- Baby changing in the play barn is quite out in the open – the baby changing at the bottom of the farm (by the cafe) are more private, but can be chilly.
- I like visiting the farm anti-clockwise, so going into the new animal barn to start (and seeing if there are any babies!) followed by feeding the alpacas and highland cows. These alpacas always look like they want to have a chat with you!
- Make sure you keep enough animal feed for the goats at the end of your visit!
- Buy at least two bags of animal feed – I give one to my son, and keep the second in my pocket in case of any spillages and for the animals towards the end of the route
- Don’t forget to visit the DINOSAURS! We always make sure to go around twice, as the first time we sprint past all the other dinosaurs to make sure we roar loudly at the T-Rex!
The Farm map can be found here, or below. (all rights to Godstone Farm).
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