articles, blogs & news

Although we face another Easter in Lockdown this year, certain restrictions will begin to be lifted from 29th March, meaning some of our favourite places and spaces have started opening their outdoor areas - perfect timing for outdoor Easter trails! The 'Stay at Home' message is also lifted on the 29th March, meaning we can now venture that little bit further out, so we've put together a list of Easter Trails and places to visit this Easter.

Trails

• Ashridge house gardens Easter Trail
  • Follow Alice down the rabbit hole and into the beautiful private gardens at Ashridge House for their Easter Trail. You will be given clues to locate Alice, her friends and objects from the Alice and Wonderland story. Running from 29th March - 11th April. Click here for prices and availability.
• Bovingdon Easter Trail
  • On April 1st decorated eggs will be hidden around the village for children to find. Head to St Lawrence Church to swap them for chocolate ones! More info here.

• Waddesdon Manor Easter Adventure Trail
  • Follow the family trail around the grounds and engage with nature with 10 different activities along the way. £3 per trail (inc prize). More info here.

• Waddesdon Manor Eggstra Mile
  • A short woodland walk starting at the Woodland Café with some activities along the route. More info here.

• Easter Eye Spy Trail at Rushmere Country Park
  • Explore the park, answer the questions on the trail sheet and return it to the café doors (by the children’s play area) to claim your reward! £4 per child and pre-booking is required. More info here.

• Houghton Hall Park Easter Egg Trail
  • Over Easter weekend (3rd & 4th April) there will be ten eggs hidden around the park. Collect your instructions and answer sheet from the visitors centre and once you have found them all return to claim your prize! £1.75 per child and pre-booking is available from 20th March. More info here.

• Mr Finniebaker's Easter Factory Trail
  • Also at Houghton Hall Park, this trail is free and no pre-booking is required. The trail involves finding some of the Easter Bunny’s helpers, scanning their QR code’s on your phone, take a selfie with them which you then upload to create a virtual Easter story with you in it! More info here.

• Treasure Map Trails
  • Not Easter related but just as fun all the same. These treasure maps are of real towns (including Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Leighton Buzzard and more), with picture clues for children. Each map uses a fantasy theme to grab your child's interest, and includes real street layouts and recognisable buildings to help them (and you) find their way around. A great, fun way to get out and about with your family. More info here.

Spaces & Places Reopening

• Hatfield House
  • Initially Hatfield House will be opening the park and woodland walks from the 29th March, the rest of the gardens will then reopen on the 3rd April.

• Wendover woods
  • There are lots of walks and trails at Wendover woods, including the Gruffalo trail, which all remain open and the Café are currently running a limited menu on a takeaway service
  • Go Ape at Wendover Woods are also now accepting booking from the 29th March onwards.

• Knebworth House
  • Knebworth House Gardens and Dinosaur trail are currently open and from the 29th March, the adventure playground also opens. Tickets must be pre-booked, times and prices can be found here.
  • On Easter Sunday, there is also the option of getting ‘Takeaway Afternoon Tea’ from Knebworth Barns after you’ve explored the Park, Gardens, Dinosaur Trail and Adventure Playground – access is included in your ticket price of £37.20 for adults and £26.40 for kids.

• Waddesdon Manor
  • Waddesdon Manor Gardens will be open from the 31st March, Wednesday – Sunday 10am – 5pm. Tickets must be pre-booked in advance, including National Trust members.
  • Takeaway food and drink are available and toilets are open however the shuttle buses are not operating and the House, Aviary, indoor restaurant and cafe, cellars and shop are currently closed – These will open again from the 14th April.
  • There are also two different trails running over the Easter holidays which you can find details of under the Trails section or on our What’s On page.

Virtual

• A Virtual Day at the Farm with Mead Open Farm
  • On the 6th April, Mead Open Farm is holding an all-day Easter virtual event on Facebook. There will be lamb feeding, a live quiz, Easter bunnies, farm machinery, Q&A’s and lots more. The timetable and more info can be found here. £4.99 per household.

• Lamb Cam Live, Odds Park Farm
  • Until the farms are able to reopen their doors (or gates!) on the 12th April, Odds Park Farm are keeping their guests up to date with their new arrivals via their Live Lamb Cam!

• Easter Fairy School
  • Join Rainbow Fairy Tara and Flower Fairy Daffodil for some Easter Storytelling all about how Fairy Daffodil helps deliver Easter Eggs and plant Spring flowers, plus Easter Crafting, creating flower fairy dolls and Rainbow Hair Slides, Dancing to the Easter Flower Fairy Song, games and more! Includes an Easter gift package sent in the post via 'Fairy Mail'. £15 per household. More info here.