Leeds Castle - Kent

Date of visit - 04/10/2024

We have have had tickets at Leeds Castle for a number of years. It is a lovely spot in the Kent countryside, and is perfect for a casual walk, whatever the season. They offer free admission for a carer with anyone holding a disabled admission ticket. The grounds are well paved, with tarmac paths. You can go off-piste and use the grassed areas, when the weather allows, but there are plenty of pathways to use for the less mobile.

The Leeds Castle Foundation have made great efforts to accommodate those with additional needs, as can be seen from their accessibility statement. They are working towards becoming a Dementia friendly organisation and actively promote the use of Sunflower lanyards, and train their staff to recognise its significance.

Much of the car parking at the castle is on grass, but there is a made up car park, to the right of the entrance area, which is signposted for blue-badge holders, a simple flash of the blue badge as you drive towards the parking attendant, on busy days, should see you directed to the correct parking area.

Once into the grounds the first section is quite steeply downhill, and uphill on the return journey. The paths though are flat and well looked after.

There is a lot of water within the grounds, with two main lakes, one of which surrounds the castle itself, and a plethora of side tributaries of running, often deep, water - we kept Little One on his wrist strap when there was water in sight, as you just can't be too careful, with a water attracted runner!

With so much water around there are also a lot of wildfowl, with a selection of ducks, geese and the famous Leeds Castle black swans. Little One hadn't experienced such a large number of noisy birds before, he wasn't too sure about the ducks as they waddled towards us, quacking merrily, and he actually took shelter behind his Nanna as they passed by!

On the day we visited Leeds Castle was hosting a sculpture trail, which ran to October 6th. The castle run a series of events throughout the year, most of which are included in your Pay for a Day, Visit All Year ticket, yes, pay for admission once, and come back as many times as you like! Can't be knocked, really...

After a pleasant, easy stroll though the wooded area of the garden, with more water, you approach an incline taking you up to the the station for Elsie the Train and the launch area for the Black Swan Ferry. These attractions aren't included in your admission price, but are worth doing, if you fancy a land train or boat ride. It should be noted that the land train does not have wheelchair access, but the Black Swan Ferry does have room for 3 wheelchairs. Complimentary transport is available for those that can't use the train due to mobility needs.

There are other attractions included in the entry, like the hedge maze, birds of prey flights, kids obstacle course, Knights stronghold playground and also a playground for the younger ones, circular walking routes and the famous dog collar museum. For a small fee you can also have a round of mini adventure golf. At the moment there is also a beach, complete with deckchairs, on site, near the play area! There is a lot on offer at Leeds Castle and hopefully something that will be accessible for most children. 

As mentioned earlier, on the day of our visit there was a sculpture trail going on. The castle does many of these type of events and this one certainly wasn't a let down, the sculptures adding to the ambiance of the grounds.

As a final thought, and something that others may be able to empathise with, we struggle to get a good 'posed' picture of Little One. It took me five attempts to get the picture above, with him standing in front of the castle, as each time I got him to stand against the wall, by the time I had got my phone ready to take a picture, he had gone! The result, the slightly wonky best of five.