Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate, Bettys Tea house

Last Sunday we went to one of my favourite outdoor places, Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate. It’s one of the RHS’s (Royal Horticultural Society) 4 gardens and the only one in the north. Harlow Carr ticks all my day out boxes: loads for the kids to do, good facilities,outdoors running about, a nice environment for the grown ups , interesting stuff to look at, and most importantly proper coffee.

Treat yourself to a Bettys' or take a picnic

Harlow Carr is home to the newest Bettys and also has a lovely Bettys outdoor Tea House within the gardens. We usually take a picnic and then treat ourselves to a proper Taylors’ coffee and ice-cream for the kids or sometimes I can’t resist a fancy cake or Fat Rascal. The cafe serves food but as expected with Bettys it isn’t that cheap. However, unlike some places that serve food Harlow Carr are quite happy for visitors to bring their own supplies and have a greenhouse next to the cafe set out with tables for rainy picnics.

Woodland playground

First job of the day was to roll down some hills and race about on the lawn then we headed straight to the playground. The playground is quite small but is all made from wood and has different things for the kids to play on including rocking platform that makes a perfect imaginary pirate ship!

It’s a small thing but one of the great things about Harlow Carr is that all kids’ activities have handily placed benches for the adult to have a rest on whilst supervising (aka waving occasionally) at their kids.

Explore the maze and climb up the tree house

After the playground we visited the maze, which has a fab fort in the middle. One word of warning, the maze has an exit at the back and I caught the youngest trying to escape that way. Next stop was by far our favourite place, the Tree House. It’s quite new and provides hours of fun. It can get very busy, but that doesn’t seem to bother the kids - it just means more new friends to play with. They can climb right up to the top of the tree house, which is definitely made with kids rather than adults in mind. I felt sorry for the man who had to climb up the tiny stairs to rescue his small person whilst we were there. 

The tree house is surrounded by a wooden balance trail that my kids absolutely love and will happily do loads of laps. All while I sit on an aforementioned bench, drinking lovely coffee and waving supportively.

Climb along the Logness monster

I finally managed to escape the tree house with the promise of a visit to the Logness monster. It is exactly what it says on the tin, a long monster made of logs that’s perfect for clambering along. 

En route are the Roman columns with attending stone lions, perfect for putting on a show and pretending to pet the animals. We also usually go off track as well and explore the woods to look at wildlife and plants. The gardens are very well designed with kids’ stuff all located at the back of the gardens. Ie visitors can enjoy the gardens and peace whilst remaining unbothered by children rampaging nearby.

There’s loads of other stuff, which we didn’t get to this trip including a lake, ornamental gardens and the visitors centre. The kitchen gardens are definitely worth a visit as everything is really well laid out and labelled. 

Activities for the children

Harlow Carr always have something on in the school holidays and often on a weekend. We didn’t get chance this visit but they were offering various craft projects. Activities are usually free of charge but with a suggested donation.

They always have a free treasure hunt / trail during school holidays with clues around the garden for kids to find. This time is was egg themed for Easter and focused on finding out about creatures and colours. My eldest loves doing these, the 4 year old doesn’t really get it yet but quite likes stamping his card.

Gorgeous gardens and unusual plants

As you'd expect with a Royal Horticultural Society Garden, the gardens are beautiful and full of unusual plants and flowers. When we went it was still quite sparse because of the awful March weather but it will be blooming now. My favourites are the gorgeous rhododendron bushes along the tracks and displays in the ornamental gardens. 

Shop in the garden centre

The shop and garden centre are well stocked with unusual gifts and plants but I avoid that and go straight out of the exit to avoid any pester power. (Another plus, exit through the gift shop is optional.)

How to get there and cost

Harlow Carr is on the North East side of Harrogate and is easily accessible from Bradford, Leeds, York and Harroate as well as further afield. We drove and there is a large free car park. Apparently there’s a regular bus service from Harrogate train station.

I’ve got a family card which I bought on a discount day, which has already paid for itself after 3 visits. Whilst not free, standard entry is fairly reasonable (in my opinion) at £20.70 for a family of  2 adults and 2 children as there’s loads to do and you could easily spend the whole day there.