Alice in a Winter Wonderland at Hever Castle this Christmas was just magical! From the Santa Claus experience, roasted chestnuts, carousel & coconut shy, interactive trail with actors, the huge playground, not to mention the beautiful castle and grounds. Which is the childhood home of Anne Boleyn ! Everything was just perfect.

Santa visits are going to be a yearly thing for us now we have little Oliver George and I have been to many (with the nieces & nephews!) but this one surpassed all expectations! Santa Claus was frigging awesome! The whole experience wasn’t rushed, from meeting the elves, writing Santa a letter and posting to the North Pole, then a beautiful walk through a winter wonderland before meeting the big man himself. It was perfect. Santa had plenty of tales and questions for the kids and just generally made a huge effort. He done a fantastic job and was really authentic. The kids were mesmerized by his stories and stood like soldiers to attention taking in every word like their lives depended on it. Wish we could have took Santa home! Ha ha ha! The gifts we received were better than average too. After Santa the trail continues and one of the Elves takes photos for your family in a huge photo frame – its all great fun!

We scheduled the interactive trail when it started to get dark – More on why in a mo!

Then it was lunchtime, your usual fare is on offer, burgers, hotdogs cooked over a huge BBQ – Smelt amazing! There is also a restaurant with indoor seating serving up homemade food and catering for most dietary requirements is provided.

After lunch we headed for the playground which is just a kids paradise – its HUGE. The playground has been designed with nature in mind which I love as it blends in with the pretty grounds and sparks kids imaginations! There is even a huge wooden castle which is one big maze and has some awesome slides – one of them is not for the faint hearted!

Then we headed for the Castle which is so picture perfect it looks like its been pulled out of a fairytale! I can see why people would get married here. Its just the most stunning castle I have ever been in and it feels so quaint & cosy. It isnt a huge castle, just the perfect size. The Alice in a Winter Wonderland theme carried on throughout the castle and was beautifully decorated with Christmas trees and decorations, including a snow machine in the courtyard which was great fun.

The interactive trail was just brilliant, the actors and actresses were top notch and done a great job acting the fairytale and entertaining all the kids. We waited until dusk as the trail just comes alive with colour and makes it all the more interesting! I would most definitely recommend doing this in the dark.

The grounds here are extensive but I found it relatively easy to get around. Some parts of the castle cannot be accessed with wheelchairs. There is a huge boating lake, a lake walk, Italian gardens, maze and a Japanese tea room. There’s so much to see and do! We will most definitely be returning!