Bents Garden & Home

Cost: Play area and woods, no charge listed
Ages: 2 to 10
Where: Warrington, Cheshire
Weather: Mostly outdoors
Booking: Just turn up. Book the light trail ahead

Bents is a garden centre first, and a serious one, but it has built up enough for children that a visit need not be all compost and candles. The adventure play area is for 3 to 10 year olds, with climbing walls, a wonky walk, sensory bits and adventure towers, and it sits right next to the outdoor decking, so coffee and supervision happen in the same place.

The beach has moved to a new undercover spot beside Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf and its cafe: a big sandpit, basically, and a good one for under-fives. For a longer outing, Windy Bank Wood is a flat 3-mile loop of peatland edge, meadow and young woodland, with picnic benches along the way. Allow an hour and a half to two hours with children. It takes prams, and there is an alternative starting route marked.

In winter Bents turns into an event venue. The Magic Lamp light trail runs on evenings from 20 November to 30 December 2026 in the Hidden Garden, and it is not cheap: a family of four is £60 on an off-peak night and £80 at peak. The dinosaur golf has its own page if that is what you came for.

What it costs: No charge is published for the play area, the beach or the Windy Bank Wood walk, and parking is free. Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf is paid and has its own page. The Magic Lamp light trail (evenings, 20 November to 30 December 2026) is £18.95 to £23.95 for adults and £12.95 to £17.95 for children depending on off-peak or peak dates, under-2s free, and £60 to £80 for a family of two adults and two children.

Know before you go

Windy Bank Wood has no parking of its own and the Bents car park closes when the centre does. On Sundays that is 4.30pm, so start the loop by early afternoon.
The beach is now undercover, next to the golf course and its cafe, which makes it a sandpit that still works in drizzle.

What’s on at Bents Garden & Home

The Magic Lamp light trail at Bents

Bents Garden & Home, Glazebury · Warrington

Evenings, 20 November to 30 December, 4.30pm to 7.30pm

Bents' Hidden Garden turned into a Magic Lamp themed light trail with theatrical installations, soundscapes and storytelling, then a winter food market and a Christmas teepee to warm up in. Off-peak dates save £5 a head, which matters for a family: the 2+2 ticket runs from £60 to £80. Bents' own page says under 2s go free, although the booking page shows a free under-3 ticket, so check the age band when you book.

Adults £18.95 to £23.95, children £12.95 to £17.95, under 2s freeBook online, price depends on date

Written by us

Festive Family Breakfast with Father Christmas at Bents

Bents Garden & Home, Glazebury · Warrington

Saturdays 5, 12 and 19 December, 9.30am to 11am

Letters to Father Christmas, a bacon or sausage barm, gingerbread biscuit decorating, a story with the man himself and a gift for each child. Every adult needs a ticket too, so a family of four is about £80 for ninety minutes on a Saturday morning, before anyone has looked at a bauble.

£24.99 per child, £14.99 per adultBook online, everyone attending needs a ticketIndoor option

Written by us

Worth knowing: Play area is for 3 to 10 year olds.

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