Cliveden is all about its stunning grounds, it is possible to go round the house (now an exclusive hotel) by timed ticket on certain days, but we stuck to the gardens and the wonderful walks. We were there all day and only got to see maybe half of the grounds. There is a lot of walking, if you want to do a lot of walking, with a hill and steps down to the river Thames. If you have a pushchair you may want to stay to the upper levels, of which there is still plenty to look at. There is shuttle bus service to get you up and down the hill if needed.
We arrived close to lunch time, after a stop off at the information centre (we have worked out always head there first. You may find extra maps, child packs, suggested walking routes and we picked up our 50 things book), we headed to the fountain of love and the grand walk towards the house. We walked round the the back of the house and the view across the grounds were stunning.
All the kids were rushing towards the flower beds as there is a small slope for them to roll down. We then chased each other round the flower beds until we reached the statue at the far end with a view back to the house.
From here we took a windy path down the hill to the river. Where you can sit on the grass and enjoy the view or take a boat along a river cruise.
We then took a scenic steep root up the hill to the Dukes Statue, with a view across to the house and a bit further up is a wonderful look out point to see across the river.
Amongst the bluebells was a fitness trail which was amusing for everyone!
Not sure how we found the energy for doing the press-ups and jumps after walking up the hill but we did (or should that be Daddy and Charlotte did).
We headed back towards the car park via the grotto to get an ice cream from the dolls house by the play park. A very popular ice cream stop this one so we just went on the fantastic play park, themed on traditional book characters like Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland etc.
Took a delightful stroll through the water garden and sat down with our ice creams on the grass as its was so calm and pretty.
Just before closing time we slid into the maze, hoping we would make it out before the grounds did close. We did make it out but took quite a few wrong turns along the way.
Our last stop was our first stop, to get our stickers for our 50 things book from the information centre. We could have done so many things but we achieved:
- rolling down a hill (was a small hill but you have to start small and build up)
- walking bare footed across the grass in the water garden
We had a fantastic day out, we can't wait to go back again to see all the things we missed, like the secret garden, play trail and maybe inside the house. We did stop for lunch in the cafe, which had some wonderful cake but think next time we would take a picnic as the grounds are great. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cliveden/visitor-information/
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