Not quite Eden (Bicton Park Botanical Gardens)

Member Name: jasminesarah

Product:	Bicton Park Botanical Gardens
Date:	29/09/08 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Huge range of plants and trees, lovely countryside

Disadvantages: Probably too sedate for some

Bicton Park is situated in East Devon, close to Budleigh Salterton, in the Otter Valley. Readers of some of my previous reviews will know that I'm keen on quieter (not too rowdy!) days out, and this seemed like an ideal outing. This sunny weekend just gone, we decided to take a picnic and explore the gardens.

On arrival there was plenty of free parking, admission to the park is £5.95 for children and concessions, and £6.95 for adults. This seems to be good value compared with other local attractions. I'm happy to tell you that Bicton are currently accepting Tesco Deals vouchers, meaning that this was another bargain day out for us!

When you have purchased tickets you are straight into the shop, which we decided to leave till later, and headed through out into the park itself. We were first greeted with an area in which a good range of garden pots were for sale, and a smaller range of plants. (Perhaps there would have been more plants if it had been another time of year, rather than the end of the summer season.)

The gardens span 62 acres of privately owned grounds, which are divided into several areas. One of the first gardens that we reached was the Italian Garden, which was laid out in 1735. Much of the other Historical Gardens date from the 19th Century. Not being avid gardeners or plant enthusiasts, we appreciated the surroundings from a very amateur standpoint - it certainly was beautiful, and peaceful too. Being a sunny weekend, the park was relatively busy, but out in the gardens it was possible to revel in the tranquility of the countryside. The cafe and play areas were noisier though!

Some attractions of note include the glasshouses, (especially the very attractive Palm House, in which it is possible to hold civil marriage ceremonies), St Mary's church (Queen Victoria is said to have worshipped there), and the Shell House. This last is a small rocky building, which houses an impressive collection of shells, collected in Victorian times. It was disappointing that all but one of the spot light bulbs needed to be replaced, we could see by the daylight, but the shells would have been much better showcased under spot lights.

After wandering the gardens for some time, we made our way to the picnic area situated next to a children's outdoor play centre. Picnicing is only encouraged in designated areas and absolutely no barbeques are allowed on the grounds. Had we not brought our own food, there was a snack bar here too, and a coffee shop serving light meals back next to the shop at the entrance. There were picnic tables provided, this area was fairly crowded. My son scrambled on the wooden adventure playground. There was also an all weather football pitch, but we did not investigate this, lured instead towards a trip on the park miniature train.

The train station is close to the entrance of the park, and there is an additional charge for this trip, of £1.80 for adults and £1.30 for children. Here too is an 'ice-less ice rink', where you can hire skates and rattle around on a small rink. This didn't appeal to us but there were some children, and one or two adults too, enjoying themselves. The train runs around the gardens and is reasonably entertaining, young children in particular might be impressed. There were no real surprises on the trip, and no voice over to explain any of the scenes we were passing. To be honest, if there had been we were unlikely to have heard it, as the train itself was very squeaky, and a lot of the children on board were squeakier still.

Bicton Park Botanical Gardens is open all year round, other than on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I do think it would be nice to visit at different times of year and see how the gardens change, this might be a good argument for buying a year pass. Although it describes it self as lots of fun for children all year round I think a rainy day would be a disappointment. The play areas would have limited appeal, especially the outdoor ones, and the rest of the park would not be much fun!

This is a place that I would recommend particularly if you need an outing for several generations of family, as there are things to interest all ages, but if entertaining children is the priority you'd be better off somewhere with more to do. Hiding amongst the trees and having acres to run about on does have it's advantages though! For us, we'll go back sometime, but a park with animals is more entertaining for my son, so we much prefer Escot or Cricket St Thomas.

Summary: A lovely day out in the sunshine