Edinburgh has no shortage of gorgeous autumn destinations. We’ve enjoyed spending our weekends puttering around the city–we’re still fully into the city being new to us and are feeling the need to explore every corner. We live quite near the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, but hadn’t actually visited with the girls before now. Scott and I went during our visit last year when they held the Botanic Lights (check out our Spiked Winter Cider!) and I’ve been eager to go back ever since. The Garden held a Halloween Trail for kids all October, so it made for the perfect reason to head out and have some Halloween fun.
The Garden is free admission unless it’s a special event. We paid £2 for each of the girls to get a booklet, pencil, and cookie once they finished the trail.
They oohed and ahhed over this entry and likened it to entering Wonderland. I can’t say I disagreed!
It was fantastic for me to find a place where I felt comfortable letting go of Matilda’s hand. That child keeps me on my toes like no other and I keep a tight grip on her most of the time. It was lovely to see her able to run without me worrying–and run she did.
The girls often got sidetracked from their hunt and instead started exploring their surroundings. The Garden is so kid friendly with the right combination of open spaces, easy to maneuver trails, and lots of nooks and crannies.
I loved this patch where they had a large variety of pumpkins and when they were sown. There’s nothing better than an educational pumpkin patch!
The girls were constantly smiling. I’m not sure who had the better time.
The trail was a lot of fun. The kids needed to find out who was on the witch’s guest list (all her invites fell into her cauldron!) and what their favorite food is. The booklet got them started and they had to follow various footprints around the Garden. There were clue markers that would lead to each guest.
I got such a kick out of seeing the girls work it out.
We lucked out with a lovely day. It was on the chilly side, but was quite sunny at times and no rain at all.
Scott quietly grabbed a picture of all of us while I was taking my 300th picture of the girls in trees.
Here’s the picture!
Another clue found!
The final guest was bat. It was also the most difficult animal for the girls to figure out. Go figure!
The trail ended with a cookie for everyone. Cookies for the kids and a coffee for me!
I really think Matilda fell in love with the Garden the most. She loves being able to run free so much, but has that four year old recklessness along with utter orneriness that means she doesn’t get to very often.
I love that there was still plenty of color all around.
I don’t think there was a single tree that they girls didn’t want a picture with.
One of my favorite spots is on the little bridge that goes over this stream. There were lights on it when we were here last year, which was lovely, but it was picture perfect without any additions.
We left the Garden with rosy cheeks and smiles on our faces. I think we’ve easily found a family favorite and I suspect we will be here regularly. We will certainly come back next year for The Halloween Trail at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
What gorgeous pics. You can tell how much the girls really enjoyed the gardens because these are not “smile-for-the-camera” smiles … they are honest-to-goodness “having SO much FUN” smiles. Can’t wait to visit the Garden in a few weeks!