Go everywhere, Do everything

Just outside of Yorks there is a magical fairy garden where if you are quiet enough you can really hear the fairies!

Dreamery Gardens is an enchanted woodland full of fairy folk, magic and delicious cake. It’s almost like being transported through a magic portal when you step in to the woods and explore the forest trails. We were really lucky in that we were there on a quiet Sunday afternoon and almost had the woods to ourselves, optimal conditions for fairy spotting.

How it works

On arrival, follow the forest path from the car park to the main building. This is the ticket office, cafe and fairy museum. Once you have your ticket you are free to explore the fairy garden and forest. There is a map available but the route is easy to follow and there are signs at every area to let you know what kind of magical creature you should be keeping your eye out for.

The trail takes roughly an hour to get round, longer if you really want to take your time fairy hunting and even longer if you get lost in the maze!

There is plenty to do, see and look out for and the maze is a lot of fun (and also optional, there is a seating area outside if you don’t fancy but need to wait for someone who does).

The forest trail ends back where you started where you can explore the fairy museum (make sure you look inside everything) or have some food in the cafe (definitely do this).

Food

We had booked afternoon tea as part of a birthday celebration, this included access to the forest trail and fairy museum. We did the forest walk before afternoon tea.

The afternoon tea was also fairy themed, homemade and had some lovely touches. We had an assortment of sandwiches which came with olive soil and twiglets. There was then a selection of cakes including dark chocolate nests, meringue mushrooms and toadstool cupcakes. The tea also includes scones with jam and cream and all the beverages of your choice.

Everything about the afternoon tea was delicious and we almost managed to eat all of it.

We did look at the main menu while we were there and I did wish I had a second stomach as everything on the menu looked tempting and looked even better as it was coming out to the tables around us. Definitely an excuse to go back.

Accessibility

All the routes in the forest are flat although it is quite a long route and there are some small bridges. Routes are suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs although as this is a forest walk, the weather may affect the quality of the paths.

Our thoughts

I was really looking forward to this day out and it definitely managed to exceed expectations. We went on a lovely dry Sunday afternoon in February which meant that the forest was fairly quiet and it did feel like we were actually looking for fairies. The fact that all the things to look for in the wood are natural, makes it highly likely that they are made by magical folk.

The food was delicious, homemade and well thought out rather than being mass produced.

Useful to know

• The car park is limited so book tickets in advance, afternoon tea also needs to be booked in advance.
• There are events throughout the year for the different seasons.
• The postcode isn’t completely accurate (possibly the magical folk trying to keep their location a secret) so use the What 3 Words to get the car park.
• The location is off gris so there is no mobile phone reception in the forest.
• If you fancy getting really immersed in a magical forest you can say on site next door at The Dreamery Hideaway (formerly Jollydays).