We booked a very last minute family break to North Wales this weekend to catch up with a friend and enjoy the forecasted sunshine on the beach.
We hadn’t made plans to visit any attractions, per se, but our friend’s brother recommended Gypsy Wood, just a couple of miles from where we were staying. So we decided to make a morning of it!
Having never heard of the place or read anything about it, we were not sure what to expect. But our toddler had a fantastic day. Even our 3 month old enjoyed cooing at the animals!
Gypsy Wood, Caernarfon – A Quick Review
In summary, we’d give it a 5/5!
[pipdig_stars rating=”5″]
We thought Gypsy Wood was amazing value and a great, fun day out for toddlers and older children too. We’ll definitely be back next time we are in Caernarfon or somewhere nearby in that part of North Wales.
The Full Review
We arrived at Gypsy Wood around 20 minutes after opening time and, despite the blazing sunshine, it was quiet. The cost of admission for me, my husband and our 2 year old (our 3 month old was free) was just over £19 and included a train ticket for the little railway.
On arrival, you walk through a little shop and then straight out to the first attractions. Immediately, our son spotted a railway track in a box by a table for the little ones to play with. Then, in the same area, he spied an undercover play area, a large sandpit, digger and construction play area and a DidiCars driving area. Our tot had a ball here and would probably have been happy if that was the full extent of the park.
But it wasn’t! There were a ton of other attractions too. Here are some of them (all included in the price of entry):
Duck Racing
A bit of guttering and a water pump is all it takes, apparently, to have fun racing rubber ducks. Oliver enjoyed this immensely, with a bit of help from Daddy. Loads of fun for the little ones (and the big kids too).
Magnetic Fishing
This is in the running for our son’s favourite activity of the day. The magnetic fishing area is basically a load of rods with magnets on the end over a small pool type area. Loads of magnetic fish are floating around and the kids basically go absolutely mental in pursuit of rubber fish.
It’s so much fun! We ended up going back to this part of the park three or four times!
The Miniature Railway
For most visitors, it seems this is a highlight! And a ticket is included in your admission fee. However, our son didn’t want to ride it. He did want to watch it. A LOT. But he’s far keener on watching trains than sitting still for long enough to ride them.
The Model Railway
There’s a huge model railway in Gypsy Wood with several trains and loads of cute miniature buildings and scenes. We spent a lot of time watching this.
There’s a tram, a Virgin Train replica, a few steam type engines and a host more. And the detail on the scenery is wonderful. There are gorgeous houses, stations and little posed people figurines. We could have spent ages looking at the model railway at Gypsy Wood, but our two year old caught sight of the train set he could play with again and soon sped off to sit at a table and build his track!
Go Karts
There’s a large open area with pedal go karts (again included in the admission price). There are smaller ones for the children, an adult sized one and then a double one (so Mum or Dad can pedal a little one around). Oliver had a go on a few of them and probably would have stayed there all there were it not for us moving him on!
Lakeside Walk
There’s a gorgeous lake in Gypsy Wood with a beautiful grassy lakeside path. We walked around the path and then threw stones in the lake. Lots of fun for a 2 year old, but this little walk also seemed to be a highlight for our youngest son, who is just about 16 weeks old. He was cooing away in the carrier!
The Farm
There’s a mini farm on site with pigs, rabbigs, guinea pigs, Shetland ponies, donkeys, goats and alpacas. You can buy animal feed at the entrance for 85p a bag.
Treehouse
Another little highlight for our boy was the treehouse. Inside, there were musical instruments and interactive play activities.
Playgrounds
There’s an undercover playground near to the entrance at Gypsy Wood. But our son’s favourite was near the miniature railway station, where there was a large castle themed climbing frame:
The rubber flooring chips make for a soft landing in the event there’s a trip or fall. We appreciate this as the parents of a 2 year old who often seems Hell bent on self destruction!
Here is scaling the dizzy heights of a castle tower to ride the white knuckle slide down…
Food and Drink
We went to the Dragon Cafe on site. As an attraction that caters to children, we were pleased to see the cafe is consistent with this too. There are small tot sized tables, Lego bricks and chalk boards to keep the kids entertained. This is so handy for us with a tot who suffers from “Hanger,” and does not exactly exude patience when waiting for his sandwich.
A small menu of sandwiches, jacket potatoes etc, but fantastic service and good value.
Gypsy Wood is Fab!
I’m sure there are so many more things I could write in this Gypsy Wood review, but we probably didn’t even get chance to experience everything. There was just so much to do.
The weather helped us, of course. We had lovely sunshine and blue skies. But based on other Gypsy Wood reviews (there are hundreds on TripAdvisor) you don’t need amazing weather to enjoy the place.
I want to take Oliver back again! Honestly, I feel this was the best value attraction I’ve taken him to and I really hope to get back to that part of the country again so we can revisit.
