It was the week after Christmas, we were all going stir crazy. We needed fresh air and to get out. So off we went to visit Hounslow Urban Farm. It is somewhere we have visited before and it’s usually a fun place to visit, although we hadn’t been in January before.
About Hounslow urban farm
Hounslow urban farm is an interactive farm in London. It is 2 miles south of Heathrow airport, and is accessible via car, train, bus and underground. It’s also open every day apart from Christmas day Boxing day & New Year’s day. This makes it a great place to take the kids all year round. They have a wide range of animals, including several tropical animals.
There is a small cafe here where you can get lunch, and hot drinks. During warmer weather there is also a burger van offering burgers & chips. There are some seating areas if you want to bring a picnic in the warmer weather. We weren’t quite feeling up to that in January though!
Our day out
Even though it was cold, I needed to get the boys out. They had been cooped up a bit over Christmas and it was time to get them out for their sanity and mine! I couldn’t stand the thought of a hectic soft play, and so decided to get some fresh air. Hounslow urban farm it was!
We got wrapped up ready to hit the farm. When we arrived, it was clear that the onslaught of rain over the last few days had left the farm pretty soggy. We parked in the hand-standing area in the car park. There were only a few other cars in the car park. It was at this point I realised my wellies were not in the boot where I thought they were 😬. Too late for that. We paid to get in and one of the boys somehow managed to get water in his wellies in that short space of time!
It was straight into the bouncy castle area, so he could take his boots off. The farm had upgraded the castle since the last time we were there. There was a large assault style course bouncy castle. Although there was some seating for the parents, I spent the time watching the marmosets. I would have tried to smuggle one home if I didn’t have my own 2 monkeys to worry about.
The animals
The animal encounter was up next. This is usually the boys favourite bit, as they get to hold lots of animals. I’m not sure if this was scaled back but there did seem to be less animals this time round. With this in mind the boys still had a great time. They held creepy crawlies, and slithering snakes. The team leading the encounter shared their knowledge with the kids, keeping their interest.
After this, we headed outside. After watching the pigs foraging for food we realised we were right where a snowball fight was scheduled! Over the festive period the farm had an area set-up for a snowball fight. There were fluffy snowballs and a snow machine. After dodging a few snowballs myself, the boys were a bit wetter and a bit cleaner 🤣. The farm was pretty waterlogged. Even though it was soggy the animals were still pleased to see visitors, especially the ones that were allowed animal feed!
After a couple of hours of arriving the boys were ready to go home. I didn’t blame them, I was frozen through too. So after giving one lucky goat all our leftover feed, we headed home.
Would we go again?
Definitely! Hounslow urban farm is somewhere we have and will continue to visit again and again. It’s really reasonable, and the kids always love the animal encounters.
Have you visited before?
Our rating is:
4.5/5
