Surrey Family Farms: A Complete Guide for Days Out with Children
Surrey has three big farm parks that dominate every parent WhatsApp chat about days out with children: Godstone Farm on the M25 in the east, Bocketts Farm Park just outside Leatherhead, and Discovery Land at Priory Farm near Redhill. A short drive from any of them adds Painshill Park in Cobham (a heritage attraction rather than a working farm) and Denbies Hillside for a free chalk-grassland walk. This guide is written for families and carers trying to work out which one is the right call for their child's age, their postcode and their budget.
Families based in west Surrey (GU8, GU9 and GU10 covering Farnham, Elstead and Frensham) will find every venue in this guide 30 to 65 minutes away, with Painshill Park and Denbies Hillside the closest options; see the Farnham locations page for closer alternatives.
Godstone Farm
Godstone Farm and Playbarn on Tilburstow Hill Road, Godstone RH9 8LX opens 10am to 4.45pm every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Peak online tickets are £19.95 for ages 2 and up, £9.95 for one-year-olds, and free for under-1s. Parking is free. It is the biggest of the Surrey family farms in terms of covered play, and the closest to the M25 (three minutes from junction 6). See the full Godstone Farm listing for opening detail.
The site splits into three areas families rotate between across a full day: the farm trail with animal barns, the outdoor adventure playground with tobogganing runs, digging pits and bouncing pillows, and the Play Barn (Godstone's own site describes it as "Surrey's biggest soft play"). Every ticket includes all three. Godstone says it has over 500 animals across pigs, goats, sheep, alpacas, chickens, the reptile house and a rabbit walk. Feed bags are £2 each and animal encounters run to a timetable.
For older primary children, the reptile house is the anchor. Snakes, lizards and tortoises are kept in a heated indoor room with keeper talks scheduled through the day. The Dinosaur Roar discovery trail is a self-guided walk based on the Peter Curtis and Jeanne Willis picture-book series, with life-sized model dinosaurs and information boards pitched at Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2.
Godstone runs a peak/off-peak model. Off-peak is termtime weekdays; peak covers weekends, school holidays and bank holidays. Peak online: adult and children age 2 to 16 £19.95 each, 1-year-olds £9.95, under-1s free, on-the-day £2 more per ticket. A £2 booking fee applies per transaction. Free carer tickets are available for a companion accompanying a disabled child with proof of DLA, PIP, a Blue Badge or a medical letter. Prices from godstonefarm.co.uk, checked 24 August 2026.
What it costs a family of four: two adults and two children aged 4 and 8 on a peak weekend, booking online, is 4 x £19.95 = £79.80 plus a £2 booking fee, so around £81.80 for the day. Off-peak termtime the same family pays 4 x £16.95 = £67.80 plus the £2 fee, about £69.80. Feed bags are £2 each and animal encounters add nothing to the ticket; day-total add-ons are typically a picnic or the café rather than paid extras.
Drive times to Godstone are the deciding factor for many families. From RH8 (Oxted) and RH1 (Redhill), it is 10 to 15 minutes on quiet roads. From KT10 (Esher) and north Surrey, allow 25 to 35 minutes via the A3 and M25. From GU1 (Guildford) and GU21 (Woking), allow 40 to 50 minutes. Bocketts Farm at KT22 9BS is closer for west Surrey families and covers similar ground. West Surrey households tend to save Godstone for a specific reason: a birthday, a Halloween event, or because Bocketts is fully booked.
Halloween 2026 runs 17 October to 1 November at standard peak prices, and the two-week autumn half-term for Surrey community and voluntary controlled schools (19 to 30 October) falls entirely inside the event. Father Christmas runs the last two weekends of November and every weekend in December, with tiered daytime pricing.
Bocketts Farm Park
Bocketts Farm Park sits on Young Street in Fetcham, just outside Leatherhead at KT22 9BS. It is a working animal farm with soft play, jumping pillows, tractor rides and pig races, and it is open every day of the year from 10am to 5pm. Full detail lives in the Bocketts Farm Park family visit guide. Peak online prices for 2026: adult £19.50, senior £17.00, children aged 3 to 17 £21.50, one-year-olds £7.50, under-1s free, with a £1 online booking fee. Off-peak online is cheaper (adult £16.50, senior £14.50, child £17.50, one-year-old £5.50). Parking is free. Prices from bockettsfarm.co.uk, checked 24 August 2026. See the Bocketts Farm Park listing for the practical information.
The reason 3 to 6 year-olds tend to remember Bocketts is the Small Animal Encounters: children go into pens with staff and are shown how to hold a rabbit or feed a guinea pig properly, no glass, timetabled through the day. Bocketts holds a 4.7 Google rating from over 2,700 reviews. Pig Racing runs at 12:45pm and 3:45pm. Tractor rides are £2 per person, pony rides £3 for children aged 3 to 12 under 45kg.
From GU (Guildford, Woking, Godalming) postcodes Bocketts is 20 to 35 minutes via the A3. From KT22 (Leatherhead) it is a five-minute drive. From RH (Redhill, Reigate, Oxted) postcodes it is 25 to 40 minutes, and at that distance Godstone is usually the closer option. If you are choosing between Godstone and Bocketts, postcode does most of the work.
What it costs a family of four: two adults and two children aged 4 and 8 booking online at peak is 2 x £19.50 + 2 x £21.50 = £82 plus a £1 booking fee, so around £83 for the day. Off-peak termtime the same family pays 2 x £16.50 + 2 x £17.50 = £68 plus £1, about £69. Pony rides at £3 and tractor rides at £2 per person are the two paid extras families most commonly add, and the small-animal encounters and pig racing are included in the base ticket.
Painshill Park
Painshill Park in Cobham (KT11 1JE) is a paid-entry 18th-century landscape garden with a Crystal Grotto and Gothic Tower, not a working farm. It has meadows, lakeside walks and a natural play area, and the follies give it a novelty a straight park cannot match. On-the-door 2026: £15 adult, £7.50 child aged 5 to 16, under-5s and companions of disabled visitors free. Online is cheaper (£12.50 adult, £5.50 child plus £1 booking fee), with off-peak weekday rates of £10 adult and £5 child in the shoulder season. Parking is free. Prices from painshill.co.uk, checked 24 August 2026. See the Painshill Park listing and the full walking-and-follies detail in the Painshill Park family visitor guide.
Families going for animal contact should choose Godstone, Bocketts or Priory Farm. Families going for a long open walk with a picnic and three-plus hours of follies to find, enough novelty to reward a 6 to 11 year-old on a dry day, should choose Painshill. There is grazing livestock visible from parts of the circuit and a natural play area, but the day is a walk, not a play session.
What it costs a family of four: two adults and two children aged 4 and 8, booking online, works out at 2 x £12.50 (adults) + £5.50 (age 8, child rate) + free (age 4, under 5) = £30.50, plus a £1 booking fee, so around £31.50 for the day. On the door the same family pays 2 x £15 + £7.50 + free = £37.50. Under-5s and companion tickets are always free, so Painshill is the lowest-cost option in this guide for families whose youngest is not yet at school.
Discovery Land at Priory Farm
Discovery Land is the children's play space at Priory Farm Estate, Sandy Lane, South Nutfield, Redhill RH1 4EJ, roughly ten minutes from Godstone Farm and part of the same wider RH1 catchment. Pre-booked online prices in 2026 are £7.65 per person peak, £5.95 off-peak, both plus a 50p booking fee. Seniors aged 60+ pay £5 per person Monday to Friday. Under-2s are free, and everyone aged 2 and up needs a ticket. On-the-door rates are £8.65 peak and £6.95 off-peak, subject to availability. Anyone aged 16 or under must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Prices from prioryfarm.co.uk/discovery-land, checked 24 August 2026. Book online at prioryfarm.co.uk. See the Discovery Land at Priory Farm listing for the practical information.
The site is a way-marked nature trail through 40 acres, with treehouses, slides, a wooden castle, playhouses, a fairy forest, bug hotels and woodland walkways. Fish feeding is available at the lakes (except during Halloween and winter months). The Discovery Land Café serves refreshments on site, and the wider Priory Farm estate has a farm shop and garden centre next door, which is why so many families combine the two into a half-day out. In spring the woodland stretches carry bluebells; a spooky trail runs in October.
Discovery Land is best pitched at children aged 2 to 7 as a low-cost outdoor morning or an easy add-on to a Priory Farm shop visit, not a whole-day out. Term-time hours are 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am to 5pm at weekends, with last entry at 3pm. RH1 4EJ sits about six minutes off junction 6 of the M25 via the A25, so from Godstone it is a straight 15-minute cross-country drive.
What it costs a family of four: two adults and two children aged 4 and 8 booking online at peak is 4 x £7.65 = £30.60 plus a 50p booking fee, so around £31.10. Off-peak weekdays the same family pays 4 x £5.95 = £23.80 plus 50p, about £24.30. Under-2s do not need a ticket. That is why families with a toddler and one older sibling tend to use Discovery Land for a two-hour outdoor morning rather than treat it as a whole-day out.
National Trust Denbies Hillside
Denbies Hillside on Ranmore Common Road near Dorking (RH5 6SR) is a National Trust chalk grassland site with panoramic views over the Surrey Hills toward Leith Hill. It is free walking, not a play farm. Well-controlled dogs are welcome on leads where livestock is grazing. See the National Trust Denbies Hillside listing.
Parking is paid via JustPark or on-site machines: £2 for one hour, £4 for two, £6 for up to four, £9 all day, free for National Trust members. Paths are naturally uneven with some steep ascents, stiles and gates, and become muddy after rain. Denbies is a good pick for a free outdoor morning with genuine views; a poor pick for wheelchairs, heavy buggies or families expecting animal contact.
Chalk grassland butterflies including adonis blue and chalkhill blue are on the wing in high summer, and Second World War pill boxes sit along parts of the site. Pair it with a bakery stop in Dorking for a slower morning that does not blow the family days-out budget.
Which farm suits which age or occasion
The five venues in this guide are not directly interchangeable. This table is the shortest way to compare them for a family with children.
| Venue | Postcode | Best age | Indoor cover | Peak price band | Drive time from GU1 | Drive time from RH1 | Drive time from KT22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godstone Farm | RH9 8LX | 1 to 10 | Full (Play Barn) | £19.95 pp age 2+ | 40 to 50 min | 10 to 15 min | 30 to 40 min |
| Bocketts Farm Park | KT22 9BS | 2 to 10 | Full (Playbarns) | £21.50 child, £19.50 adult | 20 to 30 min | 25 to 40 min | 5 min |
| Painshill Park | KT11 1JE | 5 to 11 | None | £15 adult, £7.50 child on the door | 35 min | 40 to 55 min | 15 min |
| Discovery Land at Priory Farm | RH1 4EJ | 2 to 7 | Partial (café only) | £7.65 pp peak | 45 min | 5 to 10 min | 25 to 35 min |
| National Trust Denbies Hillside | RH5 6SR | 4 and up | None | Free entry, paid parking | 30 min | 20 to 25 min | 15 to 20 min |
The farms and venues in this guide appear here because parents and carers in Surrey have found them worth knowing about. KidzRGoGo has no commercial relationship with any provider listed and does not approve, inspect or endorse them. Always check directly with the venue before booking, particularly for current pricing, availability, opening times, Ofsted registration status and safeguarding policies. Details are based on publicly available information and may change.
For a family with a one-year-old and a five-year-old, Godstone and Bocketts do the same job and postcode picks the winner. For an all-ages day where a Reception child, a Year 3 and a Year 6 all need to enjoy themselves, Godstone edges ahead: the reptile house and Dinosaur Roar trail hold older primary attention while the Play Barn covers the toddler. For a first outdoor trip with a nervous toddler, Discovery Land is the softest landing. For a proper school-age walk, choose Denbies Hillside or Painshill.
Planning your visit
Booking. Godstone, Bocketts and Priory Farm sell online in advance for £2 or so less than on-the-door prices, and peak weekend slots in October half-term and around Christmas events sell out. Godstone's £2 booking fee is per transaction, not per ticket, so booking multiple families together saves.
Quiet times. Farm parks are busiest between 11am and 2pm on Saturdays and school-holiday weekdays. Arrive at opening for an hour of near-empty animal barns before it fills; bank holiday Mondays are the peak of the peak. Godstone runs an after-school termtime session from 3.30pm with the Play Barn open until 5.45pm.
Weather. Godstone and Bocketts stay open in rain and tickets are non-refundable regardless; pack wellies and lean on the indoor play barns. Painshill and Denbies Hillside are much less rewarding in the wet, so save those for a dry day.
What to bring. A picnic, spare socks (the digging areas at Godstone eat socks), hand sanitiser for after animal contact, and refillable water bottles. Contactless works everywhere; cash does not. Buggies are fine at Godstone and Bocketts but harder work at Painshill and impractical on Denbies Hillside.
Accessibility. Godstone and Bocketts are wheelchair accessible with disabled toilets, free carer tickets and Changing Places facilities in Godstone's Play Barn. Priory Farm is largely accessible on the flat outdoor trail. Painshill is largely accessible on the main paths but has some steep sections. Denbies Hillside has level parking, but the paths themselves are uneven and muddy after rain.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best family farm in Surrey?
The Surrey family farms most parents recommend are Godstone Farm (RH9 8LX), Bocketts Farm Park (KT22 9BS) and Discovery Land at Priory Farm (RH1 4EJ). Bocketts holds the highest Google rating at 4.7 from over 2,700 reviews, ahead of Godstone at 4.5 from more than 3,200 reviews. Which one is best for you depends on postcode: RH families go to Godstone, KT and GU families go to Bocketts, and Priory Farm's Discovery Land is a lower-cost outdoor option for pre-schoolers close to Redhill.
How much does Godstone Farm cost in 2026?
Peak online tickets at Godstone Farm are £19.95 for ages 2 to 16 and for adults, £9.95 for one-year-olds, and free for under-1s and for a carer accompanying a disabled child. Off-peak (termtime weekdays) is £16.95 per person aged 2 and up, and £8.50 for one-year-olds. On-the-day prices are £2 higher per ticket. A £2 booking fee applies per transaction rather than per ticket. Parking is free. Prices from godstonefarm.co.uk, checked 24 August 2026.
What is the difference between Godstone Farm and Bocketts Farm?
Both are working animal farms with soft play, adventure playgrounds and daily activities. Godstone has the larger Play Barn (Godstone calls it Surrey's biggest soft play) and is closer to the M25 for RH-postcode families. Bocketts has more hands-on animal contact, with children able to hold guinea pigs and rabbits inside the pens, and is closer for KT and GU families. Peak pricing is broadly similar. Google ratings favour Bocketts (4.7) slightly over Godstone (4.5), from similar review volumes.
Which farm is best for one-year-olds?
Bocketts Farm has a dedicated baby zone in the Playbarn and small-animal pens where a walking one-year-old can safely reach a guinea pig with a supervising adult. Godstone Farm charges only £9.95 for a one-year-old and includes the whole site. Discovery Land at Priory Farm is free for under-2s and runs on flat, easy paths that suit a first-toddler outing. Under-1s are free at all three.
Do Surrey farms take Tax-Free Childcare or HAF vouchers?
Godstone, Bocketts, Priory Farm and Painshill are pay-as-you-go family attractions, not Ofsted-registered childcare providers, so Tax-Free Childcare and Holiday Activities and Food programme funding do not apply. Families looking for HAF-funded holiday cover should check the Surrey County Council HAF pages and this site's holiday camps category, not the family farms guide.
Find more Surrey family days out
Farm parks are one of the best days out Surrey families can do together. Browse the wider family-friendly farms category for more listings, or search by area on the Surrey towns directory. October half-term 2026 falls inside a two-week autumn break for Surrey community and voluntary controlled schools; see our October half-term activities in Surrey 2026 guide for the weekend-by-weekend picture.