Visiting Harewood House with kids – day out in Leeds

If you think you know what to expect at England’s historic homes, a day at Harewood House with kids is enough to shatter a few of those illusions.

review visit*

Because while you have the elegantly grand mansion itself, that’s really only the start of the family-friendly temptations here – how about a secret tunnel? A ferry ride across the lake? Three separate walking trails? Several playgrounds?

Just 20 minutes outside Leeds, it’s easy to combine a visit to Harewood House with a family city break or as a fun detour off the M1 and A1M – although as we quickly discovered, you could very easily spend all day here… probably longer!

For more things to do in Leeds with kids, check out my top picks

I suspect my daughter could happily have while away hours in the fantastic adventure playground alone.

With separate areas for younger kids as well, it’s huge, with everything from logs to balance on to slides, climbing equipment and nets.

But even an adventure playground can’t beat animals for my nine-year-old… and Harewood House has an impressive collection of rare and exotic birds, along with farm animals.

EDIT: The rare birds have now been rehomed so you can no longer see the penguins and other animal inhabitants although there is a new treehouse play area which wasn’t there at the time of my visit

The highlight has to be the penguins, waddling around the rocks by the side of their pool before showing off their impressive speed and grace under the water.

In the enclosures nearby, there’s a whole host of unusual feathered creatures, from macaws and cockatoos to lovebirds, a flamboyance of flamingos and too many others to name.

Younger kids (and older ones, to be honest) will also love their small fluffy neighbours, including rabbits and guinea pigs, plus some actual pigs, alpacas and a small herd of extremely laid-back goats, who seemed to be enjoying the views out over the grounds.

Or possibly wondering how to break out and eat their way through the lush rolling hills… you never can tell with goats.

From here, it’s easy to stroll down towards the lake and out into the grounds. A little ferry chunters back and forth across the water to more gardens, which felt very tempting in the sunshine, although with limited time to explore, we had to give that one a miss on this visit.

Ordinarily there are longer boat trips on the lake too, although these aren’t always running – just wander down to the waterside and you’ll see the times and information.

You can pay for tickets by card in the Courtyard Information Centre, as these have a separate fee, otherwise it’s cash to the skipper at the dock for the tickets.

The grounds seem to stretch off way into the distance – while we were visiting, they were setting up for a live performance of Mamma Mia, so as we strolled past elegant borders and through the formal gardens, there was a distant soundtrack of Dancing Queen floating from far across the fields.

But to see the best of the grounds and gardens at Harewood House with kids, there’s the Three Parks Walk, stretching for three miles, which takes you through many of the highlights.

Split into three sections – the North Park, the South Park and the Lakeside tour – the circular walk also takes you to the Woodland Wonderland, with its natural playground, and out to All Saints’ Church, which dates back to Norman times.

You can break it up into separate parts if you don’t fancy walking the whole route in one go, which is what we decided to do – we did end up walking part of the route backwards, but it didn’t seem to matter too much.

Greeted by willow sculptures of leaping hares and tempted by a willow maze, Minnie loved the natural playground too, racing off through the tunnels to try to beat me to the exit, before hopping onto the willow throne as the victor.

Even more excitingly, there’s a secret tunnel in the North Woods, leading to the church, All Saints.

These days it’s not that secret – just follow the path! – but even the idea of a secret tunnel is tempting, designed it seems, to allow the vicar to travel to and fro without spoiling the view of the aristocratic residents of the house.

The Norman church itself is far older than the house, dating back to 1116, and still houses several intricately carved alabaster tombs, the final resting places of various members of 15th and 16th century nobility to have owned Harewood.

Once ornately painted, they’ve been called the finest in England outside a cathedral.

But while you could spend hours exploring the grounds – and we did – you can’t miss the house itself.

The rooms are glorious, packed with portraits, artworks – including the eye-catching giant 1.25 ton naked Adam sculpture (anatomically correct!) – as well as libraries to covet.

In fact there’s too much to take in in one visit. To give you an idea of the scale, there are 400 lightbulbs, which take 120 hours to change every year, while the carpets in the state rooms are so big, it takes 10 people to lift one (and six just to move it).

When Edwin Lascelles had the house built in 1759, he had some of the biggest names to create the masterpiece – interior designer Robert Adam, Thomas Chippendale to make the furniture, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown to landscape the gardens, as well as York-born architect John Carr.

Inside there’s a similar tally of great masters – Reynolds and Gainsborough are among those to paint the family portraits, the china is by Sevres, and there are Renaissance masterpieces on the walls.

But there are a few surprises to set Harewood House apart from the average stately home, including the African art in the gallery.

During our visit, there was an exhibition on Harewood’s links to slavery, as well as on their black footman Bertie who came from St Vincent in the Caribbean.

So as well as being able to trace the story of some of the house’s aristocratic owners, it was a reminder that there’s more to this Georgian country house.

The house also has royal links – Princess Mary, daughter of George V, married Viscount Lascelles, later becoming Countess of Harewood, and there’s a replica of her wedding dress on display as you explore.

If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, you’ll recognise the long gallery too, although it’s below stairs which has appeared most often on screen – the estate is also used for filming Emmerdale.

Down in the kitchens and servants’ quarters, they’ve filmed Victoria and Lost in Austen, as well as more Downton Abbey, with some of the replica food and dresses on display.

But there’s plenty to wow you apart from this: the gigantic collection of copper saucepans and moulds takes a team of volunteers around 50 hours to clean and polish.

We spent a while trying to guess what half the fancy shapes might have been used for, also spotting a vast copper pot which I reckoned I could have fitted my nine-year-old in. Although we weren’t allowed to test the theory…

You can download a digital guide using the QR code for more information as you explore, although inevitably we had to race through faster than I could read, finally strolling past the table set for dinner with the king, to emerge into the gorgeous formal terrace gardens.

On a summer’s day, I can’t imagine many prettier places to be, with bees buzzing through the lavender and fountains splashing, intriguing statues tucked around every corner, plus those views stretching out and out across the estate.

There are cafes and picnic places galore too, but if you want a real treat, you can’t beat afternoon tea in the old billiard room – one final indulgence for us, to end the day in a true aristocratic style.

As I was driving, I had to turn down the offer of G&T but swapped for a fantastic zingy non-alcoholic version, served in a huge fishbowl glass with fresh rosemary and mint from the gardens as a garnish. You’ll find regular themed and seasonal options to choose from whenever you visit.

My young companion got a hot chocolate, which pleased her no end (there’s also unlimited tea and coffee, plus other options including prosecco) to go with our sandwiches – cured salmon, and cucumber and dill were two favourites – as well as other savouries, scones and cakes.

Then with a faintly regal wave of the hand, it was time to bid farewell to the penguins and head back to our own slightly less grand home.

For ideas of more things to do in Yorkshire with kids, check out my top picks

Visiting Harewood House with kids: Need to know

Tickets for Harewood House vary depending what date you’re visiting on, but cost from £14 for adults and from £5 for kids, with family tickets also available. Children under four go free.

Always check the website before you visit as the house and state rooms are sometimes closed.

Harewood is open seven days a week, from 10am to 6pm (last entry at 5pm). The bird garden and farm experience closes slightly earlier, and the house is open from 11am to 4pm.

It’s around 20 minutes’ drive from Leeds city centre or you can take bus 36, which takes around 40 minutes including a short walk at the end.

For more things to do in Leeds with kids, check out my top picks, including the Thackray Museum of Medicine

PIN FOR LATER: HAREWOOD HOUSE WITH KIDS

Disclosure: My entry to Harewood House was free for the purposes of review, but all opinions – including those on secret tunnels and penguins – are my own.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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