Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens Reviews 58

This was our first visit since the gardens reopened following the restoration under new ownership.

The gardens in full spring bloom are brilliant-breathtakingly wonderful! Worth 5 stars! The 'Beyond the Doll's House' is amazing and I spent about 45 mins taking it in. There were joeys in the wallabies' pouches which I'd never seen before.

We didn't take a picnic as we are now just two however, it does seem unusual if picnics are banned as reviews state. When our children were small, it would have been hard to purchase food for all on top of the tickets. The clocktower restaurant and outside eating areas is pleasant. Lots of food had run out when we went for a late lunch however the pizza was very tasty.

I suppose living in London, we are used to steep entrance fees so felt the entrance fee was reasonable. Regarding parking, whether it's included varies from place to place and it certainly wouldn't be included in Kew nor in many National Trust properties.

Overall we had a lovely day out!

First time back to visit today in 5 years. Gardens looking lovely, especially at this time of year. We paid £16.50 each for entry, but were then informed that there was an additional parking charge of £4.80! Horrific to be totally honest. Not as if you have a choice to park elsewhere locally. Really disappointed and we feel that we have been ripped off.
3 Stars for the garden.
O Stars for the parking charges.

Paid £40, turn up to be told its £5 to just park.
We were welcomed by Rude staff and told we had to take our picnics including our childrens drinks back to our cars before we entered, leaving the children all upset and hungry a quarter of the way round. We finish the walk only to find many others sitting around enjoying their picnic and members brining in their own takeaway drinks and nothing was said to them. It was very dissapointing visit and clearly another massive money making scheme. Kids were unhappy and very dissapointed.

Dissapointed in you Leonardslee Garden Xmas Lights!! Well I missed the lights yet another year as the first time I came in 2024 I brought my Mum and Dad who both have mobility issues. Even though I was in contact directly with Leonardslee as I treated my parents to Cream Tea first. I was not advised regarding all the hills/slopes in the venue. Therefore we were unable to take the tour of the gardens and requested a wheelchair within 10 mintues of being there. I then rebooked this year for me and a friend to come instead but with the horrendous storms that day/evening it was not safe for me to come along. Having that I have a healing fracture in my back I was very nervous to attend. I appreciate that the weather is not Leonardslee fault. However I emailed and kindly asked for a new date NOT a refund and they said NO. So you let me down on 2 occasions

Whilst the gardens are lovely, and the park for the children is certainly one of the better ones around, my poor review stems from the following factors:
1. Pricing — extremely steep for what is delivered. It wouldn't be as egregious if the following points didn't also apply.
2. No outside food or drink — when you price membership at a premium to then expect families to purchase what is overpriced food is pure greed to be honest.
3. When we took out an annual membership there was a discount for food purchased on site, that was removed part way through the year.
4. The illuminations had nowhere near enough tickets allocated for members, essentially giving preference to full paying non-members, again pure greed.
5. Inflatables event — charging to spectate, enough said.

Goes without saying but your money is better spent with the national trust — far better value for money and supports a conservation institution rather than a wealthy private family.

Christmas lights at Leonardslee Gardens
- what an immense disappointment this year. We are members and have gone to the Christmas lights every year for the past 3 or 4 years. It has always been magical - long wonderful walk around both sides of the lake with the sculptures glowing in coloured lights, magical lit dragonflies on the ponds and flowers alight on the lakes. The most spectacular world globe hanging over the lake changing colour and a Moon globe also suspended over the lake glowing with changing colours. There was always an entry through a fairground with food area which set the scene and created a Christmas feel.
Then come to this year! The walk was only one side of the lake and mostly consisted of following the dirt path guided by a single string of fairy lights to show the way. A few paper animals with white lights inside from years past. No sculptures lit, very few trees lit. The world globe was pulled to the side over a corner of the lake and the moon globe hung over a patch of flattened earth. The music was tinny, repetitive, loud and terrible - the light show was spotlights that blinded you when not strobing across the sky which they did at odd intervals. No entry Christmas fair or food area - only at the end where there were a few burger places, nothing with any atmosphere or anything suggesting Christmas. This year was neither hi-tech nor as in the past magical.
I had bought tickets for family members telling them these were the best Christmas lights they would ever experience...... how wrong I was!
We love visiting the gardens and do so many times throughout each year. If this is what we can now look forward to on Christmas I will not be returning. What an enormous disappointment and frankly not worth the 3 hour round trip travel.

Don't waste your money. Awful event this year compared to 2023 & 2024, shorter trail, awful music especially near the end of the trail, sounded like medieval chanting. the lake was the best part seeing the trees reflecting in the water. Actors asked if I had carrots and tbh were very odd, only saw 3 at the beginning of the trail. Total rip off we won't be back

Very poor experience, very expensive. We have been previous years and its been impressive but this year so disappointing, a new short route, over busy and congested in places, boring repetitive music, wont be returning.

So seen as they didn’t reply to my message I will be posting this up everywhere. This is what I emailed them and this was my experience

I am writing to express my deep frustration regarding the Christmas illuminated trail walk lights I attended on 20th December 2025. I am truly not impressed with how much I spent on an experience that was completely boring and not thought out at all. This wasn’t a Christmas trail, it felt more like an endless walk with minimal enjoyment. The price I paid is absolutely outrageous, and I feel like I have been robbed.

You see more ornaments outside than actual Christmas lights, and I'm left wondering where all the money is going. It honestly felt like a museum in the night. The Christmas lights looked cheap and tacky, especially considering that there are ornaments outside priced at £3,500. This raises serious questions about the value being offered, as it certainly does not reflect a premium experience.

To make matters worse, my friend was told to pay for a drink that you don’t even sell. I had to inform the staff that it was Ribena, that you only sell Pip. Additionally, on the trail walk, I encountered a satanic statue that left me questioning what part of the Christmas theme that represented. It was not only out of place but also very disgusting and creepy.

We were also told by staff that we couldn’t even take pictures and had to keep moving. What exactly am I paying for? On the websites it says you are allowed to take pictures!! This was far from a Christmas trail walk, and I can confidently say that after attending three separate Christmas walk trails, this experience was by far the most disappointing and not worth the money.

I also wanted fresh doughnuts, but when I asked for them, I was met with an attitude from the staff. This level of service is completely unacceptable.

I am extremely unhappy with what I spent my money on, and I urge you to take these concerns seriously. I expect a prompt response to discuss this matter further, as I believe it is essential for you to address these issues.

Replying back to the replier. Your words mean nothing it just shows how rubbish and cheap it was cause your site is listed 1 out of 5 not even a 2 😂 and I’m not the only one that thinks it was a load of crap as I said the ornaments that was listed for £3000 the scenery should of been better. You guys should be giving people refund instead of acting like you done something special Christmas or not it was shit. Even when it came to the satanic statue what excuse you have for that nothing and what’s crazy is you wanted to justify yourself on here but couldn’t email me back shows how you guys are. So everyone that’s reading the best places to go beside this as it was laughable as all they are gonna do is make excuses after excuses GO TO Tulleys lights was good food was fresh and the lights amazing it was like a maze. Next up Windsor Great Park Illuminated amazing site I have been there for the second year bloody amazing from fresh food everything amazing thank you to the staff and the last one where I said was so interesting and different was Christmas at Kew (not the one in London) food wasn’t fresh but the lights was really good. Go to these 3 even though. Thank me later 🥰

We went to the Christmas light show as a family of 4 to get in the festive spirit. We paid £95. It was so disappointing. Down by the lake was beautiful but crowded which wasn’t a surprise as it truly was the only good part of the whole trail. It took about 25mins to walk the whole route and to be honest about 5 mins of that was worth it. Once you left the lake the only thing left to see was a tunnel of lights that we were told not to take photos in as it made a queue so only take a video as you walk through. The rest of the path was just a rope with lights round and a couple of light up models in the trees. The actors were a bit pointless, we saw 4 and they added nothing to the experience. The food court was not festive, just some food trucks and 2 fires you could roast marshmallows over that were super busy. Really disappointing and not worth the money. Will not go again. They really got it wrong.

Disappointing! Light display is not as good as previous years! Hardly any performers! Don’t waste your money

Have been to previous light shows at Leonardslee and last years 2024 was beautiful. Penny this year is a disgrace. Only took 35 mins, trail is just a gravel track lit by fairy lights with the odd paper mache animals. No atmosphere, repetitive music. As members we only paid booking fee. If people don't demand refunds I will be surprised. Truly the worst experience ever and we have seen a few I 70years.

We visited today (18th Dec 25) with the yellow adverse weather warning in place, having been told we would not be allowed to reschedule on the day and that if they deemed it unsafe they would cancel the event. Well, they clearly have no regards for customer safety, not only around the gardens but also people travelling to the event with roads flooded and cars aqua planing on the road leading to the gardens.
When we arrived at the event at 4:15 (scheduled start time) there was torrential rain so much so that we had to sit in the car for 15 minutes before we were able to get out and load our 4 month old baby into the pushchair. We had planned to use a baby carrier to navigate the steep slopes but there was no way of keeping the baby dry as umbrellas are forbidden. Instead we had to use the pushchair with the cover and had the baby at an almost vertical decline in the bassinet going down the slippery water sodden slope that the wheels kept on catching on. No sign of the buggy that they said goes round.
The light display in itself was terribly poor and as I have now seen (if only I had the hindsight to read reviews before hand) the lighting most consisted of fairy light wrapped around on side of the fence. There were a few displays that might have actually been worth looking at if the rain wasn’t coming down so hard it hurt to stop but there was no consistency in lighting and there were a lot of dark areas. The two main points of interest were the lake (barely illuminated with a few lots of mist being puffed out) and the tunnel. The tunnel being the only good part, we were blessed I suppose in that we didn’t have to queue. Probably as so few people had managed to turn up to the event.
Performer wise, there were two women dressed as fairy’s covered in fairy lights. That was it. Nothing like the advertisement of fire dancers etc in their videos. Now either, they are falsely advertising what the event consists of, or the weather was so bad they weren’t able to have any performances. Either way I am absolutely disgusted that we paid money for this experience, my partner paid as I am on maternity leave, but I believe it was about £45 entry for the two of us, plus a booking fee for the ‘free’ under 2’s baby ticket.
Before we went in, I was advised to feed the baby in the car as there was no where dry to stop and feed. Which honestly was probably the only thing that saved the experience. There is no where to stop or go to the loo the entire way around, only at the very end. The food options were poor and there was not much choice but we settled on the clock tower cafe as at least it meant we could sit in the dry and had an overprice (£8) microwaved bland hotdog (the bun was boiling hot and soggy) and dry cold burger. There isn’t a market or fairground as I have been told by friends that there have been in previous years.
The baby changing facilities were appalling also, dirty and had wipes left on them. Not really where you want to be putting a baby down.
I was so done with the whole trip that we sped through the shop, although it did look somewhat decent, if not over priced.
Finally heading back to the car, drenched, cold and miserable, my partner joked that the car park lights were probably the best thing about the whole experience.
Oh and I’ve also read on here, that over 45 minutes you have to pay for parking, so I’m just hoping we don’t get a ticket as we were not told about it when we arrived.
We will never be visiting Leonard’s Lee again. I know they says they are two separate companies and they have nothing to do with the lighting. But for the health and wellbeing of there customers they should be closing the events when the weather is this terrible. They also should be managing the cleanliness of their facilities.

Very poor experience at “illuminated” this year. We’ve been going since 2022 and this year was far smaller and far more crowded. I’ll not bother again.

Re the reply: We took the last evening slot and would have no idea how to choose a less busy night. You’ve nothing say about the severely reduced area covered and reduction of features this year?

I had tickets for tonight (18 Dec) - there are weather warnings out for the Horsham, West Sussex area - the rain is lashing down the wind is howling and there is standing water everywhere. However, Leonardslee Management have decided to risk the welfare of visitors and NOT cancel the illuminations this evening. I find this an utterly cynical, money-grabbing decision and they should be ashamed of themselves. I will NEVER go back to this place again.

We come here year for the light display with all the family as a tradition. NEVER AGAIN!! so so bad... everyone was all saying the same and couldn't quite belive how awlful it was... rip off!!

I a group of 10 friends and family attending a wreath making workshop.
We were spoken to like children, if we do not handle our tools in the way the instructor said she would take them away.
No Christmas music.
No offering of anything but caffeine or mulled wine. No other options given like other laves who provide soft drinks and hot chocolate.
No ribbon for the wreath as that is to ‘too fiddly’
Called out table by table to collect items to make the wrath by the time my table got to go outside to get floral additions, none were left. We were told you get what’s left. Awful patronising tone from the instructor not a professional florist and didn’t help or provide direction whatsoever fo help struggling participants.
Didn’t get offered a MINI mince pie that we saw on the side, guessing they were for guests.
When a complaint was made, we were told sorry our experience didn’t meet your expectation. Of course they do not care now that they have our £550 to even attempt to make it right and only offer a standard reply that makes no changes.

We received an annual membership as a gift and enjoyed visiting the gardens and the Lights event last year.

However I am leaving a negative review after some particularly bad customer service that we have experienced.

We wanted to visit Lights again this year but due to a fault with their member booking system we were unable to book members free tickets before they sold out.

We had to book tickets (members half price) over the phone, which we were fine with.

This week our 17 month daughter was very unwell and admitted to hospital. I called Leonardslee to see if we could move our Lights tickets to later in the month when she will have recovered, I was advised that they can't make changes over the phone and was told to email in.

I sent an email explaining the circumstances and was swiftly told that their system does not allow changing of tickets. So, I asked for a refund, I was told that I could only get a refund if I booked with secure my booking. This was never offered to me when I booked over the phone.

This experience has left a real sour taste in our mouths, and shows Leonardslee as an organisation that doesn't care for it's members.

We had planned to renew our membership for next year but have since cancelled.

Re the Christmas lights event - Disappointing Experience Due to Poor Management and Lack of Basic Facilities
We were really excited to attend Lensley Lights for the first time this year, especially as members of Leonardslee Gardens who had missed it last year. Unfortunately, our experience ended up being extremely disappointing due to issues that felt entirely avoidable.
When we arrived, there was a long queue, which we didn’t mind at first. However, my husband needed the toilet after about 20 minutes of waiting. We noticed there were no facilities available while queuing, so we decided to wait until we were inside. Only a few minutes into the event, we realised there were no toilets at all within the trail. An event organiser told us the only option was either to leave through the entrance we had just come through or face an hour-long wait to reach the nearest facilities at the café – which would effectively mean missing the entire event.
We were shocked to then be told that if we left to use the toilet, we would not be allowed back in. This felt incredibly inflexible and unfair, especially given that the lack of toilets was not made clear anywhere. The situation quickly became needlessly adversarial, and we felt we were being treated as though we were doing something wrong when we simply needed basic facilities that should reasonably be available at an event of this size.
The interactions with staff were surprisingly formal and unsympathetic, which added to the distress of the situation. We were put in an impossible position: either miss the entire event or ignore a very real need for the toilet. Ultimately my husband had no choice but to leave, and I stayed behind to avoid losing our place altogether.
Once we were finally able to continue through the lights, the event itself was overwhelmingly crowded and commercial. Despite having timed entry slots, the number of people inside felt excessive. It was slow, congested, and didn’t have the gentle, festive atmosphere we had hoped for. By the time we exited, we realised that reaching the café toilets from inside would indeed have taken more than an hour.
Overall, what should have been a special evening was overshadowed by poor planning, lack of basic facilities, and an unnecessarily rigid approach from staff. We left feeling upset and very disappointed. I hope the organisers will seriously reconsider their policies and provide on-site toilets or a clear re-entry system in the future, as the current set-up is not suitable for families, older visitors, or anyone with health needs.

In the words of a rather deflated looking father “it wasn’t what I thought it would be.” 🫤