THE ICE CREAM FARM
A Family Trip To The Ice Cream Farm
When the Sun is shining for the first time in months the only thing to do is hit The Ice Cream Farm! If you’ve never visited then you are missing a treat for the whole family.
We first started visiting the Ice Cream Farm around 2006 when it was just a small ice cream parlour and farm animal petting zoo. It isn’t far from Beeston Castle (a favourite picnic spot of my husband’s) so we would finish the day off with an ice cream each. It’s a hard life!
Over the years is has grown into the attraction it is today. I was quite surprised with the latest transformation as I haven’t visited since they rebuilt. They now boast the biggest ice cream parlour in the world and loads of other attractions to kept the kids busy.
It is about a 45 minute drive from my house as it is in the countryside outside of Chester. We arrived about 2pm and it was easy to find a parking space in their car park. Be careful crossing the road from the car park into the Ice Cream Farm. The path from the car park to the entrance has a slight incline but it is wheelchair accessible as are all the new attractions inside.
There is an information desk as you go through the entrance and the staff were very friendly. There is no entrance fee to go inside but they do charge for additional activities and these range from £1 to £3.75. Daisy’s Garden is a large playground in the centre of the farm. It is free and is where pretty much everyone will start their visit. You could easily go and just let your kids go wild in the playground and buy a couple of ice creams for a relatively cheap afternoon out. Of course that depends on how persuasive your kids are. 🙂
Around the outside of the playground area you will find all of the other activities. The full list is as follows:
The Ice Cream Parlour
Honeycomb Canyon (Indoor sand and water play area. Under 12 months – Free, under 3s – £3, 3 and over – £3.75)
Strawberry Falls (Miniature Golf. All ages – £3.75 per person)
Fudge Farm (Farm Animal Zoo. Free of charge)
Scoop (JCB Diggers. 4+ or parental discretion – £3.75 per play)
Silvercone (Electric quad bikes. 4+ or parental discretion – £1 per lap)
Fun Factory (Indoor soft play area – Under 12 months – Free, under 3s – £3, 3 and over – £3.75)
The Loft (Games Arcade. 7+ – £2.50 for half an hour, £5 for one hour, £8 for 2 hours)
The Pantry (Food and drink area)
There are also various shops selling sweets and souvenirs.
As you can see there is a lot to do. Thankfully my kids are not too demanding and were happy to play in Daisy’s Garden for most of the afternoon. My youngest really enjoyed Fudge Farm and they both had a lap on the electric quad bikes. My youngest rode with his Daddy. I think my husband enjoyed it more!
It’s worth mentioning that they sell discount passes for the additional activities and they seem quite reasonable although we didn’t buy them. They also advise to book the activities, which I’m not surprised by as it was very busy for an April afternoon. It must be jammed packed on a summer day. Also, they do not allow you to bring any of your own food and drink, which is a bit of a shame as the restaurant prices are on the expensive side. Luckily, we’d eaten lunch before we arrived.
We finished the afternoon with a visit to the Ice Cream Parlour. If you’ve never had Cheshire Farm Ice Cream, you are missing a treat. I’ve tried a lot of the flavours of the years and they are always fabulous, creamy and delicious. My youngest had vanilla and my daughter had marshmallow and bubblegum whilst my husband had chocolate/hazelnut and sticky toffee pudding. I had strawberry cheesecake. Yum!
We walked back to the car feeling happy with bellies full of lovely ice cream. The kids were asleep 5 minutes down the road. In my opinion that’s a sign they had a great time. The new setup at the Ice Cream Farm has made the experience more special and I like the way you don’t have to spend mountains of cash for a fun day out. If you are near Chester it is definitely worth a visit. Highly recommended.
