An Evening Out at Enlightened Hylands Estate

There are a ton of light trails in Essex and we were looking to hit quite a few! After going to Enlightened Colchester last year, we wanted to bounce back to the Enlightened closest to us; Hylands Estate, which we had not visited since 2021. Enlightened Hylands Estate is one of the Enlightened Trails in and around Essex, of which there are quite a few! These trails, we find, are ideal for children as there are tons of interactive moments and lots of good places to take pictures.

There are always a few constants in Enlightened events; a fairy-themed trail some sort of disco balls, and lots of interactions! We walked in through the front and went right by the giant Enlightened sign. There are tons of parking at Hylands Estate, so it wasn’t hard to get to the entrance. There are a few food trucks here, but as this is also the exit, we decided to go on through! There are lots of vibrant lights at Enlightened Hylands Estate, with the first interaction being close to the entrance. There are a bunch of light beams that you can move around, a talking tree to welcome you into the park, and then lots of light up deer along the way. The fair area has various cages with animated fairies in them along with fairy doors along the ground. It’s quite magical and whimsical.

We had a fantastic time looking around and the music was very perfect. The next interaction felt very unique to Enlightened Hylands Estate; a few tablets where we could change the patterns and colors of a projector on a house. We’ve not seen this before and all three of our children had a fun time designing the house. At this interaction point, there was a worker letting people know when their turn was up and explaining things, which is very helpful when it comes to queues and keeping things moving. There are fields of dancing lights and giant vine-like lights all up in trees. We ended up going down a dead end, but quickly made it back to the path.

There were a few photo frames around Enlightened Hylands Estate, but these didn’t have particularly good backdrops, so we continued forward without them. There were light tunnels; both one of fairy lights and a blue, neon triangle one too, which I quite enjoyed walking through! Another area had balls of light strung down, which were very fun to walk through. We also stopped at the Naught or Nice dial, which is always a hit with everyone, and waited in the queue to see if we were naughty or nice. There is a trail off this path to the bathrooms, which also has food stands, but we didn’t realize the food stalls were down this way and missed them completely.

We did see the fountains of water, dancing in the lights, and the disco-ball area of the forest which is always so breathtaking. We all made wishes on the wish cards, which allow you to write a wish and tie it to the fence. There was also a Simon Says mini-game, which allowed you to tap buttons based on colored lights that flash, which Amelia was particularly good at. Enlightened Hylands Estate ended with a lot of color. There was dancing fountain lights, which is Dann’s favorite, and rainbow beams coming across the entire field. It’s absolutely beautiful. Robin enjoyed hopping on the colored circles towards the exit of the park as well.

Once we got out of the main trail, we stopped at the food truck to grab some of the little pancake balls, covered in syrup. It’s a great end to a fantastic evening and we look forward to going to another Enlightened trail next year!

Check out our list of the best Wintertime Lights Trails in England