[Ad- gifted experience] We are a huge fan of light trails and love exploring them, whenever we can! Wintertime is just made so much better with light trails. When looking for some new light trails to explore, we headed to Luminate at Sandringham Estate. Luminate is putting on a few different events at various locations across England and Wales, so it’s worth checking to see if they have one near you and which one would be best for you as well.
Luminate has their light trail along with a few rides and food stalls at the start. These stalls and rides can be explored without having any sort of ticket. There is a stand that sells ride tokens, then a few fairground rides like a Ferris Wheel, some Spinning Cups, a long slide, and those moving swings. We didn’t end up going on any of the rides, as we were here for the trail, but did enjoy walking around this area! They also have all of the classic food stands like the German sausage stall, gyros, hot chocolate and churros.
The trail is to the side of this area, which has an entrance where you can present your tickets before heading in. A talking bear greeted us and welcomed us to Luminate at Sandringham Estate, who explained a little overview on what we would see; other creatures, maybe some fairies, a lot of Christmas Magic, and even, possibly, the bear’s wife. We then started on our way! This walk was on the longer side, full of so many different interaction points that made it fantastic for children. There was a giant piano, a three-instrument band, and a game where you needed to stop the red light when it hit the green light. These interactions were spread out, so you didn’t hit them all at once, and they were very fun for younger children. Robin and Amelia said these were their favorite bits! Another fun interaction at Luminate at Sandringham Estate was the questions and answers, giving some holiday themed jokes, along the path. It was very fun to jump ahead, read them, and then think of the answers as we made our way to them.
Of course, this light trail had tons of beautiful lights and a few different light tunnels. They were fantastic to look at and look through, with some being more Christmas themed and others being just beautiful. The highlights in the light trail was probably the disco ball area, which had tons of reflecting light, and the area which had you go through a sort of portal-esque moving light. It just was so captivating! Their fairy village, which is always a fun one to see, had a lot of room, instead of being a sort of close to the path area, so you could see the village trailing back into the trees.
Luminate at Sandringham Estate also had a make a wish area, where we could fill out little tags and tie them to a fence to make a wish. We all made our wishes, which were very fun to do, before heading to the next bit. Halfway, there was a bunch of fantastic fire pits, a small hot chocolate stand and a pizza stand. We grabbed some hot chocolate and marshmallows to toast, while watching the lights above us. There was even a live band in this area playing a bunch of classic holiday songs. Every aspect of this walk was just well done and it felt like this winter walk ticked all of the boxes.
We had such a fun time at Luminate at Sandringham Estate – it’s a light trail that really feels good for all ages. From younger children to couples going on a date night, there is so much to see and so much on offer. If you want to make a longer day of it, having the option to go to the fairgrounds is also a fun addition!