If you haven't visited The Newt in Somerset yet, let 2025 be the year that you do. If only because membership will let you save money on lots of attractions around the country - perfect if you're visiting Cornwall this summer. I say that because we took out a year's membership to the Newt when we were about to go to Cornwall because of the entry it gave us to other gardens. The Newt is about an hour away from where I live near Bristol, but even if we just went once in a year, it saves a lot of money as soon as we go to any of the partner gardens.
The Eden Project is included in their list of partner gardens, but if you have Eden Project membership, that doesn't get you into the Newt. So even though membership for the Newt is a little bit more than membership for the Eden Project, it's definately worth doing the maths and see if you'll also visit Kew Gardens or anywhere else included that year.
The Newt is a cider farm over a vast acreage. The main thing about it though is how beautiful it all is and how pristine everything is. The cider orchards are so neat that you can stand amongst them and in every direction you look, the trees are equally spaced in all directions. If you are a member of the Newt, then you get free entry to lots of their events. There are some things they'll do on top of the events such as a water colouring course for a whole day that includes lunch, and refreshments throughout the day, and those things have additional charges, but a lot of their normal events are included in membership - and these events are pretty special. We once saw a flower arranging course going on where it wasn't just a bit of foraged greenery and the odd flower, it was masses and masses of giant chrysanthemums and alliums and you ended up making something that looked like it should be in a really bougie wedding. Everything is just immaculate and done to the highest standard. There are also really nice restaurants there - but you absolutely feel like it's family friendly. It's got a National Trust vibe, and you would absolutely take your 3 year old to a National Trust property and let them run around, and here they can just run wild over lots and lots of parkland. There isn't a snobby feeling that kids shouldn't be there, and kids are actually free. You only buy a membership for the adults, but this still then covers kids to get into the Eden Project and other partner gardens.
The list of partner gardens in the UK include Kew Gardens, Wakehurst, Great Dixter, Borde Hill, The Story of Emily, Tresco, Trebah, Tregothnan, Tremenheere, Lost Gardens of Heligan, Blenheim, Eden Project, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. If you're travelling overseas the list also includes Winterthur in the USA, Chenshan in China and Babylonstoren in South Africa (this last one I think is owned by the same people as the Newt).
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