REVIEW: An Enchanting Christmas Light Trail near Swindon - Westonbirt Arboretum

At the start of the Enchanted Christmas season at Westonbirt Arboretum, we were lucky enough to experience this magical, festive evening out to see what all the fuss was all about and it didn’t disappoint!

If you’ve never been to Westonbirt before, you’ll have no issues finding it as once you approach the entrance, you’re greeted with a beautiful glow of coloured lights, giving you a taste of what to expect. Parking is very well organised, with marshals giving those entering directions for where to park, making it a very smooth operation.

Once you’ve parked, you take a short walk under the twinkling lights towards the little entertainment and refreshment village where you can enjoy mulled cider, hot chocolates, hot dogs, burgers as well as funfair rides before you head into the main event.

Tickets operate in 10 minute time slots, allowing entry to the light show to run very smoothly with no queuing. We opted for a couple of warm mulled wines (they offer English and Scandinavian) and luxury hot chocolates topped with whipped cream and marshmallows which really hit the spot on a very cold evening!

Once entering the light show, we were transformed into a magical, immersive experience - with towering trees lit up from root to tip in beautiful colours, as well as little festive surprises along the way. We won’t give too much away - but you can expect talking trees, laser beams creating beautiful effects, interactive games for the children and lots more. The Westonbirt team have meticulously thought out this trail to ensure that visitors can truly appreciate the beauty of the trees and portray how magical the forest really is, with a lovely festive twist. 

The trail took us around an hour to walk around, however this could be made longer or shorter depending on how much detail you'd like to look at all the lights (we recommend you do take your time as there is so much to see that you may miss at first glance!)

There is also a mini village at the halfway point with toilets and more refreshments if you feel a little peckish or thirsty whilst walking around.

What we loved so much about this trail is that you simply don't know what to expect as you turn around each corner, from start to finish you're greeted with truly wonderful surprises!

Once we reached the end of the trail, we were warmly greeted by The Rock Choir, a fantastic group of people singing festive songs for everyone to enjoy. It was a lovely surprise and everyone was getting involved, dancing and singing along. We certainly felt very Christmassy after this!

This is a much loved festive event that we mark in our calendars every year and it just gets better and better, year on year, and we highly recommend you mark it in your calendars too. The light show runs from 24th November - 23rd December and you can get tickets here!

Thank you so much to Westonbirt for providing such a magical experience for all ages just a short drive from Swindon!