I cannot rave enough about Finkley Down Farm. I don't even have kids I can use as an excuse - I…read moresimply come here to relax and spend some time with the animals. The atmosphere is relaxed and peaceful and the abundance of cute greedy animals desperate for you to feed them is nothing short of delightful. Their animals range from goats and sheep to chickens to cows right over to the more unusual llamas and highland cows. Even if you're not into getting close to the animals or feeding them the buckets of food available at the ticket office, just watching them mooch around is still fun and relaxing. The llama took somewhat of a disliking to me (was it something I said?) and stormed at me, looking like it could easily clear the fence and gain its freedom. I wasn't going to hang around to find out. One look at my pathetic retreating hide running off into the distance was enough to reduce its anger to mere disdain, and instead he decided to spit all over me. In some sort of random heroic act, the pig sharing its pen flung itself at the llama as if to take the blow for me, and rather than reflect on the llama soaking I'd been given, I instead watched this pig take one for the team. Right in the eye, no less. From hereonin, I shall name this pig SuperPig. If you do have kids you can pretend are the reason for visiting, there's plenty to keep them occupied. Other than the animals you can feed, there are talks and handling sessions with some of the smaller or baby pets throughout the day. There's also a nice adventure playground and a couple of trampolines to wear them out on too. There's a small gift shop and a place to buy some food, as well as a picnic area if you're sensible enough to bring your own food. I love this place and can't wait to go back when it reopens for the season next year.

A lovely little petting farm for a day out with the family. Entrance fee is very reasonable. Farm…read moreisn't huge by anyone's standards but just about big enough for an afternoons walking about without it being too much for the little/older ones. Lots to see and many activities laid on for the children. Arm them with a bucket of food from the entrance first though or you will find yourself running back for some! On site cafe sells everything from fish & chips to ice cream or just a cuppa. Toilets well sign posted and clean. Lots of basins and hand gel dotted around for after you have touched the animals. Nice staff who are kid friendly. Congratulations to the farm for keeping the gift shop prices low, lots of souvenirs on sale for under £2.

This newly open soft pay area is a welcome addition to the area. Exclusively for the under 5's it…read moreis a very clean and safe environment for kiddies. Lots of healthy snacks for the kids and decent coffee for mum's & dads. Good toilet & baby changing facilities. Tue, wed & Thurs free light buffet at midday. We go most weeks:)

Nice little under 5's soft play area, with a cafe. A bit like sitting in someone's front room, as…read morequite small but nice for a change. Nice when it's quiet, but can get a bit crowded when busy. Available for private parties. Staff are always friendly and the entrance charge is fair. They have special offers on at specific times.

To be honest, for the price paid, I did expect to see a bit more animals and possibly also a bit…read morebigger property, but I understand that running a farm like this it's not cheap, so glad to chop in a bit. I came in with a friend during a weekday afternoon and we felt like we were out of place not having a child with us, but I can see why this place was overtaken by kids. It is a great opportunity for them to learn more about animals and for the parents to take a little break while their kiddos are running around with others. Really all the visitors except us were parents with children. If childless like us, you can easily run through the whole place within 25 minutes while getting some cuddles in with bunnies and goats. You can be out within half an hour if you don't arrive around the time when they have some of their special program going on (such as milking a cow, brushing ponies etc.). We were not lucky enough to catch those but it still was nice to see the farm. However, I would not return for the price. I would definitely recommend this spot for parents or nannies that are looking for entertaining their children. Cheers!

this place is brilliant! i first took my son when he was 15…read moremonths and he loved it. there is so much to do. they have lots of animals including ponies, pigs and cows. my little one loved it when they let the piglets run free, we nearly bought one. they have a great range of activites including bottle feeding lambs and goats, woodland walks, play areas, bouncy castles and straw mountain. They also offer tractor rides and pedal tractors n go karts for the kids. It is great fun for children of all ages and is reasonibly priced, we had buy one get one free entry after visiting corfe castle earlier in the week they have a restaurent which is very family orientated with an abundense of highchairs. well worth a trip.

A great softplay venue in a purpose-built building on a farm with a theme of snow and penguins…read more Good equipment, all very clean and well organised. There is a rumour that there will be outside equipment in the summer. The staff are very friendly and the lunches are great; all home cooked, with children, adults, vegetarians and salad eaters all catered for. Excellent chips - some people drop in just for lunch. The only downside is an overemphasis on health and safety; knitting is forbidden and pushing two tables together for larger parties earns a stern rebuke!

A great day out if the weather is fine. For families with children, there is much to keep all…read moreentertained, but limited indoor activities / attractions. Nevertheless, all the facilities and gardens are well maintained, clean, litter-free and the staff are friendly. A model railway exhibition and shop can be found in the building at the entrance and there are a number of good restaurants, you can even take a cream tea on the lavish Pullman railway carriage. Take a stroll through the gardens, a steam train ride, let the kids loose on the play areas. All are included in the price, with the exception of the crazy golf course. Overall an enjoyable day's outing and great value.

Great place to take the kids. Lovely view of Beer, real miniature steam train is good fun, park has…read moreslides swings, adventure playground. Recommended for a day out with kids.

Perfect family day trip to this farm! It is so different from other farms as it has unique animals…read more They have such a big variety of animals and even a park for children to play in after visiting the animals. Price is £5 per adult but can get a season pass for £20 so that's a good price I think and means can return whenever you wanted to. There is a cafe also with a souvenirs shop. Would recommend a trip.

I was told about the Chew Valley country farm by my cousin who had visited it on Easter bank…read moreholiday Friday, I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it before. We decided to visit on bank holiday Monday. It was a beautiful hot and sunny day which was a good start to our visit. We have a 1 year old little girl who absolutely loves animals and is used to visiting our local community farm in Windmill Hill. We struggled across the stoney forecourt with our pushchair and saw the sign on the door of the cafe asking us to go in to pay, the entrance fee was about £5 per adult. The lady who greeted me was friendly and cheerful and we spoke about the wonderful change in weather in true British style!! We spent about an hour wandering around the various animals, all the animals seemed to be healthy and happy and their living quarters were extremely spacious and clean, our favourites were the sheep, geese and wallabies, we even got to see a baby wallaby in its mother pouch, the information about the animals was very informative and easy to read with just the right amount of information. When we had finished looking at the animals we went and played in the park for a while, the swing for babies was really good and my little girl really enjoyed it, it was surprisingly quiet for a bank holiday Monday and we didn't have to queue to use the swing (we nearly always have to in our local park) Before we left we decided to sit down and have a drink and an ice cream, the ice cream was local and was absolutely delicious, it cost £4.90 for 2 cans and 2 tubs of ice cream which i think is pretty reasonable, So in summary for a nice 1/2 day out the Chew valley farm is definitely a good choice, the £5 entry price is OK considering that you get to see such a wide variety of animals but it does mean that I won't be visiting every week, not sure if they offer any kind of membership but I would probably be interested in it if it was available.

When my daughter was small I would take her here occasionally, but mainly we went for another…read morechild's birthday. It's a sort of jungle gym. with slides, tubicular twisty things and lots of balls to land on. There is a section for under a certain age, but otherwise you've got a mix of two year olds to around six. Disastrous. If I ever left my daughter while I sat to chat to another parent, she would sooner or later come out in tears. If I stayed in there with her, I seemed to perpetually need to free her from the grasp of another child or repeat 'Please don't do that to my child' like a record stuck in a groove. Daughter is too big now, and has plenty of interests elsewhere. Oh relief! It is rather expensive, and costly in socks too as they have to remove their shoes - small mercy. A good idea, but needs refining

Great place to entertain the kids whilst adults can relax and have a drink. Older children are kept…read moreaway from very young children and hot drinks are in a seperate area away from the children so its very safe.. Like all indoor play areas can be noisy and children must wear socks at all times.. Busier times you are restricted to a time limit but will be told that when you pay, unbusier times time limit doesnt apply..

This used to be Xtreme night club, but they closed it down and made it in to a childrens slides and…read moreball park. Children from 0 -10 are allowed in and they seperate playing areas, my children are slightly at the older end but still love it. Its always busy, they sell food, drinks and alcohlic drinks as there is a bar in the bowling alley attached. There are comfy seat for parents/guardians to sit atI normally take the children and a book and everyone is then happy!! I went yesterday, I took 4 children, 26 year olds, 28 year olds, it cost me £19 entry and I paid a further £14 for food and drink for all of us. We stayed for around 2 hours and lots of fun was had by all of them!

We visited with our toddler, but overall it was a disappointing experience. The design of the whole…read moreplay area makes it difficult to keep an eye on wandering toddlers as there are many blind spots. I have been to soft play centres where the design is much better thought out with parent anxiety in mind. The price of catering at the venue is extortionate for very basic things like sandwiches. The staff serving are polite but not exactly friendly.

My boyfriend and I took his two young children (5 and 3) here a few weeks ago on a very chilly…read moreTuesday morning. We had the entire place to ourselves and other than the weather, it was perfect. We started with the animals. The gave us a bag of feed and the sheep came running down the hill to see us. All of the animals were very eager for us to feed them. Most of them were gentle, but the larger goats were very aggressive. It's not like we thought that they would hurt us, they were just pushy and scary to the kids. The staff at the farm were excellent. They were great with the kids, giving them extra treats to feed the animals and telling us about everything. It is a beautiful, well kept farm and all of the animals look happy and healthy. We spent the second half of our visit in the playground area. The giant trampoline was a huge hit. We jumped until we had to stop from too much giggling. It's a workout. The playground is so extensive, that if the weather had not been so cold, we could have spent several more hours here. The kids didn't want to leave, There is a nice cafe with nearby indoor slides to keep kids and adults happy! A very nice place to visit and something that I would recommend to everyone, even if you don't have little kids with you.

This was a lovely family day out. The premises are well maintained, the staff are helpful and…read moreenthusiastic and the animals all seem happy and well kept. We didn't visit all the attractions, but had a great fun morning.

We loved our experience at the barn cafe... the food was delicious, the atmosphere is cute and…read moreunique, and the staff were kind and friendly!

Very rude manager with no customer skills. We go once a year and think every time this place could…read morebe so much more. Great location. Nice place. Staff always young but pleasant. Just the woman behind the till..... Coffee not great. Tea comes with multiple timers despite asking for a normal breakfast tea. Food is presented well but has loads of side salad garnish. It is the only coffee place in the area so I drive 7 days a week to Poole and use numerous independents because much friendlier. Says a lot !