Christmas At Dunham Massey Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS EXPERIENCE WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST/S FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.
Reviewed by Sue Rumble
Dunham Massey is a beautiful National Trust stately home and gardens which has been holding an annual Christmas Lights event for several years. The trail is approximately 1 mile long and takes between an hour and two hours depending on speed of walking and how long you stay to look at individual displays. Please note the house is not open while the Christmas lights trail is on. Food, drink and fairground rides are available within the grounds. Food and drink can be found at the beginning and end of the trail, with additional refreshments at around the midway point. These all incur additional charges.
Car parking is available onsite but must be pre-booked at the time of ticket purchase. Parking is free for National Trust members with a valid membership card. But there is an additional charge for non-National Trust members.
Review
Wow – what an amazing spectacle of lights all set to music. There were so many different installations, so colourful and many changing colour in time to the music which was all themed to the display, for example one display was called Hot Air Balloons, and had balloons going up & down in the trees. My granddaughter loved trying to touch them but they always seemed to go up as she got close. The music was Up, Up and Away in my Beautiful Balloon. So very, very clever. She also liked the big candy cane which she said was a hockey stick – imagination is a wonderful thing.
There was a small fairground near the beginning which you had to pay extra for the rides. There was also a café and toilets at the beginning. Food and drink outlets and marshmallow toasting about half way round and more toilets near the end.
Each display had a board with the name and a QR code which when scanned told you more about the artist and the idea behind the lights. Some displays were set on the water giving amazing reflections and lighting up the whole lake. There were lights in trees – one like rainfall made my granddaughter think of Frozen the film and my son thought it was like Avatar. Other displays were across the ground giving a carpet of lights changing colour – absolutely beautiful.
There were a few light tunnels to walk through with different lights – stars and small fairy lights which was such a simple idea but so effective because of the scale of the display – called The Cathedral.
The house was also lit up at the back and front with a moving Christmas themed light display again changing in time to music – a great place for a little dance.
Right at the end was Santa waiting to speak to all the children (and adults if they wanted) and was ready to have photos taken. It was lovely to see that this was free.
I would definitely recommend this as a Christmas or New Year outing. My granddaughter didn’t want to leave – said she wanted to go again. It was a great experience for all ages and also a great sensory experience for anybody with additional needs. It is reasonable value for money but could get expensive if you did additional fairground rides and purchased food and drink.
Date of event – 15th November 2024 to 1st January 2025
Price of Tickets – £19 adult, £12.50 child aged 3 – 16, Infant free, Family ticket (2adults & 2 children) £60.
Tickets must be booked in advance
Time Needed for visit – 1 hr to 2hrs
Rating: 5/5
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshire-greater-manchester/dunham-massey/christmas-lights-at-dunham-massey
Buy tickets – Christmas at Dunham Massey tickets | Tours and Events | Ticketek UK
Website – https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshire-greater-manchester/dunham-massey
Dunham Massey, Woodhouse Lane, Altrincham, WA14 4SJ
01619411025