Family-friendly things to do at Cotehele

Family apple picking in the orchard at Cotehele, Cornwall | © National Trust Images / James Beck

Discover all the things to do on a family day out to Cotehele. Explore the garden and orchards and head out on an adventure around the estate. Find out what family-friendly events are coming up and how best to plan your day out at Cotehele with children in mind.

Planning your family visit to Cotehele

Free entry for under 5s
Baby-changing facilities in most toilets
Buggy-friendly route around the garden, quay and towards Cotehele Mill
Play area by the Cherry Orchard and at Cotehele Quay
Children’s menu available within the Barn Cafe
Pocket money gifts and children’s books available in the shop and second-hand bookshop
Resource station within Visitor Welcome with fidget toys, ear defenders, sunglasses, and colouring sheets available to borrow
Please take extra care around Cotehele Quay, the pond dipping area at the quay and the ponds within the Upper Garden and Valley Garden.

'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' at Cotehele

19 September - 15 November, 10am-4pm

The award-winning animation, based on the much-loved picture book, will be brought to life through a series of interactive installations.

Get ready to swish, splash and squelch your way through this new sensory trail as you search for the bear. You can’t go over it. You can’t go under it. You’ve got to go through it! The trail is free with normal entry and will run daily until Sunday 15 November.

'We’re Going On A Bear Hunt' © Bear Hunt Films Ltd 2016. Licensed by Walker Productions Ltd. on behalf of Bear Hunt Films Ltd

Christmas through the Decades Family Trail

21 November 2026 - 5 January 2027 , 10am-4pm

Explore how Christmas has been celebrated during the past 70 years of the Cotehele Christmas Garland.

Learn about a 1950s Christmas dinner in a post-rationing Britain, discover the most popular toy of the 1960s, open the Cotehele Advent Calendar or create your own Christmas Advert with this family-friendly Christmas trail.

The activites are free of charge, but normal admission applies for the venue.

An adult and child playing with autumn leaves on a path — Family playing outdoors | © National Trust Images/John Miller

What else to look out for at Cotehele

Terrific Textiles spotters trail at Cotehele

Available daily from 11 July - 1 November, 11am-4pm

Explore the house and see if you can find the objects, animals and figures hidden within the tapestries and textiles at Cotehele. Pick up your trail sheet from the hall within the house when you enter and hand it back to the volunteer for a sticker prize.

This activity comes at no extra cost. Normal admission applies.

50 things to do before you’re 11¾

Cotehele is the perfect place for ticking off some of your ’50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾.’ There are plenty of things to try at Cotehele, whatever the weather. Here are just a few:

No. 4 Build a den

Gather large sticks and create a secret hideaway. Our favourite spot for building dens is by the Cherry Orchard play area.

No. 33 Go cloud watching

With imagination you can create whole worlds from the shapes you see in the sky. Any spot at Cotehele is great for doing this, we like lying on the grass slopes by the bowling green.

No. 48 Keep a nature diary

Bring along some scrap paper and colouring pencils and keep a diary of the things you have discovered. What did you touch? What can you hear? Draw the wildlife you spotted on your adventures around Cotehele.