Perfectly described, we definitely finished our day out at The Forbidden Corner, in North Yorkshire, thinking “that was the strangest place in the world!”

We were lucky enough to be given access to the gardens before the general public so that we could have a good look around before the crowds arrived and hopefully get some cool photos too. This definitely had its advantages and disadvantages. It was great to be the only ones wandering around but it also added to the spookiness and strangeness of the place, which our youngest wasn’t as keen on! We’d timed our visit for during half term so the theme around the garden was very much Halloween, although this could actually always be the theme because there was just a spooky vibe about the whole place.

The first thing you come to is the giant mouth, which you walk through to enter into the gardens. Pretty cool and with surprises along the way! The kids (and grown ups) get to jump and squeal as you go! Haha! I don’t want to give too much away about the surprises as it might spoil your overall experience, if you decide to go along with your family. Needless to say, there is something to discover around every corner. Be careful if you’ve got a camera in your hand though as I walked through an arch in the garden and before I knew it, I’d been squirted with water. The kids laughed. I almost cried. All was fine though and we walked on.

The garden really does feel like you’re walking around the garden of a manor house with lots of different areas of greenery, stone walls, statues and quirky ornaments. We walked up steep steps to the top of towers and down steps to what felt like we were heading towards dungeons. It just felt like a quaint country garden.

Then we discovered the main attraction! A dome that looked like an iceberg made out of crystal.

It certainly had the wow factor!

Nearby we found a door and at this point, we were all brave enough to go in…

Once through the door we discovered we were underneath the crystal dome.

We were surrounded by a selection of other doors all leading to somewhere different (and dark!) It was at this point that Emma, our 5 year old, completely lost her bottle. I must admit, me and the wife were thinking we’d made a huge mistake and the kids were too little to enjoy The Forbidden Corner. However, we decided to wander on a little more and stay outdoors where it was daylight.

By this time more families had entered the gardens and there was a lovely excited buzz around the place. This definitely loosened our kids up a bit and after a walk around looking for more hidden letters to do their activity sheet rubbings, they decided it was time to venture through the ‘scary doors.’

Absolutely brilliant! How on earth do you go about planning and building something like The Forbidden Corner? The imagination and creativity that has gone into this attraction is amazing, nothing like we’ve ever seen before. I think going into the gardens with no clue as to what to expect, was definitely the right approach. The website describes it as a unique labyrinth of tunnels, chambers, follies and surprises. The temple of the underworld with paths and passages that lead somewhere and nowhere. Decisions to make and tricks to avoid at every turn. This is exactly what it is. Expect the unexpected. Once the kids got over their initial fear of the unknown, they absolutely loved it.

Then we came across this…

Which made our boy do this…

Then once he was closer, he did this…

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

You could spend a full day there running around and climbing up and down steps and walkways. If you take your own food, there is a beautiful large picnic area just on the outskirts of the gardens so even more running around to be done. There’s also a fabulous café indoors which at this time of year might be welcomed for the warmth!

In summary, you must go to The Forbidden Corner to see it for yourself. We also racked up over 9k family steps! Experience the unusual sights and sounds that really set this attraction apart from the rest as being such a unique day out and yes, quite possibly the strangest place in the world!

*Disclaimer: This was a collaborative post with The Forbidden Corner and I was given free entry in order to give an honest review. All words and opinions are my own.