Meeting the Animals at Menagerie Edinburgh
Today I want to share magical little place on the outskirts of Edinburgh with you. Menagarie Edinburgh is a small family holding to the south of the city, at the foot of the Pentland Hills. They offer tours of their farm, where you can get up close with all the animals, and after reading some rave reviews of it I’ve been wanting to visit for a while but since word got around it’s always booked up. A couple of months ago, however, I managed to snap up a slot for today, which was a school holiday in Edinburgh. I prayed we’d get some good weather, because in adverse weather conditions they sometimes need to cancel, but the weather gods were on our side. So off me and my 9 yr old set for an afternoon on the farm.
On arrival, we were greeted by Les and Eve, and without much ado we went straight into meeting and feeding some of the pygmy goats. They were just the most darling little things ever. Having tiny goats jumping up at me, and being able to hold and cuddle them, was one of the highlights of my day. My 9 yr old said the goats were in his top 3 favourites too.
After stopping to collect some eggs, which we were allowed to take home, we moved on to feeding the donkeys. One of the donkeys in particular – Bobby – apparently loves cuddles, and we didn’t need to be asked twice! Sometimes, happiness is cuddling a donkey. There is a well known German children’s book about a little girl and her pet donkey, so my donkey encounter brought back a lot of childhood nostalgia.
We then got to take Bobby and Daisy, one of the sheep, for a walk. After that, we changed over to Ollie and DJ, two of the alpacas – their fur is sooo soft!! – and, finally, we got two take the two Shetland ponies Bonnie and Ben round a field. Bonnie loves to run, so I let my 9 yr old take her. Ain’t gonna see me running round a field, haha. But he loved it. Seeing him run around the field with the pony, living his best life, instead of glued to the TV at home, was just the best thing. That boy so should have been raised on a farm.
Anyway, after all that walking and running around, we had a wee rest in the barn with the guinea pigs and bunny rabbits, and got to hold and cuddle Georgie and Milly. And before our farm tour was over, we got to cuddle a chicken. I would love to have some pet chickens, but living on the third floor of a tenement building, with a shared garden, that just isn’t going to happen. Being able to pretend for a few blissful minutes came close though. My wee farm boy was really taken with the chicken too – we were joking afterwards, that you should find someone in life who looks at you, like he looked at that chicken!
Apparently tours normally last between 1 and 1.5 hours, and we got to max ours out to the full length. The maximum number of people in a group is six, children included, but there was only the two of us so we got a lot of one-on-one time with the animals. Prices start from £40 for 1-2 people, and go up to £60 for 5-6 people, but it was worth every penny. One of the quotes on their website says “Animals are the best therapy – feel calm, happy and re-energised.” and I could not agree more. It was just the best experience. The charge for visiting helps cover staff wages, food costs, insurance and vet bills.
Before we set off after lunch, my 9 yr was grumbling a bit for tearing him away from his favourite TV show, making him go on a 20 minute bus ride, and then walking along a country road to get to the farm. Afterwards, he was just buzzing from the experience – he’s been telling his dad, his big brother, and his friends that he was gaming with before dinner, about all the different animals he got to feed and hold and cuddle and walk, and how he wants to get a pet goat and chickens when he’s older and has his own house. And he agreed that it wasn’t such a bad idea after all that I made him go “on another one of my day trips”. Haha, that’s me. Love a good day trip. And this one absolutely exceeded our expectations!
Thank you so much to Les, Eve, and Menagerie Edinburgh for being so welcoming and for such an amazing afternoon! It is was so wonderful for my city kid to be able to experience this. And also thank you to Les for very kindly driving us back to the bus stop.
If you are looking for a unique, wonderful and memorable experience, then we would whole heartedly recommend Menagerie Edinburgh to you, whatever your age. You can find all the details on how to book a visit on their website.
How to get there
Menagerie Edinburgh is located at 32 Damhead Holdings, Edinburgh EH10 7EA.
We travelled there by public transport, and I have to admit it wasn’t the easiest. The number 15 bus takes you the closest, but then you still have a 10-15 minute walk from the bus stop to the farm. The walk itself wasn’t the issue, but the country road we had to walk along was unexpectedly busy with traffic, a lot of people seem to use it as a short cut between two main roads. There is no pavement or even a verge to walk on, so we had to keep stopping to step off the road and let cars past. So yes, it is doable by public transport, and my 9 yr old was very sensible when the cars kept coming past us, but I would not recommend the walk with a pushchair or with very young kids.
Menagerie Edinburgh Website: www.menagerie-edinburgh.com
