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Dunoon · Garden
Benmore Botanic Garden with kids
Choose Benmore when your family wants a proper woodland walk with something memorable at the start: the avenue of giant redwoods. The lower garden gives you a gentler route past the pond, while the fernery and viewpoints turn the visit into a much steeper outing. It is a half-day nature stop, not a play-led attraction or a wet-weather backup.
- Best ages
- Preschool & primary ages who enjoy walks
- Cost
- Paid adults · children 15 & under free
- Weather
- Mostly outdoors · choose a settled day
- Allow
- Around half a day
Our family take
The scale is the point. Children can walk under giant redwoods, look for wildlife, stop at the pond and choose whether to tackle the climb towards the fernery and viewpoints. That makes Benmore feel more like a woodland adventure than a neat formal-garden wander.
- Choose your route. The lower Easy Access Route is the gentler option. Upper paths are steep and loose, and the fernery has 44 entrance steps plus 24 inside.
- Check the weather. Nearly all of the visit is outdoors, and the Garden can close in severe weather.
- Family rules. Leave scooters, bikes and footballs behind. Running, jogging and climbing trees or structures are not allowed. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
The practical details
Plan your visit
- 2026 opening
- Open daily from 1 March to 31 October, 10am-5pm. Severe weather can close the Garden, so check before a long journey when conditions are poor.
- Standard admission
- Adult £10.80 without donation or £12 with Gift Aid; concession £9 or £10 with Gift Aid; children aged 15 and under free. RBGE members and carers also enter free.
- Tickets
- Standard visitors can buy a ticket and Garden map at the Visitor Welcome desk. Groups should contact Benmore in advance.
- Parking
- Free car and coach parking is available at the Garden, with cycle racks on site.
- Toilets
- Toilets and accessible toilets are available by the visitor centre, with another accessible toilet beside the courtyard.
- Lower route
- The waymarked Easy Access Route stays on the lower level, using mostly wide compacted or loose gravel paths with some gradients, roots and speed bumps.
- Fernery access
- The fernery is not on the Easy Access Route. Its approach reaches a 1:4 gradient, followed by 44 entrance steps and another 24 steps inside.
ParkingCafé or restaurantGift shopAccessible toiletsToiletsBenches
6 October 2026
Visit official websiteA little more detail
Make it work for your family
Redwoods, the pond and the upper garden
The redwood avenue gives children an immediate sense of scale, then you can follow paths towards the pond, pavilions or viewpoint. Benmore works best when everyone is happy for the walk itself to be the activity.
Preschool and primary-age children who enjoy trees and wildlife are the strongest fit. Families with younger legs can stay around the lower garden, while older or more confident walkers can add the fernery and upper viewpoints. Those sections bring steep loose paths and a lot of steps.
Choose another stop if your children need space to run, scoot or climb trees. Benmore’s garden rules restrict those activities, and teenagers who are not interested in gardens, photography or a proper walk may find it too quiet.
Buggies, wheelchairs and fernery steps
A sturdy buggy can make the lower Easy Access Route workable, but easy does not mean completely flat. Expect compacted or loose gravel, occasional roots, speed bumps and some gradients. The alternative entrance over the vehicle bridge avoids the steeper footbridge approach.
The upper garden is a different proposition. Some paths reach 1:3 gradients on loose surfaces, and the fernery has 44 steps to the entrance plus 24 inside. If access will decide the day, use the official access guide or contact Benmore before travelling.
Food, toilets and weather
Redwood Coffee gives you a useful start or finish beside the visitor centre, with indoor and covered outdoor seating. Toilets and an accessible toilet are close by, and another accessible toilet is beside the courtyard. Contact Benmore before travelling if a baby-changing space is essential for your family.
Do not save Benmore for a thoroughly wet or windy day. Most of the visit is outdoors, the upper routes are steep, and the Garden can close in severe weather. A showery day can still work if you are happy to stay low and shorten the route.
- Food
- Redwood Coffee is in the visitor centre and opens daily until 31 October, 10am–4pm, with hot food served until 3:30pm.
- Dogs
- Dogs on short leads are welcome in the Garden but cannot enter the fernery. Assistance dogs are welcome, including inside the fernery.
Getting to Benmore
- Getting there
- The Garden is on the A815 around seven miles north of Dunoon. West Coast Motors runs a service from Dunoon, and the official page also lists passenger and vehicle ferry options from Gourock.
How it fits into a Cowal day
Benmore is worth making a Cowal destination when your family genuinely enjoys walking, but it is not a full-day attraction on its own for most children. Allow around half a day, then use Dunoon for food, the seafront or a less demanding finish.
Puck’s Glen Gorge remains closed for the 2026 visitor season after storm damage, so do not plan to add its gorge walk. Kilmun Arboretum is another nearby walking option, but it adds more outdoor mileage rather than giving children a change of pace.
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