Dunham Massey Christmas Lights | Christmas At Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey is one of our favourite National Trust properties. We’re lucky to have quite a few in our local area but Dunham Massey is up there as one of the best. Christmas at Dunham Massey in particular always seems to be something special. We’ve been aware of the Dunham Massey Christmas lights for a while now as they’ve been running since 2017 (and will be running again in 2020.) We’ve never spoken to anyone who has been and not loved it so we had high expectations of a great experience.

As with Beamish, it’s an event that always sells out so as soon as the tickets became available we booked for Christmas Eve. My parents also booked so we knew it would be a nice family outing.

Dunham Massey Christmas Lights : Tickets and Prices

To attend the Dunham Massey Christmas lights it cost us £67 for our family of five. There was a discount for families which made it a little cheaper than buying the tickets individually. The tickets can be bought online and either printed out or shown on your phone for admission.

While there isn’t a discount for National Trust members, you can prebook a car parking space for free. For non members it’s an additional £5 per car.

Our Experience

After our festive trip to Copenhagen in the run up to Christmas, it was nice to be back on home turf. We arrived to see the Dunham Massey Christmas lights shortly before our allotted time of 6pm, full of festive excitement. It was busy so we were thankful we had pre-booked a space on the carpark. The carpark was well organised and there were plenty of staff on hand to show everyone where to park.

We had previously seen photographs of the event but honestly they don’t do justice to just how spectacular the lights are (and neither do mine!) We have seen the main house and gardens so often in the daylight, but seeing the lights projected on the impressive building offered a completely different experience. The lights were constantly changing, from a huge advent calendar to a festive greeting and so much more.

The illuminated trail took us through the deer park and formal gardens. It was so much longer than I envisaged which I was thankful for. We didn’t want it to end! There was an impressive light tunnel, large reindeer and decorations throughout the walk. Due to the size of the trail, despite how busy it was it never felt overcrowded.

What I wasn’t expecting was just how musical it was. Other trails we have been on and even the splendour of Tivoli Gardens have been attractive to look at but have been lacking in Christmas music. The traditional and more modern songs playing as we made our way around really helped creative a lovely festive atmosphere. The Sea Of Lights was particularly impressive, with the lights pulsing and moving in time with the music.

There was the opportunity to see Santa and there was also an area where you could toast marshmallows for an additional fee of £1.50. A lot of the places we have visited, including the Christmas Woodland at Blakemere, didn’t charge for marshmallow toasting, but we appreciate the work that the National Trust do so didn’t object to paying.

After the trail there was a carousel, helter skelter and other family rides for the kids to enjoy, all at an additional cost. By the time we had made our way around the kids were getting tired. They therefore had one one ride on the helter skelter before heading back to get ready for Santa.

Dunham Massey Christmas Lights : Our Experience

The Dunham Massey Christmas lights were one of the highlights of our whole festive period. It was the perfect way to spend our Christmas eve and really intensified our Christmas excitement. The children had a great time but we, including my parents, loved it too. We’d definitely recommend it as the perfect festive evening out for all the family.

For more information, and for other events, check out the Dunham Massey website.