The Nutcracker at Winkworth Arboretum National Trust

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To break up the endless days between Christmas and New Year I took the children to Winkworth Arboretum National Trust for the Nutcracker Trail. Winkworth is one of our favourite National Trust sites, as well as being our closest, and we couldn’t wait to go there and experience something new.

The Nutcracker at Winkworth Arboretum National Trust

The Nutcracker at Winkworth Arboretum

Over the years we have done quite a few National Trust trails at Winkworth Arboretum – the Shaun the Sheep Trail, the Snowdog Trail and, this year, the Nutcracker trail. They are always a great way of seeing well loved National Trust sites in a new way and we couldn’t wait for this year’s festive trail.

The Nutcracker-themed trail lets you follow Clara’s journey through the classic Nutcracker scenes – from the Snowflake Forest to the Land of Sweets. There are eight Nutcrackers along the trail along with interactive games, candy-themed challenges, magical mirrors and a chance to dance with the Sugar Plum Fairy!

The trail is set in Winkworth’s upper arboretum and follows the blue walking route, which is an accessible 1km route through nature at Winkworth. This makes it perfect for all ages and it’s pushchair friendly too – although it can get quite muddy at times!

We loved exploring the Nutcracker Trail. It is fairly short – under an hour even with doing all the activities – but perfect as a way to blow off the cobwebs and get some fresh air, even for the littlest of visitors. Plus, there’s the rest of Winkworth to explore as well if you feel like it! We just did the trail as it was really foggy on the day we visited.

As well as the trail there’s also a carousel at Winkworth, along with the usual cafe, so you can make more of your visit. Carousel rides cost £3.50 each and the new visitor centre is due to open in the spring 2026.

Running until 4th January 2026, you can find out more about the Nutcracker at Winkworth Arboretum over on the National Trust website. For reference, the address is: Hascombe Rd, Godalming GU8 4AD

Author

Donna Wishart

Donna Wishart is married to Dave and they have two children, Athena (14) and Troy (12). They live in Surrey with their two cats, Fred and George.

Once a Bank Manager, Donna has been writing about everything from family finance to days out, travel and her favourite recipes since 2012.

Donna is happiest either exploring somewhere new, with her camera in her hand and family by her side, or snuggled up with a cat on her lap, reading a book and enjoying a nice cup of tea. She firmly believes that tea and cake can fix most things.