Meanwood Valley Urban Farm
ENTRY
from £0.50
SETTING
Outdoors
WHERE
Leeds
What it’s like
Sheep, alpacas and goats to spot round a working farm, with woodlands and a playground to fill the rest of the visit.
This is a proper working farm rather than a petting zoo, so the animals come first: sheep, cows, alpacas, rabbits, guinea pigs and goats, spread across a site that also has a vegetable garden, ornamental gardens and ponds to wander round. There's woodland to explore too, and a playground for when the animal-spotting runs out of steam. You can't feed anything, which is a welfare call the farm makes deliberately, so don't promise your toddler a bag of pellets before you arrive.
Entry is properly cheap, £3 for an adult and 50p for a child, with under-2s free, and there's no need to book ahead, you just turn up between 10am and 4pm. That price alone makes it an easy one to squeeze into a spare afternoon rather than a big planned-out day trip. Parking is free too, though it does fill up on school holidays and bank holidays, so don't leave it too late if you're going on a day like that.
The catch is the weather. Ninety percent of the farm is outdoors and there's very little shelter beyond the Barn Coffee Shop, and on wet days the animals themselves tend to disappear into their shelters, so a dry forecast is genuinely worth picking over a soggy one. Buggies don't have anywhere to be left either, so you're wheeling it round the whole site, mud and all. The coffee shop does breakfast, lunch and light refreshments across the same 10am to 4pm hours, which is handy if you time a visit round a meal rather than trying to fit lunch in elsewhere.
If you're after lambs specifically, spring is the season for that, and pigs and donkeys show up at certain times of year too.
Facilities
Need to know
- Last entry
- 4pm
- Booking
- Walk-up visits welcome. No booking needed for general admission
- Parking
- Free parking on site. Space may be limited at busy times
- Food
- Barn Coffee Shop serves breakfast, lunch and light refreshments, open 10am–4pm daily
- Pushchairs
- No pram storage available. Visitors asked to walk round with pushchairs/buggies
- Wheelchairs
- Farm is accessible but some areas may not be suitable for wheelchair users
- Worth knowing
- Membership available for unlimited free admission all year round
- Feeding the animals isn't allowed, so leave the pellets at home
- No pram storage, you walk the whole farm with your buggy
- Membership gets you unlimited free admission all year if you think you'll go back
- Open on all bank holidays but closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day
Plan your visit
How much does it cost?
£3 for an adult, 50p for a child, and under-2s go free.
Do we need to book?
No booking system for general visits, you just walk up. School trips need to book separately with the education team.
Is there parking?
Free parking on site, but it can fill up during school holidays and bank holidays.
What are the opening hours?
10am to 4pm daily, and that's also the last admission time. Visitors are asked to be off site by 5pm.
Can we feed the animals?
Feeding isn't allowed anymore, it's a welfare decision so staff can control what each animal eats.
Is there anywhere to eat?
The Barn Coffee Shop does breakfast, lunch and light refreshments, open the same 10am to 4pm hours as the farm.
What if it rains?
There's very little shelter beyond the coffee shop, and the animals often retreat indoors on wet days, so a dry day is a better bet if you want to see everything.
Can I bring a pushchair?
You can, but there's nowhere to store it, so you'll be wheeling it round the whole visit.
Is it wheelchair accessible?
Mostly, though some areas aren't suitable for wheelchairs. It's worth ringing ahead on the Sunday or Monday accessibility line if you need specifics.
Is there a best time of year to visit?
Spring brings lambs, and pigs and donkeys are around at certain other times of year, so the animals on show do change with the seasons.
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