Chiswick House and Gardens Trust

The displays were very good for children, but perhaps not so enthralling for adults. The whole exhibition seemed a little more commercial, especially with the small fair at the end to persuade one to spend a little more (especially if you have children). The Kew Gardens display came across as artistic, almost awe-inspiring, but these didn't reach those dizzy heights I'm afraid.

I’ve been to 4 of these events now and sadly nothing compares with the first.

The 2020 version is a little different, some animatronics, larger pieces, lasers and sound but none of this makes it worth the admission price.

Last night was almost empty. Entry wasn’t checked - we could have wandered around for free and frankly wished we had!

A few larger scale set pieces are fun but nothing compares with the “flocks” and visual impact of year one. That was ground breaking. This is not.

Someone needs to marry up expectations, marketing, actually deliver what’s promised in the hype and rethink this dramatically.

It’s a pleasant walk at night for £5. At £20 a ticket it’s a monumental rip off. Very disappointed.

Lightopia? More like dystopia to me

An over-priced experience for adults. Should be marketed as a children’s attraction as there’s nothing remarkable or spectacular if you’re over the age of 12.

It’s a 20 min walk through a third class Disney or Avatar film copy. Not much more interesting than the Oxford Street Christmas lights.

Food is OK if you enjoy mediocre fairground fast food.

Acrobatic show is a bit amateurish and the sound track is difficult to listen to without cringing.

Lightopia Facebook page makes reference to on site car park but security staff were turning away drivers from a half empty car park stating that it was for disabled visitors (almost none of the few cars that were parked there displayed blue badges). Finding a place to park with no warning/explanation/guidance on Lightopia website/FB page meant we arrived late after trying to find a place to park on busy residential roads.

Wasn’t worth the effort.

Really disappointing this year, its the 3rd time i've been and really look forward to it each year. This year however was so disappointing. Got tickets through groupon and having enjoyed the previous shows was pleased to get the tickets almost half price. Having taken 3 friends with me, it was a real let down. Geared very much towards children, not much excitement for adults. If I had paid full price I would have been really annoyed.

Went to see this festival off the back of seeing the Canary Wharf Winter Lights Exhibition. Unfortunately the two simply do not compare.

Lightopia was bland and lacking in any artistic endeavour. Sure the lanterns and lights were pretty but they were many static, with no motion, music or interaction.

The shapes catered more to children so were mostly of sweets, cartoon-like characters and even Disney inspired.

With a few short stops it takes around an hour to see everything. There is samll fun fair and food tents at the end of the route. The best bit for me were the flowers near the end that changed colour to some French sounding music.

This is certainly not worth £21 I was charged for entry.

Horrible service, no cutlery available with the food ready on the table, we asked how to get it , the answer was , is in the corner but actually was all empty , by the time we got ready washed cutlery the food was cold. Some of the staff at the till needs to understand that being kind to guests is a basic logic, if there a misunderstanding, the staff needs to be kind and repeat with a smile , do not treat guests as if they do you just a favour or make them feel wrong, you give the food and supposedly provide service and venue because the customer pays , is not for free, so make sure you give the basic kind of required service. However I will not have this issue again as was due to be the first of many more in the future but was also the last visit.

This was very under-whelming and disappointing. Not in the same league as Kew Gardens Xmas Lights by a mile. Most displays were coloured inflated animal shapes that effectively look like illuminated blow up dolls. Display was relatively sparse. There was a small projection show against the house facade but the path doesn’t even position you directly in front of the house.
Got to the first few food stalls and we were told that was all there were (incorrect).choice was very limited.
Info also says that car park is closed after 5 but that wasn’t true either.

The Palladian villa Chiswick House designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington in 1729 sits in a beautiful landscape designed by William Kent with formal avenues, temples, gateways, urns and statues inspired Ancient Rome focused on the house and more natural areas along the lake.

Given the architectural importance of Chiswick House, it is strange to find that in the 19th and 20th centuries it had a very chequered career as an asylum and then a fire station, with new wings added which have since been demolished.

The classic bridge was designed by James Wyatt and built in 1774 and, more recently in 2010, a new café was built to designs of Caruso St John Architects as part of the masterplan to improve and restore the gardens. The café is currently open for take away drinks and snacks.

The gardens are very popular with the local community, especially at weekends, so are not a place for quiet solitude, but are large enough that you can find peaceful spots within them, and have a variety of different gardens with different characteristics.

Firstly, I cannot understand how they can get away with charging the same prices for tickets as Kew Gardens. Kew Gardens lights were miles above this. Definitely for little children, even then it's still pretty boring. A 250ml beer cost £5. Couldn't understand what most of the lights were supposed to be and it took us like 20 minutes to walk round it all. Such a waste of time and more importantly, money. Nothing good to say about it.

This has been on our to do list for a while,we have visited the gardens in 2020 but the house has been closed for a while.We now have the art pass which gets us free entry to the house but had to pay extra for the kitchen garden(not made very clear on the web site.)

Although we enjoyed visiting the house and having Lady Cora Grantham providing the audio guide,not sure that its worth the high entry fee.Also we felt the extra cost to see the kitchen garden wasnt worth the extra £10-just to see some tulips and rhubarb!

We think that the cost of the gardens should be included in the cost with visiting the house like at Osterley and Ham House.

The cafe is overpriced(seems to be the norm with English heritage and National trust properties!)

Finally the toilets are a disgrace,I complained to the mananger in the cafe,but she made the excuse that they were too busy to clean them-NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

The free gardens are beautiful,save money and dont bother with the kitchen garden!