Overlooked small country park that is the poorer brother of nearby Itchen Valley Country Park. Only three stars as there is so much potential to develop this understated recreational space.
It's so sad that this is only a 2 star. It should be 5 star plus!!! So.... the day was going brilliantly, me, my partner, my 5 year old non verbal autistic son and my 1 year old boy attended on the 2nd of August. We had a rover ticket and got on many of the great steam engines on show. Unfortunately one of the trains my eldest son and partner was on broke down, causing some stress to my son. The train was fixed asap and on it went, but my son kept trying to stand up. This is when the train guard got the train stopped and had a go at my son and partner infront of all the other passengers. "It's for his saftey" the guard said. My partner said "OK, sorry, but his autistic" .... with the guard responding again about saftey but rudely and embarrassing them at the same time. When my partner returned to the station she was in tears and so upset. Days out are so tough for us, but when people are rude and disrespectful it makes it so much harder. It was reported to the manager and hopefully the guard is going to have some training about neurodiversity.
What a beautiful place to stay or have a picnic or just to cycle/walk through. Beautiful lakes and cute ducklings. Some adult ones may be aggressive and bite if you go too close.
Yet again another lovely time at Lakeside steam railway. Weather helped today as we had a picnic. Lovely train ride for little ones and grandad. Train staff all really nice. Didn't use the cafe as it was so busy and we had a picnic. We walked over to the play park at the far side near the houses. This play park needs upgrading but the little ones still enjoyed it.
Great for fishing ,I guess by how many fisherman I see , nice for the kids as their is a miniature railway . Swim clubs and miniature boat clubs use it as well. I tried to teach my son how to get out of a kayak while I was stood in the water next to him but that’s not allowed as it’s dangerous .
Lovely miniature railway. A collection of miniature steam and diesel engines. Our kids loved the ride. You have the choice of 1st class, a covered carriage or standard, an open carriage. It was a lovely hot day so it had to be open! The staff are lovely, all clearly enthusiastic about the trains. The station has a small shop and sells ice cream. Lots of parking. The train stops near the lake and a small play park and pic nic area. Well recommended for a cheap but fun afternoon out with the kids.
Lovely place to walk, lakes and wild life. The little trains our great, we still go on them without the grand children as they've grown up but we big kids at heart. The cafe is very cosy and friendly and very nice food. The dog loves it too. Oh and you can park for 4 hrs, no charge, great
A beautiful place to walk, very clean and friendly for a variety of ages! Certainly take welly boots this time of year! Lovely for photography too. (More on Instagram @brambleandthornphotography)
Lakeside Country Park is located at Wide Ln, Eastleigh SO50 5PD, UK
You can contact Lakeside Country Park at +44 23 8068 3841
You can find directions to Lakeside Country Park by following this map link