One of the most popular attractions in the Woking area where I grew up in the UK is RHS Garden Wisley (commonly known as Wisley Gardens). The gardens aren’t ordinarily dog-friendly, other than for guide dogs and registered support dogs, although there is an exception – Walkies at Wisley.
This is an event held 1-3 times per month from April to August. From 6pm to 8pm or 8:30pm (depending on when you visit), dogs are allowed to join you throughout the gardens. As you might expect, this has proven to be a very popular event.
After moving back to the UK from the US in early April, Shae and I wanted to introduce Truffles to the gardens, so on a beautiful spring Saturday evening in April, the three of us headed to Wisley.
We were initially a little apprehensive when we arrived as there was a long line outside that wrapped around.
However, the line moved along very quickly and we were impressed with how organized the system was that they had for entering. When leaving later on, we heard a couple mention that the previous year the lines were a nightmare and the wait time to get in was very long, so it sounds like they’ve taken that feedback on board and made positive changes.
To give a sense of quite how efficient things were, we started lining up at 6:15pm and were inside – having also had to pay for our tickets – by 6:21pm. Considering how long the line was, that was very impressive. (n.b. I checked the timestamps on the photos I took – I wasn’t so impatient that I was checking my watch every minute!)
The gardens are spread out over 240 acres, so there’s a lot to see. You could therefore attend multiple Walkies at Wisley events and check out different parts of the gardens each time.
I think Truffles was a little confused being around so many other dogs, but she was keen to get going to explore the area.
We initially headed up to the left which took us to the very picturesque Old Laboratory building which was once used for horticultural research.
It served as the perfect backdrop for a photo.
Seeing as it was Easter weekend, we also cracked out the bunny ears. Truffles doesn’t enjoy wearing hats, but for some reason she’s surprisingly tolerant of these bunny ears which delights us – and anyone watching us take the photos – no end!
We didn’t have any particular parts of the gardens that we wanted to visit, so we just wandered around to let Truffles have as many different sniffs as possible.
As we wandered around, we came across a hill with what I believe were common camas (based on a quick Google Lens search).
This served as another great backdrop for pup photos. Needless to say, Truffles wasn’t the only pup there being encouraged to pose.
At the top of the hill there were a couple of trees with some beautiful cherry blossoms.
Which – you guessed it – served as yet another great backdrop for photos of Truffles.
We continued through an avenue lined with bonsai trees…
…and headed through to the stunningly landscaped rock garden.
With it being fairly early in the season, the gardens weren’t in full bloom. However, there were still lots of nice flowers to see.
Despite there being so many dogs and their owners at Walkies with Wisley, the gardens were so spacious that it didn’t feel at all crowded. If your dog is more introverted when it comes to other dogs and/or people, they should still be able to do well at this dog-friendly event as there were often paths with very few others.
After exploring the gardens for about 1.5 hours, the sun was starting to go down and the gardens were due to close soon. We therefore took a few more photos of Truffles, before making our way towards the exit.
With it being Easter weekend, Wisley Gardens had several large painted eggs uniquely painted that were dotted around the park. For those visiting with children, there was also an egg-nigma code for kids to solve. If you paid £2.50 (~$3.30), your child could get a code breaking kit and a chocolate Easter egg if they solved the puzzle.
Truffles obviously couldn’t pawticipate in that activity seeing as chocolate is dangerous for dogs, but she did find a few eggs along the way.
RHS Garden Wisley has a gift shop with all kinds of goodies for sale, from plants and flowers to jams and preserves to home decor and much more. For those wanting something to eat or drink, that evening there was a small café set up outside. In addition to having people food and drinks, they were also selling pup cups, dog treats, etc.
Shae, Truffles and I had a wonderful night out at Wisley Gardens. If you live in the area and have a pup, we’d highly recommend Walkies at Wisley for a fun, pet-friendly evening.
Very cute pictures of Truffles.