Cairnie Fruit Farm & Mega Maze — Attraction in Great Britain

Having read very positive comments about Cairnie Fruit Farm I decided to bring my youngest fruit-enthusiast son up here for a day out. It was advised on the farm's website and Google reviews to book space in advance especially during school holidays and weekends, which I did for the cost of £15 for both of us.

After 1 hour long trip to Cupar it turned out the farm was not that busy despite being a school holiday already. The farm is nicely located and this is a great positive. Though, staff at the entrance to the farm and playground appeared to be not very welcoming, and presented rather annoyed about being interrupted reading their books or using their phones.

It quickly turned out that fruit farm had only three different fruit to pick up on a day. No strawberries available. We chose to pick up some cherries, which turned to cost £11 for roughly 1 kg with only one tunnel being opened, and another staff at the entrance being preoccupied with his mobile to extend that left me feeling as an intruder of his time and space.

Prices at canteen / bistro are similar to those in restaurants. Any family of 4 could easily spend up there minimum of £100 on a meal with desert and drink, which seems to be quite odd for a farm shop . Though, compared with other farm shops in this country this appears to be a standard.

The playground is very spacious and well planned, but it's so run down, so it is only a matter of time when a serious accident will happen. All fences are so wobbly that I was afraid of leaning against them. The only positive about the playground is that children seem to be always happy, because they do not see health and safety concerns this place has on offer.

The quintessence of this playground's state is the little farmers yard, which is presumably designed for under 1 year old children. The only problem is there are only tractors with pedals. If only 1 year old children were able to use pedal tractors this country would have been able to produce cyclist world champions every year and dominate this discipline for many generations.

I am sorry to say but would not look forward to coming back to Cairnie Fruit Farm unless it would have more fruit on offer and safety standards...

The site is great. Parking is plenty with the overflow. The PYO is extensive and easy and seems fair value given everything. The entertainment of the fun park is fantastic, kids of all ages can get lots out of it - easily a 4 hour day out taking it all in. The cafe inside looked okay though I did not try. You can take a picnic and there are loads of benches or the grass to sit on.

One thing I will say, I bought "peacock fries" from the burger stand outside. I can't comment on the burgers but these were a joke. Described as twice fried fries with salt and rosemary, they came out as a meager portion of frozen fries, barely warm, with a large pile of dried rosemary underneath.

They made these in front of me taking fries that were keeping warm and tossing them in a bowl with a large slug of the dried herb. This activity was pointless as the fries are not fresh so there is no oil to help the rosemary coat them. The lack of freshness and no heat meant thenherb did nothing to release any flavour. I just had a side pile of dusty dry rosemary leaves underneath my serving of warm canteen fries. I'd not be so harsh about this one thing olif it wasn't for the price, £5.50.

I don't think this necessarily reflects on all the food at the venue. Cans if juice and iced lollies at the Fun Park strawberry hut were very reasonably priced. But I do want to share this feedback for visitors and perhaps for the venue to review...

I’ve been coming to Cairnie Fruit Farm for 18 years now, and honestly, I’m beginning to wonder why. In nearly two decades, nothing—and I mean nothing—seems to have been updated or improved. For a place that prides itself on being a family attraction, it feels more like a business stuck in time.

Let’s start with the maze. This year it was downright appalling. Instead of being surrounded by healthy, tall corn, I found myself wading through more weeds than anything else. The whole thing looked neglected, like no care had gone into it at all. To make matters worse, the boards you’re supposed to find were plastered with so many stickers you couldn’t even see what they were meant to show. It completely ruins the experience—how on earth are kids supposed to get any fun or challenge out of it when some parents can’t be bothered to teach their kids basic respect, and the farm itself can’t be bothered to maintain things properly?

Yes, the playground is still decent and the kids enjoyed it, but after 18 years I would expect to see some improvements, upgrades, something to show that Cairnie is actually reinvesting into the place. Instead, it feels tired, dated, and in desperate need of a shake-up.

Cairnie has so much potential, but right now it’s letting itself—and its long-time visitors—down badly. After all these years, I shouldn’t be leaving feeling more disappointed than...