Finkley Down Farm — Attraction in Test Valley

Top class and outstanding Farm Park on the edge of Andover with an extensive of activites to do for Adults and Children. There is a nice range of farm animals including Ponies, Horses, Pigs, Sheep, Goats , Bearded Dragons, Cornsnake, Monitor Lizards, Meerkats, Alpacas, Llamas and Chickens. Visitors can purchase some animal feed from the reception or pre-book it as part of your ticket and the animals you can feed are the Goats, Sheep, Llamas and Alpacas who absolutely love the sight of the feed and love being fed and it is great interactive fun. There is a nice wildlife conservation at the top end of the site where you can try and spot some rare wildlife. There is a nice large indoor play area for children containing Fowl Play, The Big One, Firefighters Fitness Training & Toddler Times and is great interactive fun for the children. In the Outdoor Adventure there is the Jumping Pillows, Pirate Water Wars, Farmyard Golf, Little Farmers Driving School, Tractor Town, Farmula 1, Rocket Slide, Eco Play and Atticus Adventure which is further interactive and engaging fun for the children. There is a small display of Birds of Prey where you can see The Eurasian Eagle Owl, Bengalese Eagle Owl, Spectacled Owl, Barn Owl, Buzzard and Harris Hawk which look very well looked after along with the farm animals in their spacious enclosures and you can great glimpse of these animals who are very loving and also love human contact. There displays of the Birds of Prey which is run at various times and seasonal where you can see these majestic birds up close and also learn more interesting facts about them. There is Bunny Hop where you can see the Rabbits up close and also see some Ducks and Geese in their enclosures. There is a cafe on site selling refreshments at reasonable prices and a small gift shop at the entrance selling a nice range of souvenirs at reasonable prices. Overall is a lovely endearing, fun and interactive place to visit, which makes for a pleasant and engaging day out. Well worth a visit whilst in the...

Parent with expectations.

Finely down farm is well rated by parents and a clean and tidy place to take your children. We had been hunting for good places to take the children, so tool our youngest out for a half day.

On arrival the sign said main car park full, it wasn't but we parked in the overflow car park.

Having been to a few of the same places in other parts of the country, and four kingdoms, jj's etc I was looking for something new and reasonable in price.

Finley down farm is not really a farm, but a over priced café centered around soft play with petting of animals.

Finkley down farm is better than four kingdoms and is layed out better and has more interactive play areas. Though missing the boats. If you put the two together then you would have a great day out.

Both places come over like a hashed plan for the most out door activities, such as one person discribed as a gypsy park. I suspect this is due to domestic climbing frames being used in a pen area for small children and more solid construction for older children.

The internal softplay is good, it's clean and most things worked and there wasn't a mass of webs and dust like jj's nor were the pads worn out.

Coffee was £2.75 though a board shows £2.70 there was cake and meal prices around £8.(single) the kitchen was open and clean, which is always nice to see.

Finkley is possibly more geared to schools, where a structure tour and activities are made and planed but not great for some parents or family visits. The farm is unfinished and not well laid out as it could be.

Animals were in good condition as were the keeps, unlike some shocking zoos in the UK.

Children of all age will like finkley down farm, parents not so much, but it's fairly safe in all areas. Ages below 2 won't have much to do. 3-5 will like it and 5-8 will find something good about the farm.

Mums day out or dads wanting to find a blow off for the kids, then this is a good meeting point, plenty to keep the kids entertained for a few hours, but not...

Such a great day out for families!

The animals (particularly the alpacas and meerkats), soft play, bouncy pillows/trampolines, ride-on cars, music garden, Farmula one, playgrounds and café are all well maintained and enjoyable. The bird shows, bunny hop, goat races, pony grooming are all great additions, as well as face painting and hair braiding during peak periods.

The outdoor play areas have all been recently replaced, so are in excellent condition and provide lots of opportunity for exploration by both toddlers and older children. The sand pit is a firm favourite with my kids, whom both enjoy a dig and the odd sandcastle. The owls are also a family favourite, particularly the Spectacled Owl whom can often be heard hooting to my kids' delight.

We have an annual pass, so we visit as a family of four (two adults, a six year old and a two year old) very often. The kids love popping there for a morning and feeding the animals, grooming their favourite pony 'Freckles', and burning off lots of energy on the soft play.

The only downside is the often quite long queue at the café: everyone has to queue for a single payment station, regardless of whether they're waiting for hot food, hot drinks, or just grabbing a quick snack/pre-packaged sandwich.

This means that waiting times in the café can be frustratingly high at peak times. Ice creams can be purchased from the 'hatch" accessible from outside, which helps, but if one intends to grab a pre-packaged sandwich or a sweet treat, it can be pretty arduous. I would propose that they have a separate queue for cold food/drinks, to allow for an express lane rather than waiting behind those ordering hot food, or hot drinks (which are actually the worst candidates for causing delays).

Other than this, the place really is a great day out for the family and we love that it's right on...