Our tips for a successful visit to Helmingham Hall's Illuminated Garden Trail

Darkness fell as we drove towards Helmingham Hall for the opening night of its annual Illuminated Garden Trail event on Friday.

From the road, colourful twinkles drew us into the hall's grounds alongside gasps of 'there it is!' from our six-year-old daughter Clara.

It was our second visit to Helmingham's illuminations, after a successful trip this time last year.

Then we looked on it as a fitting start to the festive season, so it was an experience we were keen to repeat.

For those who have never been to a stately home's illuminations – such events seem to be growing in popularity and number every year – the premise is to see a different view of the exterior and gardens as they are adorned with thousands of colourful lights.

Helmingham's offering is particularly enchanting, with appropriately atmospheric music played through speakers as you walk around the grounds. In fact, one might describe it as a winter wonderland.

This year, the trail operates in reverse of the 2021 route and instead of walking over the moat to start with we entered through a lit pathway which took us towards the courtyard (and the complimentary mulled wine included in the ticket price).

With it still being November, there's nothing quite like entering the courtyard to be wowed by a tall, decorated Christmas tree. I challenge any Scrooges to exit that courtyard – having seen the tree, enjoyed the mulled wine and perhaps sampled some of Tudor's caramelised almonds (£4 a bag or three bags for £9) – and not feel the festive spirit.

After our early pit stop, it was then time to take in the trail itself, with colourful welly boots, a sillhouette of the Queen and union jack box hedge lights catching our attention early on.

Soon, Clara was running towards an ancient tree adorned with spinning disco balls scattering random beams of light over the swaying grass below. Then she was skipping ahead as we walked past colourful trees to a glade I can only describe as 'magical' – after all, fairy lanterns hung from trees, illuminated creatures peeked out from behind almost every trunk and sparkling toadstools hid down the verges.

We turned a corner to see the calm reflections of illuminated trees in Helmingham's famous moat and then headed towards a feast of neon lights in what appeared to be a walled garden.

Colourful walkways, neon obelisks and an illuminated throne drew our attention, as Clara made increasingly vociferous demands for s'mores, after she remembered toasting marshmallows during a pit stop at last year's trail.

"Only good girls get s'mores, you may finding yourself getting s'nones," we teased as we approached the second pit stop (with a bar/café and toilets – WC facilities are also located at the trail's start and end point).

Of course, this being a once yearly experience, we all decided to enjoy toasting s'mores on the fires provided – and I regretted not remembering to bring wipes to clean our sticky hands with afterwards (although at least I did not dribble liquid marshmallow down my jacket this year. Honestly, sometimes I am worse than a child).

Even with the trail route in reverse, we remembered enough of last year's event to realise our experience would soon be over.

Sure enough, after turning left to leave the fire pit area we only had an illuminated avenue (with waves of colour and some strobe effect lighting in time to music from The Polar Express) to enjoy before crossing the moat once more and waving good by to the beautifully-lit hall.

But we still had one more treat in store – the hall's stables shops complex and a mini Christmas market were in situ at the trail's end, which was enough to cheer this shopaholic and her mini me.

Clara and I had a good browse of stalls and small shops selling an array of gift items (and lovely jewellery which caught my eye) while my husband ordered coffees from the Wright's van in situ.

Waffle lovers are also catered for, as a pretty converted horsebox selling the sweet treats is located just outside the stables.

Two hours after we arrived – with the illuminations, s'mores, shopping and coffee all ticked off the list – it was time to head home, already vowing to return in 2023.

The Illuminated Garden Trail runs Wednesday-Sunday until December 18 with sessions every 15 minutes from 4.30pm daily and last entries on Wednesday and Thursdays at 7.45pm, Friday and Saturday at 9pm and Sunday 8.30pm.

Our Helmingham Illuminated Garden Trail top tips:

• Buy your tickets in advance online as no tickets are available on the gate: https://www.helmingham.com/events/illuminated-garden-trail/

• Take cash – toasting marshmallows is a must but given the café/bar's location it does not accept cards. S'mores kits are £2.50 each

• Take baby wipes. The aforementioned s'mores kits are delicious but however carefully you eat them you are likely to end up with sticky fingers and face (even grown-ups)
• Also, don't wear anything you don't mind smelling a bit smoky after toasting marshmallows over the fire
• Dress for the weather. The trail was not muddy and it was easy to navigate during our visit, but it could be wise to wear Wellingtons depending on the weather (and you may need to wrap up warm)

• Fret not if you are driving – a hot fruit punch is a non-alcoholic alternative to the mulled wine included in the ticket price
• And finally, if you enjoyed your visit then make sure to snap up early bird tickets next year – if you had bought yours before August 12 this year a family pass would have cost £34 instead of the £43 standard price