Thanks to Tina White & Samantha Gaulton, the folks behind Fairy Door Tours, both Pippy and Bowring Park are packing new awe for kids, and this is a wonderful way to get them outdoors, walking around a park.

On Fairy Door Tours, you and the wee ones will visit a series of whimsical fairy, elf, and gnome doors scattered along a picturesque nature trail. Using a map with some clues, children are encouraged to help locate the Fairy Doors. Once they do, there are activities like:

  • Wishmaking at the Wishing Well
  • Leaving a note for the Fairies at the Fairy Mailbox
  • Bundling some firewood for a grumpy gnome

“Weather permitting a fairy storytime will conclude this enchanted adventure.” There are two Fairy Door Tours:

Pippy Park (Saturdays 1-2:15pm)

The Pippy Park Fairy Door Tour will run Saturday afternoons until mid-October. This tour visits eight Fairy Doors, the Fairy Mailbox and Wishing Well. If your child would like to leave a note or letter for the Fairy, please have them prepared in advance if possible. Meet your guides at the North Bank Lodge parking lot.

Bowring Park (Sundays 2:30-3:45pm)

The Bowring Park Fairy Door Tour will start mid-july and run until mid-October. This tour visits eight Fairy Doors, the Fairy Mailbox and Wishing Well. If your child would like to leave a note or letter for the Fairy, please have them prepared in advance if possible. Park at the West Entrance gravel parking lot on Waterford Bridge Road, and meet your tour group guides at the amphitheatre.

FairyTourDoors

Tours cost $7 for children/seniors; $10 for adults. For either tour, treasure bags will be provided. They contain “wishing dust and/or wishing bubbles, shells, marbles, stones, wool bits… things that may come in handy on the tour – or as a small gift for a Fairy.” The bags must be returned at the end of the tour.

All in all the tours are about a 1km walk, and the tours are recommended for ages 4 and up, though all are welcome. Note: you cannot open the fairy doors.

“If the Fairies smell or sense that their door has been tampered with they will likely abandon it. So no, we try not to disturb their doors or belongings. In the event we find a Fairy House we may be able to peek inside – as these are different from the magic portal Fairy Doors.”