Droxford Pumpkin Patch at Lycroft Farm

The ticket here buys a good deal more than a walk round a field. Entry to Lycroft Farm covers the pumpkin-carving shack, wand making, potion creation, the Spooky Boogie, a strawbale cinema, the Tractor Trackway, the Pumpkin Playground and Hay Bale Mountain, which is why families tend to plan two or three hours rather than forty minutes.

Pumpkins themselves are an optional extra, charged separately, and come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Children can meet the farm's sheep, with sheep food available as a paid extra, and there are costume and pumpkin competitions during the season, so a costume does not go to waste here.

Some things sit outside the ticket. Broomstick Academy is a separate activity that has to be booked in advance, face painting is a paid extra, and food comes from a pop-up cafe doing warm drinks and snacks plus Hampshire Pantry serving seasonal pizzas.

Visiting works in two sessions a day rather than open all hours, so you choose a morning or an afternoon when you book. Free on-site parking is included in the ticket and there are disabled parking spaces. The site has no steps and a disabled toilet is provided, although the ground is grassy and uneven in places, so wheels of any kind will need a push. Dogs are not allowed at all because of the resident sheep, which is worth knowing before you load the car.

The farm sits in the Meon Valley between Southampton and Portsmouth, which puts it within reach of both cities and the villages between them.