New to London: Family Attractions
London is Europe’s biggest, busiest and most thriving city – and with its wealth of family and children’s’ activities, you and your clan will not be disappointed in your search for diversion and fun-filled days. Having had quite the renaissance last year with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and the success of the Olympic Games, many new attractions have sprung up in the capital, including several family-orientated diversions. There are also several newly refurbished venues which now include active and creative children’s pastimes, including everything from historical dressing up to painting. Read on to find out what’s new and happening for you and your kids in London this autumn.
Hobbledown
A children’s fantasy adventure park and farm based around an illustrated fantasy book, Hobbledown is a unique attraction and will more than adequately fulfill your children’s need for non-stop fun. Offering up 50 acres of adventure playground equipment, there are high ropes, tunnels, mazes, towers, aerial walkways plus aerial adventure course and huge sandpits; there is also a 14,000-square-foot indoor adventure area for those days when the rain just won’t give up.
The farm houses meerkats, otters, wallabies, owls, lambs, ponies and other traditional farm animals. They also offer farmer experience days and host birthday parties.
One piece of advice for mums who are planning on visiting with their kids: don’t wear stilettos.
Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour
The Harry Potter films have been nothing less than a phenomenon since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone opened in 2001. Several films later and there are few kids on the planet who haven’t longed to join the titular character and his friends on their mystical adventures. Now, with the newly opened Harry Potter Tour at Warner Bros.’s Leavesden studios, they can do just that. Apart from the excitement they’ll experience entering the actual Hogwarts’ Hall and Diagon Alley sets, they can also see animatronic models and witness special effects in action. Another highlight is the Hogwarts Castle Model. A wonder of craftsmanship, the hand-built model was created for the first film by no less than 86 artists and has undergone several reconstructions since. Lit by over 2,500 fibre-optic lights, a day-to-night cycle at the castle is simulated every five minutes or so in order to allow the kids to experience the full creative beauty of this model.
William Morris Gallery
The newly refurbished galleries at this East End destination offer great creative, interactive family sessions for you and your children to indulge in. There is a puppet theatre, a dressing-up area that allows kids to become characters from fairy tales, and even the opportunity to paint their own stained-glass windows and built a medieval cathedral! There are designated family days on the last Saturday of every month and creative sessions for kids aged up to five years, which take place in the brand-new learning centre.
So whether you’re after creative, active or interactive fun, with games and educational opportunities added in too, these new attractions run the whole gamut and are even parent friendly into the bargain. If you can manage the pace, all three taken together over a long London weekend will leave you and your little ones tired but very happy.