A trip to Blenheim Palace is a magical day out. Prepare to be ‘wowed’ as you catch sight of this magnificent building. There are beautiful walks, pleasure gardens with playgrounds and a maze as well as the main Palace to explore.
The Palace
The Palace itself is truly spectacular but best to visit with older children. There are opulent Marlborough family rooms, impressive State Rooms and it’s particularly stunning at Christmas with festive decorations. Don’t underestimate how breathtaking this is for kids. I was quite taken aback by how amazed my kids were with the huge high ceilings and magical fairy tale feel.
Here’s a little snapshot from my visit to the 2018 Cinderella experience.
Blenheim Palace Playgrounds
There are several play areas in the Pleasure Gardens. There is an adventure playground featuring forts and bridges as well as sand pit. There is also a second play area with slides and monkey bars next to a zone with a giant chess board.
Blenheim Palace Butterfly House
The butterfly house is brilliant and is the perfect place to head on a rainy or cold day. Experience tropical butterflies flying around you and watch the life cycle from caterpillar to butterfly.
Blenheim Palace Train
There is a miniature train running from the Pleasure Gardens to the main Palace and back, running on selected days for a small extra cost.
The Malborough Maze
There is an amazing maze at Blenheim made up of 3000 yew trees. Leave plenty of time here as it can be quite tricky to find your way out when you are in the middle of the maze!
Blenheim Palace Walks
There are stunning walks around the estate ranging from 1 – 5 miles. The Queen Pool walk (1.5 mile circular walk) is beautiful with gorgeous views of the lake. It’s also just fun to run around the extensive grounds. Last autumn, my kids had so much fun running around in big piles of fallen golden leaves..
Blenheim Palace Restaurants
There is an excellent restaurant at the Pleasure Gardens with indoor and outdoor seating. It serves kids lunch packs, teas, coffees and fantastic pizza! There are also several cafes in the main Palace area. Prices are not cheap and eating out as a family can easily add up. However, there are lots of picnic benches and you can bring your own food to eat outside.
Blenheim Activities
There are always loads of great events scheduled at Blenheim from jousting to open air cinema screenings. Check out the Red Kite Days What’s On page for more details on events.
Cost
You can buy tickets for the Park & Gardens only or for the Palace, Park & Gardens. If you buy the Palace, Park & Gardens you can convert this at no extra cost for an Annual Pass, allowing you unlimited entry for a year, which is perfect if you’re local.
