6 Family Friendly Day Trips From London - 2

Leeds Castle, Kent

Leeds Castle is not in the city of Leeds at all, but in Kent, a lovely and bucolic county convenient for a day trip from London. Originally built in the ninth century as a royal manor, Leeds Castle was transformed by Henry VIII into a pleasure palace for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. While adults will appreciate its splendid gardens, rich tapestries, and historic paintings, children will love the enormous Knight’s Realm Playground with a wooden castle, Maiden’s Tower and Secret Tunnels. A toddler’s play area provides a safe and fun environment for the littlest ones. Older children will enjoy a balloon ride which provides stunning views of the countryside and the castle, built on two islands on the River Len. There is also a challenging maze, secret grotto, and an aviary which features falconry demonstrations and rare black swans paddling in the moat.

For animal lovers, Leeds Castle has the weird and wonderful dog collar museum. Poet Alexander Pope provided the collar inscription for the dog belonging to King George II’s son “I am his Highness’ dog at Kew: Pray tell me sir, whose dog are you?” If you have a special occasion to celebrate, Leeds Castle does wonderful birthday parties in the castle dining room, complete with a “throne” for the birthday boy or girl to sit upon while they enjoy their ice cream and cake.

Practicalities

Getting there:
By car: Leeds is seven miles east of Maidstone, Junction 8 on the M20 motorway; just one hour from London, 30 minutes from the Channel Tunnel and Channel Ports. All routes are clearly marked—follow the brown and white tourist signs.

• Families enjoy the presence of an owl at Leeds Castle, which has its own aviary.
• Martin Pettitt

By bus: Leeds Castle provides an all-in-one ticket which includes admission to the castle and a round-trip ticket from Victoria Station in Central London. National Express Bus #21 leaves at 9 a.m., arriving at the castle at 10:25 a.m. It departs the castle at 3:05 p.m. to arrive at Victoria Coach Station at 4:50 p.m. To reserve tickets, call +08705-808080 (£1/$2 telephone booking fee applies) or book online through National Express.

Kew Gardens

A perfect destination to enjoy the tranquility of nature, Kew Gardens is the jewel in the crown of British public gardens. Considering Britain is the land of horticultural obsession, that is saying something.

• The Waterlily House is just one of the many different houses and gardens that visitors can enjoy while at Kew Gardens.
• Paul Friel

Set in a leafy London borough, Kew Gardens is a 300-acre site with one of the world’s largest Victorian glasshouses featuring a delectable variety of rare and edible plants. In a steamy jungle atmosphere, kids can see bananas growing on trees, coffee beans ready to be picked, and coconuts dangling above their heads. The lacy Victorian wrought iron staircases allow you to walk among the treetops.

The Palm House and Princess of Wales Conservatory are also worth a visit, as they feature aquatic tanks with freshwater stingrays and water dragons zooming about in their habitats, as well as a brightly colored coral reef with a treasure of sea creatures to marvel at and discover. There are also different climatic zones in the conservatory, including a desert landscape with giant cacti right out of a Texas ranch, a nice refuge in a drizzle.

If you or your kids want to experience life as a hobbit (or just blow off steam), check out the Badger Sett where food stores, sleeping chambers and nests are connected by a warren of human-sized tunnels. Kew also features Climbers and Creepers, the first interactive play zone in the United Kingdom for budding botanists. Children can get “eaten” by a giant pitcher plant or make like a bee and crawl into a plant to pollinate it.