When we recently went to Christ Church Meadow in Oxford I realised that it bordered the botanic gardens as well. I haven’t been to Oxford Botanic Garden before and thought it might be worth doing a review so decided to go back with the kids. I knew it wasn’t particularly big so I planned to combine it with some other free activities in Oxford to make a full day-out.
First thing, although this is Britain’s oldest botanic garden it sure as hell isn’t the biggest. Kew Gardens it ain’t!! There were a couple of things that surprised me about this place. 1) Even though you are just off the very busy High Street, it’s very quiet in here. 2) It was much smaller than I imagined. Most stately homes have larger formal gardens than this, but then it is in the middle of a city! We were there for about two hours and we really had seen and done everything we could.
The Glasshouses
The glasshouses are where we started our visit to Oxford Botanic Garden. Again, they’re not big but there’s some cool stuff in there. I got to show the kids bananas growing (Smallest Child has seen them before but I don’t think she remembered), papaya, pineapples and other foods and plants that they’ve heard of but never actually seen growing before. I suppose that’s the good thing about taking kids to places like Oxford Botanic Garden – being able to show them plants they just couldn’t see anywhere else.
There’s also a cactus house (everything that looks remotely like Aloe Vera is called Aloe Vera in our house!). We spotted one that looked a bit like an alien monster, something that produced fits of giggles. Middle Child is obsessed with carnivorous plants so the fact they got their own room was very exciting for him. In fact, they actually get two rooms all to themselves, because pitcher plants get their own glasshouse too. Honestly some of those things are, well, dubious looking!
The Walled Garden
There are two main areas of the walled garden at Oxford Botanic Garden. The first bit has the taxonomic beds and medicinal plants – it all looks a bit like a formal garden. Then there’s the lower garden at the back which looks more wild.
In the taxonomic beds there’s the gourds beds and a big sign up telling you all about the squirting cucumber and its fruits. It sounded like fun and is the right time of year so we went looking for it. Found them. Gently touched one with a stick, nothing happened and I walked away. Suddenly all hell breaks loose, Smallest Child is screaming “it’s in my eye”, Middle Child is crying “she’s going to die” and I don’t even know where Biggest Child was. Turns out Middle Child had touched and one it had exploded, apparently all over her face.
Now, in hindsight I don’t actually think any did get on her face, BUT I didn’t have that luxury at the time. Quickly googling is squirting cucumber toxic whilst reassuring the kids everything was fine I realised actually it wasn’t. Nasty things happen when you get it in your eyes. Best calm mummy voice, “let’s just wash that out of your eye darling, no she’s not going to die”. All whilst feeling anything but calm. I knew thanks to Dr Google we’d have a toxic or fine answer fairly quickly. She (thankfully) was fine, but quite shaken.
Moral of the story – don’t touch the squirting cucumber in case it goes off in your eye. A lesson I think we can all appreciate!!
Whilst trying to stop her climbing the walls we went off to explore the woodland walk and literary trail. I knew there’s Cheshire cat statue in here and I wanted to find it. I’ll fully admit that this stage of the review of Oxford Botanic Garden is a bit sketchy but I’m not entirely sure how this is a literary trail. Maybe I missed stuff but I saw one board with Alice one and the statue. That was it. What did I miss or is it a somewhat over-zealous name?
The lower garden
Heart rates restored we went to explore the pond and borders beyond the wall. There’s quite a cool bit here that has lots of plants that changed the world. They mainly seem to be edible ones and tobacco. Actually there’s a LOT of different tobacco plants dotted around for some reason. Again, it’s nice to be able to show the kids what their food looks like before it hits the shops.
There’s also a lily pond, rock garden, bog garden and the very wild Merton Borders than I’m fairly sure were trying to attack us from all angles!
Our Oxford Botanic Garden Review
Small but interesting. You’re not going to spend too long here, even if you take a picnic, but it’s nice a peaceful. I can’t imagine it’s very interesting in the winter and there’s not really that much space that you’d visit just to have a wander around in the winter. Spring & summer are going to be your best bets I think.
I’m glad we went, particularly to look around the glasshouses. I’m not sure we’d go twice but it’s a cheap way to spend a couple of hours in the city.
Admission cost
£6.30 per adult (£7 with gift aid but when we visited they didn’t even mention that, they just said it was £6.30). Kids under 16 go free.
It’s also free for students and staff. Alumni get a discounted rate.
All prices correct at the time this review of Oxford Botanic Garden was published / updated. Please visit their website for the latest prices.
Parking / How to get there
Parking – No parking on-site. Either use the park and ride or park in St Clements and walk.
Address – Rose Lane, Oxford, OX1 4AZ
Toilets
On-site including baby change
Food
Their “cafe” is actually a little coffee cart. You can take a picnic though.
What else is there to do nearby?
Loads! Afterwards we did the Oxford Radcliffe Square version of the Treasure Map Trail (affiliate link) but you could also visit the History of Science Museum, Oxford Natural History Museum, the Story Museum or one of the parks such as University Parks
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Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook