I’m doing a separate Blenheim Palace adventure playground review to the main site because it’s an additional charge and entirely optional so it makes sense really. It’s been open for nearly 18 months now but this is the first time that I’ve actually been down to check it out.
So what made us finally go down? Well Blenheim Palace currently have a new trail in their adventure playground and they asked us to review it. They didn’t see the review prior to publication and had no input into the contents. You can read my full review of the entire palace and grounds here.
What’s there?
The main play-frame here is huge and has lots of towers, walkways, tunnels and slides all over the place. There’s also a really cool climbing slope (rather than wall) that the kids loved scrambling up and sliding down again.
If you’re brave/nimble enough then adults can scramble around on the play-frame as well, and I did see a couple of adults on there with their kids. There’s multiple slides to choose from and they were all pretty slippy (although it was a soggy day so that could have helped). And then there’s all the tunnels and walkways to run around.
There’s also an toddler playground area (which also has some accessible features), a triple zip-line, “over the wall”, the allotment and a massive play river. Dotted around the playground there’s other little bits of kit such as a boat, balance beams, musical instruments and scramble nets.
The river
The water play area here is really big and has lots of stepping stones across it, balance beams and gates for blocking the water flow. It used to have two water pumps as well but those have been broken – because they ALWAYS get broken (Almost every site I know of has a broken pump!).
One thing I really liked about the river is that there’s no sand! This meant that actually it was much less messy than most water play areas can be. And it also means that the water is a bit more contained. When we visited the adventure playground at Blenheim Palace to do this review the weather wasn’t the best (we actually had a severe weather warning but somehow we managed to avoid the worst of the rain) so I didn’t really fancy the kids getting absolutely soaked. The layout means they can still play with the water but keep a limit on how wet they get if you need to – making it much more of an all-weather play area. Until we came here I genuinely hadn’t thought about this before.
Zip line wars
There’s no way you can have a triple zip line to yourselves and not have zip line races! The middle line is longer than the others, and I swear one of them is faster than the others. These are really good zip lines – nice and long, good speed, but not too quick that you snap back hard. However the lines are quite high off the the ground and you get onto them from a platform. That means it’s impossible for a kid to do it on their own.
The allotment
The allotment is the most themed part of the adventure playground. There’s giant sunflowers, giant carrots, a spider’s web, and a massive chair. It’s really cute. To get into it you have to go through a massive flower pot or the garden shed. I really liked the theme here.
The elephants in the room
There are two main complaints that I have seen in other reviews of the adventure playground at Blenheim Palace. 1) a lack of adult seating 2) the price. So let’s discuss those. Unless something has changed since it was first built I really don’t see the seating issue. There’s a ton of covered benches near the allotment and near the cafe. There’s also an entire terrace of astro-turfed walls that you can sit on and then a wall of stones. There’s loads of places to sit.
The price. Yes, you do have to pay extra and adults also have to pay. When they initially opened it was the same price for both, but they’ve now reduced the price for adults. Also, initially there was no discount for annual pass holders. I guess that actually makes sense because it’s a free upgrade to a get an AP. However they have made another change here as well because you can now buy a specific palace and play pass. It’s £41 per family more than the normal annual pass so you only need to visit the playground twice during the year to start saving money. If you know it’s something you’ll use it’s worth looking into.
This review of the adventure playground at Blenheim Palace is based on our experiences at the time of our visit. Things can change over time, including the facilities available. If you have any specific requirements such as access it’s always best to check with the site directly before visiting. If anything I’ve said in this review is no longer accurate then please do let me know. Thank you.
Our Blenheim Palace adventure playground review
Whilst we were in the adventure playground at Blenheim Palace I was trying to think of another similar review I could share with you. The closest is probably the playground at Hampton Court Palace, it really did have a similar vibe for me. Blenheim probably has more to do though, and you’ll be there for longer. We did really enjoy it here and I think this has to be my new favourite water play area. It’s so big there’s enough space for everyone. I think it will be awesome in the summer.
Admission cost
£7 per child, £5 per adult. You’ll also need either tickets for the grounds or an annual pass.
Parking / How to get there
Parking – On-site.
Address – Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1UL
Toilets
On-site, including baby change
Food
Cafe on-site. Picnics allowed.
What else is there to do nearby?
The Soldiers of Oxfordshire museum is just down the road and Cogges Manor Farm isn’t that far away. You can read all of my Oxford reviews here
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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.
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