The best way I can describe a trip to Knebworth House is that its a really nice day out. It has a lovely relaxing vibe to it and is a full day experience that offers a lot of variety and space to explore.
The main areas for families are the dinosaur trail, the hedge maze and the adventure playground although the gardens are beautiful and vast (with plenty of space to run about) and the house is open to visitors (this is at an additional cost). The play park is located away from the house and gardens and requires parking of its own, the rest can be accessed from the car park used for the house.
The Dinosaur trail features 70 life sized dinosaur and prehistoric creatures including a T-Rex and Woolly Mammoth. They are situated along the pathways around a woodland area that is positioned furthest away from the car park, but this is accessible with pushchairs. When you get over there you will see that the area is pretty big as are the dinosaurs and its very exciting for mini dinosaur fans. Each have a fact board so you can learn more about them such as when they roamed the earth and how to pronounce their name.
The hedge maze is situated between the house and the dinosaur trail and this is really fun to do! adults can see over the top but its a great place to let your child take lead then follow them around for 20 minutes while they keep getting it wrong but dont want to accept help. Its a perfect size for kids to tackle and when they get to the middle they are greeted by a little statue of a gorilla (i probably shouldn’t have given that part away) to avoid damaging the maze you are asked not to take pushchairs through so these have to be left outside.
The grounds are really beautiful! there are ponds and hedges and little areas and sculptures to discover. We almost enjoyed this bit the most as we got to lay down enjoying the sun whilst our girls found their own fun in the field.
The Adventure Playground really is massive! it includes standard play equipment such as swings and slides but also includes water play, a bouncy castle, Fort Knebworth (a wooden fort structure) and some brilliant high and long slides – one of which goes underground! You could easily spend a few hours in the playground alone as there is so much to do and my 2 got VERY excited as some of the equipment is the sort of stuff they don’t have access to very often.
Over the summer they have a sculpture trail and you have the opportunity to watch the artist at work and have a go yourself. For more information including prices and what else they have on over the summer visit their website.
