Hampton Court Flower Show with kids

I have never been to a flower show before today… Partly because I have whatever is the opposite of green fingers and because it’s never struck me as particularly family-friendly. Toddlers and beautifully created gardens? You can see the looming potential for disaster.

review visit*

Then I was invited down to the preview day for the Hampton Court Palace flower show, which is not only an easy drive from my home, but promises to be more family-friendly than Chelsea (which bars under-fives) – and as the final temptation, some of the gardens were themed around travel.

So this morning, we slapped on the suntan lotion (not quite far enough down my back, as it turns out) and headed off to discover more at the largest annual flower show in the world, stretched across 34 acres.

I’m not going to apologise for the sheer number of photos I’ve put into the post because frankly it was all gorgeous. The whole area is lovely (with Hampton Court in the background), the sky was blue and there were bright colours everywhere.

Starting off, we headed over to the World Gardens with entries from the USA, including a Southern-style courtyard – although I had to whip Minnie off to run around before the US ambassador made his appearance.

Visit Normandy’s recreation of Monet’s Water Lilies was wonderful and I soaked up a fabulous slice of Turkey’s coastal blues, whites and pinks, complete with music in the background.

There was another styled on Sri Lanka, where Minnie got to play hunt the elephant as well, although it wasn’t a competitor.

The travel-themed gardens explored, off we wandered to check out the rest of the show, from the festival of roses to the Waterloo Garden.

So far, pretty much what you might expect. But what is there for kids? Really quite a lot, it turns out.

Within the Inspire Section – the largest of the three show areas – you can find the Hampton Court Flower Show children’s area, where you can pick up a showground trail, answering questions and getting a stamp to win a prize. We didn’t manage to complete it, so I’m not sure what!

But it’s a great idea to enthuse kids if they’re starting to flag. Nearby are the scarecrows designed by local schools, including one 7m giant scarecrow, all illustrating the theme of travel through time to celebrate the flower show’s 25th birthday.

Which means you can spot scarecrow versions of everything from the Vikings and a dinosaur through Cleopatra, Isaac Newton and Darwin to Emmeline Pankhurst and… Mr Tickle. There are also scarecrows hiding in different entrances and in other sections to track down.

Nearby an Alice in Wonderland-themed area with a tea party and topiary characters is another favourite for children at Hampton Court flower show, plus a soft play tent (closed today, so I only got a sneak peek).

Even more fun is the chance to do a bit of growing yourself, with three different plants to put into mini pots and take home.

Minnie got a small bit of ‘caterpillar’ plant – aka crassula hottentot – and kept checking on it (too dry, too fallen over, needs prodding) for the rest of the day. Despite that, we got it home in one piece.

You can also venture into the Anniversary Maze, discover occasional Alice-themed items around the grounds, plus a spot of Winnie the Pooh.

Minnie was just as excited to see the animal garden decorations, including a whopping great gorilla, and some very colourful flowerpots from MKM Creations which she insisted on counting.

Heading over to the Feast area, there was another child-friendly surprise in store in the shape of Henri le Worm.

Minnie hasn’t really come across this character teaching kids about where food comes from and encouraging them to get cooking, and she was definitely less starstruck by the appearance of Raymond Blanc himself, but what two-year-old doesn’t love a giant worm sculpture, blue rubber wood-chip style ground and half a dozen chickens clucking around?

There are so many great stalls, from the food ones in Feast to the garden furniture in Inspire, that there’s plenty for even very short attention spans around the rest of the show… interspersed with food trucks and ice creams.

Honestly, I think Minnie was having more fun climbing in and out of the stripy deckchairs than actually eating her lunch too.

When it comes to food, you should never be too far from something to eat. A lot of the stalls and cafes weren’t open for the preview today, but there’s a variety ranging from more healthy options and sandwiches to fish and chips, pizza and meat, to sushi and fine dining, quite apart from Pimms and champagne areas.

I did slightly regret the fact that I was driving.

It’s not cheap though – a fairly ordinary egg sandwich set us back £4.90, for example, and everything had to be paid for in cash. I’m not sure if that’s only on the preview day too, but it’s worth having plenty and/or a picnic with you. There are also a couple of cash machines dotted around.

The Long Water divides the main show from the Grow area. Its shady trees and a bit of spray from the fountains was a great place to chill out briefly in today’s sunshine – and to play hide and seek among the giant letters.

In Grow, you’ll find far more about plants and flowers, although as the Floral Marquee is 6,750 square metres, enough space to fit an FA football pitch, that’s something of an understatement.

The focus is more on the practical, with plants on show and advice for novices but less here to entertain kids if you’re visiting the Hampton Court Flower show with children.

We filled four and a half hours easily, and could have explored longer if tiredness, heat, mild hayfever and a previous engagement hadn’t sent us back to the car park.

So would I recommend Hampton Court flower show with kids? 

If you love gardening and flower shows, this really is impressively family-friendly and a very fun day out, with a lot more to do in terms of activities and foodie additions.

And even if you’re not a huge gardening fan, it’s still a very fun day out – not the cheapest option, but a memorably unusual day out in London with kids.

Need to know: Hampton Court flower show with children

Tickets to the Hampton Court flower show – officially the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival – cost from £30.85 in advance for general admission, from £25.85 for RHS members. Tickets for children over 5 cost from £8.85 (maximum of four).

The final day is currently the most expensive, while the first two days are only open to RHS members.

Most visitors spend around five hours at the show, and around 140,000 visitors attend each year. If you’re taking a pushchair, expect it to be crowded in the main areas.

There are several gate entrances and car parking but expect to walk a reasonable distance from the parking field to get in. There are toilets in the car park, as well as plenty dotted around the show itself.

Disclosure: I was invited to see the World Gardens – I was under no obligation to write this review. All opinions on visiting Hampton Court flower show with kids and allergies to pollen are my own

Images copyright MummyTravels

LIKED THIS? SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL NEWSLETTER