Easter at Kew Gardens, London – Beano trail

If I needed reminding, the current barrage of photo memories from previous years just go to show how much we love Easter at Kew Gardens – there’s nothing quite like visiting when the spring flowers are starting to bloom, and making the most of the sunshine.

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That goes double this year, as our first proper family day out after lockdown. And as a bonus, there’s usually a great kids’ trail for Easter at Kew, to tempt you into a different part of the 300-acre botanical gardens or to encourage little legs to keep walking.

This year was no exception with a Beano-themed Easter trail at Kew Gardens, Dennis and Gnasher’s Big Bonanza, with facts, boards, jokes and some fun interactive games as you and some of the famous comic characters try to stop evil Dr Gloom from threatening Bananaman… and the humble banana.

For more Easter days out with kids in London, check out the latest things to do this year

Or not so humble, as we discovered, with five billion of them eaten in the UK each year. My daughter certainly does her share to help!

Visiting days after lockdown three ended in England, there were still some restrictions in place – the glasshouses were closed, for example, as was the treetop walkway, but the Hive and the Children’s Garden play area were both open, with additional tickets needed for the latter.

Check out my tips for visiting Kew Gardens with kids

The Beano Easter trail itself was included in entry though, with a map showing a red and black striped line to mark the trail, as well as a comic strip which adds a bit more of the story – and a quiz to work out which Beano character you are.

Once we’d completed that (my daughter identifying as Rubi… apt!), we set off to find the start.

If you go in by the Victoria Gate, you’re closest but there were plenty of signs from the other end of the gardens, so if you come in by the car park at the Brentford Gate or from the Elizabeth gate, as we did, you won’t have any problems.

Beginning from just behind the Palm House, it then leads you through the gardens past the lake and up towards the top of Syon Vista.

There are lots of reminders to socially distance, and staff in red and black striped tops to keep an eye on everything but when we visited just after 11am on the first day of the London school holidays, everyone was pretty good about keeping gaps and queuing to pose for photos.

Along the way, we discovered flowers which throw pollen bombs and flame-proof trees, plus enormously stinky blooms, as well as those facts about bananas… Did you know there are dozens of wild cousins to the banana? Most of which, sadly, taste disgusting.

A very fun way to discover that the natural kingdom really is both impressively creative and sneaky when it comes to pollinating or protecting itself.

Plus there were the games to entertain too. One highlight was jumping on some pads to create a variety of sound effects (including fart noises, of course).

One or two seemed tricky to trigger, and it was definitely easier for older kids – some needed a fair amount of weight and/or force, so be prepared to help littler ones who may not be able to do it alone.

Although to be honest, it’s always good to have an excuse to join in the jumping.

The same went for another game by the lake, where you jump on a button on a pad to fire water at the gently twirling orchid – fair revenge for those orchids which fire their pollen bombs at unsuspecting bees.

Dotted along are cut-outs of the figures from the Beano to pose with, including some of the storyline – we discovered around half-way along that it makes sense to keep the free comic out too, as this adds a bit more detail.

My daughter did roll her eyes at a few of the jokes and dodgy puns in the withering way that only an eight-year-old can (what can I say, I was amused!).

It probably took us about 45 minutes to stroll the whole route, although allow a bit longer if it’s busy.

And once the bananas are saved for the future? Make them into cake, obviously: there’s a kiosk selling banana muffins at the end, near a statue of Dennis and Gnasher.

That’s only the beginning of what there is to do at Kew, of course – despite visiting countless times, I still manage to find something new, especially if you venture further away from the most popular spots near the Palm House and the Children’s Garden.

This time we stumbled across a bear statue I’ve never seen before, over to the west in the area near Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, and finally got to the rock garden near the Princess of Wales glasshouse that somehow we always seem to miss.

As a bonus, I’d also managed to get tickets to the Children’s Garden this time. It’s free to enter, but with timed slots to keep numbers limited – you then have an hour inside to play and explore. Adults can’t enter without kids, and you can have two adults accompanying each child.

It’s been very popular since it first opened in May 2019, especially after being closed for parts of last year during lockdown and other restrictions, so I prefer being able to book – for our first visit the week of its opening, it was first come first served, which meant big queues.

But it does mean you have to get in early during school holidays – while there were tickets to Kew Gardens itself for Easter, there was far more limited times available for the Children’s Garden.

Pick a wet Wednesday in term time in December and you’re unlikely to struggle – based on what one grandparent told us, it’s empty enough that you can stay pretty much as long as you like).

Divided into sections representing the various things which plants need to grow, including sunlight and water (although the water itself is currently turned off), there’s plenty of fun from the mini trampolines, via climbing equipment to the slides into the sandpits at the end.

Elsewhere, the Hive has also reopened (although again, the section underneath the structure is currently closed) so we made the most of being able to pop in to the installation and listen to the buzzing and music of the bees, as lights winked on and off representing the real bees in the gardens.

Over 100 different species of bee live at Kew – and the musical sounds inside the sculpture are all in the key of C, the key that bees actually buzz in.

There are seas of daffodils and magnificent magnolia trees in full bloom among all the other spring flowers: there’s always something to see at Kew, even if you don’t visit at Easter, but spring at Kew Gardens really is glorious.

We stopped by to say hello to the Chinese lion statues by the lake and the heraldic animals next to the palm house, plus the dragons by the pagoda – and more unexpectedly, a peacock in the raked stone of the Japanese garden, backed by cloud of white flowering trees.

Not to mention all three vistas and the woodland walk near the river and Syon outlook, walking over eight miles (helped along by ice cream – try the mango sorbet, it’s amazing).

Determined to pack in as much as we could – although as ever, there was more to see if we’d been able – it’s hard to think of a better first family day out of 2021.

Need to know: Easter at Kew Gardens

Tickets to Kew Gardens must be prebooked, including for members, with timed slots available – you have a 45-minute window to enter. The Beano trail for Easter at Kew is now over, although there are regularly similar seasonal trails during school holidays.

Adult tickets cost from £20 for weekdays (less during winter, more at weekends), while children aged four to 15 cost £5. There are also family tickets from £26 and it’s free to go into the Children’s Garden.

You can see the complete list of prices online here including concessions, or you can also buy tickets with free cancellation from Tiqets and a small discount using my code MUMMYTRAVELS6.

Membership to become a Friend of Kew costs from £77 per year including entry for one family guest, and you also get 10% off tickets if you have Historic Royal Palaces membership.

Previous Easter trails at Kew have included Shaun the Sheep, as well as other temporary events such as Full of Spice in summer, Plantasia in autumn and Kew at Christmas illuminations. You can also read more about a visit to Kew Gardens after lockdown here.

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Images copyright MummyTravels

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