Day Trips from London with a Toddler

With Covid behind us and Addy with us, we adopted our lifestyle to be one which adapted for day trips from london with a toddler. Definitely it involved better and intricate planning to accomdate our little one – A happy kid is a happy hike. While we are out most weekends, hiking or walking through some countryside, in this article i want to highlight some key ones which we enjoyed the most. Join us and explore Day trips from London with a Toddler exploring the best of Thorndon country park, Box hill, Blean woods, Devils Punchbowl and more.

Thorndon Country Park

One thing which amazes me about London is the sheer fact that you can go from being in the hustle bustle of a buzzing city to a quiet countrside retreeat withing minutes. The Summer was pretty much done and the Autumn was enroute with days getting more shorter and colder. This time we decide to explore the Thorndon Country Park in Essex. 30 mins Drive and we were at West Horndon, Brentwood – The Southside and rather quiter side as compared to the North side which has the Visitor centre, cafe etc

Detailed map – Thorndon_Country_Park-walk

The walk in itself was quite easy passing a lake and private farms onto woodlands(close to 10km as we missed the route). Addy enjoyed every bit of this and especially towards the end when we just layby on one of the hills and had our lunch while viewing the beautiful landscape and she had the freedom to run around the hill.

Lee Valley

Having cycled through some bits of Lee valley, this is the closest natural beauty spot from where we stay in London. We had been planning to explore more of this area on foot but as they say Humans always tend to focus on something which is far off and forget whats next to them 😁. Summer 2021 wasnt great but towards the end of Summer the days were bright and no rain in sight. Again a weekend and again the itch to go out took us to Lee Valley. The Best place to Park would be – Hooks Marsh car park, fishers Green Lane, Waltham Abbey. Going by the name Lee valley is dominated by the River Lee and its numerous lakes.

Detailed map – Lee Valley Trail

The circular walk(6KM) was rather easy with the fresh morning breeze and the hundres of bird flocking to the lakes. Though very close to civilization the place seems very remote. We did fund a very good place for Snacks and Addy to free her legs on a desolate bridge across the river – hardly any soul in sight and lush green forests as the background. Simply loved it.😍

Bognor Regis

One of the rituals of the English Summer is to visit a seaside town/beach. As I said many times earlier I’m not fan of the beaches or the ocean as I grew up right beside it. However I love the vibes of these English Seaside town. Our friends had just moved back to London and was well up a trip to the Ocean. Luckily it was Sunny and bright – off we went to the seaside town of Bognore Regis, in West Sussex, off the south coast of England. For some reason the name -Bognor Regis – fascinated me – somehow felt so French(or maybe not).

Bognor dint disappoint us – I would say a typical English side town by the beach, with its own pier, Fish & Chips shops, Amusement places and more. We did unwind for some time on the beach. Addy was quite scared to go anywhere near the water initialy, needed a bit of persuasuion. And post that she never wanted to come out.

This trip will be remember for 2 reasons – Addy throwing a fit as we had to drag her back from the beach 😁! And the awesome lunch we had on our way back at Crawley – One of the best pub meals we have ever had.

Box Hill – Stepping Stones

Box Hill has been a home away from home. We simply love going here. We trained here when we prepared for Mount Kilimanjaro and we have been been several times with numerous of our friends and enjoyed every bit of it. With Addy in our lives now we wanted to start our hiking journey with Box Hill and not the whole circular trail but the box hill – Stepping stone trail – just 4 km circular walk. But trust me its not easy as it has some steep gradients and with a kid on our back it gets really hard. And also all the more hard when you havent been active for almost a year coz of the covid lockdown.

We love the walk, though the stepping stones was quite busy. However the Steep gradient at the end of walk was a real lung buster – more a reality check to wake up from the sedentary life and get moving😁

Horsey 

Wildlife holds a special place in our lives and England isnt the place to explore wildlife. However something which fascinates me is the Horsey beach, which we have been numerous time to see the Grey fur seals and thier little puppies during the breeding season. This time we had our own little puppy seal and parents to tag along in this journey.😍

Shoebury Beach

How about a place which is not as busy as the other sea side beaches, you can almost walk a km into the sea when low tide and th ebest bit – You can Barbeque on the beach(officially) — This is the Shoebury beach for you. Again a must visit for us during the summer with friends for our annual BBQ , but we visited with Addy so that she can explore her very first Beach!

New Forest

An hours drive from west London and you are at this magical meadows with wild ponies grazing around – New Forest. We have been here numerous times and simply love this place. The first time we were here , a trio of horses charged at us while we were cycling in the forest. The Second time we were here a crazy horse gnawed at our Car and left Scratch marks, but the third time around we had so such experience as we had our Addy for security 😁. We stayed here for 3 nights at Sandy Balls and still want to go back again. This is an absolute must with Toddlers and an absolute must if you love driving around.

Peterborough

Parents and In-laws were now back home and we were back to being our selves but with our little angel by our side. Everything was a new start and everything was a learning – but we thorughly enjoyed every bit of it. I wanted to go somewhere where we can unwind completely and also get used to staycations with a restless toddler. I planned a Staycation at Peterborough – Drafon Fly – A awesome resort right next to the rowing club lake. We arrived on a Friday evening and simply loved the place – A calm and quiet area right next to a rowing lake and and River Nene.

Addy was just getting used to sitting in the Child carrier and we wanted to train her for long walks and hikes. Ferry Meadows was walkable from where we stayed and off we went on Saturday morning for a wondeful 7km walk around.

Quite exhausted after the walk we then made our way to Peterborough city centre to visit the wondeful Peterborough Cathedral and the town square. Addy had a gala day outdoors and then enjoying the water fountains in the city square

Blean Woods

The Sun was finally out and its spring of 2022. There are moments where you want get away from the routine and enjoy a quiet walk and bring sanity back. Blean woods in a beautiful and ancient woodland in the heart of kent and well worth a days trips from London. This is a designated national nature reserve spread over 500+ hectares and apt for enjoying a stroll through mature oaks and whole array of wildlife including the woodpeckers, nightingale etc

Addy was more active now and enjoyed being with nature, This meant she resisted more of sitting the baby carrier – so the trick was balancing between the walk and letting Addy have her fun time. We had a great family time within the woods – we were pretty much all by ourselves.

 

Devils Punch Bowl

A 1.5 hrs drive from london towards surrey is a biological site of special interest – Devils Punch Bowl. A lot of local legends stories are based on this area involving the Devil and the god Thor. There are numerous well paved and well marked walks around this area and all are absolutely scenic. Addy wasnt in her best moods today , so we stuck with the shorter 6KM walk around the rim of the bowl – which resembles a crater.

Nature, countryside, Wilderness and Walks are what refuels us as a family. More to come… keep an eye out