A cold but bright December morning was the backdrop for our visit to Bekonscot Model Village & Railway. The model village and railway is located in the charming town of Beaconsfield, and proved to be a fab location for a morning out with small ones!
Bekonscot Model Village Parking
On arrival, you’ll notice that there are bays on the road outside for parking, or alternatively the church car park opposite is signposted for visitors to use as well. We parked here and made our way over the road. We had prebooked on the website and showed our tickets on entry, at the cool converted railway carriage that is used as the reception and shop.
Bekonscot Model Village
There’s a handy buggy park, which I’d recommend, as the paths around the models are narrow and one-way. The place is small enough that even my only just walking toddler could manage walking round most of it, although he did need lifting up some of the little slopes!
We took our time meandering along the paths, stopping to spot the lions and bears at the miniature zoo, and peer into the windows of the tiny town shops and market place. There details of the buildings are so clever, and there are often funny scenes and names of buildings to find too. Of course, with everything being so small and low down the kids were much better at finding things than I was!
One of the best bits was leaning over the bridges to watch the trains coming down the tracks, especially exciting when the Christmas Train came along! We enjoyed looking out for all the other festive touches too – we even found carol singers at the church and Father Christmas about to climb down a chimney. There is a Christmas treasure hunt available from the shop too, to help you find all these little extras.
Halfway round we came off the path to stop for lunch in the cafe. Sandwiches, soup and hot pastries are available as well as hot and cold drinks. There’s some indoor seating, lots of outdoor picnic benches and the toilets are also located here (including accessible and baby change). There are lots of highchairs available both inside and out.
After warming up we headed back out, first climbing up the steps to the viewing platform. This is a nice addition, as it gives you a sense of the scale and detail that has gone into the village. Continuing round the paths we found a hotel complete with a swimming pool, and, one of the best bits, a moving and musical funfair! They both also loved the moving coal tracks – we were mesmerised for ages!
At the end of the trail there is a boating lake with controls to use. We then went round to the light railway. Over 2s pay £1.50 for a trip around the area by the boating lake. This was lots of fun – it’s a bench seat so you do need to hang on to little ones but it’s only a few minutes long. They’d also decorated this garden area for Christmas, and I imagine it would be really pretty with the fairy lights lit up in the afternoon.
We finished our visit with a look around the shop- there are lots of niche gifts and souvenirs for train enthusiastic children and adults alike. It’s a lovely, gentle sort of attraction to visit with small children – just the right amount of walking and loads to see to keep them interested. I’m sure we could go back many times and see scores of new things on each visit!
