I have a real soft spot in my heart for Paddington. Whether it’s the bedtimes reading his stories as a child, and now to my own children, or just how sweet and heartwarming his story is; I don’t know. But for me, Paddington is a great British institution and our whole family loves him.
And so you can see that the newly opened Paddington Bear Experience, that we visited recently in London, had a lot to live up to for us all!
The Experience
I won’t give away all the secrets of what happens during the Paddington Bear Experience, as half the fun is the unexpected, but the general gist is this. Paddington and the Brown family are hosting a Marmalade Day festival in Windsor Gardens, and you’ve been invited as a guest!
Your journey begins at Paddington Station where you board your train for Windsor Gardens. For the whole experience you will be with a small group of about twenty, which was lovely as the children got to know each other as they went round. The tour takes you through Paddington’s home at Windsor Gardens, and to some other surprising locations that I won’t spoil for you!
At each stop you meet with one the characters from Paddington’s story like Mrs Brown and Mrs Bird, and of course at the end of the experience you meet the little bear himself. At each stop there are games and challenges to complete as you get swept up in the preparations for Marmalade Day.
The whole tour lasts about 70 action packed minutes and at the end you finally reach the Marmalade Day Celebrations where you can spend up to an hour exploring and playing fairground games at the street party at Windsor Gardens.
At the end of the tour you will also find a meet and greet with Paddington, where you can have a hug and your photo taken with him. There is also a photo kiosk to order your prints. In Windsor Gardens you will also find a cafe selling lots of marmalade themed treats (and marmalade sandwiches of course!) and a range of hot and cold drinks.
We tried a marmalade sandwich (absolutely delicious) and sat on one of the benches in Windsor Gardens and soaked up the party atmosphere.
Is the Paddington Bear Experience worth it?
One of the most common questions we have had since our visit to the Paddington Experience is, ‘was it worth it?’ At the time of writing children’s tickets are £24 and adult tickets come in at £34. For us, we felt like the Paddington Experience was a special experience and truly a magical exploration into Paddington’s world.
If you are a fan of the books and films then you will love being able to step into Paddington’s home and meet all your favourite characters. There were plenty of moments that drew wows from both adults and children and my 8-year-old, as we left the experience, said ‘that’s a 10 out of 10!’
We also loved how interactive the experience was, with activities for the children in each of the different spaces we visited. This gave us more time to explore each space and to interact with the different characters.
As a big Paddington fan, I loved being part of this experience with the kids but if you have adults in your party that aren’t such big fans of the marmalade-loving bear then it might be worth limiting the number of adults in your party to make a trip here more affordable.
Top tips
If you are thinking of visiting the Paddington Bear Experience, then here are our top tips to make the most of your day
- The Paddington Bear Experience is located just opposite the Houses of Parliament and next to the London Eye so it’s a great place for some sightseeing with the kids too. There are lots of open top buses that pick up close by or you could enjoy a walk along the river.
- Nearby you also have the major attractions of the London Aquarium and Shrek’s Adventure is right next door so there’s an opportunity to really make the most of the day and visit some other attractions too. There is also a play park just beyond the London Eye.
- You don’t need to worry too much about what time you book in to the Paddington Experience, even during busy times like the school holidays, because you are in a small group for the whole tour (though do book ahead to be sure of entry). This is a major bonus when so many London attractions are busy during the holidays!
- When you come out of the experience into Windsor Gardens, we would recommend heading straight to meet Paddington and getting your photo (if you would like one). This got very busy on our visit as there was only one photo kiosk for everyone coming of the experience.
Overall, we loved the Paddington Bear Experience and it is a day out that will stay with us for a long time. If it’s possible, we may now even be bigger fans of Paddington than we were before!
