Ideas for a holiday to include Legoland Windsor

[Bamboopole]

Hello,

Looking for suggestions, please!

We have promised the DC a trip to Legoland this summer. As we are in Scotland it's a bit of trek, so we want to rent a cottage somewhere close by and turn it into a week's family holiday. Can anyone suggest a nice town/village or general area to base ourselves within a reasonable distance for a day trip to Legoland? Probably within 90 mins drive to make it feasible.

And for anyone who's been to Legoland, is one day enough?

Thanks. X

I live 10 mins from legoland. It’s not very far to London if you wanted a city break. My favourite place is the new forest and you can get there in that time. You could stay in Burley, which is lovely. It’s not handy for Windsor, but it’s within 90 mins. You’ve got the coast plus the forest. You can get legoland done in one long day as long as the queues aren’t really bad. I’d want to get there when it opens, though, which wouldn’t be so easy from 90 mins away!

when are you planning to go? If it's very busy you might need two days as the queues can be bad.

You could stay in Kingston and have a few day trips to London or base yourselves in Surrey and explore the surrounds

Stay in Windsor! Gorgeous area, castle, The Long Walk, so many beautiful parks and grounds. We frequently stay in Windsor. We used to stay in an AirBnB but now we just stay in a Travel Lodge or a Premier Inn. The Travel Lodge is right in the centre so perfect for mooching and the train station is a five minute walk so can be in central London in 40 minutes.

Do chessington as well if you are in the area . How old are the kids ? Tie it in with trips to London and Harry Potter studio tour if that is of interest .

@sharkanado we'll probably go in June or early July - before the English holidays start. But appreciate it could still be pretty busy.

you might be ok then but need to get there as soon as it opens.

The kids are still pretty young at 3 and 5 but the eldest has been fixated on going to Legoland after someone showed them pics online. It does look great for their age.

my dc love it

We stayed in Dorney at this Airbnb a couple of years ago and it was excellent. You can easily walk into Eton and Windsor along the side of the Thames from here and Legoland is a short drive away. https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/43575258

Legoland is fab!

You could stay in Windsor , or any of the surrounding villages, Guildford is not too far away away and there’s some lovely villages around there if you fancy something a bit more rural. Also whilst you are in the area check out Alice Holt woods and Coral Reef swimming pool

Thanks - I love the new forest and did wonder if it could be an option. But you are right that it's pushing it a bit time wise. The kids would adore the ponies though....

All this love for Windsor and the surrounds is great, I don't know the area too well so will get looking!! That Dorney option looks ideal @ginnitonic.

If you don’t mind moving accommodation, your best bet is a hotel stay near Windsor for 2-3 nights then move on to another location for a longer stay. Check Legoland tickets as sometimes there are offers to stay an extra day for a little more. Definitely worthwhile as you can do the popular rides first and last thing then take a more relaxed pace and enjoy miniland etc. Take a picnic.
There are plenty of Premier Inn/Travelodges within a 30 minute drive, but do check for events such as Royal Ascot when traffic gets manic locally.
Windsor itself is lovely for a change of scene/dinner.
New Forest is lovely and you have the beaches too. And Paultons Park with Peppa Pig World if you want another theme park.

My dc are teens now but we went loads when they were young and it has got much busier over the years. My tip is not to go on a Monday or Friday as you get weekend visitors on those days. Go there early, parked up by 9.30, depending on where you park it's a bit of a walk uphill to the entrance. There are benches, the gift shop and toilets at the big entrance area so you can hang around there for a bit. The ride for that age group that has the biggest queue is the self driving boat one (its name escapes me I'll look it up) so go there first.

It's Coastguard HQ

I used to live in the New Forest and I wouldn't bother driving all that way to it there is much better countryside in many parts of the UK. You arent supposed to go near to the ponies. The beaches aren't that great either. Paultons Park would be perfect or that age group. There is a good model village near Beaconsfield.

We live nearby and went loads when the DC were young.
Def avoid Mon and Fridays as likely school tripsor inset days.

As others have said get parked there early - my tip is once the gates open head straight to the far end and work backwards as everyone else starts on the nearest to the entrance. I dont think you need two days but you could buy the annual pass (which I think is only 2 days) and done one day on the way down and the second day on the way back. As others have said I would stay nearby the night before so you can get there early - and then maybe head off to your accomodation after - you will all want to be leaving before 4 if you are in the car park by 9:30.

You can get to anywhere in the SE pretty quickly from Windsor - if you wanted a week on the beach I would head to Dorset - Sandbanks is lovely and easy for little children.

We have a Lego mad 6 yr old and an animal mad 8 yrs old, We bought the Merlin silver pass and offset the holiday against a week in Scarborough in a caravan.

We went to Legoland on Monday and Tuesday. We saw all the shows as it was warm we made full use of the splash zone both days. We then went to Windsor Great Park on Wednesday ,as their play area was recommend and it was excellent . We then had two days in Chessington with the Merlin pass. Stayed in Travel Lodge /Premier Inns close to the Parks and had an absolutely fab week for the same price as the Caravan.

We have since used the passes on the Birmingham attractions during Feb half term and just come back from doing half the Blackpool attractions. Depends on where you live as to the benefit of the pass, but it is worth considering.

Try to stay in the hotel in Legoland, a great experience. Then Windsor castle, and possibly a day trip to the natural history museum in London to see Andy's clock. It's a long way from Scotland so balancing seeing things Vs their age where they may just want to play in a park.

If the weather's nice perhaps visit west wittering beach. It's the nearest sandy beach. You need to book in advance.

They are very young to be staying 90 minutes away. I would just stay around Windsor as there is plenty to do with young children near here anyway. I actually live in the village mentioned above. It's pretty easy to get to London on the Lizzie line and you could then do a day trip further afield if you wanted to. You could go to Beaconscot, which is near here. Odds farm is good also with young children (well I haven't been for 13 years, but it used to be good!). Visit Henley and Marlow. You could go to Coral Reef, although Windsor leisure centre has a good baby pool with small slides. Take a boat trip along the Thames.

I agree with staying close to Windsor with maybe a day trip onto London. As pp mentioned coral reef in Bracknell is good and just over the road is a lovely little interactive science museum fir kids zthe Look out and a fab playground for kids next to a huge forest

Around Windsor would be a good base.

You could do Legoland, get a train into London, drive up to Watford to do Harry Potter World (it's not in London despite what it advertises).

Coral Reef in Bracknell is OK. There is also a science Lookout Centre there which is in need of a bit of modernisation but is still fun and interesting.

Wisley RHS gardens isn't very far.

There's plenty to do. I hope you have a good time.

I would say the children are much too young for Harry Potter world.
I'm local, definitely stay in Windsor, it's lovely & there's lots to do. Really you are about as far from the sea as you can be, so save that for another time.
At that age Bekonscot is an absolute must! It's a wonderful model village & the kids will love watching the trains whizz around & come out of tunnels. I've been going there since I was 3 & I've taken generations of children there, it's wonderful. About 25 minutes from Windsor.

I would stay near windsor and do day trips from there. You could do the new forest in a day, the coast another day and the rest of the time you could do local / London attractions.