Blenheim Palace and Parks

This morning we met up with a family we’ve become friends with for a trip to Blenheim Palace (http://blenheimpalace.com/).  Apparently it’s one of the largest palaces in England, at roughly seven acres of living space, and it’s the home of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Winston Churchill.  An impressive affair all around.  Best yet, it’s only eight miles from Oxford and an easy bus ride at that.

For most of our day, though, the palace looked more like this:

Since our trip included four kids under the age of four, we were more interested in walking some of the grounds of the palace and having a picnic.

Although we walked several miles we only covered a small portion of the 2100 acres that comprise the parks.  The area was beautiful: rolling hills, huge, old trees, small lakes, and well-maintained paths.

It is a vast park with great places to roam and enjoy the sheep, pheasants, and deer.  We’re making promises to ourselves to go back, particularly once the leaves start to come out.  And we can also try touring the palace itself, or the “pleasure grounds” that house a butterfly house, a small train, and other things designed especially for children.

The kids did really well on the trip.  Although we like our stroller (and I may take it next time, since there’s such a lot of ground to be covered), we decided to backpack the kids for this outing; we broke down and bought a second backpack recently, since we continue to use ours so much for Katherine but want to use one for Nathaniel, as well.  Nathaniel slept nicely in the backpack, and Katherine spent the day climbing in and out of Sydney’s pack, walking much of the way down the paths and on the grass.  She collapsed into a nap after we got home, though, having walked a lot today and missed her normal nap. 

Erin

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One Response to Blenheim Palace and Parks

  1. Laura Peifer says:

    what a beautiful spot! great pictures, too.

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