What to expect when you visit Beatrix Potter world

If you find yourself in the Lake District this Easter half term, I really recommend you seek out Beatrix Potter world for a true touch of Easter magic. 

We have wanted to take the kids to one of our favourite places in the UK for a while and so when the opportunity to head over to the Lake District came up, we leapt at it. 

We have always visited in autumn, generally doing a lot of walking and pubbing (is that a word? Feels  like it should be) but of course, visiting with under five year olds doesn't really lend itself to that.

Of course we love to wander with the kids and explore nature, but doing 10 mile hikes isn't where we are at without an abundance of snacks and bribery at the moment.

So we planned an itinerary that would allow us to walk a bit, eat a lot, spend time on and near lakes and just generally get the best out of the trip  (more to come on that later). 

However, there was one thing we could not miss on our trip to this particular part of the Lakes, namely Windemere, and that was visiting the wonderfully whimsical, Beatrix Potter World. 

I obviously did my research and reviews were mixed but I like to form my own opinion and we absolutely adore Peter Rabbit and the work of Beatrix Potter, so we had to see it for ourselves.

We heard it was quite short and so we made it part of the day, rather than the main event. However, as luck would have it, we found out there was a Peter Rabbit birthday show that could be booked which was right next door in their theater and extended the visit to Beatrix Potter World. 

It was an additional cost to go in and so we uhmmed and ahhed about whether it was worth it. Well, let me tell you, it was brilliant and we were so glad we went for it. Without it the exhibition could be quite short, if you don't take your time. Not something toddlers are known for taking when there is exciting stuff to see.

The show was roughly an hour long in a lovely intimate auditorium. It had a small but talented cast and managed to hit all of the right notes in being utterly charming, entertaining and delightfully English. We loved all of the characters and pantomime involved when Mr Todd or McGregor came out. It was so lovely when we got to sing happy birthday to Peter Rabbit and the whole family loved it. If you visit, it is so worth doing the show.

The attraction itself is very sweet and quite olde worlde charming, if you can suspend disbelief and look past the slightly dated exhibits. You won't find interactive displays and loads of tech here. But to me, it only added to the charm and I loved how quaint it all was, I think children see the beauty of it too with their innocent eyes. However, in the the world we live in now with fast, interactive and whizzy attractions, it does not really compete. 

I liked how simple it was and the children were at an age were they enjoyed looking at all of the little displays, but they also did not linger to look at every minute detail, as I would have, so we did double back a couple of times to make it last longer. I especially loved McGregor's garden, as did the children, which is in a small outdoor space and has real vegetables growing, bug hotels and little nods to the stories, as well as Peter Rabbit himself.

We tried to take our time looking at all of the details and then to extend the visit we booked afternoon tea at the small but cute cafe, which had the loveliest bone china and staff. I can highly recommend the carrot cake if you do visit! It definitely makes an event of it for a special celebration or at Easter time for for little Peter Rabbit fans.

Are you a Beatrix Potter fan? Is this on your book-it list? Let me know if you do go in the comments.