Kids in (Outer) London – Virginia Water

Just past Staines and part of Windsor Great Park, Virginia Water has much to offer. For just £1 an hour in the car park and possibly a few ice creams, this is a great day out for when the weather is good and you have kids with lots of energy to burn who need space to run around.

We arrived early Saturday afternoon at the Virginia Water car park which is on the A30 London Road (there are other car parks depending on what point you want to enter the grounds but this one has the advantage of being quite close to a pub). I was impressed at how smart all the new railings and information boards appear. The lake is just a few minutes walk from the car park (no problem for the impatient young ones then) and we turned right and wandered along at a leisurely pace while the kids (from four to fourteen) ran around on the grass and in between the trees. Some nicely carved tree trunks provided a few “I’m the king of the castle” moments. And there were lots of trees with sturdy low hanging branches for safe climbing. And did we climb!

Wick pond provides a good place to stop and admire the lake (before the reservoirs this was our largest man made lake) and the ducks. And at this point you can easily see one of the main attractions – the Totem Pole – which is set in a large grassy area. After a few Native American rain dances (which fortunately did not appear to work) we set off to continue our lakeside walk – reaching Botany Bay point which provides a really rather lovely view across the lake from the other side to where we set off.

Then we continued cross country on a path to the Valley Gardens car park where the loos are situated. This route takes you through some lovely woodland which is much more managed than the wilder lake side walk. We stopped at one of the many viewing points to admire the greenery and roll down some hills.

Our circular route brought us back to the Totem Pole and still our youngsters were racing around and thoroughly enjoying regular breaks to peer into the water in search of frogs and other creatures and to watch the many dogs doing their swim-to-retrieve-a-stick thing.

Having retraced our steps back to the car park, we continued on. Whilst I had been to the Cascade (a huge waterfall with a “swimming pond” near the top) before none of the kids had and they were very, very impressed. It is easy to climb up the side to reach the top – and it is high. There are numerous notices advising you not to try and cross the very shallow water through which there are stepping stones but our youngsters – suitably supervised – did what all youngsters will do and were into the water pretty fast. We spent much time here – the younger kids splashing in the shallows while the older ones looked thoughtfully out from the top of the Cascade at the stream below.

The lake is close to Saville Gardens which is a good destination in its own right if you are horticulturally inclined. Virginia Water is a particular draw for those who own dogs – so if you have kids who are nervous around them please take care although the paths are sufficiently big that you can avoid close contact and there are areas where dogs must be kept on a lead. And I strongly advise you take along some water and snacks, if not a full blown picnic.