West London has, without doubt, some of the capital’s grandest historic houses.
With a whole host of palaces and royal villas by the Thames.
Now, kids aren’t always impressed by grandness are they?
But they will love the enormous grounds that go with these houses.
As there are acres and acres of space to run wild in, after just a little bit of culture.
And, a lot of these houses work very hard to make their past interesting for kids.
1. Fulham Palace
Beautiful Fulham Palace is right by Putney Bridge.
So pretty easy to get to from all over London. And a great place to meet up.
You can explore the old home of the Bishop of London before relaxing in over 13 acres of garden.
There’s loads of family friendly activities AND it’s FREE!
Brilliant.
It’s a 10 minute walk from Putney Bridge along the river.
2. Marble Hill
Right by the Thames in Twickenham is the 18th Century villa Marble Hill House.
There’s art and 18th century furnishings to see.
And over 60 acres of riverside parkland to run around and relax in.
Marble Hill House is about 10 minutes walk from St Margarents station, direct trains from Waterloo.
And if you’re there for the day you could get the ferry over the river to Ham House, below.
Marble Hill is run English Heritage and £18 for the family. Free with an EH card.
3. Ham House
Ham House is another riverside historic house in west London.
Run by the National Trust – £27 for the family – it’s an important 17th Century London house.
Chock full of art, kids can also see how the house staff would have lived “below stairs”.
And there’s all the family activities you would expect from the National Trust.
It’s almost 2 miles walk or cycle from Richmond station but it is by the river so lovely.
If the ferry is running it’s actually only 20 minutes walk from St Margarets, (see above).
4. Strawberry Hill House
Oh my Strawberry Hill House!
It’s a historic house like none other in London.
Like every child’s fantasy of a fairy tale castle, it’s gothic with a big G!
The old gardens are being restored but there’s plenty of space for picnics and running around.
It’s £28 for 2 adults, kids are free. Half price with an NT or EH card.
The house is 5 minutes walk from Strawberry Hill station, trains from Waterloo.
5. Syon Park
Syon Park is the Duke of Northumberland’s big London pile in Brentford.
There’s lots of grand country house style rooms including Queen Victoria’s childhood bedroom.
And enormous spectacular gardens, including woodland and wild meadow that runs right down to the Thames.
It’s £28 for a family.
Syon Lane station is 15 minutes walk, trains from Waterloo.
6. Osterley Park
Osterley Park is a grand Georgian palace in Houslow.
The gorgeous grounds include garden, wilderness AND farmland with cattle chomping away.
Run by the National Trust, there loads of events including this year’s Jurassic Kingdom.
It’s about 20 minutes, less than a mile, from Osterley tube station on the Picadilly line.
7. Chiswick House
Chiswick House has lots of grand west London houses to compete with, but it is stunning.
A Palladian villa, it’s relatively compact – usually a bonus with kids.
And has lovely parkland landscaped round a lake.
It’s £18 for a family. Free with an English Heritage card.
It is a bit more adult focused than some but they do host the fab Giffard’s Circus in the summer.
It’s about 10 minutes from Chiswick Station (Waterloo) and 20 from Turnham Green or Chiswick Park tube.
8. Boston Manor
Boston Manor is one of the smallest of west London’s historic houses.
But it’s a lovely, hidden away Jacobean house, and a good one if you like discovering forgotten places.
The house is free and has some fine state rooms but is only open weekends.
And despite the M4 running over head, there’s lots of nature to be explored if you wander down to the river Brent and the canal.
It’s less than 10 minutes from Boston Manor tube, Picadilly line.
So there you go, some really stunning historic houses in west London that are perfect for a big day out.
For even more ideas across the city do check out these other lists …
I hope you have loads of fun wherever you choose to go for your day out.
Do pop over to Family Fun London on Facebook and share your photos – I’d love to see what you get up to …
[…] Granted it doesn’t have the grand riverside palaces of west London. […]