Beaulieu National Motor Museum continues to be a fun day out for all the family, and we highly recommend it if you are visiting the New Forest or Hampshire area over the summer. We were last at Beaulieu in October 2023 for the Halloween and as I said previously Beaulieu really knows how to do good events. 

This summer at Beaulieu is no exceptions with loads going on, including;

Motoring Parades, where you can witness magnificent displays as vehicles from various eras of motoring history rumble into life and lap the arena. We were lucky enough to view this both at ground level and up high on the mono-rail which was fantastic! 

The Falconry displays at Beaulieu are always wonderful and twice a day you can see Lord Montagu’s falconer display his majestic birds in both the Abbey Cloisters and the lawns of the Palace House. These displays are at 1pm and 3pm respectively.

A new addition this summer are the ‘Living History’ characters where you can meet mechanic Jack Tucker and talk to him about his handling table in the National Motor Museum which is very hands on for the kids.

Also new is the ‘We had one of those’ where you can relive family memories of cars from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s! Great for those parent and grandparent car enthusiasts and you can even get in and smell the leather!

There Is a beautiful fairy and dragon willow sculpture trail where sculptures are dotted along the Mill Pond walk and in the stunning grounds and gardens. Can you find the fairy sitting on a deer? Also close by is the beautiful kitchen garden where this time we also met the house cat! 

The Palace house never disappoints where friendly costumed staff talk about what life was life in the Victorian era with demonstrations. The kitchen is always a favourite for our family – Can you guess what the family’s favourite food was back in the Victorian era? And does it differ to modern times? 

This visit we rode on the monorail TWICE as the kids loved it that much! The monorail celebrated its 50^th anniversary just a few weeks ago! The monorail opened in July 1974 and continues to be a family favourite. It’s a great way to start the trip and get an ariel eye view of where you want to start your day!

‘Little Beaulieu’ is probably the best playground in the New Forest and its difficult to get our children to leave! You really can let your imagination run wild in the play area where there is a wooden replica of the palace house with secret passageways! You can follow the treetop walk to secret areas and ride the zip wire. Can you find the tractor hidden in the orchard and where will you go once the car has been fixed in the garage?

The bus ride around the grounds is also wonderful and we were super lucky with the weather so were able to ride on the top deck of the open top bus which is always fun! Ding Ding!

The Top Gear exhibition is always a family favourite and very interactive for wandering hands.

The Abbey is beautiful steeped in history with a wonderful exhibition – Can you build a successful bridge?

Beaulieu is again doing there ‘return for free’ offer where you can return for free during July and August within 6 days of your original visit! We highly recommend this as there really is so much to do and means you don’t have to rush around the exhibits.   

Food and drink – There are lots of spaces for picnics and a large café serving hot meals and 2 kiosks (one in the playground and one near the bus stop for the palace house and abbey). If you want to refill your water bottles, there is a drinking water tap on the side of the kiosk in the playground! 

As well as collecting the 6 stamps (get your collection book as you enter), you can also see how many of Beaulieu’s Living History Character Cards you can collect and on parade days, collect the NEW car cards too – there are loads to collect! I think we managed 8, can you do better?