A Family Trip: In the Footsteps of Roald Dahl in the Chilterns

Celebrate Roald Dahl’s birthday each 13th September – now the official Roald Dahl Day – with a jaunt into the Chiltern Hills. Though it’s way off the tourist track, this area is a great place to take kids – especially since 2005, when the Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre opened in the Buckinghamshire town of Great Missenden, joining the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery in nearby Aylesbury.

The Museum & Story Centre is Great Missenden’s celebration of its most famous son, who as well as one of the world’s greatest children’s authors was a confirmed chocoholic. There’s no better place to be on Roald Dahl Day itself, when the venue lays on  all kinds of traditional fun, including magic displays, bingo, competitions, cakes, crafts, raffles, storytelling, and guided tours of the town, with ‘reading stops’ at locations from the books, including Matilda’s library, Sophie’s ‘norphanage’ from The BFG, and Fantastic Mr Fox’s woods, plus a visit to the author’s grave (which is often decorated with chocolate bars left by fans) and a halt at Gipsy House, where he lived  On Roald Dahl Day, the regular admission ticket price applies at the Museum, but entry to Gipsy House is free. If you wish, you can also make a donation at Gipsy House, which would benefit the Foundation and its work in the areas of neurology, hematology and literacy.

If you can’t make it on the big day itself, the museum is worth a visit at any time of year, although it’s best suited to kids aged 6 and up who know and appreciate the books. Door shaped into huge chocolate bars lead into two galleries filled with displays including a replica of the garden shed in which Dahl wrote and early drafts of the books. There’s also a program of free craft activities and storytelling sessions in the school holidays, and Wondercrump Workshops teaching kids how to decorate chocolate bars, make puppets, and follow some of Dahl’s famous Revolting Recipes. More Revolting Recipes – which actually taste very good – are available in the very fine Café Twit, as described by our writer Dea Birkett.

If you have younger children, head instead to Aylesbury’s Buckinghamshire County Museum, home to the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery, where kids can send themselves into TV like Mike in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, ride in the Great Glass Elevator up to the Imagination Gallery with its eyeball maze, magic writing wall and magic mirrors, and study minibeasts in the Giant Peach, among other things. You need to book ahead: visits are by timed ticket and last 1 hour.

Other attractions in the area are the little-known Natural History Museum at Tring, an outpost of London’s mighty Natural History Museum with 4,000 preserved animals, temporary exhibitions on themes such as bees, an interactive Discovery Room, crafts sessions on animal themes, handling and  sketch-a-specimen sessions, and the child-friendly Zebra Café. For more animal fun, head for the nearby Whipsnade Wild Animal Park. 
 
There’s also the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton, with Static Viewing days, when you can visit the steam museum, Steaming Days, when you can ride on a full-size engine as well as a miniature train, and Special Events, which combine the attractions of the Steaming Days with activities and attractions such as a pets’ corner. There are also Days Out with Thomas events.

Or you could just shop ‘till you drop at Bicester Village with its discount designer clothes and housewares outlets, including caramelbaby&child and Ralph Lauren Boys & Girls, plus a play area and a branch of Carluccio’s Caffè. Staff from the Roald Dahl Museum occasionally come here to give storytelling performances.

It’s quite easy to get to the Chilterns by train:  Great Missenden, Aylesbury, and Bicester are on a route from London’s Marylebone Station, with the journey taking about 40 minutes, an hour, and 90 minutes respectively.  If you want to take your time discovering the area’s many attractions, save your pennies for a night or two at the award-winning country estate The Grove , with a spa, a Walled Garden with an outdoor pool and an ‘urban beach’ in summertime, tennis, croquet, golf, nature trails, treasure hunts, cycling, a games room, toyboxes in guest rooms, an OFSTED-registered kids’ club, and three restaurants. Alternatively, the Holiday Inn in Hemel Hempstead has great rates on family rooms, an indoor pool, board game loan, and a Kids Eat for Free policy in its restaurant. Hemel Hempstead is also home to the new Snow Centre, a massive indoor snowsports venue.