Social News Assistant Editor Samantha Bartlett headed to the Eden Project in Cornwall with her 2-year-old toddler. Here’s everything she says you need to know before heading there with a little one
If you’ve read my last first person piece, then you will know that I didn’t plan a family trip to Cornwall.
I was instead meant to be heading for a weekend in Paris, but an unexploded World War 2 bomb at Gare du Nord’s train station changed that plan.
After trying to come up with every alternative route to Paris we could think of, we gave up and decided to head on a UK staycation for the week – and Cornwall was our chosen destination.
We didn’t have much time to decide where to head, but after I found the delightful-looking Green Acres Cottage in Penpillick, we chose to head there.
After getting there and being in awe at how nice it was, we also happened to realise that the Eden Project was only 10 minutes down the road. Deciding we had to head to the iconic venue, we chose to visit the next day on the Saturday with our 2-year-old toddler.
Now I know some parents like to plan ahead when taking their toddler to a new venue, so I’m going to give you all the insights I think you need, as obviously our trip was a bit more spontaneous!
Buying tickets
Luckily for any parent with an under-5, they go free into the venue. Adult tickets are quite pricey (£38 per person online), however that does give you entry for the whole year. Obviously that isn’t that helpful if you live far away, but there’s not much you can do unfortunately. It’s best to buy them online before heading to the venue as it’s £4 extra per person if you buy them at the door.
Students also go cheaper (£32.50 online and £36.50 on the door) and everyone who lives in Cornwall or Devon also save 45%.
Get ready for the long walk from the car park
The car park isn’t exactly a short stroll to the door, so if you have a little one, you may want to make sure you bring a buggy for them, or something you can push them in and back to the car unless they have tons of energy or you want to carry them.
Prepare for the super-hot rainforest biome
You can’t visit the Eden Project without checking out its huge indoor rainforest, but there are a few things to know if you’re going in there with a little one.
It’s extremely hot (between 18-35 degrees), so make sure they’re dressed in layers you can take off when going in there.
The website suggests allowing 1.5 hours of time to spend exploring it, but obviously if you have a little one, you may want to cut this a bit shorter. It’s also advisable to bring them a drink and a snack so they can refuel while looking around it.
Luckily there’s lots to keep them entertained – with all the different plants to check out, waterfalls, and bridges they can walk over.
Check out the lovely play area
As well as the biome’s there is a lovely natural adventure play area for the kids too. This includes a nine-metre ‘tree of life’ where they can play with water, a swing, things they can climb, and diggers and pans where they can play with the natural stones.
It’s situated by the lift on the floor to the exit, but just don’t do what we did and head there on your way out. We didn’t actually realise it was there and went past it when our toddler was tired, and let’s just say he wasn’t happy when we told him he had to leave. That was a long walk back to the car park.
Don’t expect to do everything
As I’ve said above, it is quite a bit of walking and the rainforest biome is tiring for them, so I wouldn’t expect to do everything on one visit. We didn’t actually even make it in to the Mediterranean Biome unfortunately as our little one was too tired, but luckily you have the pass for the year if you want to go back. As we only went for the weekend, we didn’t return, and we live quite far away. But hopefully we can take a trip back there at some point.
