Visiting Crystal Palace Farm: London With Toddlers

August 24, 2013

Have You Heard About Crystal Palace Farm?

Are you looking to visit Crystal Palace Park Farm? Located in Crystal Palace Park, here’s why the farm is  great place to visit in London for toddlers and young children.

Crystal Palace Farm

What Is Crystal Palace Farm?

Pre-baby, it’s fair to say that most things we did in London involved the pub in some way, or some kind of diversion en route to getting a drink. Now, of course, it’s all about finding entertaining distractions for the toddler.*

This is how we finally ended up at the the farm in Crystal Palace Park. It’s located in the Crystal Palace Park and is a working urban farm that’s part of an agriculture college.

Crystal Palace Park Farm - why Crystal Palace Farm is great for babies and toddlers in London

The park is so huge, you might not even have realised that the farm is  there. It’s small but sweet, a working farm that you can visit, with lots of animals (depending on the season). The farm is mainly open air, with several animal enclosures.

There’s also an indoor reptile house in a small building. Kids absolutely LOVE this bit (parents…not so much!)

Crystal Palace Park itself is great, and the farm and park are some of the brilliant things about living in Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace Park

Here’s Why Crystal Palace Farm Is Great For Kids

The farm is a working farm that’s part of the college. While work goes on around the farm, it’s set up for visitors, and there’s a lot to see (depending on the time of the year!).

It’s a small farm, so it is easy to visit with small children – it’s not overwhelming, and you can have a fairly quick visit.

Animals at Crystal Palace Farm, London

Depending on what time of the year you visit, the animals you will see will vary. When we visited there were:

  • Pigs (huge, furry and noisy)
  • Sheep
  • Chickens
  • Shetland Ponies
  • Strange hen creatures with long feathered legs.

The Reptile House At Crystal Palace Zoo:

I’ve seen the farm refereed to as Crystal Palace Zoo, and you can kind of see why. As well as all the farm animals there is also a small reptile house with horrible snakes, lizards and giant slugs. Children love this, and it’s also indoors so a good option to head into if it’s raining.

Where Is Crystal Palace Park Farm And When Is It Open?

Crystal Palace Park Farm is at Ledrington Rd, Greater London SE19 2BS. It’s open 12-4 every day apart from Wednesday.

The farm is at the top of the dinosaur lake – if you enter the park from the Crystal Palace train station entrance, follow the path on the far right, past the sports stadium.

There are toilet and baby change facilities, although they are pretty basic.

There is no shop at the farm.

How Much Does The Farm Cost To Enter?

Nothing! It’s free to enter. You can also make a donation to the farm college and animal upkeep if you want.

It’s small but very sweet, so worth a look if you’re in the area or en route to the dinosaurs.

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