Bekonscot Model Village and Railway - Day Trip Review

Bekonscot is a favourite day-trip for all five of us. And it’s lovely to be able to take our children somewhere that we grown-ups loved visiting as kids!

Bekonscot is in fact, the oldest model village in the world - founded by Roland Callingham -  it first opened in 1929. The story goes that Mrs Callingham said that either her husband’s model railway went or she would, so the model railway moved outside and the village was constructed around that. 

The village itself is made up of seven little towns that capture rural life in the 1930s and the local buildings were based on memory, photos or imagination of the founder and staff at the time. 

There are more than 200 buildings, and our highlights included the fairground with its moving models, the zoo, the castle and the sweet shop. We also all loved the mini-vehicles, especially the model trains and boats.

There’s so much detail and character and humour - look out for puns and amusing shop front names like ‘Chris. P Lettis’ for a greengrocer shop. 

The kids all loved spotting the mini window cleaner about to fall from his ladder. 

Our 5-year-old especially was captivated, running round the windy paths exclaiming excitedly - ‘I wish I could live here!’ Or ‘wow, this is amazing’.

At a scale of one inch to one foot, it really is great for little ones as everything is at a low level.

Beconskot is Set in 1.5 acres of manicured gardens that add so much character and interest -  the topiary is amazing! The trees and shrubs have been pruned and shaped to perfection to look like mini-trees. 

Some of the trees are the trees that were originally planted almost 100 years ago. There are over 3,000 shrubs and trees, and varieties include miniature willows, cypress, lilacs and Japanese maples.

There’s also a stream running through the village and ponds that cleverly becomes part of the mini-world with a waterwheel and boating pond, and large coy.

You can easily spend a couple of hours here and walk around the village a few times, spotting new details each time! 

There’s a little ride on train too, which is good fun for the kids - although an extra charge applies.

If you can, book your tickets online as you can get a discount if you book in advance.