MULTILINGUAL FAMILY
IN LONDON

We live in North London, and ever since buying a car last year, we’ve been making the most of weekends by exploring places just beyond the city.

One destination that kept popping up was Knebworth House, a historic country house in Hertfordshire with more than 500 years of history. Today, it’s known not only for its beautiful gardens and family attractions, but also for hosting legendary rock concerts over the years.

When I spotted an advert on Facebook for Knebworth House’s annual Father’s Day Jousting Tournament, I immediately thought of my husband. He has always loved medieval history, so the idea of watching knights charge at each other on horseback sounded like the perfect Father’s Day outing.

The only thing I wasn’t sure about was whether it would be good value. Tickets for the three of us cost just under £50 for admission to the Gardens & Park, which included the Father’s Day jousting event but not entry to the house itself.

I left booking until the last minute.

As it turned out, it became one of our favourite family days out of the year! Whether we’d happily pay the same price again is a slightly different question—I’ll come back to that at the end.

Jousting

We arrived just before the first jousting performance began at midday. As we drove through the grounds, I was already struck by the sight of Knebworth House in the distance. It was even more impressive than I had expected.

Despite the event being busy, parking was straightforward. The car park is enormous, and plenty of marshals were on hand directing traffic, so everything ran very smoothly.

The jousting arena was set up in a huge open field, where families had spread out picnic blankets or gathered around the arena for a better view.

The tournament itself lasted around 45 minutes, while an archery range was set up nearby for visitors to try.

As expected, our daughter’s interest faded after a while, but an emergency ice cream worked wonders and bought her dad enough uninterrupted time to enjoy the show. There were several jousting matches, sword-fighting demonstrations, and fire performances. The narrator was particularly brilliant, mixing historical explanations with just the right amount of humour.

Although I had, of course, heard of jousting before, I only learned that it was actually called “jousting” when I came across this event! This was also my first time watching it in person, and seeing horses charging towards one another at full speed was much more exciting than I had imagined. It reminded me of scenes from Gladiator.

One tip if you want to try the archery: head to the range before the jousting tournament finishes.

The queues became very long as soon as the performance ended. We had hoped our daughter could try it—after all, she’s half Korean, and we like to think archery is in her genes! Unfortunately, the queue was a little too long for a four-year-old’s patience, so we decided to skip it.

Picnic

After the jousting performance, we decided it was time for lunch. There were several food trucks, offering everything from burgers and fried chicken to Churros, which honestly all looked delicious.

We had packed a picnic, so we found a spot on the lawn instead.

It was a huge open space on a hot day, and there wasn’t much shade—or at least all the shady spots had already been claimed by other families. Eating in the sun wasn’t exactly ideal, although the breeze made it much more bearable.

As far as we could tell, this was the only area where picnics were permitted. We later discovered that picnicking isn’t allowed in the gardens, which means that once you’re inside, you need to use the café if you want something to eat. I understand the reasoning, but it did feel like a bit of a shame for such a family-friendly attraction.

Gardens & Maze

After lunch, we set off to explore the gardens.

The grounds are absolutely beautiful.

Walking through avenues of towering trees before catching sight of Knebworth House itself felt almost cinematic. The gardens were full of colourful flowers and quiet corners to wander through. We also loved the carved tree sculptures dotted around the grounds, which added a little extra character to the walk.

One unexpected highlight was a grassy slope where children—and quite a few adults—were happily rolling all the way down the hill. Our daughter, of course, couldn’t resist joining in.

The gardens also have a small hedge maze. It isn’t particularly large, but that actually made it perfect for our excited four-year-old, who proudly took the lead in finding the way out.

The Dinosaur Trail

Our next stop was the Dinosaur Trail.

Rather than just a handful of dinosaur models scattered through the woods, it turned out to be a proper trail featuring a wide variety of dinosaurs, each accompanied by information boards explaining what they ate, when they lived, and other interesting facts about them. It struck a nice balance between being educational and engaging, without feeling like an outdoor museum.

Our daughter loved running ahead to spot the next dinosaur hiding among the trees, eager to see which one would appear next.

Afterwards, we wandered through more of the gardens before stopping at the café for a well-earned drink. By then, the afternoon had become quite warm, so sitting down in the shade for half an hour was a welcome break

The Adventure Playground

The Adventure Playground is located on the other side of the property, close to the exit.

By the time we came out of the café, it was already around 4.30pm. The park closes at 5pm, so we debated whether there was any point going in at all. In the end, we decided we’d rather have half an hour there than miss it altogether.

Within minutes, we were wishing we’d come much earlier!

Even before entering the main playground, there were climbing frames, swings and plenty of equipment scattered around the area.

Then we walked through the gates of the giant wooden fortress.

Our daughter was off in an instant.

The playground was enormous, with climbing towers, rope bridges, tunnels and slides, all of which looked pretty new, clean and well maintained. It was the sort of playground where children could happily spend an entire afternoon without getting bored.

Then we discovered the real highlight.

Beyond the fortress were a series of long slides built into the hillside.

We only had enough time for one last go before closing, but it was worth the rush. My husband and daughter raced down together, both laughing.

Needless to say, our daughter wasn’t at all happy when it was time to leave!

Would We Go Back?

Absolutely, but we’d be a little more mindful of the cost.

We found ourselves enjoying everything else just as much the jousting tournament. The gardens were beautiful, the Dinosaur Trail was better than expected, and the Adventure Playground alone could easily keep children entertained for hours. In the end, the jousting almost felt like a bonus rather than the main attraction.

Before visiting, I’d seen quite a few reviews describing the entrance fee as expensive, and I can understand why, especially for families. For us, though, it felt worth the admission because we genuinely spent the whole afternoon there and everyone found something they enjoyed. The Father’s Day jousting event being included in the ticket also added to the value.

That said, I don’t think we’d visit regularly at the standard admission price. We have talked about getting a season ticket at some point, as it would make much more sense if we planned to visit several times during the season. As of 2026, season tickets cost £55 per person and are valid from March to September.

For a one-off visit, it’s also worth keeping an eye on Knebworth House’s Summer Savings Scheme, which usually offers discounted admission from late June into August.

So yes, we’d happily go back—just when the timing, or the ticket price, feels right for another visit.