We woke up one Sunday to a particular wet weather forecast and thought, with just a tinge of panic, ‘we must get out of the house otherwise we will all go mad’. Out of that was born the idea of going to Oxford for the day, as it could offer a treat for us as well as our son (we had debated going to an indoor play area but decided that it wasn’t enough of a treat for us!).

We trundled off up the M40 and just as we arrived in Oxford, the sun broke through and it turned into a really bright and sunny autumn day. We managed to park for free in one of the side streets near the University Parks and wandered down to the Natural History Museum.

First stop was, you guessed it, the baby change and there are two to choose from: one with the other toilets and the other in a disabled loo that is in a separate section and therefore much quieter.

We really enjoyed exploring the museum and the adjoining Pitt Rivers Museum, which focuses on archaeological and cultural objects from all around the world.

For lunch, we popped out to the nearby Carluccio’s just to make it even more of a treat and then returned to the museum.

We’ve been to the Natural History Museum in Tring and our son really enjoyed walking around and looking at all the animals in the glass cabinets but the biggest hit in the Oxford one was the story area!

The museum runs ‘Family Friendly Sundays‘ with low level tables and chairs placed out between 2-4pm, along with colouring-in sheets and pencils and backpacks to borrow with activities in. It seemed a really good idea and if our son was a little older, we would have certainly done more of that stuff. As it was, he coloured in for a bit before we dragged him away for a walk in the nearby park.

And I’m so glad we did as the weather was fab and the park looked stunning. We enjoyed strolling through and watching the “young people” playing rugby and what looked to be quidditch before heading back to the car after a few mummy-versus-daddy-and-the-buggy races to get a reluctant toddler back in the buggy. We had a great day out in Oxford!