Quaint and picturesque, Great Missenden is a village in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire. It is also home to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre and was Dahl’s home village. We visited today- our first revisit post-covid- and had a fantastic time.

Just like Dahl’s Matilda, the museum is small but mighty! It’s a small museum aimed at 6-12 year olds. There are three well-curated spaces that explore Dahl’s early life, his writing career and his stories. There are lots of opportunities to be creative, to dress up as characters and to try new skills like animation.

The museum is very interactive and lots of fun for littluns. We explored the museum, did arts and crafts, participated in an interactive storytelling session and spent a long time dressing up as Dahl characters. We also sat in Roald Dahl’s writing chair and attempted to write a masterpiece.

During the holidays, the museum puts on additional activities- we were lucky enough to take part in an interactive and creative workshop with the team from The Natural History Museum, Tring about woodland animals. The workshop ran at different times throughout the day and cost £4 per child. It was well worth it!

As said, the museum is small so you don’t need all day. We managed to do a lot, at a leisurely pace, in around 3 hours. A morning or afternoon is perfect for a visit. The entry price is awesome! Visitors aged 5+ are £7.95 and under-5s and carers are free. The storytelling and activities are included in the ticket price.

Since covid, the museum has not reopened its cafe and currently has no plans to do so. This is a bit of a shame as there’s no coffee onsite and they used to make the most delicious Bruce Bogtrotter Chocolate Cake! But there is a Costa a few minutes walk away and the museum are happy for you to bring outside food in for a picnic. There are plenty of picnic spaces so maybe think about bringing lunch with you as the offering onsite is minimal.

A bit of a drive from London, Great Missenden is definitely worth the effort. If you spend a few hours at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre you can follow that with a walk in the beautiful Chiltern Hills countryside that inspired so many of Dahl’s stories, take a look in the independent boutiques on the High Street, or go for lunch or dinner in a local eatery- there is a large car park on hand and a playground with a large playing field near the museum for a picnic or chill out time.

Enjoy your adventures! Amy x