Another weekend to explore London, and although the calendar still says it’s ‘summer’, the actual weather suggests autumn. We headed out to the city once again following last week’s stay at NYX Hotel in Holborn. This weekend, we were off to the V&A Museum in South Kensington to experience the Alice in Wonderland exhibition, Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser.
Date Visited: Saturday,28th August 2021. Exhibition on until the end of 2021.
Location:Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL (entrance via Exhibition Street)
Getting There: Few minutes walk from South Kensington Underground station, with many bus services stopping close by.
Cost: Tickets are free to visit the V&A Museum, but must be pre-booked. There is an additional cost of £20 per adult, £10 per child to visit the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition.
Review:
I can’t say Cara or I are Alice in Wonderland book buffs. We do enjoy a pop-up book of the story that she received for her birthday one year and we did have a nice Mad Hatter afternoon tea. As we haven’t been to the V&A Museum either, we decided to check it out, along with the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition. Word of warning from the start – it’s more for older kids (teens to young adults), and of course, adults. Cara was interested in a few of the exhibit’s sections – the Cheshire Cat and mirrored hall and lights.
Beyond that, she zoomed through the historical parts and costumes. With the exception of the VR headsets activity, and a child-friendly turning handles, there wasn’t a lot for a 6-year old. Plenty for an older audience, but not much for the younger ones. It covers all things related to the Alice story, drawing from its inspiration, to the book, and then to the big screen and theatres.There’s costumes from the story, along with how Alice has continued to influence modern art.
Without Cara, I could have spent more time reading each feature of the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibits, so for adults, there’s plenty to do. We probably spent about 20-25 minutes in the actual exhibit. Perhaps just leave the younger ones outside in the courtyard where they can splash around. Given it was an overcast day, Cara still waded into the cold water and walked around for a little, before even she called time on it due to it being too cold. It’s a lovely outdoor space, great for picnics on a warm summer’s day, so perhaps we’ll come back another day when the weather is better.
As it was approaching lunchtime, we didn’t inspect the rest of the V&A Museum, saving it for another day. Instead, we strolled over to Pierino for a nice Italian lunch.
Ratings:
Burn Time: 2 out of 5 – For us, it wasn’t the longest of stays. However, for an older family, you could spend an entire day here.
Value: 1 out of 5 – Unless you’re really interested in the Alice of Wonderland story, you might want to give this one a miss. Instead, enjoy the free exhibits within the V&A Museum itself.
Overall: 2 out of 5 – The courtyard was the highlight of the V&A Museum for us! Perhaps we’ll revisit once Cara is slightly older.
Have you been to the exhibition? What did you think of it? Let us know below!
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