I do not know where the super high quality of British museums comes from, but wherever I go in that country, I’m simply mind-blown. The Silverstone Museum, the Brooklands Museum, the Haynes Museum are all on the top of my favorite places list, and now the Beaulieu Nation Motor Museum has joined them.
Even after all my previous experiences, I did not expect what it was like in reality. Yes, I read up on it, and saw that it is basically a park with a bunch of different things, and the 75 years of Formula 1 exhibition also piqued my interest, but boy, oh boy, was I surprised!
As soon as I picked up our tickets with my friend, I was told that I was also signed up for simulator session as well, because they wanted me to experience that. You never say no to a free simulator session, so I agreed mildly confused, because in the e-mail, I wasn’t told any of this.
At this point, I wanted to run straight for the sim, but we had some urgent human needs to attend to, so we had to do a pit stop in the bathroom. After that, I had very minimal impulse control left, so the only reason I didn’t quite literally run for the Formula 1 cars that I saw, was my friend, Anna. She told me that it makes much more sense to start at the beginning.
So we did just that, and made our way once again (as in many other car museums) through the history of automotive. My favorite new fact that I learnt there is that back in the (dark) days, a person with a red flag had to walk in front of the cars to warn people that it was coming. I find this hilarious!
Eventually, we reached my favorite part, and I could yap about everything I saw to Anna, who is still not a Formula 1 fan. (I’m still working very hard on that.) There were some iconic liveries on display and also the simulator – for which I booked an appointment for later. We walked around a bit more, and explored the rest of the building such as the Racing Pride exhibition, which I loved. Maybe even more than the F1 one, because it was all new to me unlike F1.
If you haven’t heard of Racing Pride before, it is a movement to support LGBT+ inclusion in motorsport. This exhibition showcased stories of drivers from different racing series and it was very touching. I definitely recommend it.
After that, we ran to grab a quick lunch at the restaurant then back to the simulator. It is the same one as the Ferrari museum has in Maranello, so huge screens and a Ferrari cockpit complete with a halo, and it is able to imitate acceleration and braking by pulling on the safety belt. The lady who helped me was very helpful and she also told me that I will be able to feel the Gs, which is obviously not true in any racing simulator, but she was clearly very proud that they have such a cool thing to offer to their visitors.
I had fun, though I’m not a simulator genius, I managed not to crash, so I take that as a win. As we were leaving the building, an older gentleman stopped us and asked what I will write about, how I liked the place and got really enthusiastic: he told us that if we are not in a hurry, he has a treat for us. My policy is to never say no to a treat, so we were asked to wait in front of the building.
5 minutes later he showed up driving an old looking car and we hopped in. I emphasize that it is NOT an old car, it has a pretty modern clutch for example, though it can be hidden to maintain the illusion. It is the car from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and they offer rides on it for visitors. We took a lap around the property, and this way we could see the whole extent of it.
It is huge, and there is so much to see and check out – with kids also, as they have an amazing playground and a monorail, but let me come back to that later. So we were in that old car, I mean old looking car, and if it didn’t make me feel things!! I felt like a princess being driven around and waving to the people. I loved it, so I have to admit, this is the kind of treat I love the most. Zero calories, maximum fun.
When we got back to the starting point and said thanks and goodbye, we decided to see what else was around. The “We had one of those” exhibition was about cars that were the most popular of their time, so you can say that line. It is also decorated like family garages from the given era. No surprise there, but my favorite was the VW bug, which to be fair, I never had, nor did my family. Although I have driven one in that same exact color, if that counts.
In opposition was the On screen cars (cars from movies), with appropriate music, and our arrival was perfectly timed with the Harry Potter music as it started with the blue Ford Anglia of Mr. Weasley. Mr Bean’s car had Teddy in it, and there were also some Daleks (from Dr. Who) stationed there.
As these two were quite small, after a short bit, we headed to the monorail, which really is designed for tiny people, as getting in and out required a lot of bending. It allowed us to have a view of everything from above, even at parts we couldn’t see from the previous car ride. And the best part? It goes through the National Motor Museum: literally inside the building, so you can see those cars yet from another perspective.
When we had a big enough dose of cars to last for a few days, we decided to check out the abbey. A peaceful area to walk around, take pictures and maybe meditate. It also has a church, which is a curious place as one side has stained glass, while the other is only regular and the walls also seem to lean outwards.
The next stop was the Palace House, which used to be where the owners of the estate lived, and it is renovated now.
At this point, it was almost closing time and we also wanted to check out the gift shop (you know me, I needed to get a look, and Anna has an obsession with postcards, so we also had to take care of that). As the Palace House is on the other side of the estate, we needed to walk all the way back, and decided to do it by the lake, then through the gardens. It was the summer, so everything was in full bloom. With the different sculptures adorning the roads, I found it beautiful.
Finally, my review of the gift shop: it had a lots of pins, and just a wide range of things, to be honest. It is quite big, so everyone can find what they are looking for (unless you are looking for a Ford keychain, because that cannot be found in any car museums in Britain). I would rate it highly.
As I said at the beginning, Beaulieu made it to the top of my favorites list. You can easily spend a whole day there and they also offer events for the weekend so if you visit, make sure to check out their schedule as well. It is a bit further away from London, but we made it a day trip and it worked out nicely. If you are ever near the area, and interested in motorsport or just history, give it a go. You might just come back home with some pretty awesome memories.
