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Visiting London film locations: Paddington

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Paddington Bear, Selfridges, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Paddington Bear, Selfridges, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

My daughter and I loved seeing Paddington at the cinema. The film is based on the popular Michael Bond books about a young bear who arrives alone in London as a stowaway from darkest Peru looking for a new home. He’s adopted by the Brown family who find him at Paddington Station with a label around his neck which reads Please look after this bear. Thank you. I especially like the underlying messages of the film of kindness to people even if they look different to you and of welcoming refugees.

Paddington was filmed in London and you can visit many of the places featured on screen. This is how you can follow in Paddington’s paw prints in London.

Paddington Station

Paddington Station is where Paddington meets the Brown family and acquires his human name. You can visit the railway station even if you’re not catching a train. There are several cafés at the station where you can have tea and cake like Paddington does with Mr Brown in the film. There’s also a Paddington Bear shop at the station selling Paddington toys and merchandise.

Natural History Museum, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Natural History Museum, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Natural History Museum

Paddington’s nemesis on screen is an evil taxidermist who works at the Natural History Museum and many scenes take place in this iconic London building. The Natural History Museum is a world class museum and you can visit it for free (although donations are welcome). The nearest tube station is South Kensington.

Buckingham Palace

In the film Paddington takes refuge in a guard’s hut in front of the gates of Buckingham Place, the Queen’s London residence. The guard gives Paddington some food and drink from under his bearskin(!) hat. There isn’t actually a guard’s hut in front of the gates of the palace but you can walk up to the gates and see the guards in front of the palace itself. The nearest tube station is Victoria.

Buckingham Palace, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Buckingham Palace, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Windsor Gardens

Windsor Gardens is the fictitious address of the Brown family’s home in West London. The street which was actually used as Windsor Gardens in the film is a residential street called Chalcot Crescent in Primrose Hill. You can walk along the street if you’d like to see it – the nearest underground station is Chalk Farm.

Portobello Road

Paddington and Mrs Brown visit Mr Gruber at his antiques shop on the Portobello Road. Mr Gruber is a Hungarian refugee and he tells Paddington about how he came to London as a boy during WWII. You can visit Portobello Road – it’s a famous street in West London which is full of antique shops and stalls. Alice’s Antiques at number 36 stood in for Mr Gruber’s shop in the film. The nearest tube station is Ladbroke Grove.

The Geographers’ Guild

The scenes at the Geographers’ Guild were filmed at The Reform Club on Pall Mall. This is a private club so unless you’re a club member or a guest of a member then you won’t be able to go inside the building. The nearest tube station is Piccadilly Circus.

Where to stay

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, check out my post about recommended family-friendly places to stay in London.

Family-friendly places to stay in London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Over to you

Are you a Paddington fan? Have you seen the Paddington film or read the books?

More on London

I publish a monthly round-up of fab things to do in London with kids. You can find my latest round-up here. You may also like my post on Where to find the world of Harry Potter in London.

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Comments

  2. We took our daughter to see Paddington before Christmas (and before our trip to London). Our 14-year-old son decided it would be much to embarrassing to come with us. The rest of us really liked the film though. And having Lord Grantham in it just made things better!

    Although we didn’t follow the Paddington trail whilst in London, it was nice to stumble across the occasional Paddington on our wanders.

    • The Paddington trail has finished now but we saw some of the statues when we went to London at Christmas. My 12 year-old son was too embarrassed to come to the film too, but I think that he would have enjoyed it!

    • There were lots of toddlers at the cinema when we went and they all seemed to be enjoying the film. There are some sad bits though – I don’t want to give any of the plot away but some little ones could be upset I think (in the same way that Finding Nemo is very sad at the beginning).

  5. Seen it and loved it! I even dragged my 15 year old son along as I insisted he accompanied his younger brother and much to his surprise he loved it too! (Hunger Games, The Hobbit etc is more his thing…normally). I wondered where the lovely Windsor Gardens really were and I guess it comes as no surprise that it’s a street in Primrose Hill. Thanks for sharing your insider knowledge!
    Phoebe @ Lou Messugo recently posted…Snapshots of StrasbourgMy Profile

    • It was fun spotting the Paddington statues around London – I wish they could have stayed on display for longer but I hope that they raise lots of money for charity when they’re auctioned off.

  12. Thanks for sharing this post! We really enjoyed the Paddington Bear film and this is a great and easy way to spot some of the sights from the film. x

  18. Fab post and a great idea, something to add to my London bucket list 🙂 I absolutely loved Paddington and it was our final end of Christmas holiday treat to go and watch it — then I surprised the babes with a Paddington bear each I’d saved from their Christmas presents. Happy little boys that night I tell ya 😉
    Uju @Babesabouttown recently posted…London Kids Weekend Scoop (January 8-11, 2015)My Profile

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This is a personal blog written and edited by me, Gretta Schifano. Sometimes I’m given products or sent on trips to review, but I always make this clear and give my honest opinion. See my About page for full details.