Things to do · Woodstock
Blenheim Palace
Vanbrugh's palace at Woodstock, Churchill's birthplace and a World Heritage Site, with Capability Brown's park, formal gardens and a ticket that lasts a year.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Car-free · EV charging
The ticket is good value because it lasts a year: come back for the park in each season. Arrive by bus, train or bike for 20 per cent off, and walk the Queen Pool loop to the Grand Bridge.
- Good: Palace, park and gardens tickets convert to a 12-month pass
- Good: 20 per cent off for arriving by bus, train or bike
- Good: Changing Places toilet; lifts to the State Rooms
- Good: Free parking with a ticket, and EV chargers at Woodstock Gate
- Worth knowing: No dogs in the palace, formal gardens or most of the Walled Garden
- Worth knowing: Cashless throughout
About
Blenheim Palace stands in its park at Woodstock. It was built from 1706 by Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor, its park later landscaped by Capability Brown, and together they became a World Heritage Site in 1987. It is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, and his birth room and an exhibition on his life are part of the visit.
The park and gardens
The park covers about 2,000 acres, with Vanbrugh's Grand Bridge over Queen Pool, the Column of Victory, the Grand Cascade and what the palace calls the largest collection of ancient oaks in Europe. The formal gardens include the Water Terraces, the Secret Garden and Henry Wise's Walled Garden of 1707, with a maze, a butterfly house and an adventure playground that takes its own ticket. Picnics are welcome in the park. Dogs on leads can go in the parkland, but not the palace or the formal gardens.
Visiting
The park opens daily from 9am to 6pm; the palace's hours change with the season. A palace ticket bought as a donation becomes a pass for twelve months, and arriving by bus, train or bike earns 20 per cent off. Parking is free with a ticket, and the site is cashless. The S3 and S7 buses from Oxford stop outside the main gate. For a walk, Blenheim Park from Bladon and Combe and Blenheim Park use the public paths across the estate.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Mon 9, 09:00
| Mon | Opening | House | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 16:30 | 09:30 to 17:30 |
| Tuesday | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 16:30 | 09:30 to 17:30 |
| Wednesday | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 16:30 | 09:30 to 17:30 |
| Thursday | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 16:30 | 09:30 to 17:30 |
| Friday | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 16:30 | 09:30 to 17:30 |
| Saturday | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 16:30 | 09:30 to 17:30 |
| Sunday | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 16:30 | 09:30 to 17:30 |
House: The palace's hours in late October 2026; they change through the year, so check the day before.
Hours are the park's. Some areas can close in frost, snow or high winds. From 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, Christmas at Blenheim, palace entry is by timed slot and parking is paid and booked.
Facilities
- Car parkFree with a ticket; Blue Badge bays at the front and a free shuttle
- Dogs in the parkOn leads; also the Walled Garden's first area and the Pantry; not the palace, formal gardens, Stables or Orangery
- LiftsTo the State Rooms and the Orangery, 200kg limit
- Changing PlacesAt the Walled Garden
- Cafés and restaurantOrangery restaurant, Pantry and Stables cafés
- Palace shop9.30am to 5.30pm
- Adventure PlayExtra ticket; quiet session last Sunday of the month
The details
- Time to allow
- A full day for the palace, park and gardens
- Features
- Café · Restaurant · Shop · Play area · Picnic area · Parking · Garden or terrace
- Parking
- Free with a ticket, on gravel five minutes' walk from the palace (satnav OX20 1UL). Overflow parking at busy events is ten minutes' walk away; some events, Christmas among them, charge.
- Without a car
- S3 and S7 buses from Oxford city centre, about four an hour together, stop at the main entrance, ten minutes' walk away; the S7 also serves Oxford Parkway and Witney. Bus 233 links Hanborough station.
Photos
The palace and park 
The state rooms 
The Grand Bridge and lake 
Spring blossom at the palace
Location
Accessibility
- Changing Places toilet
- Accessible toilet
Lifts to the State Rooms and the Orangery restaurant, each with a 200kg limit. Blue Badge parking at the front of the car park, with a free shuttle to the palace. Carers of Blue Badge holders enter free. Changing Places toilet at the Walled Garden.
Places to stay nearby
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The Bear Hotel
Hotel · Woodstock
A Macdonald hotel in a Grade II* listed old inn on Park Street, Woodstock: 54 rooms with four-posters and suites, a restaurant, afternoon tea and dogs welcome, a short walk from Blenheim.
Dog-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
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The Star Inn
Pubs · Woodstock
A Grade II inn on the north side of the Market Place in Woodstock, serving pub classics and burgers all day without bookings, with cask ales and four rooms.
Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
The King's Arms
Inn · Woodstock
A Fuller's inn with 15 rooms on the corner of Market Street, Woodstock, in a Grade II listed building, with dogs welcome and breakfast included.
Dog-friendly · Car-free
Verified Oct 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Oxfordshire Museum 0.1 km away
- The Bear Hotel 0.2 km away
- The Star Inn 0.2 km away
- The Woodstock Arms 0.3 km away
Sights nearby
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Column of Victory, Blenheim
Sight · Monument · Woodstock
The Column of Victory is the fluted Doric column of 1727 to 1730 that carries a lead statue of the first Duke of Marlborough dressed as a Roman general on the high ground of Blenheim's park. Seen from Woodstock and the park's public paths.
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Queen Pool, Blenheim
Sight · Lake · Woodstock
Queen Pool is the northern arm of the lake Capability Brown made at Blenheim from 1764, above Vanbrugh's Grand Bridge, with Rosamund's Well just west of the bridge and the Column of Victory above. Reached free on public footpaths from Combe; the lakeside road is permissive.
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St Laurence's Church, Combe
Sight · Church · The Oxfordshire Cotswolds
St Laurence's Church in Combe, near Woodstock, was built by the monks of Eynsham Abbey in 1395. It keeps a rare stone pulpit, fifteenth-century glass and medieval wall paintings uncovered in the 1890s, with a Doom over the chancel arch. Open daily; Grade I.
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St Mary Magdalene, Woodstock
Sight · Church · Woodstock
St Mary Magdalene is Woodstock's church on Park Street, founded with the twelfth-century town and long a chapel of Bladon, with a Norman zigzag doorway, a classical tower of 1784 to 1786 with chimes of 1792 made to play tunes, and a sundial with odd numerals. Grade II*.