Discover the London Wetlands Centre after dark on a festive trail

There are many festive light experiences on in London at the moment. However, most of these illuminated trails don’t allow visitors the chance to witness nature after dark at the same time.

Recently, we went along to the London Wetlands Centre in Barnes, to check out their winter lights trail passing by the habitats of its wildlife. While other nocturnal neon experiences tend to be Christmas themed, the Wetlands Centre have turn to their feathered inhabitants and other creatures for inspiration, with light sculpture of birds dotted along the trail. Among our group were my six-year-old niece and nine-year-old nephew, who loved dancing under the rainfall lights and hopping from lily pad to pad, which lit up in green in response to human feet. There are also opportunities to control some illuminations with interactive buttons, as well as a spotlight shed to hide in to create-your-own shadow animals.

Despite sharing the space with the wildlife, the trail has been set up sensitively so as not to disturb them too much. I was surprised on a number of occasions by a sudden burst of life (e.g. flapping wings or quacking) when I was meandering through a darker spot of the trail, which was quite amusing. Overall, it’s a lovely experience for both children and adults. There’s plenty of photo opportunities along the way for the ‘gram, including several selfie spots.

• Illuminature runs from 22 October 2021 – 9 January 2022. Open 4pm-9pm. Tickets: Adults £17.50, Children £12.50, under 4s free. WWT London, Queen Elizabeth Walk, Barnes, SW13 9WT. Nearest station: Barnes Bridge. For more information and booking, visit the WWT website.

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