Last year London was home to the Books about Town and Paddington trails. This year it’s the turn of Shaun the Sheep to grace the streets of London (and Bristol). We spent a pleasant couple of hours following one of the art trails, spotting Shaun in his various guises.
The models have been designed and decorated by artists and celebrities and placed in key locations around the city. With the exception of five lost sheep they can all be seen by following four trails around central London. The trails range from 3-5km; they are supposed to take between 35 minutes and 1 hour 10 minutes to complete although we spent about double that time.
We picked up a free map from the information centre at Paddington railway station. You can also download an app for £1.49 which details the sheep in both cities, provides bonus information and challenges. One lady I spoke to on the trail said it had drained her battery so make sure your phone is fully charged before heading out.
We followed Shaun’s trail; from Oxford Circus we walked through Carnaby Street, along Regent Street to Picadilly Circus before heading to Chinatown and Leicester Square. The whole area is popular with tourists and it was quite funny to see them taking photos of the attractions whilst we were busy photographing sheep.
Most of the sheep were outside although we did have to battle through the madness of Hamleys Toy Store to find one. Another was in the foyer of Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, where my son would have happily stayed for the afternoon if I hadn’t dragged him away. However, my favourite sheep was Nelson in Trafalgar Square, particularly as it was home to one of the few pigeons you’ll find there nowadays.
Have you visited the trail? If so, which was your favourite?
More info
- The trail runs in London from 28 March-25 May 2015. There’s a separate trail in Bristol from 6 July to 31 August 2015. The trail is raising money for Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity; all 120 sculptures from both locations will be auctioned off to the highest bidders on 8 October 2015.
- Full trail details can be found on the Shaun in the City website.
Fantastic! We’re looking forward to Shaun arriving in Bristol as we loved Gromit hunting a couple of years ago.
I’m tempted to visit the Bristol trail when it starts too.
I’ve seen a few Shauns dotted around. haven’t seen the latest film though. can’t wait until that comes out on DVD. having read this post, we may perhaps do one of the trails. Thanks
Hi Katharine, we haven’t seen the film yet either. We meant to go but kept on missing it whilst it was at the cinema so we’ll have to wait for the DVD too.
Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I am so ashamed to say this has passed me by when I am normally so good with these things – and I was in Chinatown about 4 weeks ago, so must have just missed it. Right, of on a mission now to find some Shauns! 🙂
I wouldn’t worry Ting, it’s only just started so you didn’t miss it whilst you were in town a few weeks ago.
I love the Nelson one! I really like the idea of doing a trail like this, I bet the kids would love it
It’s a good way to see the city too. I always seem to end up on the underground without realising quite how close some of the stations are. Must make more of an effort to walk in future.
A grand day out! 🙂 Would love to do this when our tot is a little older
#MMWBH
I’m sure they can be appreciated by all ages!
Goodmorning Christine, I love those Shaun the sheep! Following a trail of colourful Shaun the sheep sounds like fun and then auctioning them off for charity is a good way of raising money.
They did do something similar in Athens a few years back (could well have been the year the Olympics were held there). Except instead of sheep they placed brightly coloured cows around the city.
Thanks Debbie. It seems to be a bit of a thing nowadays doesn’t it? We had rhinos in Oxford a couple of years back, but the Shauns were better.
That looks like a great day tracking them all down! We have Bavarian Bears here, and there’s one town full of cabbages! Famous for it’s sauerkraut I think! 😀
The town full of cabbages sounds intriguing. I quite like sauerkraut!
OMG!!!! I need to go to London!!!!!!!!! #MadMidWeekBlogHop
Hope you manage to go!
We loved Gromit hunting a few years back, and also the book benches last year. These look great fun too – that Nelson one is brilliant!
Ah we missed out on the Gromit trail. This is the first proper trail we’ve done although I have randomly come across various sculptures before when in London.
I love these statues to bits! They will be exhibited here in October I think and I cant wait to see them too! #pocolo
Thanks Merlinda – yes, I think all of the models from Bristol & London get one last outing together before they’re auctioned off.
I love Shaun the sheep and I’m 43…lol. I remember seeing Paddington last year when I was in the UK but had no idea what it was for, thanks for the info
Ah there’s no age limit to Shaun the sheep. I think that’s part of the appeal – we saw plenty of adult only groups spotting Shaun whilst we were there.
I am well jealous of this. We had a toad one in Hull a few years ago and my children loved it. Really makes me want another trip to London. Lovely pics 🙂
A toad trail sounds interesting. There seemed to be an animal phase of models (we had rhinos in Oxford) a few years ago, but they’ve gone down the film tie-in route recently.
I had no idea these were hiding inamongst the streets of London… And was in Trafalgar Square this week. What a great idea! I’ll have to check them out next time – my daughter will love it. Thanks for sharing. Looks like your children had a great time!! #pocolo
Nelson the sheep is worth a detour if you’re nearby; although there are plenty of others all through central London. Hope you get to see some!
Lovely photos and I love the Nelson Shaun! We’re hoping to find a few of the sheep before they disappear – thank you for the advice about making sure the phone is fully charged when using the app!
Thanks Louise. I think the app must use Google maps or similar; I know this always drains my battery.
This looks SO fun! I wish we had something like this here in Belfast! Something different. Thanks for linking up with #MMWBH x
Thanks Debs, hope something comes your way soon!
I’ve got a friend who makes a hobby of doing these trails, not just in London, but around the country and even abroad.
We usually manage to catch a few from just wandering around, but the kids really enjoyed the movie, so I might be able to persuade them to do a trail for real for once.
Great pix! Great inspiration!
Oh wow, that’s a committed friend! The trails are pretty short so quite kid friendly – hope you manage to see some.
My daughter was a bit young for Paddington and Gromit but she loved Shaun at Kew Gardens so I definitely want to do some sheep hunting. That’s useful to know about the app too.
We never got to see the Paddington trail either, I kept on meaning to visit but never got round to it. Hope you manage to visit.
I wish we had seen the Gromit one in Bristol – hoping to make this one when it makes an appearance though! It looks like you had loads of fun. Thank you for linking to #PoCoLo x
Thanks Vicky, I think we’ll probably catch some in Bristol too as the models are different in both location.
Had so much fun on the Shaun Trail. I don’t think I could chose my favourite… can’t wait to go to Bristol to carry on the hunt!
I’m looking forward to the Bristol one too.
They look so cute! I can’t believe we haven’t been yet, definitely on my to do list!
Thanks Niki, I hope you manage to get there, they’re on until the end of May.
Loved the Shaun’s we spotted during our Good Friday wander around town. Definitely planning to see some more before it finishes in London!
The little sheep footprints you found are cute too 😀
My favourite Shaun (that I’ve seen first hand so far) is the Yeoman of the Baard one – he’s a Beefeater outside the Tower of London, though Shakespeare Shaun comes a very close 2nd!
I’d like to see Shakespeare Shaun, I didn’t realise there was one!
Loved it