Billund

Ever watched a TV show like Amazon Prime’s Lego Masters and wished you were the one under the studio lights, racing against a ticking clock? That is the exact magic Lego House is trying to capture with its recently opened Lego Masters Academy in Billund, Denmark – the ultimate pilgrimage site for brick fans.

I took my seven-year-old resident Lego expert to test out the 75-minute Level 2: Build Me Up session, and it delivered from start to finish. Enthusiastic Play Agents, as they call themselves, started the experience by getting the crowd excited outside the studio with an interactive live countdown. Once the doors rolled open, we all entered a vibrant space designed to mirror the TV set, complete with a central podium, upbeat music, and studio lighting.

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The session started with an accessible warm-up follow along building session where we were shown professional building techniques. Small challenges were then added, before we were ready for the main event – building a completely original custom build, in our case our own self portrait Lego figure.

Timers flashed up on massive overhead screens as we were told to help ourselves to colour-coded, shape-sorted brick pits to grab materials for our custom builds. Here it really felt like the TV show, with everyone reaching out to grab handfuls of bricks, aware that the 15-minute timer was now ticking. After brick selecting ended, we all raced back to our building stations to get started on our builds.

A little overwhelemed by the noise, my seven year old opted out of this custom build, and instead preferred to help me finish mine and watch others at work. This wasn’t an issue at all – with the Play Agents keeping him included, making him smile by asking about his favourite LegoLand rides, and making sure he was still having fun. My mistake was not showing him any episodes of the TV show before we visited – I’d really recommend parents of younger children prep them this way.

By the time the timer went off, we had just about finished our slightly wonky multicoloured person. Unlike the competitive TV show, at the end all creations are showcased in a shared gallery, so we went up and put our creation on the podium, ready for all to admire, before coming together with new friends for a joint picture.

While the Masters Academy costs extra, on top of a Lego House ticket, the value for money is outstanding. Every participant keeps their custom build as a souvenir, and you are encouraged to jam-pack an official takeaway box with loose bricks at your station. Organisers promise the contents are worth far more than the ticket price – and the only rule is the lid has to be able to shut.

Overall we really enjoyed our session. My son threw himself into marking every countdown, glowed with pride over our creation and was delighted by his heavy tressure-like takeaway box – which came in very handy that night keeping him occupied at dinner. Whether you are a die-hard Lego fanatic or traveling as a family, it is a unique experience.

Top Tips for anyone visiting the Lego House Billund Lego Masters Experience

Pricing for the Lego Masters Experience is split by age and experience level. The Level 2 session which we did costs £15 per guest for 75 minutes. Older builders aged ten and above can opt for Level 3: aROUND the Bricks We Go, which runs for 90 minutes at £17 with a focus on advanced techniques. The 60 minute level one session is £14 and marketed at beginner builders.

Keep in mind that these require a separate add-on ticket on top of standard LEGO House general admission, which costs £29 per person, with discounts for booking online. Children under thirteen must be accompanied by a paying adult for the Lego Masters Experience.

If you are planning to go, binge watch a couple of episodes of Lego Masters show beforehand so younger kids can anticipate the studio set and timer format.

Book well in advance – ideally before picking your trip dates – as sessions are limited and often full. Make sure to select an English-language session if applicable.

Make sure to pick up your wristbands at least 15 minutes early, as studio doors lock strictly on time. Keep your wristband – this also gives you access to photos of the session.

Book the holiday

• Norwegian Air offers direct flights from London Gatwick to Billund with return fares from £120 on norwegian.com.
• Stay at the Pirate’s Inn Motel LegoLand Holiday Village, from £180 per night for two.
• LEGO House tickets start from £29 when booked in advance on legohouse.com.
• Lizzie and family enjoyed a two-day Legoland pass, starting from £57 for a 2-day pass when booked online, or £40 for a 1-day pass. You can find out more at legoland.dk/en.

Lego fans can explore the original Legoland and Lego House less than two hours from the UK – here’s my review of the underrated family holiday

As you wander around the picture-perfect Danish town of Billund, you could almost kid yourself you’ve stepped into the real-life version of the Lego City range – it feels as if someone planned the entire town, piece by piece. And in a way, they did.

Dedicated Lego fans may have heard of Billund as the home of Lego – the toy was created here in 1958. To this day the vast majority of Lego sets, themes, and bricks are designed at the headquarters here, with Lego employing the majority of local residents, and contributing hugely to the town’s development. Visitors come in their tens of thousands to enjoy the original Legoland – but we found the true star of Billund to be the unique Lego House, which rightly bills itself as the ‘ultimate interactive Lego experience’.

My seven year old and I took advantage of a mild, if a little rainy, early September weekend for a three-night stay in the Legoland Holiday Village’s Pirate Motel, booking a cheerful pirate-themed room complete with treasure chest, and combining a day at Lego House with a two-day Legoland pass.

While my Lego fanatic son and I have a soft spot for Legoland Windsor, we found the spotlessly clean Danish Legoland way less crowded. Indeed throughout our Friday/ Saturday visit even the most popular rides never more than a 15 minutes wait – and at times we were able to stay on for a second go.

Yet despite the tried and tested joys of a day at Legoland it was Lego House that was the absolute highlight of our visit. If at Legoland your child enjoys free play in the Lego pits as much as the thrill of the rides, then Lego House is for them.

Designed like a giant stack of 21 overlapping blocks, scaled up precisely from standard Lego bricks, the sprawling building feels like a living playground. The website describes four ‘interactive experience zones’, but this undersells what is on offer. There are endless activities which are carefully designed to be just as enjoyable for adult fans of Lego (afol as they call them here), as they are for children.

In just one section of an experience zone, we built our own Minifigures, photographed them for magazine covers, then used them to create stop-motion films in dedicated recording booths. These were then sent to us to view later via our wristbands.

Elsewhere, our highlights included racing our custom-built cars down speed tracks, creating Lego fish that were then scanned and joined a huge aquarium, and exploring a huge Lego world far more detailed than any Miniland we’ve seen, featuring everything from miner-filled mountains and underground train sets to volcanoes, fairgrounds, and cities.

There are innovative building challenges throughout, sitting alongside breathtaking installations like a cascading multi-coloured Lego waterfall and the jaw-dropping, 15-metre-tall Tree of Creativity built from over 6.3 million bricks which grows right up through the centre of the building.

My son loved watching Lego bricks being created from start to finish in the mini-factory on the ground floor before picking up our own complimentary bag of six freshly molded bricks to take home. Scanning your wristband creates a personalised card showing a unique combination to build.

Down in the basement vault, a history museum displays early prototypes and sets from across the years – I really enjoyed finding the ones my brother and I used to own in the 80s and 90s, and showing them to my son.

Up on the primary-coloured terraced roofs, which cascade down like giant red green and yellow steps, my son took a breather from crafting his creations. As I soaked up the panoramic views over Billund’s forests he played in a huge submarine, climbed a skyscraper and enjoyed an impromptu game of hide and seek with children speaking four different languages.

One of the best bits was trying out the Lego Masters Academy, which costs an extra fee on top of the Lego House entrance. We also loved visiting the Mini Chef restaurant, where we built our orders using physical Lego bricks and had our meals delivered by robots in giant Lego containers.

All in all, we thought Lego House was absolutely unmissable.

Everything you should know before you visit Lego House Billund

Standard Lego House general admission starts around around £28 per person with some discounts for booking online. It is often fully booked and is not open every day, especially out of season, so check availability before booking a trip.

The Lego Masters activity is an extra fee on top of Lego House, costing from £14 to £17 per person depending on the option booked. You can do this activity without entering the experience zones inside the Lego House, or on the same day you do these. Make sure you heck opening days, book ahead as slots fill up fast, and choose English language (if applicable).

Likewise Mini Chef reservations fill up well in advance and are rarely available on the day – it’s worth planning ahead. Meals when we visited cost £15 for a child meal which included a Minifigure surprise, and £27 for adults.

The Lego Shop on the ground floor opens an hour before the Lego House and stays open an hour later. We arrived early and did our shopping first thing, which was an unhurried pleasant experience compared to the packed store at the end of the day. You can leave purchases in a free secure locker on the ground floor, using your Lego House wristband.

Along with unique Lego House Lego sets, in the shop you can buy personalised custom printed Minifigures for £11.50, which make brilliant gifts.

If you are staying at LegoLand Holiday Village, as we were, or the neighbouring Lalandia, the walk to Lego House is a pleasant 20 minute stroll through Billund Sculpture Park.

Book the holiday

• Norwegian Air offers direct flights from London Gatwick to Billund with return fares from £120 on norwegian.com.
• Stay at the Pirate’s Inn Motel LegoLand Holiday Village, from £180 per night for two.
• LEGO House tickets start from £29 when booked in advance on legohouse.com.
• Lizzie and family enjoyed a two-day Legoland pass, starting from £57 for a 2-day pass when booked online, or £40 for a 1-day pass. You can find out more at legoland.dk/en.