Car-free adventures toPlaces kids will lovearound the UK
Children of all ages will enjoy the range of things to do at these very varied places: gardens and cottages, caverns and wildlife parks, museums with a story to tell and fairytale manor houses. Many of them have regular activities for kids like discovery trails or craft workshops. You can learn about animal poo or how to build a bird box, find out what's under the earth or ride a cable car up in the air.
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RHS Gardens
The inspirational RHS gardens are great places for kids to discover more about plants while having fun in green outdoor spaces.
- At RHS Bridgewater in Salford, there’s a 7-acre woodland play area, designed to encourage creativity and adventurousness. There are swings for kids of all ages, mud kitchens, hobbit holes and fairy houses. There are regular activities too, like storytelling and trails to follow.
- RHS Rosemoor in Devon has several areas for kids to enjoy including a natural play area among the pine trees with living willow structures, a sand pit, slide and climbing frames. There are bug magnifiers to learn more about the insect world. There is a flower pot man in the fruit and veg garden and interesting trails to explore.
- At RHS Hyde Hall there’s a 7-metre-high tower in the woods along with slides, rope swings, wobble boards and more.
- How do we get to RHS gardens without a car? Follow the Good Journey directions to RHS Bridgewater, RHS Rosemoor or RHS Hyde Hall and get great discounts for arriving car-free.
- What can we do when we’re peckish? There are excellent cafés at all the sites where you can tuck into things like jacket spuds and pasties, soups, cakes and sarnies.
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The Heights of Abraham, Derbyshire
Fly up in a cable car over the wooded crags of the Derwent Valley for spectacular views across the Derbyshire Dales. At the top of the cliff, you can explore colourfully floodlit caverns. They’re full of gleaming crystal and towering structures formed over hundreds of thousands of years underground.
- Kids will love the cable car ride, the two adventure playgrounds, climbing the spiral staircase up Victoria Prospect Tower, and the excitement of being inside a maze of ancient caves. There’s also a nature and butterfly trail through the woods, a sculpture trail, a costume exhibition and more.
- How do we get there? Follow Good Journey’s directions.
- What can we eat and drink? There are several options, with fabulous views. Enjoy pizza and chips in the Vista restaurant or a snack box at the Terrace café. Plus dig in to brownies, cakes and hot chocolates.
- For more fun in the area, check out our car-free guide to Derby and adventures around Derby.
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Pensthorpe Natural Park
With its 700 wild acres and a great range of plants and animals, birds and insects, Pensthorpe puts families in touch with nature. There are coral pink flamingos, smart black and white avocets, tall cranes and little bearded reedlings. There’s a huge indoor play adventure and an outdoor eco-playground with towers and zip-wires, slides and tunnels. And there are sculptures spread out through the park, with its four different gardens: a face in a birch trunk, an owl on a mossy branch or a huge butterfly in the woods.
- How do we get to Pensthorpe? Follow Good Journey’s directions and get £4 off for arriving by bus or bike.
- What can we do when we’re peckish? Pensthorpe has a great café with a kids’ menu. It offers dishes like ciabatta pizzas, locally-sourced sausages and chicken goujons with chips or spuds and baked beans or veggies.
- Find more in our guides to Norfolk, the Coast Path and Christmas in Norfolk.
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Wordsworth Grasmere, Cumbria
The unspoilt landscape around Wordsworth Grasmere is part of what makes this poet’s corner so appealing. So, riding to it on the bus feels particularly appropriate. The complex of museums and gardens near the cottage where William Wordsworth lived with his sister Dorothy, in the beautiful Lake District, hosts year-round events for kids of all ages.
- There are playful Little Wanderers sessions for under-fives with songs, games and stories on a theme connected to the Wordsworths’ writing and their lifestyle at Dove Cottage. There are fortnightly poetry groups for teenagers.
- How do we get there? Follow the Good Journey directions and get 20% off when you arrive by bus. There are breath-taking views from the bus, which is often an open-topper, as you travel from Windermere past lakes and grassy hills.
- What can we do when we’re peckish? Wordsworth Grasmere has a great café, which is open to everyone.
- For more car-free adventures in the Windermere area, see our car-free guide. There are boat trips and bike rides, wild walks and entertaining museums all waiting to be explored.
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Holkham, Norfolk
Near the wide, pine-fringed sands of the Norfolk coast, Holkham is a centre for sustainability and nature. In the grounds around the hall are a lake, walled garden and herd of deer. Regular extra activities often focus on bird-watching and family fun outdoors like a nature trail around the lake, bird-themed art sessions or bird-box-building workshops.
- How do we get there? Get 10% off when you arrive car-free and book in advance with a discount code – see full instructions and travel directions to Holkham.
- What can we do when we’re peckish? There is a choice of places to eat and drink, including the courtyard café and the Victoria inn. The Lookout café is at the end of Lady Anne’s Drive near the wild dunes and long, lovely sands of Holkham beach.
- Find more in our guides to Norfolk, the Coast Path and Christmas in Norfolk.
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South London Botanic Institute
With themed borders, carnivorous plants and a frog-filled pond, the South London Botanic Institute is a green oasis full of variety. There are medicinal plants like valerian, skullcap and fragrant meadowsweet. There are plants from the other side of the world, including spectacular pineapple flowers and evergreen saw-toothed azara with vanilla-scented yellow flowers. There’s even a moss trail, featuring twelve different types of moss.
- How do we get there? Follow Good Journey’s directions.
- What do we do when we’re peckish? There are pubs and cafes between the garden and Tulse Hill railway station and more of them in the other direction near Brockwell Park. Lulu’s Deli serves up homemade cakes and sarnies, salads and fresh pastries.
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Wildwood, Kent
At Wildwood Kent there’s a cool adventure play park with Kent’s tallest vertical drop slide. There’s also a zip wire, wilderness fort, twisty slide, some pine marten towers and a special area for children under five. And – best of all – there are more than forty acres of ancient woodland to explore with dozens of native wild animals: wolves, badgers, elks, otters, cranes – creatures of all sizes from dormice to bison.
- There are various children’s groups and events, and the onsite experts can share fascinating facts about the animals in their care.
- How do we get there? Follow Good Journey’s directions. Car-free visitors get 50% off.
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Shepreth Wildlife Park, Cambridgeshire
Just steps away from the railway station, Shepreth Wildlife Park is full of curious creatures from aardvarks to wildcats. There are cute red pandas and ring-tailed lemurs, huge hairy tarantulas and crested porcupines. Keepers give daily talks about the animals in their care.
- How do we get there? Follow Good Journey’s directions to get discounted entry for train travel.
- For more adventures in the area, see our car-free guide to Cambridge. There are nature reserves, riverside rambles, and world-class museums to explore.
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Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire
There’s always plenty for kids to do at Waddesdon House and Garden. This includes the winding woodland playground, sensory trail, and acres of grounds to explore, including an aviary full of exotic birds.
- How do we get there? Follow Good Journey’s directions.
- For more adventures in the area, see our car-free guide to Aylesbury.
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More child-friendly car-free adventures...
- Visit The Children’s Country House at Sudbury for family fun and a free hot drink when you go by train, bus or bike.
- Take the bus to The National Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle. Join in with their events programme, visit the children’s bookshop and see work by famous children’s authors.
- Dive into your favourite tales with activities and exhibitions at the Roald Dahl museum in Buckinghamshire.
- Check out our guide to six stupendous car-free trips with kids.
