Photo: BEN ELLIOTT on UnsplashAdventure Island, Southend
Free-entry seafront park by the world's longest pleasure pier — pay per ride or wristband up.
Family days out & theme parks
A good family day out is one where nobody's bored — and that's a higher bar than it sounds. Big-hitter theme parks, zoos and wildlife parks, hands-on museums and farm attractions: this is the list for when you've got kids to entertain and a limited number of hours to do it in.
From roller-coaster parks to gentler days with animals and open space, these are the places built for a family outing. Choose where you're starting and how far you'll drive or take the train, and we'll do the matching.
Find family & theme parks days out near you →
Popular family days out
Photo: BEN ELLIOTT on Unsplash
Photo: Alan Murray-Rust / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsAmberley Museum
A chalk-pit village of working industrial heritage — narrow-gauge trains, vintage buses and craftspeople at their benches.
Photo: Chris McKenna (user:Thryduulf) / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsArbeia Roman Fort
The Wall's supply base with a full-size reconstructed gatehouse, barracks and commander's house — free.
Photo: Lynne Kirton / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsAttenborough Nature Reserve
Flooded gravel pits with a striking visitor centre, opened by its namesake — kingfishers by the hide windows.
Audley End House
A Jacobean palace with working Victorian service wing and stables — the kitchen dresser alone repays the trip.
Photo: Connor Mollison on UnsplashAviemore & the Cairngorms
Britain's biggest national park: Loch Morlich's beach, ancient Caledonian pine, and the funicular up Cairn Gorm.
Photo: Oliver Potter on UnsplashBarry Island Pleasure Park
The Gavin & Stacey seafront: funfair, proper beach, and chips on the prom.
Photo: Wehha / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia CommonsBelton House
The perfect English country house, they say — with formal gardens and the NT's biggest adventure playground.
Photo: Mark mc neill on UnsplashBlackpool Pleasure Beach
The Big One, the Grand National, and a tram along the prom. Unapologetically itself.
Photo: Eusebius / CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia CommonsBlair Castle
The white castle of the Atholl Highlanders — Britain's only private army — with a Hercules garden and red deer park.
Photo: Les Chatfield / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsBluebell Railway
Britain's first preserved standard-gauge line — Victorian carriages through eleven miles of Sussex woods.
Photo: Robert Bye on UnsplashBournemouth
Seven miles of proper sand, clifftop gardens, and the softest introduction to the British seaside.
That’s 12 of 284 family & theme parks days out in our guide. See them all matched to your location →