Days Out in East Anglia

BargainhunterII

With it being the school holidays I am after ideas to take the kids for the day. I was wondering if people had any suggestions of good places to visit and what ages they are suitable for?

My favourite place to visit is Church Farm, Stow Bardolph, near Downham Market. We have been visiting there for 3 years and go a few times each year and my 2 kids aged 4 and 6 LOVE it. There are rare animal breeds, petting area, tractor rides and nature walks but by far the best thing is the play areas. There is a lovely new indoor tree house type play area where parents can sit and have a snack while watching the kids (by the way the cakes in the tea room are yummy) toy ride on tractor area, trampolines, wooden play equipment, football, giant sandpit and hay barn to play on. It really is a fantastic day out in my opinion, we went there again last week and lambs and piglets are being born and DD loved them!

This is there website http://www.churchfarmstowbardolph.co.uk/

(By the way, I dont have any connection with the place I just really rate it incase anyone thinks I am plugging my own business- I am not!)

If anyone has any suggestions for days out in East Anglia please post them here, maybe this could be an ongoing thread if people think its a good idea and is useful????

Thanks

SimbaSimon

East Anglia stretches quite some distance, so the below may not be close to you but should all be pretty close to Peterborough.

http://www.sacrewell.org.uk/ - Sacrewell Farm and Country Centre - Kids/Young Teens
http://www.hamertonzoopark.com/ - Hamerton Zoological Park - All Ages
http://www.rutlandwater.org.uk/ - Rutland Water Nature Reserve - All ages, although lots of walking!
http://www.nvr.org.uk/ - Nene Valley Railway - All ages
http://www.nene-park-trust.org.uk/ - Ferry Meadows - All ages, lots of sports/walking
http://www.queensgate-shopping.co.uk/ - Average shopping centre in Peterborough

mrsthrifty_2

Butterfly & Wild Life Park ..... Long Sutton

http://www.butterflyandwildlifepark.co.uk/

Snettisham Park ....... near Hunstanton

http://www.snettishampark.co.uk/index.php

Welney Wetland Centre

http://www.wwt.org.uk/centre/124/welney.html


http://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/search.php?county=norfolk

susieb

I live in Stow Bardolph and agree church farm is great (less great in the summer with the wasps tho')

Near church farm how about denver windmill? We visited denver windmill last half term and the kids made bread there, it was a great half day.
There is also a swimming pool in downham and the leisure centre has alot going on over the easter break.

BargainhunterII

jwasp wrote: »

Why not buy the "Lets Go with the Children" book for East Anglia?

Thats great thanks.

Heres the link if anyone else is interested.
http://www.countrysidebooks.co.uk/book-catalogue-book-details.php?book=1523

Can I just say thanks for the suggestions so far, if anyone has anymore please list them here- thaank you!

Also we went to Park Farm Snettisham last year and were not atall impressed (we went years ago and loved it). It is soo run down, not many animals and the ones thay have are in small pens and look imo glum, the play equipment is really outdated and worn (ride on toys broken etc) and the tea room is expensive and not very pleasant. The only good thing about it is the dear safari if it wasnt for this I firmly believe they would have closed by now. It is a shame as it has been good in its time but for the price it is really expensive and we struggled to get 4 hours out of it. As I said, only my opinion but I would be reluctant to go even for free- rabbits on their own in small hutches is not my idea of a farm park day out.

popadum

Great thread BargainhunterII - it inspired me to finally register and join in the forums :jas I've been looking for things to do in Cambridgeshire, and perhaps a little further afield. We're so far from the beach here that I want to get a long list of things to do ready for the summer holidays.

As I've only just registered I'm not allowed to post links yet, but you can easily google the following:

In my search I have found a superb website called daysoutwiththekids that lets you select your region, then you can select the type of day out (indoor/outdoor) and then the age of kids. I got really good results for Cambridgeshire, including all the places that I would recommend and loads more:


I would personally recommend:

Wimpole Hall (National Trust) and Home Farm is a favourite - they have family-friendly events throughout the year. This time of year is great for lambing at the farm, and the grounds are vast and beautiful so ideal for a budget-friendly picnic.

The Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey "Discover farming through the ages and learn about the rural history of Cambridgeshire with objects displays and interactives for all ages"

The Imperial War Museum in Duxford is worth travelling for, with hundreds of aeroplanes to explore