Family Day Out Close To M1 And Between London & Nottingham?

mew

We will be travelling home from a family weekend in London on a Tuesday and haven’t a clue what to do on the way home?

Over the weekend and weather dependent, We will be doing Legoland, London Zoo, Madame Tussaurds, London Eye, Aquarium, Duck Tour, Dungeons, and anything else we can fit in but we haven’t found anything to do on the way home. Any recommendations for a family day or 1/2 day out not far from the M1 between London & Nottingham would be much appreciated.

emmaanddave

How old are your children?

Mayflower10cat

Whipsnade Zoo/Safari park popped into my head. Just off Junc9 of the M1. Huge amount to see and there's a little train/bus that takes you around the park if your legs get tired!
http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/planning-your-visit/how-to-find-us,160,AR.html

mew

emmaanddave wrote: »

How old are your children?

Just the one and she is 11 (I don't know how peple mange with more).

Mayflower10cat wrote: »

Whipsnade Zoo/Safari park popped into my head. Just off Junc9 of the M1. Huge amount to see and there's a little train/bus that takes you around the park if your legs get tired!
http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/planning-your-visit/how-to-find-us,160,AR.html

Thanks for the suggestion but we are already have a trip planned for Whipsnade later in the year. We have also been to Woburn Safari Park before, which is very good (Not sure how it compares to Whipsnade though).

vikingaero

mew wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion but we are already have a trip planned for Whipsnade later in the year. We have also been to Woburn Safari Park before, which is very good (Not sure how it compares to Whipsnade though).

Woburn is far better than Whipsnade. Whipsnade is OK to visit when the weather is good - as in really dry and sunny. It's simply too muddy and waterlogged when it's raining. If it rains you won't see much because the animals will be some distance away in the murk. Definitely take wellies if it is or has been raining.

I'm not keen on Whipsnade because it's tatty and the visitor experience is poor The ZSL have attempt to ingrain their conversation mantra into you and I got narked with it. You expect to pay higher prices at visitor attractions but I find Whipsnade to be poor value for money and the prices in the restaurant/cafe to be very high.

You need to pay to take your car in otherwise you'll have long walks and miss out on the Passage to Asia which is the only good bit at Whipsnade. If you park outside the gates (for a charge in the countryside!) and choose to use their park bus service you'll miss out on the Passage to Asia and might not see much out of the bus windows because they are so badly scored!

One place I recommend but not on the M1, but not far away is Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Herts.

p00hsticks

If you are interested in recent history and/or computers, then you could consider Bletchley Park

http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/visit/whattosee.rhtm

However, I suggest you check in advance to see exactly how much if it will be open when you aer intending to go - as I recall some of the bits such as the toy museum may only be open at weekends.....

shiprob195

What about the National Space Centre in Leicester?

http://www.spacecentre.co.uk

I am pretty sure that Tesco Clubcard "days out" vouchers can be used too.

mew

vikingaero: In regards with Whipnnsade, I'm also not very impressed with their parking charges but we got tickets really cheap from Debenhams with their stuffed toy promotion (so that goes some way to reduce the overall price). We are going in August, so although the Zoo will probably packed, hopefully the weather will be nice and we won't need willies.

Paradise Wildlife looks quite nice and we could go home on the A1 instead of M1.

p00hsticks wrote: »

If you are interested in recent history and/or computers, then you could consider Bletchley Park

Personally I’d love to visit here (I went to the Cold War Bunker at York and it was great) but I doubt I could pursued my other half and especially my daughter to visit with me.

shipr!!!95 wrote: »

What about the National Space Centre in Leicester?

shipr!!!95 wrote: »

http://www.spacecentre.co.uk

I am pretty sure that Tesco Clubcard "days out" vouchers can be used too.

That looks OK (especially as I can use Tesco Vouchers) but is it 'fun'? We went to Spaceport at Liverpool the other year and apart from the Doctor Who Exhibition, even I found it quite boring.

susieb

We didnt enjoy the space center, but had a much better time nearby at snibston discovery park, my kids aged 12 and 8 at the time loved it.

shiprob195

I haven't actually been to the Space centre. Several of my friends have been with children of various ages. Everyone said it was a good (half) day out.

Alye16

How about Guillivers land at Milton Keynes http://www.gulliversfun.co.uk/gullivers.php?parkname=Milton_Keynes