Things to do in Alton Towers area?

youngmum_2

Apart from the obvious that is!

We're planning a trip with our boys (aged 5 and 2) in July and will hopefully be staying in a local caravan park. We LOVE Alton Towers and will spend at least 2 days there but can anyone recommend other places in the surrounding area to visit?

Thanks very much

youngmum_2

Anyone?

GIRLPOWER_2

Some very beautiful walks in that area. Ring the touist information and get them to send you details.

Lunch in a country pub.

Cheadle is a nice little town about 10 minutes away if you want to do any shopping.

Splash landing water park in the alton towers hotel is a good afternoon.

It's mainly a walkers area.

I live 30 mins away so please feel free to ask anything further.

livinginhope

Hi young mum,can't offer any advice on things near Alton towers,as we spend all our time in there,but I can recommend a lovely campsite to stay at, https://www.quarrywalkpark.co.uk only a couple of miles from Alton towers ,but very quiet and picturesque,we have stayed there a few times and really enjoyed it.

bluep

Carsington Waters is nice with kids - they have events there in the summer at weekends too. Dovedale is also a nice walk with kids (near Ashbourne).

In Waterhouses (on the A523 between Ashbourne and Leek), is a great farmhouse that hires out bicycles, trailers (for toddlers), tandems etc.. and theres a flat winding trail for miles with a cream tea place about 1 mile along and a cafe around 8 miles along (we were daft and went all the way and ended up knackered on the way back!! - I'd suggest cycling as far as you feel comfortable and coming back for tea at the first place!).

If you venture as far as Leek, the Tittesworth Resevoir has a great childrens playground, tea shop, ducks and a walk around the lake.

There's also Blackbrook Zoological park which although it can be a bit expensive to get in (around £20 for a family ticket from memory although it may have gone up - they have a website though), this is good fun, as they have snakes, monkeys, birds, farm animals etc... Not quite a proper zoo but my 2 year old likes it.

A bit further afield is Chatsworth House (north east of Alton Towers, near Bakewell). Not going in the stately home itself (expensive), you can get a ticket for the gardens or even better for just the farm and adventure playground - the farm is excellant with a large range of animals and their babys (calfs, piglets, hamsters, rabbits, goats, horses, calfs etc.... they also have feeding times and a picnic room - we were very impressed although again, ticket prices are a little high - check the website). The adventure playground part is also included and is excellent - huge area with lots of woodern platforms, swings, bits to run around - we took our 2 year old and an 11 year old friend's daughter and they both loved it.

hmm...where else...In Lognor is an indoor climbing wall - they run childrens classes some days - again, check the internet.

The potteries in Stoke-on-Trent (Spode is probably the best) do excellent tours that show the old factories and kilns, and have demonstration people at every stage showing how the old pottery was handmade and painted (these aren't too expensive either and the spode factory shop is great to stock up on unpainted "whiteware"). There is also an aqua world sort of place at Stoke but I can't see it offering anything that the one at Alton Towers doesn't.

In the other direction from Alton (i.e. North), is Matlock and Matlock Bath - there is the cave system called the Devil's A$*e (due to the noise of expelling gases!), which does tours and also Abraham's Heights which is a cable car ride - Matlock Bath itself is in a gorge and is pretty impressive landscape wise, bit like a little seaside town though bizarrely with fish and chip shops and arcades.

Leek is around 8 miles from Alton Towers and has a good tourist information shop in the market square - it really depends on how many days you are in the area!

youngmum_2

Thank you so much everyone for the replies, that's wonderful

suzzi2704

Monkey Forest!! Great for kids. Real monkeys in a forest!!! Never been, but my god it sounds awesome!!

Quackers

suzzi2704 wrote:

Monkey Forest!! Great for kids. Real monkeys in a forest!!! Never been, but my god it sounds awesome!!

It is

Its at Trentham Gardens. http://www.trenthamleisure.co.uk/

Here's the monkey forest web site : http://www.monkey-forest.com/

It depends which side of Alton Towers you are staying but if this isn't too far for you it is definately worth a visit - on a dry day though!! Its all in the open and the monkeys just roam around and its really worth a visit.

I go & walk around then have a cup of tea in the cafe & then walk around again

bluep

I forgot about Monkey Forest - my daughter LOVES it there! Word of warning though, don't park your car at the Trentham gardens shopping village bit and walk to Monkey Forest - its at least a 40 min walk with buggy (unless of course you want to catch the boat along the lake, or enjoy the walk), the next junction down off the road is the car park for Monkey Forest itself.

youngmum_2

Monkey forest - that does sound like fun

Ta folks!