Food stop · 10:00–12:00 (2h)
Forge Mill Farm
Two-hour booked slot with the farm animals.
Photo: Gordon Griffiths
A gentle morning for little ones: a booked slot with the animals at a council farm, then lunch and the adventure playground at the Sandwell Valley visitor centre.
Half dayToddlersSunny dayCost £10:00–14:302 stops
The plan
- 10:001
- 12:152
Food stop · 12:15–14:30 (2h15m)
Sandwell Valley Country Park
Lunch at the visitor centre café, then the adventure playground.
Photo: Martin Alford
More days out in West Midlands
West MidlandsTolkien's Birmingham: mill, bog and park
Hall Green, Birmingham
Start at the old watermill that shaped Tolkien's Shire, then follow the boardwalks of the wood he played in as a boy. Finish with playgrounds, boats and mini golf in one of Birmingham's best-loved parks.
Sarehole Mill → Moseley Bog and Joy's Wood Local Nature Reserve
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayCost £
West MidlandsTwo days in the Black Country
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A proper Black Country weekend: a day in the rebuilt streets of the living museum and a fossil hunt nearby, then a zoo on a castle hill and a Victorian park with two playgrounds.
Black Country Living Museum → Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve → Dudley Zoo and Castle → Haden Hill Park and Haden Hill House
WeekendAll agesCost ££
West MidlandsCoventry rainy day: cars, a dinosaur and the cathedral ruins
Coventry city centre
Three city-centre stops within a few minutes' walk of each other: a giant transport collection, a museum where Dippy the Diplodocus is visiting, and the moving ruins of the old cathedral.
Coventry Transport Museum → Herbert Art Gallery and Museum → Coventry Cathedral
One dayAll agesRainy dayCost £