Guides · Family days out
Days out,
already planned.
Whole days worked out for you: where to start, when to stop for lunch, how to get between places and what to do if it rains. Every stop links to its own page with opening times, prices and a map.
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North EastCastles and sand: a Northumberland coast weekend from Belford
East Lodge, Home Farm, Belford
Settle into East Lodge and its willow den, then head to Bamburgh's huge beach before dark. The next day is all castles and gardens: Bamburgh Castle in the morning, lunch in Alnwick's old station, and the fountains and labyrinth of The Alnwick Garden in the afternoon.
East Lodge, Home Farm → Bamburgh Beach → Bamburgh Castle → Barter Books + 1 more
WeekendAll agesCost ££
North EastQuayside bridges, a city farm and a wartime tunnel
Newcastle city centre / Quayside
A walkable Newcastle day that starts under the cathedral's lantern spire, crosses the Tyne on the tilting 'blinking eye' bridge and follows the river east into the Ouseburn valley. Lunch is among the pigs and goats at a free city farm, and the afternoon goes underground on a guided tour of a Victorian coal-wagon tunnel that sheltered people in the Blitz.
Newcastle Cathedral → Gateshead Millennium Bridge → Ouseburn Farm → Victoria Tunnel
One dayAges 8–12Cost £
North EastDinosaurs, Leazes Park and the Turbinia - a free Newcastle day
Newcastle city centre (Haymarket)
Three free stops within a mile of each other: a natural history museum with a T. rex and Egyptian mummies, Newcastle's oldest park for a picnic and a run-around by the lake, then the city's science and industry museum. It works in drizzle because two of the three stops are indoors.
The Great North Museum → Leazes Park → Discovery Museum
One dayAges 3–7Free
North EastRainy day on Tyneside: science centre and craft gallery
Newcastle Central Station / Gateshead
A wet-weather plan built around Newcastle's big hands-on science centre and planetarium by Central Station, followed by a calm hour in a free Gateshead gallery that has a sensory room for families. Almost everything is under cover, with only a short car or taxi hop in between.
Life Science Centre → Shipley Art Gallery
One dayAges 3–7Rainy dayCost ££
North EastToddler morning: city farm animals and Saltwell Park
Newcastle / Gateshead
Two stops only, both free: a small city farm where little ones can meet pigs, sheep and goats, then Gateshead's Victorian park with its hedge maze, play areas and boating lake. Lunch is in the turreted tearoom so nap time can happen in the buggy on the paths afterwards.
Ouseburn Farm → Saltwell Park
One dayToddlersSunny dayFree
North EastDerwent Valley woods and a riverside castle
Rowlands Gill (Gateshead)
A free green day on Gateshead's western edge: a flat old railway path along the Derwent for scooters and buggies, a picnic deep in a big Forestry England wood, then the ruins of a medieval castle above the Tyne at Prudhoe. Good for families who want fresh air without paying entry fees.
Derwent Walk Country Park → Chopwell Wood → Prudhoe Castle
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayFree
North EastTynemouth headland, Cullercoats rock pools and a Spanish City supper
Tynemouth
A classic North Tyneside coast day: a ruined priory and castle on the headland, a sandy horseshoe bay with rock pools for the afternoon, then fish and chips under the white dome at Whitley Bay. Short hops keep little legs fresh.
Tynemouth Priory and Castle → Northumberland Park → Cullercoats Bay → Trenchers Spanish City
One dayAll agesSunny dayCost ££- North East
Ferry across the Tyne: Tynemouth to South Shields seafront
Tynemouth / North Shields
Turn a short river crossing into the highlight of the day: explore Tynemouth's priory, ride the passenger ferry over the mouth of the Tyne, then spend the afternoon on the South Shields side with a fish and chip lunch, a Victorian park with a miniature railway and a big sandy beach.
Tynemouth Priory and Castle → Shields Ferry → Colmans Seafood Temple → South Marine Park + 1 more
One dayAll agesSunny dayCost £ 
North EastSouter Lighthouse, The Leas and Marsden Rock
South Shields / Whitburn
Climb a red-and-white striped Victorian lighthouse, run about on open clifftop grassland, then drop down to a cove where a giant sea stack is crowded with seabirds. Finish with a fish supper on the South Shields front.
Souter Lighthouse and The Leas → Marsden Bay → Colmans Seafood Temple
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayCost £
North EastFree day in North Tyneside: farm, dene and bay
Wallsend / North Shields
Three free stops with free or cheap parking: a big country park on reclaimed colliery land with a community farm and sand-and-water play, a wooded Victorian dene with a pump track, and a little sheltered beach to finish. Pack a picnic or use the park cafes.
Rising Sun Country Park → Northumberland Park → Cullercoats Bay
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayFree
North EastSunderland seafront and city: Roker, Seaburn and Mowbray Park
Sunderland (Roker)
A bracing walk out along Roker Pier, a long play on Sunderland's main family beach, then into the city for a restored Victorian park with a big adventure playground. End inside a medieval gatehouse castle that is free to visit on a booked slot.
Roker Pier and Lighthouse → Seaburn Beach → Mowbray Park → Hylton Castle
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayFree
North EastWashington wetlands, an old hall and Penshaw Monument
Washington
Flamingos, ducks and woodland hides fill the morning at the wetland centre, followed by a short look round the 17th-century house linked to George Washington's ancestors. Finish by climbing the grassy hill to the Greek-temple folly that watches over Wearside.
WWT Washington Wetland Centre → Washington Old Hall → Penshaw Monument
One dayAges 3–7Cost ££
North EastSea glass and a wild gorge on the Durham coast
Seaham
Hunt for smooth coloured sea glass washed up from an old bottleworks on Seaham's beach, then head down the coast for a wilder walk through a steep wooded limestone gorge full of yews and birdsong. Free all day apart from parking.
Seaham Beach → Castle Eden Dene National Nature Reserve
One dayAges 8–12Sunny dayFree
North EastBeamish full day with a Causey Arch finale
Beamish / Stanley
Give the whole day to the open-air museum: ride trams between the 1900s town, pit village, farms and 1950s streets, and eat in one of its period cafes. On the way home, stretch legs on a short gorge walk to the world's oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge.
Beamish Open Air Museum → Causey Arch Picnic Area
One dayAll agesCost £££
North EastSteam train, Causey Arch and the Derwent Walk
Marley Hill / Stanley
On a running day, ride Victorian carriages behind a steam engine on the world's oldest railway, which passes the Causey Arch gorge. Then picnic beside the arch itself and finish with a flat stroll or scoot on the old railway path along the Derwent.
Tanfield Railway → Causey Arch Picnic Area → Derwent Walk Country Park
One dayAges 3–7Cost £
North EastDurham City: cathedral, castle views and a riverside priory
Durham City
Start with the best free view of the cathedral and castle from a hillside park by the station, then explore the Norman cathedral with its family trail and undercroft cafe. Finish out of town at the riverside ruins of a medieval priory where Durham's monks once retreated.
Wharton Park → Durham Cathedral → Finchale Priory
One dayAges 8–12Cost £
North EastBishop Auckland palace and Hamsterley Forest
Bishop Auckland
A morning in the former palace of the Prince Bishops, with its walled garden and free viewing tower, then out to County Durham's biggest forest for picture-book trails, a play area and gentle bike routes.
Auckland Palace → Hamsterley Forest
One dayAges 8–12Cost ££
North EastWeardale railcar and Low Barns wildlife
Stanhope / Witton-le-Wear
A sit-down scenic ride up Weardale on a heritage diesel railcar, then a gentle afternoon on flat, buggy-friendly paths between bird hides at a wildlife trust reserve where kingfishers and otters are possible.
Weardale Railway → Low Barns Nature Reserve
One dayAges 3–7Cost £
North EastUpper Teesdale waterfalls and the Silver Swan
Barnard Castle / Middleton-in-Teesdale
Walk from a little chapel visitor centre to a waterfall you can stand behind at Gibson's Cave and the tumbling cascades of Low Force. In the afternoon, a French-chateau museum in Barnard Castle where a mechanical silver swan performs every day at 2pm - and under-18s go free.
Bowlees Visitor Centre → The Bowes Museum
One dayAges 3–7Cost £
North EastDarlington and Shildon railway day
Darlington
Follow the world's first passenger railway story from Darlington's 1825 station, now Hopetown with its Wagon Woods adventure play, to a hall of historic locomotives in Shildon. A Victorian park with play areas and an aviary fits between them. Site entry is free throughout.
Hopetown Darlington → South Park → Locomotion
One dayAll agesFree
North EastAlnwick morning: bookshop railway station and Hulne Park
Alnwick
Browse one of Britain's biggest second-hand bookshops inside Alnwick's old railway station, with a model train running along the shelf tops, then walk into the Duke of Northumberland's walled park for a picnic by the river. Dogs and bikes are banned in the park, which keeps it calm for small children.
Barter Books → Hulne Park
Half dayAges 3–7Free
North EastHowick gardens and Craster kippers
Craster / Howick
Roam the woodland and riverside paths of the Grey family's gardens and arboretum, following the burn path towards the sea, then lunch in Craster at a smokehouse that has cured kippers since the 1800s. Finish back in Alnwick at the old-station bookshop for its afternoon ice cream counter.
Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum → L. Robson & Sons → Barter Books
One dayAll agesSunny dayCost ££
North EastFarne Islands puffin cruise and Howick
Seahouses
In puffin season, sail from Seahouses harbour round the Farne Islands to see puffins, other seabirds and grey seals. Refuel on fish and chips by the harbour, then spend the afternoon wandering the gardens and arboretum at Howick.
Farne Islands → Neptune Fish Restaurant → Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum
One dayAges 8–12Sunny dayCost £££- North East
Northumberland beach day: Bamburgh sands and a seal cruise
Bamburgh / Seahouses
A whole morning of sandcastles and kite flying on the vast dune-backed beach below Bamburgh Castle, a fish-and-chip lunch in Seahouses, then a 90-minute boat trip out to the grey seal colonies of the Farne Islands, which runs all year.
Bamburgh Beach → Neptune Fish Restaurant → Farne Islands
One dayAll agesSunny dayCost ££ 
North EastHoly Island, Berwick walls and the Ford & Etal mill
Berwick-upon-Tweed / Holy Island
Cross the tidal causeway to the red-sandstone ruins of Lindisfarne Priory, then walk the top of Berwick's Elizabethan town walls above the Tweed. Inland, watch a water-powered corn mill grinding flour and explore a small free border castle in Etal village.
Lindisfarne Priory → Berwick-upon-Tweed Castle and Ramparts → Heatherslaw Corn Mill → Etal Castle
One dayAges 8–12Cost £
North EastHadrian's Wall high country: Housesteads, The Sill and the Roman Army Museum
Bardon Mill / Haltwhistle
Climb up to the best-preserved fort on the Wall for costumes, replica objects and sweeping moorland views, warm up with lunch and a rooftop walk at the free national park discovery centre, then finish at a hands-on museum about the life of a Roman soldier.
Hadrians Wall and Fort → The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre → Roman Army Museum
One dayAges 8–12Cost ££
North EastGentle Roman day: Corbridge town and Chesters fort
Corbridge / Chollerford
A flatter, younger-child-friendly take on Hadrian's Wall: walk down a real Roman high street and see the Corbridge Lion, then head up the North Tyne to a cavalry fort in parkland with a bath house, a museum of carved stones and a coffee house.
Corbridge Roman Town - Hadrian's Wall → Chesters Roman Fort and Museum - Hadrian's Wall
One dayAges 3–7Cost ££
North EastNorth Tyne waterfall walk and Wallington adventure play
Bellingham / Cambo
A Kielder-country alternative: follow a wooded gorge from Bellingham over footbridges to a 9-metre waterfall, keeping an eye out for red squirrels. Then drive to Wallington for a zip line, play fort and dragon cycle trail in a big National Trust estate.
Hareshaw Linn → Wallington
One dayAges 8–12Sunny dayCost ££
North EastNorthumberland castle day: Belsay and Prudhoe
Belsay / Prudhoe
Two very different castles: a medieval tower castle in the grounds of Belsay's Greek Revival hall, with a quarry garden of rocky ravines and a Wild Man play trail, then the gatehouse and keep of Prudhoe above the Tyne. Finish with a run-around at a riverside country park.
Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens → Prudhoe Castle → Newburn Riverside Country Park
One dayAges 8–12Cost ££
North EastMorpeth bagpipes and south-east Northumberland parks
Morpeth
A quirky free start in a medieval chantry full of bagpipes you can listen to on headsets, then a woodland-and-riverside country park with a wooden playground and cafe, ending at a lake with flat paths for scooters on the edge of Ashington.
Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum → Plessey Woods Country Park → Queen Elizabeth II Country Park
One dayAges 3–7Free
North EastSeaton Delaval Hall and Blyth's coastal battery
Seaton Delaval / Blyth
A woodland morning at a country park, then a Baroque National Trust mansion where children can lose themselves in a hidden woodland play space themed on old theatre machinery. In season, finish at a volunteer-run wartime gun battery in the Blyth dunes.
Plessey Woods Country Park → Seaton Delaval Hall → Blyth Battery
One dayAges 3–7Cost ££
North EastMiddlesbrough museum, park and stately hall
Middlesbrough
Dinosaurs, space and live reptiles at a free town museum, lunch and swan pedal boats in the big Victorian park at its gate, then a Georgian National Trust hall with a natural play area and a model railway layout.
Dorman Museum → Albert Park → Ormesby Hall
One dayAges 3–7Cost £
North EastToddler farm day in south Middlesbrough
Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough
A farm park with big animals, a petting barn, sand pits and soft play on buggy-friendly paths, followed by a gentle hour in Stewart Park with its playground, animal paddocks and the small Captain Cook museum.
Newham Grange Farm → Captain Cook Birthplace Museum
One dayToddlersCost £
North EastHartlepool warship, Headland battery and Seaton Carew sands
Hartlepool
Go below decks on Britain's oldest warship still afloat at a recreated Georgian quayside, then visit the Headland gun battery that faced the 1914 German bombardment. On summer-holiday afternoons, cool off in the water play zone at Seaton Carew.
HMS Trincomalee 1817 → Heugh Battery Museum → Seaton Carew Beach
One dayAges 8–12Sunny dayCost ££
North EastStockton: Victorian street and Saltholme wetlands
Stockton-on-Tees
Walk through a recreated Victorian street of shops inside Preston Hall and let the children loose in the parkland play areas. In the afternoon, cross the Tees to an RSPB reserve with a glass-fronted visitor centre, wild play area and level paths between hides.
Preston Park and Museum → RSPB Saltholme
One dayAges 3–7Cost £
North EastRedcar and Saltburn: owls, a beacon and the cliff tramway
Redcar / Saltburn-by-the-Sea
A free museum in a grand 1710 building with a school-holiday owl centre next door, a free lift to the top of Redcar's seafront tower, and then Saltburn's Victorian pier and Britain's oldest water-balanced cliff lift for a short, cheap ride.
Kirkleatham Museum → Redcar Beacon → Saltburn Pier → Saltburn Cliff Tramway
One dayAges 3–7Cost £
North EastTeen adventure: Roseberry Topping and white-water rafting
Guisborough / Stockton
Bag a summit first thing on the steep half-cone hill at the edge of the North York Moors, refuel at a forest cafe, then raft an artificial white-water course beside the Tees Barrage. A proper full-on day for teens who want to earn their tea.
Roseberry Topping → Guisborough Forest and Walkway → Tees Barrage International White Water Centre
One dayTeensSunny dayCost £££- North East
Two-day Durham and Teesdale weekend
Durham / Barnard Castle
Day one explores Durham's cathedral peninsula and riverside priory ruins. Day two heads into Teesdale for a medieval castle in a deer park with a giant timber adventure playground, followed by the Silver Swan at a chateau-style museum where under-18s go free.
Wharton Park → Durham Cathedral → Finchale Priory → The Plotters’ Forest at Raby Castle + 1 more
WeekendAges 3–7Cost ££ - North East
Two-day Tyneside coast and Beamish weekend
Newcastle / Tynemouth
Day one is a car-light coast day: Tynemouth's headland priory, the ferry across the Tyne and a South Shields seafront afternoon. Day two is all-in at the open-air museum at Beamish, with a short gorge walk to finish.
Tynemouth Priory and Castle → Shields Ferry → Colmans Seafood Temple → South Marine Park + 3 more
WeekendAll agesCost £££ - North East
Three-day Northumberland coast: Alnwick, the Farnes and Holy Island
Seahouses / Alnwick area
Three unhurried days on the Northumberland coast: a bookshop station and a duke's walled park in Alnwick plus Howick's gardens; sandcastles at Bamburgh and a boat out to the Farne seals; then a tide-timed crossing to Holy Island with Berwick's walls and the Etal mill.
Barter Books → Hulne Park → Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum → Bamburgh Beach + 6 more
Three daysAll agesCost ££
Written by Tumble from each place's own published information, checked October 2026. Times are suggestions, not bookings. Opening hours and prices change, so check each place's page before you set off.