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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South EastBrighton seafront: sea creatures, a hilltop park and the pier
Brighton seafront
Start under the Victorian arches of the oldest working aquarium in the world, then climb up to a quiet Kemptown park with a playground and duck pond for lunch. Finish back on the seafront with rides, ice cream and a long walk out over the waves on the Palace Pier.
SEA LIFE Brighton → Queen's Park → Brighton Palace Pier
One dayAges 3–7Cost ££
South EastWhitstable gardens and the Reculver towers
Whitstable
A low-cost morning on the north Kent coast: a play park and tearoom in the gardens of Whitstable's little castle, then a short drive east to the twin towers standing in the remains of a Roman fort on the shore. Bring a kite for the clifftop grass at Reculver.
Whitstable Castle and Gardens → Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
Half dayAll agesSunny dayFree
South EastDover to Folkestone along the white cliffs, for free
Dover
See a 3,500-year-old boat in Dover's free town museum, then drive through a tunnel in the cliffs to Samphire Hoe, a seaside park built from Channel Tunnel spoil. End on Folkestone's Harbour Arm for a picnic or street food and a walk to the lighthouse.
Dover Museum → Samphire Hoe Beach → Folkestone Harbour Arm
One dayAll agesSunny dayFree
South EastLittle Oxford: story rooms and dinosaurs for under-5s
Oxford city centre
A short, buggy-friendly morning built around a 60-minute Small Worlds session at the Story Museum, made for under-5s. Then walk up to the natural history museum, where dinosaur skeletons stand under a glass roof and there are specimens little hands are allowed to touch.
The Story Museum → Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Half dayToddlersCost £
South EastCanterbury on a wet day: cathedral, Roman house and a free museum
Canterbury city centre
Three indoor stops a few minutes apart in the walled city. Children go free at the cathedral, the underground Roman museum has a mosaic floor still in place and objects to handle, and the free Beaney finishes the day with natural history cases and family trails.
Canterbury Cathedral → Canterbury Roman Museum → The Beaney
One dayAges 8–12Rainy dayCost ££
South EastIsle of Wight in two days: a queen's beach, castle donkeys and the Needles
East Cowes and Yarmouth
Day one crosses to East Cowes for Queen Victoria's holiday house, gardens and her private beach, then heads inland to a hilltop castle where donkeys still work the well wheel. Day two is in the West Wight: animals and indoor play at a farm park, then a chairlift down to Alum Bay to see the Needles.
Osborne House → Carisbrooke Castle → Tapnell Farm Park → The Needles Landmark Attraction
WeekendAges 3–7Sunny dayCost £££
South EastNew Forest giants: redwoods, ancient firs and a motor museum
Lyndhurst
Morning walks under some of the tallest trees in the New Forest along Ornamental Drive, starting at Bolderwood and moving on to the redwoods of the Tall Trees Trail. The afternoon is at Beaulieu, where one ticket covers racing cars, a monorail and a stately home.
Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary → Blackwater Arboretum and Tall Trees Trail → Beaulieu National Motor Museum
One dayAges 8–12Cost ££
South EastPortsmouth: warships, a Tudor wreck and a view from the tower
Portsmouth Harbour
Spend most of the day at the historic dockyard going aboard HMS Victory and HMS Warrior and seeing the raised Tudor warship Mary Rose. End by going up the Spinnaker Tower next door for a view across the Solent to the Isle of Wight.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard → Spinnaker Tower
One dayAges 8–12Cost £££
South EastModel villages and Roald Dahl in the Chilterns
Beaconsfield
Walk through a miniature 1930s England at the world's oldest model village and ride its little railway, then drive into the hills to the village where Roald Dahl wrote, for an afternoon of story-making in his museum.
Bekonscot Model Village → The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
One dayAges 3–7Cost ££
South EastMilton Keynes: codebreakers, sculpture and a lake
Milton Keynes
A morning on the trail of the wartime codebreakers at Bletchley Park, with hands-on code-cracking for children. In the afternoon, climb the viewing mound in Campbell Park's sculpture-filled grounds and finish at Willen Lake's playgrounds, splash park and Peace Pagoda.
Bletchley Park → Campbell Park → Willen Lake
One dayAges 8–12Cost ££
South EastA Surrey day of glasshouses and a crystal grotto
Wisley and Cobham
The morning is at the Royal Horticultural Society's flagship garden, with a tropical glasshouse and lakes. After lunch, cross to Painshill, an 18th-century landscape garden where children can hunt for follies around the lake, including a grotto lined with crystals.
RHS Garden Wisley → Painshill
One dayAges 8–12Sunny dayCost ££
South EastArundel: a hilltop castle and a boat through the reedbeds
Arundel
Climb the keep of Arundel's huge restored castle in the morning, then walk down past the river to the wetland centre for a quiet electric boat ride through the reedbeds and some pond dipping.
Arundel Castle → WWT Arundel Wetland Centre
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayCost ££
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.