MNHQ needs your best "visitor attractions for children in the UK"

I agree re the V&A - their back-pack activities are brilliant - though last time we went they weren;t doing them that particular day which was disappointing. for big days out Hampton COurt is great too (quite expensive iirc). the maze is great.

have to say I think Kew is over-rated for kids imo. too expensive, creepers place too crowded. gardens are great but - as far as kids are concerned - they're wide open spaces with trees to hide behind. you get that for free in an awful lot of places. inc Richmond Park just up the road.

Obviously too tired to link properly!

)to heated)

sorry forgot to say its the alice in wonderland park.It has its own maze and loads of outdoor and indoor activities.Its in Bournemouth

what what?

this is great for kids and you can stay there all day and take a picnic too

www.snowdome.co.uk/
nr Tamworth

www.westlodgeruralcentre.co.uk/
nr Market Harborough, Leics

www.miniatureponycentre.com/
in Morehampstead, Devon

Alnwick Castle is good. The garden and the 'treehouse' are dreadful.

the british wildlife centre sort of near Crawley/tunbridge wells. the best thing is that they feed a different kind of animal every half an hour and do a little talk about it and you can ask questions. the timing is perfect - half an hour is just right for you to wander around a bit and then turn up at the next feed. in reality the animals are semi-tame - so they all come out for their lunch and you get to see everything. and learn lots about what we have on our doorstep.

The Pitt Rivers Museum and its skulls get a long mention in His Dark Materials.

free at this end --------- being fleeced over here

There's a happy ground

shrunken, stretched, who cares. Sounds like good family fun.

Oh pointy, you're obsessed! I guess all those other landowners/disney subsidiaries/private owners are all doin' it for free an all?

Alnwick is worth the hideous mindblowing expense!

Were there shrunken heads? I remember the elongated skulls.

Well, I hope you mention just how costly Alnwick Castle is and insert the word 'fleece' in one form or another.

Oh yes - the shrunken heads are very cool!

We also like the V&A and the British Museums - plenty to look at but fewer people than the Natural History and Science Museums (love them but the crowds do my head in).

The Castle Museum in York is fab too - how did I forget that?

bedgebury pinetum in Kent has a wonderful outdoor adventure playground in the forest and great cycle trails,...£6 to park all day, and that's it!
also love
princess di playground
legoland!
Groombridge place
Scotney castle
bewl water

I'll pick one that's been well voted for already and hope to get it in - Natural History/Pitt Rivers museums in Oxford. Mainly because they are FREE and truly great - I love the drawers full of things to handle and guess. And they are next to a park.

But do point out that it's only open to the public from 12 noon onwards, and that there is No Cafe or picnic area in the bulding. took me a very long time to remember both these things.

Colchester Zoo (so much less depressing than London Zoo)
Coram's Fields playground in central London - a great place to let off steam for kids if you're shopping in the centre of town.
Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood - perfect for a rainy day
Livesey Museum, Old Kent Rd. - this is a fabulous children's museum, completely hands on, although rather tiny.
Diana Memorial Park - great for a sunny day

Another vote for the Landmark Trust place up near Aviemore somewhere - probably the best day out we have ever had, anywhere. The water slide is amazing and you also get to see red squirrels, do a tree top walk etc. Really really good and excellent value for money.

Chester Zoo is great, especially the bat house and the orangutans - but it's way better out of season than when you're rammed in with everybody else in the summer.

The Black Country museum is pretty good (near Tipton) with a chance to go down a mine, take part in a Victorian lesson etc.

The Galleries of Justice in Nottingham - all of us except dd1 loved this and would like to go back but she was terrified and won't contemplate it, even though it was about six years ago! You get to take part in a mock trial, see "prisoners" etc - great fun.

They got a sizable lottery grant for that garden, if I remember right. The word in my head is 'fleece'.

Really, I should start a thread about this.

Thanks for the link Spamm . We'll go in Easter hols.

Pointydog
I know that it is incredibly expensive and I was a bit that we had to pay extra for the gardens, but it was a fab day out and you really can spend the whole day there.

And tbh, I don't think that the gardens were cheap to construct.

However, this is perhaps another thread.