To ask where are the best places to take children? And also your worst?

[stressbandit]

I really want to do the most this year and plan lots of days out, we are in London we don't drive so would be trains we'd be taking. Kids are 6,4 and 15 months.

Eldest has learning difficulties so may struggle with having to queue.

They love butlins so we've booked that, looking to go to Sealife in Brighton but where else? I've never ever been to a theme park so I'm open to going to one.

All we ever seem to do is stay local or go to fairs.
They haven't been to London zoo so that's a good one too.
And where to avoid?

I take my 10 year old with asd to chessington a lot. With a disability you can get a ride access pass which means you avoid queuing. If you get a merlin pass I think it covers both sealife and Chessington and you get a free carers one with proof of disability.

Oh wow how much is the merlin pass? I'll look into it. I remember years ago going to Cadbury's world that was a waste of time speaking of worst experiences.

Paultons park is the best theme park for those ages. Lots of space and a variety of rides. Park is very clean.

I second Paultons Park for those age ranges. There are a lot of rides geared towards younger children.
Also Gullivers theme park. Great for little ones and it also has an indoor aqua splash park too.
Digger land is also fab.
Battersea Park in London is a lovely day out, a boating lake, fountains, adventure playground, mini golf, go karts and bike hire, and lots of green space.

Legoland would be good with those ages. Even the toddler - there's a Duploland with lots of rides for under 5s

In London itself take the river boat down to Greenwich and explore the park, observatory, Cutty Sark. Take the river boat upriver and disembark at the Tower of London which has loads of holiday craft stuff for kids. Then open top bus taking in Pizza Express and the Science Museum.

Come to Southend! Adventure Island, (look into carer discounts), beach walks, ice creams and hot doughnuts and a fun train ride

Brighton Sealife is fine, but if you’re travelling from London, it feels like a waste of travelling to the seaside to spend the time indoors. I’d do London aquarium, then spend a different day in Brighton doing stuff that isn’t an option in London.

We used to love the Natural History Museum. However, it's too crowded in school holidays. My elder DD can't cope with the crowds. Even the younger DD got fed up as she couldn't see the dinosaurs properly (that was 2019, so she would have been six last time we went).

London Transport museum was better... But obviously you pay.

If you want to come North... York Railway Museum. Very handy for the train station! Lots of other stuff in York too.

I would choose smaller theme parks at those ages eg there's Crealy in Devon. I would stick to smaller zoos/farm parks with good playgrounds etc too. For overnight we always used the holiday inns at that age as rooms tend to sleep 4 (and have room for a cot) kids (used to) eat free

Came on to say this will be a great year to take your kids places, as long as social distancing lasts. The advice on how places are rammed is based on pre-pandemic visits.

Natural History Museum has been sooo quiet. We have visited three times in the pandemic and it's been bliss. Most museums have 15% of their normal visitor numbers.

I blog about London for families over on museummum.com and on instagram.com/museummum so if you follow me there you'll see what we do and recommend.

I have a post on visiting the NHM museummum.com/2021/03/19/natural-history-museum-london/, all the photos were taken during the middle of the day when it was open to the public. You can see how quiet it is.

London Zoo is fantastic. Mail Rail at the Postal Museum is fun, and the Horniman Museum is good for younger children with a little aquarium, butterfly house, animal walk through and usually a hands on exhibition, plus a park, farmers market and family events.

London Transport Museum is a good one for those ages, kids go free and your ticket is valid for a year so works out good value. There's lots to clamber on and special play areas and driving simulators.

Tower Bridge has the glass walkway and does family events, if you visit on a family day and get your ticket stamped you can come back on any other family day for a year for free. Nearby there's fountains at More London for hot days. We also really like the Royal Mews, it has real horses and does family tours and events too, tickets also valid for a year. And Buckingham Palace is allowing picnics in the grounds this summer for the first (and maybe only) time ever!

When numbers start picking up again look at special openings for children with autism and other conditions which mean they may benefit from a quieter visit. And always ask for a free carer ticket!

Anyway, lots more ideas on the blog and my social channels. Have a great year enjoying your days out and let me know if you have any questions.

I think as well as Chessington and the Aquarium, Legoland is also covered by a Merlin Pass - also the London Eye. We had passes when DD was younger and they were great value if you think you’ll visit all of the attractions, some maybe more than once!

@stressbandit

Oh wow how much is the merlin pass? I'll look into it. I remember years ago going to Cadbury's world that was a waste of time speaking of worst experiences.

If you shop at Tesco you can use clubcard vouchers for a merlin pass 3x value

The Access pass can be used at loads of places and I think many places allow you to not queue www.accesscard.org.uk

IMO London Sealife is far FAR more impressive than Brighton. Can’t wait to go back!! Went October 2020, so during covid, and it was nice as so few people there/no queues so might be doable for your child.

Portsmouth is a train from Waterloo, has loads of ships and museums (haven’t been but meaning to, people rave!)

Whipsnade zoo is amazing - loads of elephants, rhinos and giraffes and you get pretty close to them, and the penguins have an enviable view. Not sure how you could get there though.

Train to Bristol and get an air bnb? More of the same though - museums and dockyard. The best city though, lovely vibe.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is excellent.
Paulton's Park is good. The Peppa Pig land part had extremely slow moving queues but the rest of the park had rides that were great and hardly any queue.

We're non-drivers in London as well and you have to plan days out carefully, especially with a disability/the toddler. We've looked at Paulton's Park and Legoland and we'd have to do an overnight trip with our toddler, the journey time is 3 hours with a few connections. I agree with doing as much as you can in London first, there's lots to do without travelling so far.

Within London, we love the Horniman, RAF Museum, Discover Children's Centre, Kew Gardens (make sure you book separate tickets for the play area), London Transport Museum as well as the usual South Ken Museums. The Postal Museum and National Army Museum are supposed to be good, but we've never managed to visit there (booked tickets but cancelled due to lockdown).

We've done Willows Farm and Bekonscot, which are both easy to do by public transport. Whipsnade Zoo is great, but you need to get a taxi from the station. Southend is an easy day trip, it's a quick train from Liverpool Street.

If your older DC gets DLA, you can often get a free carer ticket (and a queue pass to avoid queues). It might be possible to get it with a diagnosis letter even if they don't get DLA, it depends on the venue.