Must Do day trips to tag onto a holiday near Longleat

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

We are many driving hours north of Longleat, but I really want to take the dcs (10 and 8). Would be daft to go all that way and not add in other stuff, so I'm looking for anything within about a 1 hour drive of Longleat that your kids of a similar age have absoloutley loved.

Also, is Longleat a 1 day or is 2 worth doing?

We will have a car, it'll be late English summer holidays when we go, and we will probably need to find self catering accomodation somewhere in that area.

Any lovely villages or small towns worth a good mooch around near there too?

Oh that's a shame!!!

I went as a kid and remeber the big house we wandered around, the maze, driving through the safari and the gorilla living on the island in the lake.

I remember it as being pretty much the same when I went there as a child and taking my own children. They love it - especially the huge adventure playground, feeding sealions off the side of the boat, having the parrots landing in them, and the maze. We've been several times.

What do your kids like?

Right next to Longleat
https://www.hamburgerhill.co.uk/pulse-ranger/index.html

We've got annual passes and have done for about 6 years. It's still much the same and hasn't really gone downhill, just not much new/upgraded stuff - definitely still worth a visit as you can easily fill a whole day there (especially on peak times when the safari drive through is likely to be very slow, be prepared and take lots of snacks!). The sloth house is absolutely amazing (keep going back in if they're both asleep first time as when they're awake and climbing the ropes above your head it's brilliant), as are the koalas as you're unlikely to see them anywhere else. And the wombat, she's my favourite but also often asleep in the morning.

The Newt isnt far and a lovely place to visit but expensive as a one off as you have to buy a membership. My boys loved the Beezantium there.

Bath has lots to do and is about 40 mins drive.

There's a good farmshop with free play area and animals to see between Longleat and Bath on the A36 called White Row.

Stourhead is nice for a walk and explore but there aren't any play areas for children.

Being outdoors. Playing in water. Animals of every sort from bugs and spiders to lions and elephants. Theme parks. Harry Potter. Music. Ancient Egyptians. Sports.

We went to Cheddar Gorge some years ago - it was lovely but very commercialised we thought.
Have a lovely holiday! ☀️☀️☀️

Love Chatterbox's suggestions plus you could swing past Vallis Vale and let them roll about in the river.

We live nearby. As you kids like Harry Potter I would recommend Lacock Abbey the first film was filmed there. Its national trust and the village is quaint and pretty to walk round really good kids play area just outside the Abbey, its about 40 mins drive max. Stourhead is also lovely x

Haynes Motor Museum is fun for a couple of hours.

Nunney castle is very small, but it’s a perfect little castle with turrets and a moat. Palette and pasture is nearby for an ice cream, and they have sometimes seasonal events on.

You could get two days out of Longleat.

We go monthly! The big park can be an afternoon in it's self. If it's hot the splash pad might be working.

I would recommend doing the safari bus from inside Longleat. You book it near the train. It takes longer then driving and they go through the monkeys.

The maze is fun and theres the train and boat. If you're going in the holidays they'll probably have an activity on in the long barn.

The house is also nice but you need to book a tour now. Lord Baths art is interesting!

We used to do 2 days at Longleat when they did cheaper 2 day pass. Now we do 1 day and then to Monkey World for a day too!

There's a lot to see at Longleat but you can do it in a day if you get there as soon as they open and stay until the close. If you can, go straight to the 'other bits' and do the drive-through safari later in the day (allow a couple of hours for the safari). Everyone else will be doing it the other way round so this avoids having to queue for the boat etc.

Thanks everyone. Settled on being as close to Wells as possible then driving out from there for trips. Will go through all your recommendations and plan out some stuff