Pickering Holiday

[mummy1202]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any recommendations of things to do with a 3yo and a 6yo near Pickering (or a short drive away) in Yorkshire please?

Family friendly places to eat also welcome!

Thank you! ☀️

A ride on the North Yorkshire Moors railway and the castle are the obvious things.

Castle Howard (20 mins) is pricey but has an excellent adventure playground which would be particularly good for your older child.

Scarborough (35 mins) has a Sealife Centre, a castle, great beaches - North Bay is the best for little ones, boat rides, arcades etc so that is a good day out. Alpamere water park is reopening at the end of July, it's pricey but has a wave pool, water play area, outdoor heated pools etc.
The naval battle at Peasholme Park is good, it's a reinactment if a WWII NB aval battle with pyrotechnics and model boats, normally on certain days during the summer. There's a little steam train that runs from the park across the road to the Sealife Centre to save little legs too.

Robin Hood's Bay (45 mins) is amazing. Beautiful village with a great beach. Park at Boogle Hole, stop off at the Youth Hostel for cake and walk the mile to Robin Hood's Bay. Check the tide times as this will be a lot easier if you walk along the beach rather than up the hill and along the cliffs. watch for the tide as it comes in quicker than you'd think.

Whitby (40 mins over the moors) has a great beach again, boat rides, and there is a nice playground outside the small museum at Pannet Park.

Obviously go into York one day (around 40 mins if the traffic is good, park in Foss Bank car park). Walk along the walks, Jorvik possibly, Roberto's for ice cream, hire a boat, lots of nice family friendly restaurants.

Dalby forest is very near Pickering.(15 mins) You have to pay to get in but there are lots of walks, a child's trail, an excellent playground, a stream to paddle in and a Go Ape ( maybe more for your elder one!) Stop off in Thornton Dale afterwards for an ice cream at Balderstones.

Pickering has a small castle and a stream train as well as lots of nice cafes and ice cream shops.

Helmsley (15 mins away) has a ruined castle that's good for a run around, ice creams etc Also Riveaulx Abbey is a couple of miles away and although ruined is beautiful and a good place to let off steam.

North Yorkshire Water Park at Wykeham (30 mins) has an inflatable water park with a toddler section. They have electric boats too.

There's a soft play at Ruswarp near Whitby if you get rain. It's called Mini Monsters and is great. You can also hire row boats across the road

Hope this is helpful! There's lots to do, just mist if it involves a bit of a drive. Hope you have a great time!

We stayed in Pickering at Easter .The North York Moors railway is fab. My kids are older but we really enjoyed Eden Camp too..

There's Playdale Farm just outside Cayton village about 30ish minutes drive away. There's Filey as a small quieter seaside town to visit. It's not pretty like RHB but has a massive beach, small arcades and on the cliff top they have a paddling pool and mini fun fair rides.

Thank you so much for the great suggestions! So helpful!
@bridgetjonesmassivepants do you happen to know if there any particularly good play parks that we should visit? Does Pickering have one? Thanks x

There's a park up Whitby Road, that's the best in Pickering itself. You walk up Whitby Road and it's attached to the last new build estate on the left hand side, probably about ten minutes walk from the centre. It's quite large, has a zip wire etc and has lots of picnic benches. There's a field for football too behind it.

Better just clarify, when I say park I mean playground, it's not a park!

Another vote here for Alpamare in Scarborough. It was the highlight of DS's holiday last year. Scarborough in general a great day out for kids. Fantastic beach, great fish and chips....

There's a fantastic playground at Castle Howard.

https://www.castlehoward.co.uk/visit-us/visitor-information/skelf-island

There's a lovely playpark next to the cricket club in Ebberston too. It's got one of those helterskelters that used to be everywhere in the 80's - my kids love it! There's tennis courts and plently of space for ball games too (and toilets!!)

The Cedar Barn Farm shop has a nice little park and a little train you can ride on. Pickering Castle is fun to explore too.

If the weather isn't great there's an museum near Scarborough (near to Cayton Bay) that's full of old fairground rides which is lots of fun.
https://www.scarboroughfaircollection.com/

My kids loved Eden Camp!

https://edencamp.co.uk/

If it’s beach weather, Hunmanby Gap near Filey is a good shout. Car park at top of cliffs, wide sandy beach, rocks for pottering on, little cafe near the car park.

Thank you so much to everyone for your fab suggestions! Now the trouble will be trying to squeeze it all into the days we have! 😂

Hoping to spend a day just pottering around Pickering itself. Is there a place that’s best to park at all/grab some lunch, whilst we get our bearings?

Thanks guys! xx

North Yorkshire water park is great. Also castle Howard. If you are there during peak summer, York maze is fab - great for all ages.

@Anarkandanaardvark @Beesmakehoney @CatStoleMyChocolate @ErrolTheDragon @FriendofDorothy @SaffyWall @TeamPolin @Verite1 @bridgetjonesmassivepants

Me again! Can I ask, is Web Adventure Park a good shout? We considered Flamingo Land, but we are visiting Chester Zoo next month and also my wee ones are not keen on rollercoasters etc? So wasn’t sure if it was worth the money? Happy to pay if it’s a good day out, but wondered about Web Adventure or Piglets as an alternative?

Also - is Whitby/RHB worth a visit if we are tight on time? Feel like it is a ‘must do’ in the area??

Thanks! It is so so handy to get the real advice of people in the know when you are visiting a new place! I really appreciate it. Xx

You can get the North Yorks Moors Railway from Pickering to Whitby
Robin Hoods Bay and Whitby are very different experiences.

Web Adventure is definitely a good shout, my dd's are 7 and 3 now and still love it, it's better value for money than Flamingo Land, if it's the rides for younger children you are looking for.

Piglets is also great, we often go for the Beach area when we don't have time to drive to the coast, if you have nice weather you can't beat Hummanby Gap and Filey.

There are 3 big carparks in Pickering, The Ropery and Vivis Lane carpark and Eastgate. The Ropery is probably most central, you could walk past the railway, round past Pickering Castle and come out at the top of the Market Place where my favourite place for lunch is NOSH, Feast is also a good shout.

We took the NY Moors Railway to Whitby. It was a lovely journey.
Whiby is lovely to wander around but as we had elderly relatives with us we also took the tourist bus up to the Abbey. We didn't get out but it meant we could see everything.

National Railway Museum in York is great - plenty to keep everyone occupied on a rainy day.

I really don't think that the zoo at Flamingo Land can hold a candle to Chester Zoo - I'd say don't waste your money on that one!

Piglets is great! My kids are a bit old for it now, but we've had lots of fun there over the years. Also, Playdales Farm (near Cayton Bay) has lots to keep little ones occupied.

There's also an Alpaca retreat which is very close to Pickering, in Butterwick - I've not been but one of my friends raved about it!