NOW CLOSED: Tell Britax your favourite Buggy Friendly Places - you could win £100 of Love2Shop vouchers

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by the folks at Britax to help with their new campaign where they "want to unearth the UK's best buggy (and baby) friendly locations for a new guide to help mums and dads share their favourite places to take the family".

So, please do tell all on this thread about the places that you actually enjoy going to with your baby - places that welcome your LOs and make getting out and about with your pushchair easier?

For example, do you know a coffee shop with a buggy parking section? Or a pub with spacious seating and a climbing frame out back? Or maybe you want to recommend a library that's littered with lifts and has a dedicated toddlers? reading corner (that doesn?t have noise restrictions!)?

Please tell Britax your favourite buggy friendly locations and they'll possibly be included in the guide (MN nicknames will not be used). Everyone who adds a location on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 of Love2Shop vouchers (which can be spent at over 20,000 stores - including Argos, Debenhams, Boots and Toys 'R' Us).

When posting please say

a) The name and description of the venue

b) Its location

c) Why it is so good

For more information on Britax's campaign to create the "Ultimate Guide to Buggy Friendly Britain", visit their Facebook page

Thanks and good luck.

MNHQ

Board walk at National Trust property Wicken Fen, north of Cambridge. Lovely, easy family hike with a great child-friendly tea shop and natural history display to look at afterwards.

O2 arena, lots of accessible free exhibitions, friendly staff in a lot of the concessions, and a great chill out area when kids can rest and nap (along with their exhausted parents). Nissan exhibition super friendly.

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Lots of historic pictures and artefacts, splendid discovery bags and boxes for children to borrow so they can do a trail around the museum, and a wonderful cafe with flat level access that serves thoughtful children's food and snacks as well as a full adult menu. Closed Mondays.

Sainsbury Centre of the Visual Arts, University of East Anglia campus, Norwich. Impressive art collection with special exhibition and eventss, great cafe with children's food, and massive loos, all of which are big enough to get a buggy in!

Carsington Water, Derbyshire. Trail around the reservoir, exhibition outlining the history of water, and a very large cafe.

Stanwick Lakes, Northamptonshire. Adventure playground and walks suitable for different ages of children, cafe and small exhibition area.

a) The name and description of the venue

The Metro Centre

b) Its location

Gateshead

c) Why it is so good

Smooth wide paths for pushing a pram, Lots of clean baby changing facilities, free rides for kids, good transport links and lots of parent and child spaces, staff helpful.

IKEA Gateshead has family toilets with two loos, and baby change all in one room with plenty of room to manouvre buggy etc. Restaurant is family friendly too with plenty of toys to keep toddlers occupied whilst you have a cuppa.

The Deep

Hull

Lots of ramps, all around, and lifts (though there's one point where you have to use one of those mini lifts with a buggy or wheelchair and it's not at all easy to operate and a bit of a squeeze for an adult with a large buggy like DS2's Maclaren Major), plus parking close by. Plenty of exhibits and tanks at a height where toddlers can view on foot or from a buggy.

Ooh - just thought of another couple of places we've visit lots with the kids since they were small.

Botanic Gardens, Durham - lots of wide open spaces to explore, most of it buggy accessible. Picnic areas with benches, nice, roomy cafe and a small children's play area with little hidey holes. Also makes for an inexpensive afternoon out that everyone can enjoy.

Hardwick Park, Sedgefield - again, just a fantastic walk, with lots of level paths and a very new, modern visitor centre with toilets and changing facilities. Also a woodland area and an enormous field, as well as the play area with swings, slides etc so provides plenty of stimulation and exercise, all for free! (lots of ducks, geese and other wildfowl and even a family of swans, too!)

A) Chester Zoo

B) Chester

C) wide pathways which are smooth. Plenty of room at exhibits. Friendly staff. Clean restrooms. Lots for children to see.

Milton Keynes Shopping Centre (CMK) is good if you have buggies - all nice and flat, lots of shops that have good buggy access including John Lewis and M&S, both of which have good changing and feeding facilities for babies. There's also a good baby room in the middle of the Centre, where there are several changing stations and a feeding area with microwave, sofa, tv tuned to CBeebies and a little play area for toddlers while you are feeding the baby.

The loos across from this area (ie Centre ones rather than shop ones) are also handy because they have quite a few with extra space in them for mums with buggies or for mums and little kids.

Lots of coffee shops and restaurants that you can take prams into. All shops with more than one floor have a lift to get to it as well as stairs. Often have fun events in the main areas for kids - including a nice free Santa's grotto each christmas ( although admittedly it has been a bit smaller the last couple of years since they started putting huts into it for a christmas market) and an indoor beach (including a buggy park) for the summer.

Walk out of the shopping centre and over a footbridge and you get (a world away from commerce)to Campbell Park, a lovely big park with wide paths on that are suitable for pushing buggies. There's often events on here during the summer, from play events run by the local play team (I think that is a council thing) to an annual international festival of the arts which had great music, theatre and art things going on all over the park including lots for kids to get involved with) (run in part with The Stables Wavendon, a very well known music venue set up by Cleo Laine and JOhn Dankworth).

Throughout the city are the Redways - cycle paths designed for people to be able to walk and ride safely throughout the city without the need to go on roads. There are lots of parks around, many of which have lovely playgrounds in, some of which have lakes, wildlife, even a Peace Pagoda to entertain and yet still be easily accessible.

Milton Keynes Museum is a surprisingly interesting place, a museum set within a farm house and outbuildings. www.mkmuseum.org.uk/

Lots for kids of all ages to do - there's a telephone exchange hut that you can see how telephone exchanges work and ring different phones of different eras (sounds boring I know but it fascinated everyone that went it, everybody wanted to have a go on the different phones), try parlour games in the parlour, cook your own toast over the range in the kitchen, an old school room to sit in desks and see what it was like to be in school a hundred odd years ago, a row of shops from years ago, a kitchen garden from during the war, separate buildings with big collections of farming stuff and another of all sorts of vintage vehicles from bikes and barges to trams and taxis, buses to vans and tractors from through the ages, most of which you can get on and try out for yourself. There's even an old steam boat (I think!) sitting in the car park!

There are usually lots of volunteers around in the different bits to tell you all about it and to help you if you need it, most of them were natural story tellers who had the children entranced. They also organise lots of different events through the year to focus on different aspects of their collection (eg a transport event) or tie in with educational stuff (eg National Science & Engineering Week) or even the nature stuff around them.

And because there's so much different stuff there, it's a bit of a mishmash really, it sounds on paper a bit of a strange place to go. However when you get there because of the different things there is something for everyone and it's like going to see the best bits of lots of different museums in one place, along with the immersive experience to enhance it further.

All of it was easy to push a buggy around, info and quiz sheets were provided for the older kids and at the end of it there was a nice tea room. Oh and there was a set of stocks to try out on your kids and show them what used to happen to naughty children years ago - and what might happen to them if they get naughty enough for mummy and daddy to get some stocks from the gift shop to take home. Aw shucks they were out of stock this time but I now know where to go to get them if I discover I have naughty little boys

Telford town centre (shopping centre)...Very flat and wide areas between shops, most shops have buggy friendly doors and lifts if two levels. There is even a special baby changing room which has toilets for the little ones, and also a breast-feeding room which is always lovely and clean! Nicest baby changing facilities I've encountered.

Most of the cafes are aimed at families.
Also they do shows during the school holidays and there is Santa's grotto at christmas.
There is also Telford town park nearby which has several different play areas for different ages, and a lovely pond to look at the ducks and geese.
My DDs love going there :)

Langside library in Glasgow. The rear doors open automatically as a buggy or wheelchair approaches. Everythig on one level. Huge children's area, with good selection of books and events, and no noise restrictions. Friendly, helpful staff who like and encourage babies/children. Was in there today and am feeling enthusiastic!

Princes Square in Glasgow.
It's a beautiful up market shopping centre nestled just off of Buchanan Street with Art deco fascias and beautiful wooden panelling inside.
There's some ultra swish shops and tasty eateries. Whether you fancy a light lunch or a hearty meal and it's all very child friendly.
In the centre of the mall is a tiered indoor courtyard, where babies and toddlers crawl around and play together while their parents watch from a cosy chair with a coffee and a bagel.
A great space to get your bearings back and shelter from the cold.

Jubilee Library in Brighton - bright and spacious with an excellent children's room full of toys, gorgeous coffee shop and fun baby boogie session all equipped with lots of space and nice sized lifts

Not sure if it counts but I've always found South West Trains have plenty of places to park a buggy especially when the child's asleep in it and helpful staff when it comes to getting on and off the train. Particularly the one who got me a cup of tea when DS1 was asleep across my lap and I obviously looked thirsty!

I like marks and Spencer, usually Preston or blackpool but they're all good. Also I haven't seen anybody mention nandos yet, they were great with my little girl, made room for the pram etc. Their baby change is upstairs (this is blackpool branch) but they have a lift which is very handy, unlike pizza hut whose toilets are upstairs but no lift. Still pizza hut are very good with baby though, just me and my daughter and given a four seated table with space for pram and highchair.

Loving picking up everyone else's tips!

I recommend the Lyric theatre in Hammersmith - not only do they have performances for kids of all ages including really small ones, they have messy play sessions you can do before/after and the best ever huge cafe with loads of space and a massive outdoor area so you don't feel bad if your DC don't want to sit down quietly (as if!)

Pizza Hut and The Sealife Center

Both in Brighton

1. Pizza Hut - always amazingly friendly, helpful, consdierate and family focused overall anyway. Brighton especially are fantastic, have a specific area for buggy parking, which they take the buggy over to for you etc. Might not be the most healthy food going, but always makes you more likely to return if you're treated well!

2. Sealife Center - all (aside from a small viewing area around the rays) completly flat, very spacious, easy to manouver around with either buggy or wheelchair. Lay out allows for children to be able to see very well from buggy. If you decided not to take buggy in with you, there is a large and very secure feeling buggy park. The staff are also always more than happy to help you out in every possible way when it comes to little ones enjoying themselves.

Odds Farm, near Beaconsfield
Fantastic for older kids, but also interesting for wee ones in buggies. Easily navigable with buggies, there's also a soft play for the tiny ones, a Little Tikes car area, some old tractors and a massive sandpit with diggers to sit on and dig with. There are concrete paths everywhere and loads of picnic tables.

Also

The Lookout, Bracknell
There's a small science museum that small children LOVE, and an outdoor adventure play area segregated from another play area for older children. They have toddler days every month or two, giving the little ones a fair run. They have activities and story telling on the toddler days, but my children's favourite part is the great big long water table with running water and boats. There's plenty of room for buggies and the opportunity for some off-roading to give the wheels a workout (take plastic bags for the wheels in the car boot)

The National Theatre, London. Denys Lasden the architect is a genius. Loads of space to run about -(except at interval), carpets, pleasant cafe, brilliant staff, comfy seats and quiet corners to breastfeed. accessible toilets, free cloakrooom where you can leave your pram, cafe is delicious. You may be lucky enough to see the live musicians

And when they get older scootering around theatre square outside, along the south bank, waving to the tate to tate clipper crowd.

Of course purely for the most cultured, high brow babies!

It can be a labyrinth to work out the stairs, lifts and walkways connecting the south bank but when you do - absolutely magical!

(I worked there for years as a young groover so had inside info, been taking both my ds since they were new borns, and will continue to do for many years)

2nd fave is Cafe Nero for always having easy toilets big enough to push in your buggy and really pleasant staff - they really should sell mini muffins though as those big muffins are too much for a 3 year old but my kids refuse to share!

National Museum of Scotland.

Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

It's newly reopened and now has 2 access points that are buggy friendly and straight off the street (used to have large flight of stairs). Several lifts to all the different levels. Loads of room around all the exhibits so you don't feel like you are in the way. Plenty of room in the cafe. I managed to get myself stuck in a bit with stairs (that no one even needs to go in!) and a member of staff immediately appeared and carried the buggy for me. Plenty of roomy toilets that buggy will fit in.

Fosse Park, Leicester - retail park

Just off junction 21 of the M1.

Decent sized shops, and in the Fosse Food section is a large baby change room with plenty of room to get a buggy in.

The Ridings Shopping Centre

Wakefield City Centre, West Yorkshire

The shopping centre is on 3 levels with lifts. 2 of the levels can be accessed from outside with no steps. On the ground floor is an eating area with ramps (not much choice now though) and the toilet area, which includes a large area for feeding babies and a large toilet which you canget a pushchair in.

Crawley library - they have a big space for buggies and there's usually plenty of room at crowded Rhyme Time sessions; there's also lifts and large toilets/changing rooms and automatic doors. Also if you have a baby/buggy you can use the ground floor computers whereas normally you are supposed to go upstairs.