Suggestions for holiday location please

[TeenDivided]

We want to go away for a relaxing week in the Easter holidays.

To an area where we can do days out:
Like
Animals, Seaside, Woods, Rivers, Cafes, Small museums, Pottering around
Dislike
Cities, crowds, big museums, long hikes, sitting on beaches

So an ideal place would have maybe 2 animal related places to visit, a forest to walk in, a beach or lakeside area to visit, some small museums taking 1-2 hrs, maybe an English Heritage or National Trust place with gardens.

Not Hants / New Forest. Preferably not more north than York, but could be convinced otherwise.

I need some starter suggestions as my brain is mush these days.

Lake District.

Kangaroo I agree that could be good, it's a big trek up from us though, hoping for something further south.

It doesn't need to be somewhere 'touristy', just somewhere with some things locally to go out and do.

Peak District

Pembrokeshire

Sorry - or the Cotswolds.

North Norfolk

New Forest

Pembrokeshire - the whole county is beautiful.

Norfolk Broads. Plenty of rivers and the coast is nearby (Great Yarmouth). Great Yarmouth has an aquarium, and there’s African Alive and Thrigby Hall for animals. Nearby there’s Wroxham Miniature World and the East Anglia Transport Museum, plus Fairhaven woodland and water garden.

Sorry just seen not New Forest! How about Kent/Sussex borders - Ashdown Forest, Bedgebury, Llama Park, Surrey Wildlife Centre, Port Lympne zoo, Chartwell, several EH castles, Canterbury,
Tunbridge Wells ...

Norfolk or Cotswolds looks good.

We've done Norfolk before but can visit family en route which would be a bonus.
We had a holiday near Tenby relatively recently, so maybe not Pembrokshire.
Peak District maybe a bit far.

Def not New Forest as that's our local area!

Thank you all. It's given me a focus.

I'll also check out Kent.

If you’re not coming to Northumberland you’re doing it all wrong. Has literally everything on your list and more:

Some of the best and quietest beaches in the UK
castles galore including Alnwick
Wallington, Cragside NT
Farms and a zoo, and further down the coast an aquarium
loads of great places to eat

it’s A bit chilly up here but you might get lucky in Easter

Herefordshire/Shropshire/Marches area. We’ve just had a lovely week there. There are a few NT places with nice gardens - Berrington Hall, Croft castle, Hergest gardens. There’s a small animal farm park near Kington. Queenswood Arboretum. Lots of places for pottering. Hay on wye and Ludlow too.

Isle of Wight. Several animal places, lots of historical places and museums. Parkhurst Forest. Loads of cafes and restaurants.

Dorset: Weymouth, Swanage, Charmouth or Lyme Regis - the Jurassic Coast for finding fossils. Chesil beach

Corfe Castle - NT, Kimmeridge, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. Steam trains at Corfe/Swanage.

Portland - Portland Bill lighthouse (can go up it). Alpaca walking. Small museum. Quarries to go scrambling in.

Athelhampton House (Tudor) and gardens (lovely cafe/tea room!) Sherborne Castle, Kingston Lacey (NT). Nothe Fort in Weymouth, Maiden Castle Iron Age hill fort (EH) Dorchester

Thomas Hardy Cottage (NT) with many woodland Forest walks (south east of Dorchester). Wareham Forest, Blackdown Forest - near village of Portesham with the NT Thomas Hardy Monument (“Kiss Me Hardy!”) with far reaching views.

Abbotsbury (near Weymouth) pretty village with tea rooms, the semi-tropical gardens, large swan sanctuary - also near Portesham for forest/Hardy monument

Monkey World at Wareham

Dorchester (the county town) has a number of museums eg Dorset county Museum, Shire Hall museum, Tutenkhamun museum, dinosaur museum, Roman Town House

Agree Dorset is good, and it is close by, but we 'did' it few years back, and DD wants somewhere 'new'. She also went there on a geography field trip.

Northumberland is too far.

IoW should be great in theory, very local. Maybe I should look there again. I think we'd do a weekend there rather than a whole week. (Did go there to fly planes when mainland had foot and mouth.)

(Really I want to go back to Jersey, but DD wants somewhere new.)

Thank you all.

Another vote for Pembrokeshire although that might be too far for you. Several options for boat trips where you can see puffins and other seabirds, seals and porpoises. Folly Farm for zoo and farm animals plus vintage fairground, some lovely walks. Bosherton Lily ponds on an NT estate is magical. Lots of Cadw castles and bishops palaces. My DH is from there and it’s our kids favourite place in the world.

My suggestions would have been Aviemore or the North Yorkshire Moors around Pickering sort of area but probably too far north for you :(

Pre-DC we used to do weekends in Pickering, ostensibly to fly model planes, but quite often to sit on a hill in the rain.
However it's too far for this trip as the driving will too much for my DD who has limited stamina. The idea of the holiday is to refresh not exhaust.

South Hams in Devon? Lovely walks, Dartmouth, Salcombe, sailing, Agatha Christie's house, Burgh Island and Bigbury?

Brecon beacons in Wales?

Cheshire!
Chester zoo
Blue planet aquarium
Monkey world at Trentham (Staffs)
Bewilderwood
Lots of museums in Chester
NT properties
Delamere Forest.

Thank you all. I think we're settled on the Cotswolds. An area we haven't explored as a family, and not too far away, with enough variety for a week.

(Agree Chester Zoo is fab though.)

If you're going to the Costwolds and like Chester zoo then the Cotswolds wildlife park is lovely. The rhinos and zebras have a really large area with just a ditch around them and you can sit on the lawns and have a picnic while you watch them.