Uk city break with tweens

[MaverickGooseGoose]

I want to take Dts away for a couple of nights in May, need to be able to get there on the train as DH is away with the car.

Any recommendations on where to go with enough to keep them occupied?

We live in London, have done Bath, Edinburgh and pretty much all of the south coast before as have relatives there. We have a trip to Birmingham planned for an event in October so not there.

I was thinking York but I didn't have kids last time I was there and it was a long time ago so can't remember much about it!

Bristol - the harbourside is nice, there's MShed and SS Great Britain, and Clifton suspension bridge (plus loads of nice cafes etc in Clifton). The Downs are great too. Easy to get to on the train.

Or Oxford or Cambridge.

You're lucky to be starting in London, as there are direct trains to all the major cities! No need to be worrying about loads of changes and connections.

Take them to Manchester and then for a tour round BBC Media City on Salford! My tweens loved it.

Liverpool

Successful trips with tweens have been

Manchester, great museums for kids the industrial museum has a great sewage section, they loved that. Great food markets, good cinemas….

liverpool, again great museums and food. Ferry cross the Mersey, gormley beach figures, Liverpool tunnels, both cathedrals.

belfast, yes you’d have to fly but that’s cheap and fun….bus tour is fab, loads to look at, titanic museum.

Liverpool or York. Both are great cities with loads to do for kids of that age and really easy to get around.

York - loads to see and do, and everything walkable from the train station.

York is great - the railway museum, Jorvik, walk the city walls, HOHO bus tour, york minster, boat trip on the river, York chocolate story, The Shambles.....

Thanks they all sound good. I've just googled and the tours aren't running at Salford anymore.

Belfast - love it but again family and we go every year.

Think York may be the front runner.

Never been to Wales, any thoughts on Cardiff?

York is great for kids (stay away from The Shambles if you have a couple of Harry Potter fans). We used to tag along when DH was up there for a few days for work. The Castle Museum is great for a rainy day.

I agree that Bristol would be good too.

How about Cardiff? I think it is fairly easy to get out to St Fagans open air museum without a car. Then there is the castle, the markets, Techniquest and the Bay area.

Are the tweens sporty? DD and I did a minibreak in Milton Keynes so that she could have a "learn to snowboard" day at the indoor ski place. I left her to it and caught a bus to the Museum for a few hours. There is also an iFly place and Bletchley Park is a short train ride away. It struck me that hotel accommodation was reasonably priced (and the train fares seemed reasonable).

York is perfect with tweens on the train. Bristol also good.
Telford for Ironbridge would be workable by public transport if you like a bit of Industrial Revolution, my dc loved it at that age.

Ah. Just read your last post: Great minds!

I was just catching up with comments upthread. Certainly before Christmas you could do studio tours at the BBC in Cardiff (thank you for reminding me that we were going to do one).

Double check that there aren't rail engineering works planned if you are visiting at the weekend. They have been doing a fair amount near Bristol Parkway recently.

Liverpool
www.donthibernate.co.uk/liverpool/

York is good but I feel Liverpool has a little bit more to offer for kids

I live in Cardiff and plenty to do with tweens (depending on what they like) - the bay is nice that time of year with boat trips (including one that goes between bay and city centre) , techniquest. In city centre, there's plenty of shopping and eating, castle, dinosaurs in the museum. Can get to barry island on the train if you want a beach day.
St Fagans is a good day out, but you'd need to investigate buses or taxis.

I also like Bristol - had good day out there last year in harbour area doing SS great Britain and the We the Curious science museum. Shame the zoo has closed now, or could have done that too.

If they are interested in history at all, Portsmouth could be good - we used Tesco clubcard vouchers for passes for all the historic dockyard attractions,including Mary Rose museum, HMS victory and HMS warrior, and across the water the submarine museum, all if which were engaging for both my 7 and 12 year old. You've also got an aquarium, pier, shopping centre etc

We had a great time in Cardiff - Roald Dahl trail, Techniquest, Millennium Centre, the museum, nice places to eat out, scooters along the barrage, ferry up the river, there's a MASSIVE skate park and we watched a competition that happened to be on. Trains were good both for getting there and around.

Depending on interests, Stratford upon Avon was a great recent visit for our family. There's lots of interest and I like visiting places that are small enough to get round easily on foot.

We loved York with DD, small enough to walk a lot, lots of things to do and see.

You could do Edinburgh by taking the Night Train.

Don’t take the sleeper train with kids, it’s the most expensive way to not get a nights sleep!! And they’ve already been to Edinburgh

I’m also looking for a similar break OP.

Id agree both York and Liverpool have been good trips with my kids the same age.

Im umming and ahhing between Cardiff and Bristol atm.

Another vote for York. Tweens might enjoy a ghost tour of the city as well as all the other great ideas mentioned so far.