A303 with two under two - best rest stops?

[MrsRigmarole]

My family (me, DH and our two year old and three month old) will soon be taking several trips from London to Exeter along the A303. Last time we did this journey we stopped at one of the many roadside Starbucks along there and it was grim - expensive, no outdoor space for the toddler to let off steam, and the food options were rubbish. If you're familiar with this route or live along it, what are your recommendations for good places to stop and take a break? We don't mind coming off the road a bit to go into a town, tourist attraction or pub / farm shop, as long as it has somewhere the toddler can roam about a bit and ideally somewhere we can eat.

We usually stop at Stonehenge. Wander around the shop, use the cafe and toilets. Time permitting, go out to the stones. But we do have English Heritage membership so that may make a difference!

Otherwise any/all of the Starbucks which have all blurred into one!

Cartgate Lodge services, near Yeovil. There's toilets and a cafe and some green space.

Oh, great idea, I hadn't thought of that! Do you know if you can visit just the shop and cafe without paying the entrance fee, if we're just looking for a quick break?

Sorry, for Stonehenge that is!

This place is quite pricey but really amazing food and beautiful place for toddlers to roam about:
www.pythousekitchengarden.co.uk

Hawk Conservancy or Stourhead are our usual choices (though not done the former for a while).

NT an and EH memberships are your best bet , lots of places to stop .

That’s a good idea! We usually stop at Solstice but then again we don’t have small children to entertain so maybe that’s not enough for you. Lots of food options though. Where did you stop before?

Thanks everyone, these are great recommendations! We're National Trust members but not English Heritage - we've stopped at Montacute in the past which was wonderful, but there seems to be a bit of a dearth of NT places nearer to London (unless anyone can tell me different!). The Starbucks we stopped at before was just past Stonehenge (westbound), though I can't remember exactly where - as a previous poster has mentioned they all blur into one...

@MrsRigmarole i don’t know which bit of London you are in but Kent has some fabulous NT places as does Surrey including Claremont gardens , Winkworth arboretum and my particular favourite Polesden Lacy .

We usually stop at Lytes Cary (NT) rather than Montacute - similar geographical area, but less of a detour off the A303. It's less spectacular than Montacute but also smaller and quieter for a short stop to break the journey, and there's a little woodland trail for small ones.
If you want somewhere nearer London to stop, there's the Hawk Conservancy Trust or Finkley Down Farm, both near Andover, and Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm a few miles further west, just off the A303 before Amesbury. Or Basing House ruins are just off M3 jcn 6 and are good for a loos and ice cream pitstop and a potter around with small people.

Stonehenge has nice toilets.
Fleet Air Arm museum has closed it's pop in cafe and toilets since covid sadly. But if you pay you can visit and use the museum toilets. The concorde is amazing.
Teals farm shop isn't cheap but there is an outdoor area to run around too.

If you are a NT annual pass member you can visit Stonehenge I think. Not many people are aware of it!
Link is here

ps The A303 can be horrific traffic particularly summer weekends. Might be better to go M4&M5.

If you want to come off around Stonehenge there is a lovely soft play/cafe in Amesbury about 5 mins off the A303 called Solstice play

Stourhead NT is nice and there is a farm shop and cafe in the carpark if you don't have membership/time to go in.

Stonehenge is both NT and EH.

We always look at NT places, nothing special necessary at that age, maybe just some gardens to run of steam, toilets and tea room.

I agree. I travel to Devon often and avoid the A303 at all costs. The M5 is much quicker and nicer.

Stourhead is National Trust

Very close to the 303 and great for a pitstop

teals.co.uk
This place is lovely. Not cheap. But lovely runaround spot, and great food and clean toilets.

Having done this route regularly. The best time to go is at night time. Then there is very little traffic and the children sleep. It can take 8 hrs in the day but 4 hrs if you leave at 6-7pm.

We don't do it any other way now.

I'm with the avoid the A303 brigade! You could find you have a 'rest stop' of several hours in your car! From London I'd also choose the M4/M5 route.

Over the years we've shuffled between cornwall and SW London and always take the A303. I think it depends where inkndon you're leaving from.

Another vote for Cartgate, been stopping there since I was a baby!

Thanks for the recommendations everyone, they're really helpful. We did it last week and stopped at Stonehenge - the loos lived up to the hype and the toddler enjoyed running in and out of the little huts outside the visitor centre, so all in all we were pleased we'd stopped there.

In the interests of weighing in on the great A303 vs M5 / M4 debate...we came back via the motorway. As a PP mentioned, the A303 is good for us in terms of where we leave London and personally I hate motorway driving, so it really appeals. But of course it's awful if there's any kind of accident or problem so I can see why people get fed up with it. Incidentally, on the way home we had to stop at Bridgend services on the M5 and it was truly dire. Definitely one to avoid if you travel that route regularly!