Please help me plan our UK summer holiday (LONGLEAT/LEGOLAND AREA)

[ash6605]

Having always gone abroad for holidays we decided to have a year off to explore England.We are from the Durham area so have already ventured around the North,Yorkshire etc so would like to spend a week further south.Also the kids(4 and 8) would love to do Longleat and Legoland.We plan to go on the last week of July/first week of August as the ids both have their birthdays that week

I have no idea how far apart the two places are(am completely clueless really!) and would really appreciate any advice on where to stay,other places to visit in the area,how to fill in the whole week etc. The kids would also like to incorprate at least a night of camping as this is also something we have never done!!(not my idea of fun)

TIA x

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OK how about camping/B&B on coast we live in Dorset and can get to Longleat and do it properly in just over an hour, that way you get to do a variety of things, fossils, beach, steam trains and then head on up to Legoland which is a couple of hours

Fairly close to Legoland:Coral Reef swimming pool opposite this is The LookOut Country Park & Science Discovery Centre
Wellington Country Park
Birdworld
Going the other way west of Reading is
Beale Park
Bowood House is further west and Marwell Zoo is to the south
Paulton's Park is in the New Forest, where you also have Beaulieu

Camping for just 1 night is a lot more hassle(imo)than far the week. You have to load up car etc(always the most stressful bit) and then you have it all in the car while you then go to B&Bs etc. Best to do one or the other I would say.
Travel Inns/lodges are fairly cheap if you plan to be out a lot. Would you want a day in London? My top tip for legoland is to get there as early as possible and go straight to the back of the park and do the rides first. Concentrate on models/shows etc later in the day.
Boat trip on the Thames? West-end show? Depends if you want to 'sightsee' or just do 'kid things'.All good suggestions from RustyBear for enjoyable activities.

If you headed for the New Forest you would sort of be between Legoland and Longleat (ish!) and also could see Paultons Park, Portsmouth Dockyard, Beaulieau, Monkey World, Birdworld and could even go over from Portsmouth on the day ferry to the Isle of Wight.

Thanks everyone for all those links and ideas,lots for me to look at there.

Not too sure whether to have a day in London yet,it might be more hassle than enough with parking etc and we did have a day in London last year when we were at a wedding and managed to fit in Greenwich park and museum,the London Eye and Madame Tussauds which were the main things we were interested in.My kids are not the least bit interested in sight seeing,more into 'kids things' Monkey world sounds like a good idea.

So the New Forest area sounds like the best place to base ourselves then am I right?My next question then is any suggestions on where to stay there?My husband thinks a cottage wouldbe a good idea if anyone has a good recomendation?

I live very close to Legoland and would be happy to answer any questions about the local area.

Thanks ScienceTeacher, could you tell me what else there is to do in the area other than Legoland(bear in mind my kids are not fans of sight seeing!)
And do you know how far away Legoland is from Longleat?Still not sure if we should stay somewhere in the middle of the two for the whole week or spend a couple of nights in Longleat area then a couple in the Legoland area,its all going to depend on where else we fancy visiting.

Legoland is quite far from Longleat. Good couple of hours drive each way. Google Maps says 87.2 miles.

But you do talk about camping... so you could camp nearer to Legoland, such as at Wellington Country Park, could stay a couple of nights and spend time in the country park itself.

Another place to visit, especially on a Wet day, is Intech, a science centre, close to Winchester.

As you are wanting Legoland, may be worth seeing what deals they do for Hotels. Depends what your budget is really. Camping will of course be cheaper, but if it's not your idea of fun, then you will be wanting alternative accomodation. If you want to roam around a bit, you could just book nights in TravelLodge, Permier Inn etc.
For example, if your children like steam trains, then the Watercress Line is in the area, and there is a Travellodge at Four Marks, which is under a mile from Four Marks & Medstead Station (Watercress Line) If you can push out the holiday to 9/10 August, then Watercress have Days Out With Thomas - if your children like Thomas the Tank Engine.

Update to the bit about Intech... they have a new Planetarium opening later this month (March 2008). Looks like they will be running at least two shows per day during school holidays.

We did legoland for 2 days last year and stayed in family room in a travelodge nearby. the kids were so exhausted that we didn't need any more than to sleep! As for longleat, we did that for a week last year and stayed here. It was really lovely and would heartily recommend it.

I assume you know this, but you can use Tesco Clubcard points to buy tickets for Longleat (and Legoland too, I believe). You can easily spend at least two days at Longleat. Get a Passport ticket, which allows you to go back to the bits you didn't do for free.

Last year we had a fab holiday - stayed at Bath House (5 mins from Longleat) travelled to Dartmouth and stayed for one week in lovely house then went to Legoland (on one of their special deals three night stay with 2 day pass). Brilliant holiday kids had a ball (aged 3 & 6)

Thanks for all suggestions,these are great.Will be booking asap before everywhere is fully booked!

i just got back from legoland. we stayed in the travelodge in slough and wuold recommend.

legoland nice but we would have struggled to stay for more than one day