Family days out near Leamington Spa in winter

[RoseTurtle]

Looking for suggestions of where we could go for a family get together in January for my 2 year old’s birthday. There will also be a 6 year old and an 11 year old. Needs to be able to fill most of a day, and have at least some indoor space/activity due to possible wet/cold weather that time of year.

Thanks

Hatton Country World is great for small children and has a shopping village and cafes as well

Warwick Castle is the other obvious choice

Thanks, I had a look but there doesn’t seem to be much indoor from what I can see - I’ve not been before though so happy to be corrected on this?

Is Cadbury World too far?

Warwick Castle has the Kingmaker 'exhibition' (I can't think what else to call it - it's a wax-work recreation of the household preparing for war) which is indoors. That's designed to be family friendly - kind of like the JOrvik museum in York, if you've been there. Also the Tea Party thing is in the main bit of the castle, but that's less child-focused. There is a Princess Tower, where they tell stories - that one is aimed at younger kids. The dungeon is also indoors, but that is most definitely not child friendly (and used to be an extra fee - may still be).
The ramparts and towers are partly indoors, but only the climbing bits.
The schoolhouse and water wheel are indoors too. Everything else (cafes and shops aside) is outdoors. It's not a great day out in the rain, but if it's just cold, you can wrap up and have a good day. Make sure not to pay full price though - it's expensive, and there is ALWAYS a deal to be found (if you travel by train, even just from Leamington) you can get a half price ticket I think.

A lot of Hatton CW is also outdoors, but is very suited to a 2 year old. 11yo is likely to still enjoy it.

Stratford is worth considering - the Butterfly Farm would suit all ages, and the big wheel might be there which would be good if the weather is nice. Mad Museum would be great for the 6/11YOs (and the adults), but not so much for the 2yo.

There’s dippy the dinosaur at the Herbert museum in Coventry. Don’t know whether there would be any activities for the little ones in January. There seem to lots of Christmas themed ones at the moment

Really appreciate your detailed response, thank you!

The two older kids went there recently so looking for something different, thank you though

We went to All Things Wild over the Summer and it was a good day out. Hopefully not too young for the 11 year old and a good mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits.

www.allthingswild.co.uk
About 45m from LS

Depending on what side of Leamington you're on Riverside Hub in Northampton would great, it is an indoor play area with soft play with a separate toddler area, go-karts, role play village and other stuff as well as a cafe. The sessions are only 2 hours but you could pay for multiple sessions because you could easily spend the whole day there.

Thanks, I hadn’t come across that one so will look into it

Thanks, that sounds great too!

Excellent suggestions here Mumsnetters, thank you

@RoseTurtle we hadn't either until we drove right past it to get to our holiday house! It doesn't seem to be hugely publicised online, we went in the Summer holidays and it wasn't too busy at all.

We really enjoy the Motor Museum at Gaydon, We're not particularly into cars at all but there are lots of interactive things, usually activities for kids, and a great cafe: www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/ And it's indoors!

Riverside hub, kids love it can spend so long there