England family holidays and breaks

See our guide to London with kids.

South-east England with Kids

• Explore Kent, the lovely ‘garden of England’ – easily accessed from London, with quirky seaside towns and great castles. Highlights include Whitstable with its kite-surfing and oyster festival, Ramsgate with its seal-spotting and speedboat trips, Margate with its Dreamland amusement park based on on a traditional  seaside funfair and its Turner Contemporary art gallery. The best Kent castles are Deal, Dover, Hever and Leeds – the latter has a medieval-themed playground, maze and Go Ape treetop course. Also check out the pirate play days and ghost walks at the Historic Dockyard Chatham, and in nearby Strood, play on the scaled-down JCBs at Diggerland. There’s also the the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Miniature Railway from pretty Hythe out to atmospheric Dungeness – the world’s smallest steam railway – and the Kent & East Sussex Railway with its regular family events.

• Hang out in Brighton and Hove, Britain’s gay capital – good with all ages but particularly perfect for teens for its beaches, indie markets and shops, and skate park. Among  must-sees and -dos are the Royal Pavilion, George IV’s Oriental-inspired seaside palace, Volk’s Electric Railway along 1.5km of seafront between the Palace Pier and Brighton Marina, Yellowave Beachsports (one in Brighton and one in Hove) with their beach volleyball, beach soccer, foot volley, beach rugby, ultimate frisbee and bouldering, and North Laine with its quirky one-off boutiques and market stalls. Each May, the Brighton Festival – the UK’s second largest after Edinburgh's – includes a children’s parade and shows, as well as a parallel Festival Fringe. If you’re in town for Christmas, attend the unique Burning the Clocks on 21st December, when paper lanterns are carried through Brighton, followed by a pyrotechnics and fireworks display on the beach, to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

• Head 7.5km east along the coast  to take the plunge at the 1930s Art Deco Saltdean Lido, an open-air heated swimming pool near the beach, with sun-loungers and a kids’ wet-play area and splash park.

• Hire bikes and explore the South Downs – local off-road routes include the Downs Link, South Downs Way, and Brighton to Lewes. The latter, a lovely medieval town, is home to Lewes Castle, where kids can dress up in old costumes, fire a crossbow and build their own arrowslit.

• Discover that Eastbourne is much more than a haven for retirees – today, deckchairs and ice-cream parlours sit cheek-by-jowl with art galleries, hip eateries and a growing community of young thrill-seekers taking to the sea for exciting water sports.

• Roam around Sussex, of which Brighton and Eastbourne are a part, with lovely rolling countryside punctuated by castles, battle sites, palaces, Roman villas and gardens. Vast Arundel Castle is one of the most striking of all English castles, while Fishbourne Roman Palace and Bignor Roman Villa show you how these ancients lived.

• Check out Hampshire, with the buzzing maritime cities Portsmouth and Southampton and also most of the glorious New Forest and  the charming Isle of Wight. Among places to visit are Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard, which includes the Royal Naval Museum and Royal Marines Experiences, and Southampton for Paultons Park with its wildly popular Peppa Pig World. Southampton is also a gateway to the Beaulieu National Motor Museum.

• Dive into the New Forest National Park, 600km2 of heath and woodland famous for the New Forest ponies said to be descended from horses brought over on the Spanish Armada, which roam free, including in villages. It’s a great place for cycling, with 160km of way-marked routes. From Brockenhurst, ride to the giant redwoods of the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive, spotting buzzards and strange carnivorous sundew plants in boggy areas. You may even catch sight of one of the Forest’s five species of deer – at the Bolderwood Fallow Deer Viewing Platform, wild deer are fed most afternoons from April to September.

• Hop across the Solent to the Isle of Wight, with music festivals, stylish hotels and hip foodie haunts bringing its image up to date while its Victorian promenades, simple pleasures such as crabbing, and amusement parks, museums and farms  remain intact. Among the best things to do on the Isle of Wight are spend time on award-winning Blue Flag beaches, cycle the Red Squirrel Trail along a former railway line,  peek at Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s favourite holiday home, Carisbrooke Castle, Yarmouth Castle, the Roman Villa at Newport, The Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum, the Dinosaur Expeditions, Conservation and Palaeoart Centre, the Dinosaur Isle interactive museum, Fort Victoria Country Park with its planetarium, the Isle of Wight donkey sanctuary, clifftop Blackgang Chine with its woodland walks with fairytale-themed areas, Robin Hill Countryside Adventure Park with adventure rides, and The Needles Park including rides,  sand models, glass-blowing, a sweet factory and a cliffside cable-car to the beach.

• Discover Berkshire, especially LEGOLAND Windsor, one of the leading family theme parks in the UK, best for ages 12 and under, and Windsor Castle.

• Spend time in Surrey with its indoor and outdoor attractions, from National Trust properties to castles and observatories, plus Mercedes Benz World, with interactive play zones and kids' driving, and the adrenaline seekers' paradise, Thorpe Park theme park.

• Tour Oxfordshire. In Oxford itself, have a peek at Christ Church, a walk around the wonderful Botanic Garden and a punt up the river, then take a ghost walk and visit The Story Museum. And don't miss nearby Blenheim Palace, World Heritage Site and birthplace of Winston Churchill.

• Check out Buckinghamshire's award-winning attractions and enjoy the specular countryside of its Chiltern Hills and Aylesbury Vale. See our feature In the Footsteps of Roald Dahl (also embracing some attractions in neighbouring Hertfordshire).

South-west England with Kids


• Discover Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

• Head to often-overlooked Somerset, which has lovely beaches (at Weston-super-Mare, Burnham-on-Sea, Minehead and Clevedon), gorgeous inland countryside, plus the UNESCO-listed city of Bath (with its world-famous Roman Baths, Fashion Museum and Jane Austen Centre), the historic town of Glastonbury, the smallest city in England, Wells, the caves of Wookey Hole, the Cheddar Gorge ravine with its riverside walks, and most of Exmoor with its semi-feral ponies.

• Check out Bristol, where attractions include Brunel’s SS Great, a Victorian luxury liner, the We The Curious science centre and planetarium, and The Wave, an inland surfing venue.

• Explore Wiltshire, much of it an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, home to the world-famous prehistoric stone monument Stonehenge, the Avebury Neolithic henge monument and Old Sarum with its ancient earthworks and medieval castle ruins, as well as stately homes and glorious gardens.

• Enjoy the gorgeous Cotswolds with kids.

West Midlands with Kids

• Spend time getting to know Birmingham with its incredible industrial heritage and fantastic modern shopping. Things to do in Birmingham with kids include visiting the National Trust Back to Back Housing, a  restored 19th-century courtyard of working people's houses, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Glasshouses, the Thinktank science museum, Cadbury World, mixing chocolate production with social history, and the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter.

• Visit Dudley with its Black Country Living Museum, an urban heritage park based around a village dating back to industrial Britain, and the counties of Staffordshire (with its theme parks Drayton Manor Park and Alton Towers) and Warwickshire, home to Warwick Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birth and burial place, and home to the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company.

East of England with Kids

• Tour eastern England (part of which is still sometimes known as East Anglia), especially Norfolk and Suffolk with their wonderful beaches, superb forests and other unspoilt landscapes.

• Spend time getting to know Lincolnshire with its traditional seaside resorts with their pleasure beaches, fairgrounds and theme parks, timeless Wolds (an Area of Outstanding National Beauty, with a couple of aviation memorial/heritage centres), atmospheric Fens with their RSPB reserves and windmills, and historic city of Lincoln with its magnificent cathedral and castle.

East Midlands with Kids


• Check out Derbyshire, home to most of the Peak District National Park with its fabulous cycling, hiking and horse-riding on routes including the Tissington Trail and the Monsal Trail and at famous sites such as Kinder Scout, Mam Tor and Lud's Church. For other adrenaline rushes, head to a treetop adventure course and explore subterranean caverns. Chatsworth House, Hardwick Hall and Haddon Hall are great places to spend a day, with cafés, playgrounds, landscaped gardens and fabulous rooms to explore, and there’s also the National Tramway Museum and the Heights of Abraham, a unique park on top of a  limestone gorge ('Little Switzerland') at Matlock Bath, accessed by cable-car and including two show caverns and play and picnic areas. Buxton, famous for its water and Georgian architecture, has the Pavilion Gardens – 23 acres of ornamental grounds with a playground, lake, café and miniature railway. Its Poole’s Cavern is Derbyshire's most spectacular natural showcave with unique crystal formations, plus woodland trails with panoramic views and a Go Ape treetop adventure course. Bakewell, famous for its pudding (not tart!), is much-loved for its farmers’ markets and festivals. Award-winning Carsington Water is a haven for watersports enthusiasts, with canoeing, windsurfing and sailing, and Derbyshire also has a section of the National Forest.

• Experience Rutland, England’s smallest county (for now), focused on Rutland Water with its watersports (sailing, windsurfing, powerboating, canoeing, kayaking and raft-building), biking and birdwatching.

North-west England with kids


• Discover the family-friendly city of Manchester, where attractions include the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester Art Gallery, People’s History Museum, National Football Museum, tours of Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium, the Whitworth Art Gallery, the Manchester Museum, The Lowry art and entertainment centre and the Imperial War Museum North. Teens love the grungey Northern Quarter, especially the iconic indie emporium Afflecks. Outside the centre, the Trafford Centre mall has lots of family attractions including laser quest, adventure golf, a LEGOLAND discovery centre and seasonal events, and nearby is the Chill Factore indoor real snow centre. Heaton Park has a high-ropes adventure course, Zipworld Manchester.

• Delve into Liverpool, another fascinating city. Great things to do here include the Big Mersey Adventure ferry ride to discover the city’s history-laden waterfront. Stop off at Seacombe Ferry Terminal for the Eureka! Children's museum, and at Woodside Terminal to see a real German submarine (it will form the centrepiece of a new museum under construction at the time of writing). Other things to do with kids in Liverpool are head to The Beatles Story (two sites) to learn about the iconic pop group, the Museum of Liverpool, the World Museum Liverpool, where galleries include World Cultures, the Bug House and the Clore Natural History Centre, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the International Slavery Museum, and the northern outpost of the world-renowned Tate Gallery of modern and contemporary art, the Tate Liverpool.

• Revel in Cumbria with its gorgeous Lake District.

North-east England with Kids

• Enjoy the wonders of Yorkshire with kids.

• Have fun in Northumberland with its historic attractions dating back to Roman times - including the vast engineering feat of Hadrian's Wall with its museums and forts (the main one being Vindolanda) – against a backdrop of undulating hills, wild moorland and miles of golden sand, plus lots of castles and other child-friendly attractions. Top sights are Alnwick Castle, where the first two Harry Potter films were shot, and Alnwick Garden, with one of the world’s largest treehouses, a poison garden and fountains to splash around in. The Northumberland National Park boasts the cleanest air and darkest skies in England, along with fantastic walking, fishing, pony trekking and other outdoor pursuits, while Kielder Water, the largest artificial lake in northern Europe, has kayaking, wind-surfing and sailing, and its forest is home to more than 75% of England’s surviving red squirrel population, plus otters, roe deer and feral goats. Bamburgh is another highlight for one of the best beaches in the UK and its great Norman castle, You can also take a boat-trip to the Farne islands to see sea birds and England’s largest grey seal colony, and drive along the tidal causeway to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) with its medieval ruins, castle and coastal nature trails.