Family days out

10 of the UK’s best Easter egg hunts for family days out

Last updated 22nd March 2024

Chocolate sleuths get ready, because egg hunts are back for Easter 2024. It’s a great reason to plan a family day out – so here’s 10 of the yummiest to be found across the UK this year.

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Tyntesfield, Easter 2024

Easter 2024 adventures at Dyrham Park and Tyntesfield National Trust

National Trust Easter egg hunts are all about roaming spacious grounds in lovely surroundings, which is the kind of egg hunt adults can appreciate too.

The trail price at Tyntesfield this Easter includes bunny ears (essential kit), a trail sheet and an edible prize.

Then at Dyrham Park the Easter trail takes place around the garden and includes 10 activity stations for games, challenges and face-painting. Kind of like a one-stop-shop of Easter fun.

Good to know, the chocolate egg prizes are free from nuts, tree nuts, milk, gluten and eggs, so kids with common allergies won’t miss out!

Where: Dyrham Park, Bath; Tyntesfield National Trust, Bristol

When: 23 March to 14 April 2024 

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Easter 2024 on the Watercress Line

Easter 2024 has a prehistoric twist on the Watercress Line

Trains and eggs and dinosaurs – oh my! Throughout the Easter 2024 holidays, The Watercress Line is running two themed egg hunts: an Easter Egg Hunt from 2 to 7 April and a Dino Egg Hunt from 8 to 14 April. Clues are hidden along the railway, so you’ll be able to hop on and off heritage train rides throughout the day.

During Dino Week, kids can also paint their own egg to take home. And for both weeks there are games, an Easter selfie spot, as well as a locomotive playground for blowing off steam.

Where: The Watercress Line, Hampshire

When: 2 to 14 April 2024 

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Exbury Gardens, Southampton

Southampton gets historic with an old town Easter trail

Southampton’s historic old town is the site of their Easter 2024 egg trail, meaning this egg hunt is educational as well as delicious, and a great way to get to know the Heritage Quarter of Southampton. From Jane Austen to Shakespeare, Southampton has had a stream of illustrious visitors and residents, and the old town gives tons of atmosphere with its traditional timber-framed buildings and cobbled streets.

The eggs are hidden in various windows around the town in the form of colourful posters, with bunnies hidden in the designs. Once all the bunnies are found, children can bring their map to the final trail stop and be rewarded with a small prize – no prizes for guessing that it’s chocolate-related!

Where: Southampton Old Town

When: 28 March to 14 April 2024

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Hunt for gold bunnies at Hampton Court Palace 

Go for gold on a Hampton Court Palace bunny hunt

Majestic Hampton Court Palace, in keeping with its royal brand, has a gold bunny hunt for Easter 2024.

Roam the gardens, on the lookout for elusive Lindt gold bunny statues which may be peeking out from colourful daffodils or early Tulip Festival bulbs. Just keep your eyes peeled for a flash of glitter.

Help your kids follow the trail and match the names of influential characters to the distinctive red ribbons adorning the statues. If they find them all, the rewarded is a gold bunny treat – non-chocolate prizes available on request.

The trail is free with admission to the Palace, another royal perk.

Where: Hampton Court Palace, London 

When: 23 March to 14 April 2024

New Forest canoeing egg hunt for Easter 2024

A New Forest canoeing adventure with added chocolate? Obviously yes!

Make sure your little co-rowers are ready to pull their weight on a two-hour guided tour of the Beaulieu River. Stable two or three seat Canadian canoes are your craft, and enjoying the stunning scenery and water wildlife is the rule. All looking lovely for spring.

After that excitement, it’s time for the main event! Disembark for an egg hunt with a twist: everyone gets a prize. This one’s pet-friendly too.

Where: Beaulieu River, New Forest 

When: 23 March to 12 April 2024

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Celebrate 350 years of the Chelsea Physic Garden this Easter

Hunting and making at Chelsea Physic Garden for Easter 2024

We all love plants, and Chelsea Physic Garden’s mission is to make people understand their value in our lives. They’re clearly doing well at it, because this year is the Garden’s 350th anniversary.

Follow their Easter egg trails around the gardens over Easter weekend. Other themed events include an Easter chocolate workshop, family soap making workshop, and Family Garden Discovery: Relaxed Sensory Session. Sounds very chilled indeed.

Where: Chelsea Physic Garden, London

When: 29 March to 11 April 2024

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Meerkats, London Zoo, Easter 2024

London Zoo’s Zoonormous Easter 2024 Egg Hunt

Fancy a zoo-based egg hunt this year? Don’t worry, no one needs to enter the lion’s den (or reptile tank) to retrieve their eggs. But it is a celebration of the amazing egg-layers at London Zoo, including reptiles, birds, fish and butterflies.

The Zoonormous Egg Hunt is free with zoo admission, and the family trail leads around the Zoo where eggs of all sizes and colours are waiting to be discovered.

Each checkpoint has a clue to the code, crack it and a Golden Egg is revealed. Rewards come in the shape of chocolate eggs, plus there are heaps of animal facts to discover too.

Where: London Zoo, Regent’s Park, London

When: 29 March to 14 April 2024

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Did someone say giant eggs? At RHS Garden Wisley

Help the Easter Bunny at RHS Garden Wisley

RHS Garden Wisley is putting on a giant Easter egg hunt this year, so if you’d like to see the garden in all its spring glory, it’s the perfect excuse.

Helping the Easter Bunny find his friends means searching for giant eggs decorated with competition-winning designs. At the same time kids are learning about spring, and ways to help nature and wildlife at home.

Chocolate treats are from NOMO, so they’re vegan and gluten free, and activities are free with garden entrance. Yummy all round!

Where: RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey

When: 29 March to 14 April 2024

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Milling around on the Quarry Bank Mill egg hunt

Mill around Quarry Bank this Easter 2024

The historic mill at Quarry Bank is offering a free indoor trail for Easter 2024. That careless Easter Bunny has lost his decorations, so children need to count the eggs to help him out and get Easter back on track.

There are also craft activities with Easter and spring themes, in the mill’s learning space.

Where: Quarry Bank Mill, Cheshire

When: 23 March to 14 April 2024

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Find Easter adventures at Lyme 

It’s Regency time on Easter adventures at Lyme

Take a trip back 600 years at Lyme this Easter. Not only is the glorious house surrounded by gardens, moorland and a deer park, it’s drenched in history too. Although kids might be more interested in three play zones with an egg hunt featuring games and activities in the garden; a walk on the wild side with adventurous play on Green Drive, along with nature themed activities in Crow Wood.

Kids can can also dress up in Regency costume and play with toys in the Edwardian nursery. Or they can venture into the parkland to spot deer from The Cage. They’ll be feeling like lords and ladies of the manor in no time.

Where: Lyme, Cheshire

When: 23 March to 7 April 2024