1/17 Stonehenge, Wiltshire
Pay a visit to this world famous heritage site with its newly opened visitor centre. High tech audio-visual displays and hands-on exhibits plus reconstructed huts portraying the life of Neolithic children.
During August 2015, for the first time in its 4,500-year-old history, kids will be allowed to step inside the famous stone circle and discover Stonehenge without any grown-ups. It is all part of English Heritage’s new Kids Takeover summer season.
Kids Only Stone Circle Visits must be booked in advance and are available every Wednesday morning in August, between 7.30am and 8.30am. Entry is £10 for one child and one adult. Spaces are limited.
Price: £45.50 for families; £50.20 for families including optional Gift Aid (two adults and three children 5-15 years).
2/17 National Railway Museum, North Yorkshire
Don’t miss this superb museum on the outskirts of York. Highlights include a Japanese bullet train and Queen Victoria’s railway carriage. Hands-on activities, fairground rides and model railway.
Price: Free.
3/17 Jorvik Viking Centre, North Yorkshire
Imbibe the smells, sounds and sights of life in Viking York in AD975 at this fun and educational site where you tour reconstructed streets in “time capsules”.
Price: N/A due to severe flooding in York the centre will re open during the Spring of 2017
4/17 Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum, Northumberland
Look out for party invitations, shoes, cooking utensils and other fascinating objects at Vindolanda. Plus visit the Roman Army Museum for an insight into the life of a soldier in this northern outpost.
Price: £32 for a family combined ticket.
5/17 Hampton Court Palace, Surrey
Expect to spend the whole day exploring this Tudor palace with its Great Hall, kitchens, state apartments and gardens. And don’t miss the mind-boggling maze.
Price: £49 online for families (two adults and three children); £57.70 gate price.
6/17 Osborne House, Isle Of Wight
Enjoy an insight into the family life of Queen Victoria at this summer holiday retreat. As well as a play area, there are trails and a private beach so take a picnic.
Price: £39 for a family of two adults, three children.
7/17 Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
Take wellies and a spare set of clothes as there’s plenty of opportunity for children to get soaking wet at this large conservation area, home to a vast number of bird species in Gloucestershire. Don’t miss the the Flamingo lagoon!
Price: £33.27 online for families (two adults and two children 4-16 years)
8/17 Bekonscot Model Village, Buckinghamshire
Prepare to be won over by this idiosyncratic model village which dates back to the 1930s. There’s an acre of miniature farms, houses, railway, village greens and lakes to enjoy. Profits go to charity.
Price: £29 for families (two adults, two children 2-15 years).
9/17 Beaulieu Motor Museum, Hampshire
You’ll pay just under the £50 budget limit at this car-fanatics paradise in the New Forest but only if you book online. Children can drive motorised miniature versions and tour the grounds on a high-level monorail.
Price: £49.50 online for families (two adults, three children 5-17 years).
10/17 Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, West Sussex
Get outdoors at this beautiful spot where over 50 historic buildings have been carefully reconstructed after rescue from potential demolition. The eclectic collection includes medieval shops, Victorian railway workers’ cottages and seventeenth-century cottage.
Price: £32 for two adults and three children (4-15 years).
11/17 Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, Dereham
Discover this little-known site right near Dereham, formally used as a workhouse until 1948, where exhibitions chart the history of this building and the life of the people who lived here. A working farm offers cart rides drawn by resident Suffolk Punches.
Price: £38.50 for families (two adults and all children 4-18 years).
12/17 Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich
Tour the dungeons and keep of this Norman castle which dominates the city of Norwich from a high, manmade vantage point. Touch screens and computer animation bring its history alive.
Price: £29.90 for families (two adults and all children 4-18 years).
13/17 National Marine Aquarium, Devon
Explore life under water including shallow seas, estuaries, tropical reefs and local shores around Plymouth. A daily interactive dive show and free craft activities makes this a great day out for all fish fanatics.
Price: £46 for families (two adults and two children 4-15 years or one adult and three children).
14/17 Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall
Saunter around the woodlands, pleasure grounds, fern gardens and glasshouses on this 200-acre site near St Austell in Cornwall. Pop into the tearoom where dishes are created from produce grown in the vegetable garden.
Price: £35 for families (two adults and three children 5-16 years).
15/17 The Battle 0f Bannockburn visitor centre, Stirling
Participate in the “Battle Game” or watch the “Battle Show” at this high-tech exhibition which opened in 2014 to mark the 700th anniversary of the conflict which recreates the sights and sounds of the brutal event.
Price: £42 for families (two adults and two children, 7-16 years). Pre-booking recommended.
16/17 Big pit mining museum, Torfaen
Descend around 300 feet into the mineshaft for a 50-minute guided tour of the coal face, engine houses and stables wearing a miner’s helmet with lamp. Exhibition spaces and historic buildings demonstrate how this site once operated.
Price: Free entry; car park £3.
17/17 Anglesey Sea Zoo, Isle of Anglesey
Get up close to over 150 species of marine life from around our shores with exhibits which include a lobster hatchery, seahorse nursery and a kelp forest. Also an Octojump bouncy castle and the Gator Swamp boats.
Price: £26.50 for families (two adults and two children 3-16).