Food festivals, Barbie museums and dinosaur adventure parks – the best family days out on a budget
THERE’S a summer of fun to be had across the UK!
Festivals, theme parks, museums and historic houses have special events for all the family.
Tour Harry Styles’ home village, discover Barbie’s wardrobe, follow a trail of oxen, poke around Buckingham Palace – and much more.
Trisha Harbord rounds up fantastic days out on a budget, with prices for a family of four . . .
FREE OR UNDER £50
FOODIE FEASTS, Leicester: If you missed Coldplay’s Glastonbury set, enjoy the tribute band at Leicester’s first food festival.
They are headlining on August 10, with an Ed Sheeran tribute show on stage the next day.
The two-day festival in Abbey Park features 50 local food vendors plus wine and craft-ale producers.
Kids’ fun will include arts and crafts, storytelling, a circus school and a funfair.
Family tickets cost £25, under-fives free.
See leicesterfoodfestival.co.uk.
GET LOST IN A LABYRINTH, across UK: The National Trust has launched its Summer of Play, featuring family activities at 184 historic houses and gardens.
Both members and non-members get in free or there’s a small entry price for properties such as Attingham Park, Shrops.
Explore labyrinths, scramble on straw bales and enjoy archery as well as crafts, music and dance sessions.
The circus has come to Stourhead Gardens, Wilts, or join a knights’ training camp at Chirk Castle, Wrexham.
Many attractions have wheelchairs for hire.
Attingham Park family tickets from £27.50.
See nationaltrust.org.uk.
ANIMAL TRAILS, Oxfordshire: The oxen have taken over Oxford.
A herd of 138 sculptures of the animals, some life-sized and others in miniature, are dotted along the free OxTrail.
Each one has been decorated by local and international artists, schools and community groups.
The designs reflect Oxford’s history and culture, with visitors encouraged to find them while exploring the city’s sights including the castle, museums and botanic garden.
You can download an app to track your progress and access more than 60 rewards.
OxTrail is free, but funds are being raised for the Sobell House hospice and the sculp-tures will be auctioned in September.
See oxtrail2024.co.uk and visitengland.com.
BECOME A BARBIE GIRL, London: If you’re a Barbie girl, visit London’s Design Museum.
A new exhibition celebrates the doll’s 65th birthday, featuring models, clothes, furniture, vehicles and the first Barbie Dreamhouse, from 1962.
Family tickets from £48, under-sixes free.
For details, see designmuseum.org.
FIGHT LIKE A KNIGHT, across UK: Pirates and knights are out in force at English Heritage properties.
There are jousts and displays among the entertainment at castles, forts, priories, palaces and gardens.
Find pirates at Dover Castle in Kent, Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and Scarborough Castle, North Yorks.
At Belsay Hall, in Northumberland, learn about soldiers’ lives in World War Two.
Or visit Bedfordshire’s Wrest Park for more about wartime Britain.
Advance online family tickets to Scarborough Castle are £24.50, under-fives free.
UNDER £100
HEAD TO THE HOME OF HARRY STYLES, Cheshire: Harry Styles has got so big he’s got his very own guided walking tour.
Follow in the singer’s footsteps in his home village of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire.
Running all summer, a keepsake map will take you to Mandeville bakery where Harry worked while auditioning on The X Factor.
Take a selfie with his cardboard cut-out and write a message on a heart-shaped slate to leave at Twemlow viaduct, now known as Harry’s Wall.
You can also write a note in a book, which will be handed to the star’s dad, and shop for tour souvenirs.
Tours cost £70 per family.
See hcpartnership.org.uk/guided-tours.
MONKEY SPOTTING, Bedfordshire: Take your little monkeys to the UK’s largest zoo, Whipsnade, near Dunstable.
A new Monkey Forest has opened, home to some of East Asia’s rarest animals, with a trail through 100 trees and raised viewing spots.
Ride the steam train for a safari adventure and see elephants, rhinos, camels and deer.
There are also lions, tigers and hundreds of other species to spot, plus an aquarium and butterfly house.
Kids can run wild in the Hullabazoo Farm, complete with a huge play area with swings, climbing frames, shops and cafes.
Families from £96.
See whipsnadezoo.org.
STEP BACK IN TIME, Durham: A favourite family day out in the North East has to be the fantastic Beamish The Living Museum.
It brings history to life with open-air “towns” and exhibits dating between the 1820s and the 1950s.
And once you buy a ticket, you get a year’s unlimited access.
Retro highlights include a working bakery, garage, stables, bank, school, chapel, colliery, farm and station.
You can ride vintage buses and trams or step back in time in the various shops, tea rooms and a traditional chippie.
Families cost £71, under-fives free.
See beamish.org.uk and visitcountydurham.org.
THEME PARK BARGAINS, across the UK: Half-price kids’ tickets and free ice creams are up for grabs at top theme parks this summer.
Merlin Entertainments has slashed 50 per cent off kids’ entry to the London Eye, Sea Life, Madame Tussauds, the Dungeons and Legoland Discovery Centres.
You can also bag £19 tickets for them for Legoland Windsor, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and Warwick Castle.
“Ice cream twins” Marnie and Mylah are fronting the savings campaign as “pocket money protection officers” so look out for the pair in their ice cream van.
The eight-year-olds recently went viral on social media for their reaction after being told the two ice creams they wanted to buy would be £9.
Family tickets to Sea Life Birmingham from £75.
See merlinentertainments.biz/real-fun-deals.
ROAR LIKE A DINOSAUR, NORFOLK: There is even more noise coming from ROARR! the UK’s largest dinosaur-themed adventure park.
This summer, there is a new dino — a 33ft animatronic Apatosaurus, standing outside the Dinomite play area with its slides, ball pits and bridges.
Also check out the Valley Of The Dinosaurs, featuring 21 roaring dinosaurs, plus rides, high ropes, crazy golf, a secret animal garden and a theatre for live shows and films.
For an extra thrill, try the new foam zone in the water area at the park in Lenwade, Norfolk.
Families from £87.80.
See roarr.co.uk.
UNDER £200
DUNGEONS AND GRUFFALOS, Lancashire: You can’t beat Blackpool for a day full of seaside treats.
And with one Pick ’n’ Mix pass, you can get entry to several attractions.
Many are within walking distance of each other.
Blackpool Tower alone has the 380ft Tower Eye offering stunning views, the spectacular ballroom which hosts Strictly Come Dancing, a new circus, and a dungeon with gripping stories and special effects.
Close by, there’s Sea Life, Madame Tussauds and attractions dedicated to Peter Rabbit and The Gruffalo.
One-day family passes are from £132.
BIG SAILS, across the UK: Drift away on an electric canal boat for up to ten people.
You’ll be schooled on steering, mooring and working locks.
Explore the Peak District, cruising to Marple and back, and stopping at the Hattons Arms pub along the way.
Or navigate the Coventry Canal from Kings Orchard Marina through the Staffordshire countryside for a return journey to Bonehill.
All boats have bathroom and kitchen facilities and you can take pets.
One day starts at £179, for up to ten.
See drifters.co.uk.
UNLIMITED TRAMPOLINING, Cumbria: Buy one ticket for a Cumbrian park and go as often as you want all summer.
Walby Farm Park, just outside Carlisle, has launched a Summertime Pass until September 3, offering activities and events galore.
There’s the Wild West maize maze, foam parties, trampolining, go-karting and mini-quads.
Also crazy golf, tractor rides, den-building, circus shows and dinosaur encounters.
Visit Cumbria’s largest indoor adventure area and meet animals such as reindeer calves and Shetland ponies.
Family passes cost from £124.
See walbyfarmpark.co.uk.
COOL CRUISES, London: One of the best ways to see London’s landmarks is from the river.
City Cruises has Thames voyages with commentary on the history of everything from the Tower of London to the London Eye.
A hop-on, hop-off cruise — departing from four piers every 20 to 40 minutes — is ideal if you want to visit the capital’s numerous family events.
Or treat yourself to a lunch cruise.
Family river passes from £48; lunch cruises from £184; under-twos go free.
See cityexperiences.com.
KING OR QUEEN FOR THE DAY, London: You can nosey around even more of Buckingham Palace this summer.
The East Wing is open and includes the Centre Room and balcony where the Royal Family wave from.
Step inside the Yellow Drawing Room, with towering Chinese porcelain pagodas, and the 240ft Principal Corridor which spans the Palace.
A standard ticket tours 19 staterooms.
Or upgrade to a Royal Day Out to include the Royal Mews and The King’s Gallery.
Families from £183.60, under-fives free.