Filling the kids holidays... our favourites!

As it’s half term and you may find yourself looking for something to entertain your kids, here are our favourite family days out in the North West of England and North Wales. These aren't adverts, just us sharing what we find fun. In no particular order…

1. Chester Zoo

Our favourite day out near home, we can’t quite believe it’s on our doorstep. There is over 27000 animals and 128 acres of zoological gardens. We invested in annual passes which makes it much easier to see it all, we don’t always go for the full day, sometimes just an afternoon or morning is all we need. Our favourite animals are the red pandas, these are right at the back of the zoo, by the original entrance. We can highly recommend the pub located near the pandas. This was the original house where the Mottershead family lived. To see it for yourself, plan your visit here www.chesterzoo.org

2. Chirk Castle

This is a place we have only recently stumbled upon. It’s a castle in North Wales owned by the National trust. It has a little playground for the children, perfectly picturesque grounds to walk in, it’s like something out of Alice in Wonderland, beautiful topiaries. It had a Halloween trial which was perfect for the children, and for an extra cost you could go inside the castle and tour the rooms. The girls loved climbing the stone staircases and exploring each of the rooms. To enjoy a day out here visit Chirk Castle | Wrexham | Wales | National Trust for more details.

3. Rhug Estate Farm Shop and Walk

This is another gem that we have recently found. The Rhug Estate is vast spreading over 12000 acres. We visited the farm shop and completed the trail around the farm. The farm shop is stocked with exquisite ingredients and treats. We stopped for a bite to eat at the Rhug Farm Grill, we can highly recommend the burgers, they are delicious. The farm walk is only short, it takes about half an hour, an hour for little legs. It was really muddy because of the recent storm we had, I would wear walking boots to do the walk, between the mud and the sheep poo, you’ll want shoes you don’t mind getting dirty, it is a farm after all. For more information about the Rhug Estate and Farm visit Our Story | Rhug Estate

4. Activities for All

This one isn’t really a day out but still a place we love to visit. It’s exactly what it says on the tin, there’s something for everyone. From climbing walls, arial ropes, soft paly and football pitches there is so much to do. We love it so much my littlest had her 5th birthday party here. The girls love the soft play and my husband and I love the coffee and cake. If you love your football then, they have pitches to hire and sports bar with TVs showing popular matches. If this is something that you like the look of then head over to wirral | Activity for All

5. Liverpool City Centre and Museums

We love where we live. A stones throw away from Liverpool City Centre, we either hop on the train or drive through the tunnel or get the ferry across the Mersey to explore the sites of Liverpool. There’s shops, restaurants, an Odeon cinema, museums and not to mention the famous Albert Dock, and home to the Beatles. There is so much to do in Liverpool, we’d love to be tourists in our own city and see the sights. We probably take it for granted being on our doorstep. For a more in depth view into what the city has to offer visit this site Liverpool: Tours and Tickets - Tripadvisor

6. Chill Fatore

Sledging in August in England doesn’t actually sound too far fetched with how unpredictable the weather in England is. We actually managed to have a fun day out playing in the snow when it was 20oC outside! We visited the Chill Factore in Manchester, not something I would have normally looked to do but there was an offer on a well known coupon website and it seemed like good fun, and it was. We donned our ski suits as it’s real snow and it is FREEZING inside. You can learn to ski and snowboard, but we opted for the sledging and sliding. They have rubber rings that you sit in and slide down the big snowy hill and a toboggan slide too. The girls absolutely loved it. The six weeks summer holidays can be hard to fill and this was a great day out that was a bit different to our norm. just next door there is a huge soft play centre and I mean HUGE and you can also walk over to the Trafford Centre where there is a Legoland and a Sealife centre, if you were travelling in you could stay in one of the many Premier Inns on site and make a full weekend jam packed with activities. Here are some useful websites to get you started. Chill Factore | Indoor Skiing & Snowboarding | Manchester https://traffordcentre.co.uk Home - Play Factore Hotels in Manchester | Premier Inn

7. Benty Farm Tea Rooms

This is a charming farm tearoom located on the Wirral, full of the most delicious cakes and homemade food and they do a superb hot chocolate. Nestled on Thurstaston Common, we love to come during the Autumn months to explore the countryside and then head here to warm up with a slice of cake and warm drink. It’s not just about the food here though, with each season brings a new ‘pick your own’ activity, sunflowers, strawberries, pumpkins, it’s a joy to come down to the farm and see how your food can go from the ground to your plate with minimal food miles. Benty Farm is a firm favourite with all the locals and can get quite busy, if you want to visit during a special event, be sure to book in advance. You can do that here Plan Your Visit | Benty Farm Tearooms

8. Ice Cream Farm

We love a good farm, and what better farm than one that makes award winning Ice Cream! This is a fantastic day out for the kids, bring a picnic or just devour the many flavours of ice cream. We have visited the Ice Cream farm for years, from when it was a small Dairy Farm that made ice cream to now when it looks like something from a Dr Seuss cartoon. It’s magical. The girls love it when the ice cream tree in the middle starts to snow ice cream. The ice-cream farm is ‘free’ however you do need to book and there is a booking fee. Each of the activities are an extra cost but you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want. We usually buy a play pass for each child £15 and that lets you into 3 of the activities. Make sure you bring waterproofs for the indoor sand and water. We always take the girls swimming costumes and water shoes; they literally play for hours or until their lips start to turn blue and I insist they get warm and dry. There’s a soft play, inflatable bouncy pillows, crazy golf, tractor driving round a track and so much more. We always finish our day out here with an Ice-cream, whatever the weather, it’s got to be done. I’m a bit boring when it comes to ice cream and opt for honeycomb, salted caramel or vanilla, the girls love all the crazy flavours like rainbow, popping candy, unicorn or bubble gum. We highly recommend this as a fun family day out no matter the season or weather, there’s always something to entertain here. Home - Ice Cream Farm (theicecreamfarm.co.uk)

9. Delamere Forest

We are a fan of throwing on our walking boots and exploring the local area. We often find ourselves walking through Delamere Forest hunting for the Gruffalo or spotting Zog’s stars. The girls love a trail, and they also love Julia Donaldson stories so it’s a perfect match. You do have to pay for parking here unless you’re willing to park further away and add to your walk by walking in. We don’t mind paying for the carpark as it helps the forestry commission look after the forest and the upkeep of the café and visitors’ centre. They also have the Ice Cream Farm ice cream on sale here, and plenty of delicious cakes. The forest is absolutely beautiful and there are other activities here too, if you love exploring from heights you can swing through the trees at Go Ape or if you want to pick up the pace round the forest you can do it on a segway tour. Delamere Forest is definitely one of our favourites. Zog activity trails | A ‘roar-some’ family day out | Forestry England

10. Science and Industry Museum

During the summer the girls and I fancied a day out, the girls absolutely love going to a museum and I felt like we’d seen everything at our local museums recently. With the train on our doorstep, we hopped over to Manchester City Centre and visited the Science and Industry Museum. It was fascinating, to see how Manchester’s cotton industry was built. There is also an Operation Ouch exhibition on currently, the girls love this show, however, to avoid disappointment, ensure you book in advance for this, we missed out because it was fully booked when we got there. If you are travelling into Manchester city centre via public transport, there is a free bus that loops around the city centre and has a bus stop right outside the museum. The bus can be quite busy, but they come every 15 minutes, so they are frequent enough to wait for the next one. We got to the museum early and found that we’d seen it all by lunch time. There was a café to eat lunch at but we found ourselves heading to the Arndale area in search of lunch and some shops to look around before hopping on the train home. What's on | Science and Industry Museum

We hope that you try some of these days out and enjoy them as much as we do! Right were off to explore the internet in search of new days out to try, we’ll be back with what we find.