Family days out ideas in and around Northamptonshire
Whether your children are young or heading into their teens, finding a good day out in your local area to spend some quality time together as a family is crucial. Living in Northamptonshire in East Anglia means we’re are close to obvious days out like a trip to Hunstanton or even London which is just over an hour away, but today I wanted to let you know of some ideas for family days out which are much closer to home.
Whilst Woburn isn’t in Northamptonshire, it is fairly close by in neighbouring Bedfordshire and is one of the best Safari Parks I think in England. You start off on safari which takes you through Rhinos, Giraffes, Antelopes, Bears, Elephants, Wolves, Tigers, Lions and those mischievous monkeys!
Then once you’ve completed the drive you can park up and see the rest of the animals on foot. You can feed the parakeets, watch many of the animals being fed, like penguins, seals and wallabies. You can buy hot / cold food in the on-site restaurant or if you want to keep costs down, bring a picnic and save the money for the gift shop instead! What’s more if you want to drive around the safari again, you can at no extra cost….so you really do get your money’s worth I feel for the day out. A typical day out does vary depending on the day you visit, but can cost around £20 adult and £15 child.
*TOP TIP – look out for offers to various parks, quite often you find deals online or on food packets.
Wicksteed Park
Wicksteed Park in Kettering is a lovely traditional amusement park which has been in operation since 1921 and still operates one of the original rides to date. Wicksteed is a family favourite of mine having grown up just down the road in my younger years, we’d regularly visit in the school holidays either to just play on the park equipment or in the peak season we’d by a day pass and make use of all the rides available.
Some of the rides available are a rollercoaster, log flume, water shute, umbrellas, racing cars and even a zip wire. You can even hire a boat on the lake or if you want to rest those legs take the narrow gauge train around the park and take in the view around the park.
Again, whilst there are many food options available at Wicksteed Park, you might be better off packing a picnic and take a seat on the vast green areas to choose from and don’t forget to bring a ball!
Prices vary, but the cheapest way to get tickets is to book online before you go and save yourself a couple of pounds per person. Currently online prices are £12 adult and £14.25 for a wristband to give you access to all rides all day, single tickets are also available if you only want to try a few of the rides.
Canoe on the River Nene
Something for the more active family perhaps is trying your hand at canoeing. What makes canoeing a great thing to do is you can fit the whole family into one canoe and so whilst you’d like the kids to be making good progress down the River Nene on their own, the reality is you’ll probably take 10 times longer! So a little helping hand with all of you does wonders!
There are a few different places to hire canoes on the River Nene, but perhaps the most well-known one is Canoe2 based at the new Rushden Lakes shopping centre. You can opt for different trips depending on how long you want to be on the river for, but a good starting point is to try the half day which you can start at Rushden Lakes and paddle along the lake and onto the river, you have 4 hours so you can go as far as you dare before turning back, but the likelihood is you can either reach Stanwick Lakes or Wellingborough Embankment in that time.
If you want to kick it up a gear you can go out on the canoe for the whole day. There’s a few different starting points to choose from but a favourite and one which I’ve done myself is starting from Thrapston and canoeing all the way to Oundle, stopping for lunch on the way in Wadenhoe. What’s great about the whole day trips is that you only have to paddle one way as the guys at Canoe2 will meet you at the end point and take you back to your car!
Prices for the half day are from £50 per canoe and the full day from £95 per canoe.
Stanwick Lakes over the years has grown into a lovely place to visit at anytime of the year. Set in 750 acre countryside and nature reserve in the middle of Northamptonshire. There are extensive and imaginative play areas, open spaces and paths that families, walkers, cyclists and nature lovers can explore at leisure. The visitor centre, with café, shop and function space, hosts events, family celebrations, business meetings and craft workshops throughout the year.
There are plenty of different walks you could take at varying distances and most are accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs. You can hire bikes here too and cycle the 7 miles of different trails available.
What first attracted us as a family to Stanwick Lakes however is the amazing adventure playground that they have built here. Keeping things natural the structures are wooden and there’s plenty of water about so take a spare set of clothing as they’re going to get very muddy!!
What’s great about Stanwick Lakes is that you only have to pay for parking to access the whole park which does vary throughout the year but can be as low as £2.60 a day in the winter and £5.60 in the summer.
The cafe is well worth a visit too, which also houses a small indoor soft play area if the weather becomes too miserable outside.
