Ideas for good days out - please!!

[pheasantchick]

After visiting Dickens World and Chahtham Docks, you can visit the shopping outlet centre nearby.

Or Maidstone for more choice of shops, or Bluewater or Lakeside which isn't too far away.

And Leeds castle is quite near also.

[doodles]

What about Warwick Castle? I haven't been for years, but it was good then and from what I understand it still is.

[wurzel]

We spent today in the Oxford museums. The Ashmolean is spectacularly laid out and very beautiful. However, it is very traditional - described by my DSs as "pots, bones, tools and art". For a long visit, it helps to have a theme in mind to avoid aimless wandering and maintain interest. The Natural History museum down the road is also fabulous. We've been there over and over again in the past decade. Wonderful dinosaur and mammal skeletons, fossils, minerals etc. in a very exciting layout. This is also housed in a beautiful building. There's an extra section called the Pitt-Rivers, which is an eclectic mix of weird artefacts from various cultures and is great fun.
If it's a sunny day, it can also be interesting to walk around some of the college chapels and quadrangles, especially if your children are "Inspector Morse" fans.

[Glos_Mum]

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[poppit]

Another vote for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard! There is loads to see and we didn't manage to get round a third of it in the 3 hours we had there. My boys loved going round HMS Victory, there is a sign outside naming everyone who was on the ship, their job and age which stopped me in my tracks because there were such young boys serving aboard. When there you can go for guided boat trips round the harbour as there are always a lot of modern Royal Naval vessels to see.

Warwick Castle is impressive, but expensive and very 'touristy' (owned by Madame Tussauds I think) and a bit impersonal, our family loves historic castles but just didn't 'bond' with this one, which surprised us. As an alternative it would be worth looking at the English Heritage website to see what is open this time of year. Wales is always good for castles too.

[Snowdrops]

And another vote for Portsmouth, an absolutely fantastic day out - go and stand on the deck where Nelson fell and go below to where he was reputed to have died. Then go to one of the naval museums on site and see some of the sails from his ship and other artefacts. Marvel at the Mary Rose (I saw her about 20 years ago and went back about 3 years ago and saw a huge difference in the way it's now displayed!). See all the artefacts brought from the deep in yet another naval museum on the site.

Warwick castle is good too, no more and no less touristy than any other place though, to be fair.

[andyb]

How about Bristol? Smallish zoo, science museum @bristol, SS Great Britain, shopping. Close enough to Bath to do both.

[DenDe]

I vote for a 2-in-one package of Stratford Upon Avon and Warwick. Stratford is a beautiful town which you can get round on foot really easily and of course has the Shakespeare links. Warwick is right next door, again a qaint town but with the bonus of the castle which is fabulous. (Although quite pricey to get in and you would have to check it was open at this time of year)

[Warks mum]

If you do consider Warwick Castle make sure you check the offers available. There are normally plenty of two-for-one offers around.

[Glos_Mum]

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