The best days out in the Cotswold with kids.
We have spent many a Saturday and school holiday in our local area looking for things to entertain our boys – we’ve tried a lot of days out and attractions, and we are going to share our favourite ones with you.
Some of the best things to do in the Cotswolds is to go on a family walk or visit a historic village – but if you are looking for something different to do with the little ones while visiting the area, we’ve got you covered!
The Cotswolds may be rather small, but there are a number of great things to do with children in the region – find out our favourite go – to family days out.
The best days out in the Cotswolds
Cotswold Wildlife Park
🦒 African animals
🦏 Rhino’s on the lawn
🦁 Big cats
🦎 Reptiles
🛝 Adventure playground
🚂 Miniature train
🌸 Beautiful gardens
This is really a gem – we all love it here and feel so lucky to have such a fabulous wildlife park on our doorstep. It is essentially a small zoo, where you can see African mammals such as Giraffe, Rhino and Lions, as well as Lemurs, small primates, many varieties of birds including penguins, reptiles and amphibians.
The enclosures seem spacious, green and have no obtrusive fences – the secure boundaries to protect visitors carefully placed to be as unobtrusive as possible. The rhino’s graze on the lawn outside the victoriana manor house!
Although small compared to some of the UKs big zoos, it still felt massive with loads to explore – we were there the whole day. We spent time viewing the animal enclosures, the manor house (where you will find the cafe and restaurant), and landscaped gardens, which are stunning in the summer with all the flower displays.
There is a really big adventure playground as well, and a miniature train. It’s a great day out, and at £60 for our family of four, we felt it was pretty good value, too.
Cotswold Farm Park
🐮 Meet the animals
🚜 Tractor rides
🛝 Adventure playgrounds
🌳 Den building
🏖 Sandpit
🚗 Pedal go-karts
🥣 Mud kitchen
🌻 Flower fields (seasonal)
🎃 Pumpkin patch (seasonal)
Another animal encounter experience, this farm park was created by celebrity farmer Adam Henson (from BBC’s Countryfile) – its very well done, with so much to see and do, especially great for young children; although my older primary nieces and nephews still love coming here to feed the animals!
As well as the Highland cows (love them), rare breeds of sheep, goats, and donkeys you can feed by hand, you will find pigs (and piglets at the right time of year!) Also small mammals like rabbits and guinea pigs to hold, and chicks in the spring.
Play; There are numerous playzones around the park, including playgrounds, sandpits, giant bouncing pillows, and ride-on tractors ( these are the tractor rides – they are not full sized farm tractors). There are small sitting tractors you push with your feet for the little ones, and battery operated larger tractors with a course to go around for the older children.
There is an indoor soft play barn and sandpit as well, with a small pedal go-kart track.
Spring; This is an amazing time to visit this place, you get so much for your money- you can see live lambing (my kids were a bit shell shocked at this one!), lamb bottle feeding, holding chicks, and as mentioned earlier play with the piglets in the barn. My boys adore it here in the spring time.
Camping; There are camping fields at the farm park where you can pitch your tent, or book a glamping experience in shepards huts or safari tents – and get a days entrance to the park included in the price. Set in the Cotswold Hills, it’s a beautiful place to camp, with lovely views and a great option if you are looking for a weekend camping spot for the family.
Events; Keep your eyes out for seasonal events – we had an annual pass and did them all – we thought they were done very well and good value for money when included in the price of your ticket. From summer flower fields to pumpkin patches, pick your own potatoes, or visiting Father Christmas, there is always something going on at Cotswold Farm Park.
Steam Railway
🚂 Steam train ride
☕️ Old Fashioned Vintage Station & Cafe
🏘 Explore Cotswold villages
A unique and fun experience for train lovers of all ages – a traditional vintage steam train trip through the heart of the Cotswolds countryside.
The Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway is a heritage railway line with six stations running from Broadway, Worcestershire, to Cheltenham Racecourse.
Station Stops
- Broadway
- Toddington
- Hayles Abbey
- Winchcombe
- Gotherington, Cheltenham
- Cheltenham Racecourse
They have a number of suggested days out timings to explore Broadway, Cheltenham, or Winchcombe here.
This railway journey is a great novel experience for kids and their grown ups – who doesn’t love a steam train!
The rhythmic chug of the locomotion and the billowing steam is an exciting experience for the kids, and the railway often has themed events tailored for families including the Santa Express, Afternoon teas and the Cheltenham Fryer fish and chip special! Yum!
Picturesque Broadway is one of our favourite villages in the Cotswolds and a great place to start the journey, the station is only a 10 minute stroll from the village centre.
Sudeley Castle
🏰 Historic Castle
🌸 Award winning gardens
🛝 Adventure Playground
Sudeley Castle is a medieval castle nestled with the delightful market town of Winchcombe. If your kids are anything like ours, they love a castle!
I would say its best visited on a sunny day, unless your children are a bit older and really interested in history – the bits our family find most appealing are all outdoors.
You can visit the castle rooms (there’ s also a dressing up area for the kids) but it’s more like a historic house/ stately home inside (it doesn’t have the kind exhibits or displays thay engage the kids such as those at Warwick Castle, for example), but it is a great place to go for a picnic on a summers day – the main draw for us as a family is the beautiful castle grounds and the adventure playground which my boys absolutely love tearing around!
The formal castle gardens are pretty and great for a walk, and have actually won awards for the floral displays. There is also a willow maze and family-friendly events on at certain times of the year, such as the spectacle of light in December or hosting the excellent, vintage style Gifford’s Circus in May.
The castle, playground, and gardens are open for general admission from March 2025.
Cotswold Country Park & Beach
🏖 Lakeside beach
💧Inflatable water slides
🛶 Kayaking and SUP
🛝 Playground
🍖 BBQ grills
Who knew there was a beach in the heart of the landlocked Cotswolds! But, have a beach we do – Cotswold Country Park and Beach . Enjoy lakeside picnics, a swimming lagoon, and a sandy beach. Get your buckets and spades!
For children 6 years and over there is the inflatable AquaVenture, which is a wipe out style water park. We are yet to try it with our kids (maybe this summer!) but it looks like great fun and definitely something different to do in the area.
There are also SUP’s and kayaks to hire (Please check website for details), boat hire, BBQ hire, and mini golf as well as a playground situated right by the beach.
Rather confusingly, Cotswold Country Park and Beach is located at Lakes 31 & 32 of a 42-mile wetlands conservation area, recently renamed the Cotswold Lakes , formerly the Cotswold Water Park.
The Cotswold Lakes wetland has lots of walks, bike rides and picnic spots, and it is free to enter. When visiting the Cotswold Country Park and Beach (which is within the Cotswold Lakes), the fee is £10 per car in low season, rising to £20 per car in high season. Activities such as renting bbq, paddling boarding and the inflatable adventure course AquaVenture are extra.
We had a fun day out on the water, once we had figured out that the Cotswold Country Park & Beach was different to the Cotswold Lakes (not Cotswold Water Park as was -) even though one of part of the other 🤦🏻♀️ – they don’t make it easy for a mum with brain fog!
The Cotswold Country Park & Beach is open in April 2025.
Blenheim Palace
🏰 Historic Palace
🌳 Parklands
🦋 Butterfly House
💧 Lake
🌸 Gardens
🛝 Adventure Playground
🚂 Miniature Railway
Right on the edge of the eastern Cotswolds, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, lies one of the grandest estates in the UK, and is a full day out for families visiting the Cotswolds – there is so much to see and do.
Its large, imposing and a UNESCO world heritage sight – walking the ornate corridors and vast state rooms is impressive, and could rival any grand home or palace we have seen in the UK or Europe – its definitely something you don’t want to miss while you are there, but as is often the case with these beautiful estates, the best part for the children lies on the outside – the magnificent grounds.
On offer are the formal gardens, maze, tree trail and and absolutely massive adventure playground. There extensive parkland is great for walks, or just sitting by the lake. It’s really picturesque and beautiful, especially with the gorgeous architecture of the palace in the background.
There is a sensory garden, a butterfly house, and a mini train!
There are numerous events and exhibitions on through out the year (check website here for details). They also have trails and activities on offer for school holidays, ranging from jousting to hosting the circus to flower shows, so its worth checking whats on.
Christmas at Blenheim is renowned round these parts as being the most stunning light trail going – its also the most expensive, meaning we haven’t tried it yet – but friends assure me it’s the best they have experienced (and they have been to them all!) So we are hoping to try it in 2025.
There are various tickets and passes available, to access the adventure playground area (which to be honest if you have kids is a must) you will need a palace and play pass – which for a family is seems quite steep at £165, but it is valid for 12 months and includes some of the events that Blenheim hosts ( the food, flower and jousting festivals are included, but not the circus, light trail or other events on at Blenheim).
If you aren’t local and not planning on visiting more than once, you can buy a day ticket. This option is not pushed by Blenheim, and you will have to click on a small link at the bottom of the passes page! The ticket costs are quite steep and are valid for the one visit only (plus you have to pay extra to access the adventure playground areas – and additional £ 7 per child and £5 per adult). So its only marginally cheaper to get the day ticket as opposed to the pass – much better to get the pass if you can manage to visit more than once in the year.
Birdland
🐧 Penguins
🦜 Exotic Birds
🛝 Play Area
Located in Bourton on the Water, this is a animal encounter attraction with, you guessed it, and huge variety of different exotic birds! You can see penguins, African birds, owls, parrots, and more. In the Close encounters area, you can get hands-on and hold the birds, and see chicks hatch. There is also a decent play area here for the kids, and a cafe.
If you are worried about entertaining the children on a visit to a Cotswold village, and trying to juggle seeing the sights without the kids getting too bored, this is a good choice.
It’s a fun place to take young children for a couple of hours, and combined this with a walk and explore around the village of Bourton-on-the-Water itself, you can be out for a whole day.
The price is £13.50 per adult and £10.50 per child.
Visit an Arboretum
We are spoilt in the Cotswolds for not only having one, but TWO outstanding arboretums in this area of outstanding nature beauty.
🌳 Woodland Walks
🍁 Autumn Colours
🌸 Spring Blossom
🛝 Play Area
🪴 Garden Centre
60 acres of beautiful tree collection and vistas, located less than 2 miles from the bustling market town of Moreton-in-Marsh.
The path through the beautiful rare tree collection opens up to the view of the grand Batsford House. Batsford Arboretum has a lovely garden centre, café, children’s play area, and children’s trail.
🍁 Beautiful Autumn Foliage
🌸 Abundant Spring Blossom
🍃 Woodland Walks
🛝 Play Area
🌳 Treetop Walkway
Westonbirt is the largest arboretum in the country, with over 600 acres, 2500 species of trees to explore, walk, scooter or bike around! (Bikes and scooters for children only are permitted).
The exquisite blossoms in spring and the vibrant colours in autumn are a delight and a great place to get some treasured family photographs with the beautiful leaves. We love to come here for a do-it-yourself family photoshoot!
There is a nice café and play area, plus keep your eyes open to see if you can spot the Gruffalo and Gruffalo’s child hiding in the woods. Also the treetop walk way is pretty fun, seeing the canopy from the suspended, enclosed bridge through the trees.
Broadway Tower
🏰 England’s Smallest Castle
🦌 Resident Deer
🌄 Expansive Views
Broadway Tower is the cutest little castle at the top of Middle hill in the Northern Cotswolds. Its on the Glocestershire – Worcestershire border – the village of Broadway is in Worcestershire and Broadway Tower is in Gloucestershire!
It is a great place for a walk and to enjoy stunning views of 16 counties and even to Wales on a clear day.
The Tower and parklands are in a public right of way, so access is free although you do need to pay for parking, and you will need to purchase a ticket if you want to go inside the tower itself. In honesty we have never bothered, we are there for coffee, views and a countryside walk, but we have seen people going up – seems a little bit pricey at £14 per adult and £3 to £6 per child – perhaps a bit of a tourist trap though for what must be a 10 minute look around – it’s very small in the tower! I also notice the ticket says tower and grounds, but as I said before this is a bit misleading as the grounds are free and a public right of way.
There is a great shop and café at the top and also a herd of resident deer.
There is a circular walk that is short, easy and perfect for toddlers. It’s also a beautiful picnic spot in the spring and summer.
Click here for details of the Broadway Tower circular walk for toddlers, which takes on the tower grounds and some of the neighbouring fields, with amazing 360 countryside views.
If you are looking for something longer, we adore the Broadway village to the Tower walk – it’s one of the classic Cotswold walks and is a personal favourite.
We do it as a circular day walk with the kids, starting in the village and having a pit stop at the café at the top, but it also forms part of the Cotswold Way (multi day national trail).
Fairytale Farm
🍄Become a ‘Giant’ in the fairytale zone
🦕 Dino Valley
🧜♀️ Mermaid Garden
🛝 Play Areas
🐮 Farm Animals
Fairytale Farm, in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds near Chipping Norton, is a children’s attraction with great play areas, themed walkways, and lots of different fun and interactive areas including giant toadstools, tunnels, willow maze, castles and more. There is a dinosaur valley, with life-size dinosaur models and a fossil dig sandpit activity!
Of course, there is also a selection of farm animals to meet at Fairytale Farm – you can say hi to and feed donkeys, goats, pigs, sheep, lambs, and alpacas, amongst others.
With tickets under £10 per person, it’s a reasonably priced attraction- it’s totally bonkers and walking around the farm can sometimes feel like a hallucination, but children, especially younger ones, absolutely adore it!
Oxford Natural History Museum
🦕 Dinosaur bones
🐘 Fascinating skeletons + exhibits
💎 Amazing gems
🎓 Educational
The Natural History Museum in the heart of stunning Oxford is a truly great day out – and best of all, it’s totally free!
Much like the famous London Natural History Museum, fascinating skulls, skeletons and exhibits from dinos to bears, sea creatures to gemstones are homed here – showcasing all the treasures of the natural world and absolutely enthralling for children and adults alike.
Top attractions for our little ones we’re the blue whale skull, triceratops skulls, T-rex skull, and Edmontasaurus skeleton. They were also very impressed with the spider and crab displays!
The building itself is stunning, with high vaulted ceilings and beautoful stonework throughout – we actually preferred it to its London counterpart – a much more manageable size and hardly any crowds, even on a Saturday morning, which meant we could enjoy the exhibits without having to rush everywhere and battle millions of tourists (which as you would expect is a part of a visit to the London museum).
Another thing we loved were the friendly staff who had set up tables with fossils to explore and touch, they were so enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with the kids, and the boys loved talking to them. There were also plenty of scavenger style trails and colouring sheets for the kids to pick up, too.
National Trust Properties of the Cotswolds
🏚 Historic Houses
🏵 Gardens and Estates
🛝 Play areas
☕️ Cafe
Our wonderful National Trust offers great days out for families, and if you have a membership you can quite easily fill up the school holidays and weekends visiting different local (and not so local) places. We love ours and use it all the time both here in the Cotswolds and on different parts of the UK when we are off on our holidays.
Here in the Cotswolds we have a variety of places run by the National Trust to visit – from Grand Estates to Country Houses, with play areas, cafes and childrens trails, to unspoilt countryside areas preserved for walking and riding, check out our comprehensive guide of which National Trust gems you could explore in the Cotswolds.
Cotswold Little Explorers 