Cornwall always has been, and always will be, a fantastic choice for a family holiday. Apart from a day on the beach, building sandcastles, flying kites and splashing in the water, there are a host of great places to visit that will keep your little ones occupied and fascinated for hours on end. Family vacations build great memories for years to come.
From personal experience, I know that some places are more suited for a family day out than others, so I will list a few activities that won Tourist Attraction of the Year
DairyLand Farm World enjoy the fun of an all-weather attraction, providing entertainment for all ages - Rain or Shine. Meets lots of beautiful animals, including lambs, kids, rabbits, donkeys, piglets and Lawrence the Llama. There are also Chinchillas, chipmunks and storks. Daily events include bottle-feeding, pat-a-pet, pony rides and have a go milking with Clarabelle the cyder cow - an udder event for all the family. Clarabelle's space age Orbiter - cows milked in space! An experience you'll never forget. Journey back in time, in the Cornish Heritage Centre - fascinating look at how we used to live and work. The adventure playground offers lots of rides, play equipment and entertainment, you can experience a Lamborghini Hayride through the beauty of the Nature Trail and much more.......
Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium offers visitors a dazzling undersea safari through the oceans of the world. Overlooking the mighty Atlantic Ocean, Blue Reef lets you explore Cornwalls hidden treasures in a series of naturally themed displays highlighting the incredible variety of creatures - from starfish to stingrays - living just beyond the surf. Visitors to Blue Reef are then transported to the spectacular 'underwater gardens' of the Mediterranean and the stunning beauty of tropical waters - home to everything from seahorses and puffer fish to living corals and moray eels. At its heart is a giant tropical ocean tank where an underwater walk through tunnel offers incredible close encounters with tropical sharks, and thousands of colourful reef fish. Don't miss the Blue Reef Nursery, giant crabs and the largest Octopus species found on earth. More than 30 naturally themed displays reveal the sheer variety of life in the deep.
Springfields Fun Park & Pony Centre has more than 30 adorable ponies. The ponies can be ridden, groomed and our daily pony show is not to be missed. More than a great day out - a wonderful childhood experience. An action packed day for all the family with acres of space to run and play. Whatever the weather our giant indoor Play Barn and under cover activities mean there is always plenty to do. Indoor Fun - with 11,000 square feet our Fun barn contains a multitude of play equipment and activities to keep the most active children fully occupied. Slide Zone Always a favourite with the brave our Death Drop Slide is now joined by our super fast Astra Slide. Exhilarating fun for the adrenalin lovers and much, much more to do. You can get a 1/2 price ticket if you return within 14 days, so stay overnight at any of the family friendly hotels in the area.
If your children are older you may want to visit Cornwall’s Crealy for Maximum Fun guaranteed at the county’s biggest family attraction. Brave the real Beast of Cornwall! At 15 metres tall and frighteningly fast, The Beast towers high in the sky, looming above those too scared to ride! Consider your fate as you slowly climb high up in the sky. Before you can shout ‘Don’t look down!’…WHOOSH! Your heart shoots into your throat as you drop screaming to the ground. Venture into the Realms of Magic, Action, Wild Water, Enchantment, Nature and Animals with hundreds of the county’s cuddliest furry friends to meet and feed!Climb aboard the Viking Warrior Ship, swinging high through the air, slide down the Raging Rivers raft ride to the biggest splash of your life and whoosh down the rapids of Thunder Falls - Cornwall’s only doubled drop log flume. Journey on the Safari Train, around the Silver Mines Lakes and tip-toe across the stepping stones, sneak over the bridges of SwampBusters and look out for Swampy – our favourite green friend. Explore 40,000 sq. ft. of indoor action to discover dragons, ghosts and surprises! Sneak into the darkness of the Haunted House but watch out for ghouls hiding in the corners! Drop into blackness of the Slide of Doom and creep through the shadows. With courage as your armour, climb, swing, slide and leap your way through the Dragon’s Kingdom! Outside, scale the heights of the aerial walkways and climbing nets, glide down the bumpy slides and zip along on the super fast cable wire.
Trebah Garden is a uniquely beautiful, 26 acre Cornish ravine garden - the wild and magical result of 160 years of inspired and dedicated creation. A steeply wooded ravine descends 200 feet down to a private beach on the Helford River. A stream cascades over waterfalls and meanders through ponds of great koi carp and exotic water plants before winding through two acres of blue and white hydrangeas and spilling onto the beach. Glades of subtropical ferns and palms mingle with a forest of trees and shrubs in ever changing colours and scents, contained beneath a canopy of century-old rhododendrons and magnolias. Trebah is also a garden that children adore. They marvel at the Gunnera passage, a tunnel of giant rhubarb 16 feet high, and race around the Bamboozle. There are play areas and trails for children of all ages, and with swimming and picnics on the beach, it makes a perfect setting for a family day out.
Dubbed the 'Eighth Wonder of the World' by some, Eden Project is a dramatic global garden housed in tropical biomes that nestle in a crater the size of 30 football pitches. With a worldwide reputation Eden barely needs an introduction, but this epic destination definitely deserves a day of your undivided attention. More than just a huge, tropical garden, Eden is a gateway into the relationships between plants and people, and a fascinating insight into the story of mankind's dependence on plant life. Not only a mind-blowing visitor attraction, A fascinating location, but, more importantly, Eden is a fun and family friendly day out. Curious kids can find out where tea, rubber and sugar come from, and travel the world to the simulated environments of tropical destinations that they dream of traveling to in the future. There are themed events according to the seasons, workshops for adults and children, activity days, music concerts and much more besides. There's no stress about packing up a family survival kit - facilities include on-site restaurants and cafes, gift shops and well equipped child- and baby-friendly toilet facilities. In fact, for a day out you needn't worry about taking much more than yourselves. Eden is also offers easy access to wheelchairs and buggies.
There are also some fantastic free parks to be found in most of the towns and villages around the county. Check with the Tourist Information Centre near to where you are staying for the best recommendations.
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