I always have a lot of questions about accommodati I always have a lot of questions about accommodation when we stay anywhere as a family so I thought I’d share this little tour of our room at @windjammerlanding which was a pretty perfect place to stay.

It’s the ‘Ocean View Two Bedroom’ which was like a little house, with an upstairs and downstairs, built into the hillside. Both rooms had outdoor space and their own shower rooms. Such a great option for a family.
A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. A little photo dump from our holiday in St Lucia. We’ve been back a few days now but still miss the heat, the food, the pool, the constant sounds of wildlife and the lovely people. It was such a great holiday and I’m sure we’ll be back one day.
And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is And just like that, Athena is 12! What a joy it is watching her grow and what a wonderful young woman she is becoming. We could not be more proud. Love you Pickle, have a great birthday.
We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in S We’ve just got back from two glorious weeks in St Lucia staying at @windjammerlanding and it was just the holiday we needed. Two weeks of sunshine and relaxation in what must be one of the most beautiful islands in the world. 

We can’t wait to go back again in the future. Here’s just a little snippet of our trip.
AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @na AD - Press Tickets | We had such a nice day at @national_motor_museum despite the rain! The children loved the Little Beaulieu play area and we loved exploring the National Motor Museum and Top Gear exhibit before having a ride on the monorail! We went on an old open topped bus, explored the Beaulieu Manor House and loved the gardens. 
Beaulieu is always a great day out - whatever the weather. This summer they have a whole ‘Summer of Fun’ planned, with activities most days - parades, bird shows and hundreds of sculptures within the grounds too. If you’re looking for a day out this summer definitely think about heading to Beaulieu.
AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to t AD - Press Tickets | Tonight we took the kids to their first concert - but it was so much more than just a concert! @abbavoyage is incredible. With CGI ABBA and a live band, it’s like being at an ABBA concert 40 years ago but with modern lighting, effects and sound. ABBA look and sound real, it’s a mind blowing experience.
The set includes all the songs you know and love as well as a few less familiar ones.
You can’t take photos during the show which actually made a refreshing change. A whole arena focused purely on the show and soaking up the moment. It’s definitely something the four of us will always remember.
Now, I’m off to sing Dancing Queen all the way home.
AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdo AD - Press Trip | We had such a great day at @phdockyard today. They have a fantastic Ultimate Explorer ticket that lets you visit all the attractions as many times as you like for 12 months - and after a day at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard we can see that you need more than one day to really do everything!

We explored HMS Warrior, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose Exhibition - which is incredible! We also saw where ships are built and restored and spent time in Action Stations where the kids climbed and did an assault course.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is such a fun, educational day out with something for all ages - we can’t wait to go on their harbour tours next time we visit!
AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To cel AD | WIN!! Would you love to win a holiday? To celebrate #100YearOfARoads National Highways have launched their #ARoadsToSummer competition! It's all about celebrating summer holiday moments, time together, fun in the sun, days out and more.

So why not be in it to win it? To enter, all you have to do is send @nationalhways a DM on here with a photo or video of your favourite holiday moments. You can also comment on their Facebook or Twitter #ARoadsToSummer posts with your holiday photos. I've shared a few of our favourite photos to give you some inspiration.

The best six entries will each win a £500 @nationaltrust holidays voucher! SO what are you waiting for? Dig out your favourite holiday photos or take some new ones to share!

The #ARoadsToSummer competition runs from 24 July to 10 September 2023. Winners will be announced in September 2023.

Good luck!
Oh these two! Every day I feel lucky to have them. Oh these two! Every day I feel lucky to have them. As school draws to a close at lunchtime, I’m looking forward to a whole summer with them. My favourite people.

They’ve both had a great year at school this year. Troy’s first without his sister by his side and Athena’s first at secondary school. 

They both had great reports, always did their best and have made some really lovely new friends this year. I could not be more proud of them.

Now, let’s go and enjoy the next six weeks before school starts all over again!
  • Reviews
  • Recipes
    • Slow Cooker Fudge Recipes
    • Christmas Recipes
    • Easter Recipes
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • All Recipes
  • Travel
  • Blog
  • About
  • Featured In…
  • Work With Me/Contact
  • Reviews
  • Recipes
  • Travel

What the Redhead said

The Future's Bright, The Future's Ginger

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • As Featured In…
  • Work with Me

Days Out · March 7, 2020

Our Favourite Days Out in Berkshire

We live on the Hampshire/Berkshire/Surrey border, in South East England, so many days out take us across Berkshire. I thought I’d share with you some of our favourite family days out in a county where we spend so much time.

Table of Contents

  • National Trust Sites
  • Outdoors Adventures
  • Activities, Entertainment and Play Centres
  • Castles
  • Theme Parks
  • Educational Days Out

National Trust Sites

Cliveden National Trust – Maidenhead

As we have National Trust membership, a trip to Cliveden is always a lovely day out. With gardens and woodland, a boating lake, maze and adventure play area it’s a day out that the whole family will enjoy. Here’s more about when we visited after the pandemic.

Cliveden National Trust - Maidenhead

Basildon Park National Trust – Reading

Carrying on our love of National Trust sites, Basildon Park is a great day out. With a really impressive house, grounds and woodland it’s a great place to explore at any time of the year. They always have children’s trails to follow in the school holidays too.

Basildon Park National Trust - Reading

Outdoors Adventures

Beale Park – Reading

The children have loved Beale Park since they were toddlers. With so many animals and so much outside space to explore and a fantastic play area including a Little Tikes village it’s a really lovely day out with children. There’s also a paddling pool and sand pit that they love in the warmer weather.

Beale Park - Reading

Wellington Country Park – Reading

We have loved Wellington Country Park since the children were tiny. It’s a guaranteed lovely day out for all the family if the weather’s nice with so many outdoor activities and things to do.

Wellington Country Park - Reading

There are so many adventure playgrounds, huge model dinosaurs, sand and water areas, a lovely petting farm and so much space to explore as well as a fantastic miniature railway. If you haven’t visited yet then it should be high on your list.


California Country Park – Wokingham

California Country Park on Nine Mile Ride is another beautiful outside space that we love to visit. It has fantastic play areas and the added bonus of a good size paddling pool too. It’s our favourite place to picnic over the summer.

California Country Park - Wokingham

The Look Out Discovery Centre – Bracknell

We love visiting The Look Out in Swinley Forest. You can just pay car parking and have free entry to the whole of the forest and the outdoor play areas. Or, for an educational and fun day out with young children you can pay to enter The Look Out and learn so much about science with over 90 hands on interactive exhibits. They do fantastic children’s parties too.

The Look Out Discovery Centre - Bracknell

Go Ape – Bracknell

The Look Out is also home to Go Ape, something we love to do as a treat for the kids or the whole family. It’s such a fun activity and I know we’ll do it for the children’s birthday treat at some point too! Make sure you check the Go Ape website and social media channels for special offers before you book!

Go Ape - Bracknell

Bucklebury Farm & Deer Safari Park – Reading

Bucklebury Farm and Deer Safari Park is a 77 acre site of fun for the whole family. It has all the farm animals you’d expect on a typical farm and a petting area too. But, it also has 150 deer occupying the deer park and indoor and outdoor play areas making the farm park a great day out whatever the weather. You can read more about Bucklebury Farm Park here.

Bucklebury Farm & Deer Safari Park - Reading

Activities, Entertainment and Play Centres

Active Tots – Reading

If you’re looking for a quiet indoor play centre for little ones then Active Tots is fantastic. We went a lot when Little Man was a toddler and loved the different soft play areas.

Active Tots - Reading

Active Tots is a soft play in a converted barn with free parking and it’s aimed at children up to a metre tall – and up to their fourth birthday, meaning it’s a really safe space for little ones to play and there’s a lovely cafe too.


Coral Reef – Bracknell

Everyone locally knows Coral Reef leisure centre as the place to go swimming. It’s not quite on the same level as something like Splash Landings at Alton Towers but with so many slides and a big pirate ship in the centre it’s a great water park to visit with children and there’s nothing else quite like it in Berkshire. You can read more about it here.

Coral Reef - Bracknell

Castles

Highclere Castle – Newbury

Any Downton Abbey fan will love a trip to Highclere Castle but children will also love the amount of outside space there is to run around and explore. Highclere is only open at certain times of the year but they always have lovely family friendly special events on and the gardens are stunning.

Highclere Castle - Newbury

Windsor Castle

One of the most well known attractions in Berkshire is Windsor Castle, and the surrounding Windsor area on the banks of the River Thames is well worth visiting too. The castle is one of the most well known buildings in the country, steeped in history and is breathtaking to walk around and with guided tours available. Make sure you book tickets online to skip the huge queues when you visit.

Windsor Castle

Theme Parks

Legoland Windsor

Our favourite family fun day out in Berkshire is the Legoland theme park – and the children would go there every weekend if we’d let them. I’ve written tips on how to survive school holidays at Legoland and always make sure you buy your tickets online before you go or get buy one get one free vouchers – it’s such an expensive day out otherwise! There are rides, Lego models and so many shows too.

Legoland Windsor

Educational Days Out

The Living Rainforest – Newbury

We’ve always thought of the Living Rainforest as a bit of a hidden gem. It teaches the children so much about rainforests and they feel like they’ve been transported to another country during every visit. The resident sloth is one of their favourite parts and admission lets you return free for a year too.

The Living Rainforest - Newbury

Museum of English Rural Life – Reading

The Reading Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) is a museum, library and archive dedicated to recording farming and the countryside in England as the years go by. Unlike most attractions, MERL is free to visit and has a beautiful garden with children’s activities and it’s a perfect activity for a rainy day too.

Museum of English Rural Life - Reading

So there you have our favourite Berkshire days out. Do you have any other recommendations? let me know and we’ll visit as soon as we can.

Our Favourite Days Out in Berkshire

In: Days Out

You’ll Also Love

Museum of Illusions Orlando Review
The Merlin Attractions in Orlando Florida
Potteries Museum and Art Gallery Stoke On Trent

Comments

  1. Jane Willis says

    March 7, 2020 at 8:00 am

    There are several places on your list that I’ve not heard of, so thank you for that, I’ve bookmarked it for when we are looking for places to take the grandchildren in the school holidays. As I too live on the Hampshire/Surrey/Berkshire borders I hope you will be doing (or have already done, must check back in case I missed one) similar guides for Surrey and Hampshire.

    Reply
  2. Mary @ Over 40 and a Mum to One says

    March 7, 2020 at 1:33 pm

    Thanks for including our post. Lots of great places to explore, including Wellington Country Park which I remember fondly from my own childhood.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Next Post >

Our Favourite Slow Cooker Fudge Flavours

About Me
Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

Sign up for Emails

looking for something?

Reader Favourites

Privacy Policy | Disclosure

Copyright © 2023 What the Redhead said · Theme by 17th Avenue