Amazing family adventure holidays in the UK

You don’t need to travel to the other side of the planet to feel like you’ve experienced an adventurous holiday. We might not have tropical climes or man-eating animals to contend with, but I think we have some pretty amazing landscapes to explore including some of the most picturesque coastlines I’ve seen anywhere in the world.

What is there to do on family adventure holidays in the UK? We have mountains to climb; hills to cycle down (or up); surfing and sailing; hiking and climbing; and some pretty amazing wildlife. You can enjoy family activity short breaks and teenage family adventure holidays in the UK.

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Why book a family adventure holiday in the UK?

As kids get older, parents often need to look towards a different type of trip. Family activity holidays are a great way to keep teens interested. Family adventure holidays create memories for all the clan to look back on in years to come.

If you’re on a budget, there are some great all inclusive activity holidays in the UK – food, accommodation and activities are all included in the price, so you know exactly how much your holiday is going to cost. I’ve included a range of cheap family adventure holidays in the UK in this article.

I’ve put together a whole range of family activity holidays – some are centred around a base where you might meet other like-minded families. Others have a more independent vibe. I hope you find these family holiday ideas useful and do get in touch if you have any suggestions to add.

I haven’t given any age indications in this article as children are so different in terms of their ability and interest levels. We all know our own children and what they are capable of.

PGL and other family adventure holiday centres

PGL family adventure holidays

You might think PGL is just for school kids but no, you can visit as a family too. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I’ve heard really good reports from parents who’ve done a PGL trip with their children.

PGL family adventure holidays are a good option if your budget won’t stretch to Center Parcs – activities and food are all included so you’ll book with the peace of mind that you know how much you’re spending.

Find out more about PGL family adventure holidays

Preseli Venture

This Pembrokeshire outdoor adventure centre is perfect for water babies. There’s sea kayaking, coasteering and surfing available across the action-packed activity week. Families can opt for a full-on itinerary of activities or a less intense week offering a mix of local sightseeing in the beautiful Pembrokeshire countryside.

Accommodation looks cosy and full board meals are provided -perfect for parents who fancy a break from cooking.

Find out more about Preseli Venture family activity holidays

JCA Adventure Holidays

Another popular residential resort for school groups, JCA in Shropshire also offers short adventure breaks for families. You can book three or four night breaks with accommodation, meals and activities all included.

Activities at JCA include raft building, kayaking and high ropes courses.

Find out more about JCA Adventure Holidays

High Adventure Holidays

Another activity-packed adventure holiday for families, this time in the Yorkshire Dales. Along with on-site climbing, high ropes and archery, guests are also bussed off to nearby attractions such as Malham Cove and Goredale Scar.

Accommodation and meals are included as well as transport when visiting attractions off-site.

Find out more about High Adventure Holidays

YHA activity centres

YHA now offers activity breaks at three locations across the UK – Edale in the Peak District, Llanddeusant in south Wales and Oakhampton in Devon.

There’s a good mix of activities on offer including water sports, rock climbing and archery. Accommodation, food and activities are all included in the price.

Camp Wilderness family adventure breaks

Fancy going back to basics? These family adventure short breaks are ideal for anyone after a break from the rat race. Camp Wilderness offers two and three day weekend escapes for families at two locations in the UK – Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire (there are various other locations if you fancy sending the kids off without you).

Activities include bushcraft, wilderness first aid and trap building. Families stay in bell tents and the website states you’ll be unplugged from technology. Sounds like my kind of place!

Find out more about Camp Wilderness

Family cycling holidays in the UK

Although cycling on British roads is very much the wrong sort of family adventure, the UK does have a decent network of traffic free cycle routes, some linked by quiet roads. I’ve written an article about day cycle rides for families – there are some excellent disused railway lines across the country which make for a brilliant day out on two wheels.

If you’re after a multi-day family cycle holiday, here are some suggestions which I’m looking forward to trying with my kids in the coming years.

Devon Coast to Coast cycling adventure

I love the sound of this trip – taking cyclists from North Devon to South, travelling along the western edge of Dartmoor. The route is around 100 miles in length, mostly flat and over half of it is traffic-free. It starts in Ilfracombe and takes in the Tarka Trail, a disused railway line passing Barnstaple, Bideford and Great Torrington. The route ends in Plymouth with plenty of lovely South Devon spots to retreat to for a bit of beach time.

Read about our trip to North Devon which included a day’s cycling on the Tarka Trail.

There are plenty of resources on the internet including Sustrans and Devon Council’s Explore Devon.

Viking Coastal Trail

The 32 mile Viking Coastal Trail through Kent takes in some of the county’s best beach towns along with an inland section along relatively quiet roads. There’s a really useful Viking Coastal Trail guide with suggestions on how to break it up into small chunks so if you don’t want to tackle any of the roads, you can just cycle the car-free sections.

If you’re cycling with little ones and want to enjoy the route over several days, there are some lovely places to spend a night and some interesting places to book for a night or two so that you can explore each area in a bit more depth. If I was doing this route, I’d aim to stop for a couple of nights in Broadstairs – we loved this seaside town during our recent trip to Kent.

If you’d prefer a single centre cycling holiday, the New Forest is hard to beat for a family adventure holiday. There are so many safe cycle routes for kids and aside from the odd hill here and there, the terrain is fairly flat.

Further resources for cycling in the UK with kids

Family bikes rides across the UK – I’ve put together this list of traffic-free bike rides, some of which I’ve done with my kids and some of which I’m keen to try in the future.

Sustrans – the home of the National Cycle Network, this charity has lots of resources for families including traffic free routes and seaside trails.

Lost Lanes – this is a series of books detailing great cycle rides across the UK.

Skedaddle – this tour operator will book your accommodation for you and will even transport your luggage too.

Cycling for Softies – as the name suggests, this is for cyclists who don’t like to rough it. There’s a specific one centre cycling holiday in Sussex for families or you can opt for one of the general bike trips if you have older children.

Go island hopping in Scotland

If you want to feel like you’re really getting away from it all without leaving the UK, heading to some of the more remote parts of Scotland should give you that sense of adventure. Visit Scotland has the low down on what each island has to offer and has lots of suggestions for island hopping.

I like the sound of the west coast explorer which takes in standing stones on Arran, beautiful beaches on Islay, red deer on remote Jura, a clifftop castle on Mull and colourful Tobermory harbour. Further north, the Hebridean Way Cycling Route sounds like a brilliant adventure – 185 miles across 10 islands.

Visit Scotland has plenty of ideas and information for you to plan an island hopping family adventure holiday.

Water sports holidays for families in the UK

From surfing in Cornwall to sailing along the Isle of Wight, there’s no shortage of water sports adventures for families in the UK.

Cornwall and Devon have a huge number of surf schools to hone your wave-riding skills. For something a little different, I’ve heard good reviews about Adventure Parc Snowdonia which features an inland surfing lake.

Sticking with Wales, the snorkelling in Pembrokeshire is meant to be excellent with the chance to swim close to seals and sharks (blue ones which won’t eat your children). Read more about snorkelling holidays here.

In the New Forest, Calshot Activity Centre offers paddle sports, windsurfing and sailing. There’s also various indoor activities on offer too including climbing and dry slope skiing.

We have lots of holiday parks in the UK. Some are great while others are a bit grotty. One of the best ones – for water sports enthusiasts – is Pentewan Sands Holiday Park in Cornwall. It features a private beach and two indoor swimming pools and there’s a range of accommodation options including chalets and camping. On the beach you can book paddle boards, kayaks, windsurfs and surfboards.

If you’re planning a UK camping trip this summer and you’d like to be close to water, check out my guide to the best waterfront and lakeside campsites across the UK. I will be working my way through this list for the next few years!

Explore the landscapes and seascapes made famous by Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo has set several novels on the Isles of Scilly. Hop on the ferry from Penzance to the Scillies and follow in the footsteps of this much-loved children’s author.

The main island of St Mary’s is quite lively but if you take a boat to one of the off-islands – such as Bryher – you’ll soon feel like you’re on a family adventure with empty beaches and big horizons.

Find out all about the Scilly Islands here

Enjoy a family-friendly UK festival

Whilst Glastonbury might not be everyone’s idea of family fun, there are plenty of smaller music festivals across the UK which are idea for families. Here in Hertfordshire we have Standon Calling which caters really well for families with a special camping area, kids zone and even an outdoor swimming pool to cool off in.

The Big Feastival in the Cotswolds is another family favourite with the emphasis on food as well as music. Just make sure you bring plenty of dosh to this one!

For something more intimate, the Just So festival in Cheshire embraces theatre, art and music and is particularly good for little kids.

Hire a narrow boat

In this busy world we live in, being forced to travel at four miles an hour is good for the soul. Even the petrol-headed, speedy members of my family enjoy a leisurely trip on the water from time to time. I’ve not taken the kids on a boat for longer than a day but I reckon they’d love a short break on the Norfolk Broads or one of the regional canals.

Hoseasons has a really good selection of boating holidays and there are plenty of local outfits – we have hired day boats from Galleon Marine in Hampshire and Caversham Boat Service in Reading. Both offer boats for longer holidays and on the occasions we’ve hired boats we’ve always wished we had longer on them.

Climb a mountain

One of my children often gets bored within five minutes of setting out on a “walk” unless there’s plenty of distractions to keep him interested. However, if there’s a decent incline involved, a new motivation takes hold and he happily runs up the side of the hill.

There are some really good challenging mountain and hill climbs in the UK – ideal for family adventure holidays. One of the most popular is Snowdon but there are plenty of less well-trodden options. If you want to really get away from the crowds, I would recommend heading to Northern Ireland’s Mourne Mountains. They might not be as high as those in Scotland and Wales but they have their own unique challenges. And they benefit from their proximity to some pretty incredible coastline so you can have a dip in the sea after summiting a peak!

There are lots of great articles online about UK mountains to conquer. Countryfile has a good list of beginner peaks – ideal if you’re starting out with little ones in tow.

If you have older children, you might be tempted by the Three Peaks Challenge. The national version of this gruelling event involves summiting Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike. There are also regional versions – you can climb three peaks in Wales or England if you fancy something a little less challenging.

Center Parcs and other active holiday breaks for families

There’s no doubting that Center Parcs makes for a great active family holiday. But did you know there are plenty of Center Parcs alternatives?

Bluestone in Pembrokeshire, southern Wales, is often mentioned as a great alternative to Center Parcs. It has a popular indoor swimming pool complex complete with slides and wave machine. There are plenty of outdoor activities including kayaking and stand up paddle boarding, archery and high ropes.

Landal Green Parks has resorts across the UK including the popular Darwin Forest in the Peak District. Visitors can enjoy an indoor pool, excellent adventure indoor and outdoor play areas plus various sporting facilities.

If you’re not fussed about all the varied activities on offer at Center Parcs but you still fancy the forest lodge experience, Forest Holidays is a good alternative. We stayed at the Forest of Dean resort for my 40th birthday and splashed out on a hot tub which was great fun on a winter’s night beneath the stars. Perfect for luxury family adventure holidays.

Sandy Balls in the New Forest is part of the Away Resorts group. There’s heaps of Center Parcs-type activities – crafts galore, alpacas, Segways, archery and bug hunts – something for every conceivable interest seems to be covered here. There are indoor and outdoor swimming pools and there are plenty of cycling and walking opportunities.

Stay in a YHA for budget family adventure holidays

Fancy a budget family adventure in the UK? There are YHA youth hostels in some pretty spectacular places. And if you think hostelling involves staying in a dorm with lots of rowdy backpackers – think again.

We stayed in a cosy little wooden pod near the foot of Pen-y-Fan at the Brecon Beacons YHA. We had our own fire pit and loads of space for the kids to run around.

One of my friends loves the Skiddaw bunkhouse in the Lake District. Only reachable on foot or by bike, this back to basics accommodation has no internet or phone signal and solar panels provide light and heat the water.

I’m keen to try out the YHA Boggle Hole near Robin Hoods Bay – it has a great location, walking distance to the beach and there’s a pirate themed bar and courtyard.

Find out more about YHA accommodation here

Explore Northern Ireland with kids

If you’ve enjoyed holidays in Cornwall and Wales, why not try Northern Island for a family adventure holiday? The beaches on the Antrim coast are stunning – long swathes of sand and a fraction of the visitors you’d find in other parts of the UK. Family adventures in Northern Ireland include scaling the peaks of the Mourne Mountains and scrambling over the rocks of the Giant’s Causeway.

North Ireland has fantastic castles to let kids’ imaginations run wild. Older children will enjoy tracking down scenes from the Game of Thrones – the Dark Hedges is a popular spot.

If you fancy learning to surf, there are some good surfing beaches along the North Antrim Coast. Alternatively, hop on the ferry to Rathlin Island – home to puffins and seals. There are walking trails and bike routes with cycle hire available on the island.

Find out more about things to do in Northern Island for families here.

North Wales family activity holidays

Experience adventure and history in one with a visit to the Llechwedd slate mines. This former quarry is now a top visitor attraction with zip wires, a subterranean net-bouncing exploration of the caverns, go-karting and even underground golf.

You can stay in the heart of the action in a luxurious safari tent within walking distance of all the main attractions – check out Llechwedd Glamping.

After a few days enjoying the thrills and spills of Llechwedd, why not head over to Anglesey for a beach break? We love this corner of Wales with its endless sandy beaches, beautiful forests and peaceful coastal walks.

Find out more about things to do in Anglesey with kids.

Stay in a beach hut in England

Most traditional beach huts are for day use only but there are a few exceptions to this rule.

In Whitstable, there are some converted fishermen’s huts right on the seafront. These huts feature two bedrooms and a bathroom – ideal for families (some sleep three children).

Dorset has some cosy wooden huts right on the sand at Mudeford Sandbanks. This is a more back to basics experience with shared bathroom facilities – but it’s worth foregoing the comfortable to roll out of bed right on to the sandy beach.

I rather like the sound of the Beach House on Sheppey Island in Kent. Overlooking a deserted beach, it’s the perfect place to get away from it all, despite its proximity to London.

Find out more about beach huts here

Camping adventure holidays for families

There are campsites across the UK in some truly sensational places. If your budget doesn’t stretch to a cottage next to the sea or a house with a huge garden, it’s worth seeking out some of the more impressively located campsites the UK has to offer.

If you fancy a Famous Five type of adventure, you could try family camping on Brownsea Island. Owned by the National Trust, this is the home of Scouting – Robert Baden-Powell first tested out his scouting ideas on this Dorset island. Car-free and a haven for wildlife, the island has bell tents or traditional camping pitches, depending on the level of comfort you require.

For something a little more remote, you could pack up your camping gear and head to the Scilly Isles or head to the far north of Scotland and pitch your tent next to the beach at Sango Sands.

Looking for woodlands rather than beaches? We had a great stay at Hill Farm Campsite which is within walking distance of Wendover Woods, on the border of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The campsite is small but spacious enough for a game of cricket (in the rain on our visit!). We also had a great stay camping in the woods at Bush Farm Bison Centre in Wiltshire and we also enjoyed the location of Redshoot Camping Park in the New Forest with its direct access to endless cycle paths.

Can’t face camping? Try a family glamping adventure

One of the most enjoyable places we’ve stayed at in recent years is Dale2Swale glamping in North Yorkshire. Admittedly, it was midway through the pandemic so anywhere that wasn’t our house might well have felt like paradise. Anyway, we loved the open space, big sky and tranquillity. The kids entertained themselves tearing across the field, collecting sticks and generally enjoying the freedom. I enjoyed having a quiet cuppa early one morning on the veranda before anyone else was up.

We also had a brilliant stay in a little pod at the YHA Brecon Beacons. We had our own fire pit and access to excellent self catering facilities. It’s a two minute drive to the Pen-y-Fan car park and a short drive to Brecon town.

Check out some other UK family-friendly glamping sites here

Stay in an historic building

For a proper family holiday adventure, what could beat staying in a lighthouse? Perhaps a remote bothy is more your style, a waterfront castle or maybe you want to stay in an imposing old country pile for a big family celebration.

Whatever your dream holiday home might be, chances are the National Trust, Landmark Trust or Historic UK will have something perfect to offer you. Just make sure you plan way in advance – some of the more exciting properties get booked up pretty quickly.

Stay on a farm for a rural family holiday

If you’re travelling with little children, staying on a farm can be a great adventure – particularly if you head to a part of the UK you haven’t visited before.

Some farm holidays offer an all-singing all-dancing experience of swimming pools and playgrounds – such as Torridge House in Devon. Other farms are a bit more back to basics with the emphasis on farming rather than holiday. But there are plenty of options which allow you to have a proper holiday whilst still having an authentic farm experience.

I’ve written reviews of some of our farm stay holidays. Some of them are campsites and others are self catering accommodation – all were really good fun.

Here are some other options to consider:

Farm Stay – this website has hundreds of farms to choose from for a family holiday.

WWOOFing – this originally stood for Working Weekends on Organic Farms. Nowadays, the farm stays through this portal tend to be longer. The general idea is that you work in exchange for board and lodging. I’m not sure if my kids would be up for this type of holiday in the UK but it’s certainly an experience!

Pre-kids, I spent a week on an eco smallholding near Margaret River in Western Australia – planting, mulching and surprisingly little digging. Closer to home, there are opportunities to work all over the UK on farms and smallholdings. If you want to have a really cheap family holiday and explore somewhere new, this is definitely worth considering.

Enjoy a walking holiday with kids

My kids really impressed me this year with their stamina. We spent four nights in the Peak District and spent all day every day outside walking. Before the trip, I had been unsure how keen one of the boys would be on walking each day but we picked routes which had plenty of climbing, scrambling and leaping over rivers.

The highlight for all of us was a day out hiking Kinder Scout. This is a really fun walk for kids. It starts from the village of Edale with a gentle incline then turns into more of a clamber as the route follows a river upstream over huge rocks and boulders. Once on the ridge, there’s a few miles over the peat bogs with interesting shaped rocks to play on. The route then descends (surprisingly gently so your legs don’t hurt) before a small final incline and then back to the start. There’s an excellent pub in Edale to celebrate in afterwards.

We found a really good value AirBnB in the village of Chapel en le Frith so it was a very good value and enjoyable break.

Multi day hiking adventures for families

If you agree that it’s the journey not the destination which makes the holiday, a multi-day walking holiday is worth considering. Some walking trips in the UK are better suited to older children – the classic coast to coast walk in northern England which takes you through the Lakes District, Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors looks like a fantastic experience for kids who can handle long days on their feet.

Sections of the South West Coastal Path might suit younger walkers with plenty of little seaside towns to rest weary limbs.

Another option is to walk to one of the less accessible YHA hostels – this is a great option if you’re not sure the kids are ready to handle a proper multi-day hike with luggage on their backs. Black Sail is the YHA’s most remote hostel, 2.5 miles from the nearest road. There’s a choice of self catering or meals to pay for – no doubt the cooked breakfasts are a popular choice for families heading out into the mountains for a day of adventure.

Wildlife holidays in the UK

You don’t need to travel to Africa to experience incredible wildlife. We have some pretty amazing animals right here in the UK. And if you’ve been captivated by the recent BBC Wild Isles series, here are some wildlife family adventures to consider.

One of my favourite UK trips to date was a camping break in Pembrokeshire. We hopped on the ferry over to Skomer Island to witness the puffins nesting. They are such comical birds – flying in with a beak full of fish and taking up residence in abandoned rabbit warrens. The clumsy landings belie the skilful moves they make beneath the waves.

It’s possible to book an overnight stay on Skomer Island – I’d love to do this. The island’s hostel sleeps 16 and visitors have to bring all their bedding and food with them. It’s a perfect May half term break when you’re pretty much guaranteed to see these delightful birds.

There are other locations to view puffins across the UK including Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland and the Farne Islands in Northumberland. The birds nest during late spring and summer so May half term and the start of the summer holidays are good times to view these delightful birds.

Seal watching is another great wildlife experience in the UK. Blakney Point in Norfolk is a reliable destination to see seals and Skomer Island is perfect if you’d like to see puffins and seals in the same trip – we saw plenty of both during our visit to the island.

If you’d like to see whales in the UK, you’ll need to head either to the far south west or the far north of the British Isles for the best chance to see these incredible mammals. Much of the Cornish coast – north and south – offers the chance to view whales and also basking sharks. In Scotland, the islands of the Outer Hebrides are the best locations for whale watching with sightings including orca, minke and humpback whales.

Dolphins are easier to spot. We’ve seen them around the coast at Anglesey and we witnessed a pod zip through the ocean whilst we were watching a play at the Minnack Theatre in Cornwall. For reliable sightings, Cardigan Bay in Wales is one of the best UK destinations for dolphins.

History adventure holidays

We’re heading to Puy du Fou in France this summer for what I hope is an amazing history experience. This spectacle near Nantes puts on re-enactments of various moments from history with casts in their thousands and plenty of dramatic stage shows and pyrotechnics.

Closer to home, you can enjoy historical drama in County Durham with a trip through 2,000 years of history with the spectacle Kynren. Hundreds of actors, plenty of battles and dramatic horsemanship provide an epic show which children will love.

If you’d prefer something little more restrained, stays at Warwick Castle are a great way to take a step back in time – the price has always put me off doing this but I bet it’s great fun. For something a little cheaper, we have a great glamping spot near us called Celtic Harmony. Families can stay in a traditional roundhouse and enjoy campfires, night time walks and archery.

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Have you enjoyed any family adventure holidays in the UK? Let me know in the comments below.