10 Best Family Things to Do in the Cotswolds

Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens offers the chance to see exotic wild animals up close like giraffes, lions and rhinos, all in the shadow of a Gothic manor house. This lavish zoological garden is spread over 48 hectares of park and features more than 260 species. Beyond the animal enclosures, the kids can explore a woodland adventure playground with treehouses, rope bridges, slides and fun in the canopies. At the Children’s farmyard, kids will get the chance to pet goats, feed penguins and interact with lemurs.

The park also has one of the largest reptile collections in the UK, including lizards, crocodiles and venomous snakes like green anacondas and black mambas. It’s just 23 minutes east of central Cotswolds.

Broadway Tower is a restored landmark in Worcestershire offering views of 16 different counties and distinctive, photogenic features that allow you to walk back in time. The tower is constantly being refurbished to preserve its design. It has stood since the late Georgian period and today features design elements from that period through the Victorian era. A walk through the tower includes a multimedia tour that allows you to stroll through history.

Steps away, visitors can enjoy the Tower Barn visitor centre, where you’ll learn about the tower's history and those who have lived there over the years. Finally, stop at the Morris & Brown cafe for a bite to eat and a souvenir.

Birdland Park & Gardens is a bird watchers’ paradise set with nearly 4 hectares of woodland and tended gardens cut through by the River Windrush. Here you can see dozens of species of birds in their natural habitats and experience a surprise. While walking the trails, you’ll come across Jurassic Journey, where you and your kids will walk back to prehistoric days to see life-size dinosaurs and even get the chance to dig for buried fossils at the Dino Dig.

Birdland Park is a fun, exciting, educational journey for adults and children alike. It’s found in Cheltenham, UK, about 18 minutes north of central Cotswolds.

The Model Village is an intricate, enchanting 9th-scale replica of the town of Bourbon on the Water, with every building faithfully recreated and wondrous to see. The Model Village was created over 5 years by a landlord who ran the Old New Inn. It has been enchanting visitors since 1937. Today it’s a Grade II listed attraction. It has never been altered or added to, so it still resembles the town as it was 80 years ago, including living trees and the miniature River Windrush winding through it.

The village is so real you can even hear the congregation singing in the church. It sits in its namesake village and is just about 20 minutes north of central Cotswolds.

The Cotswold Motoring Museum & Toy Collection offers thrills for petrolheads of every age, with an astounding collection of vintage vehicles and toys going back nearly a century. The galleries are in a converted historic water mill and allow you to see, touch and experience classic cars, motorbikes, caravans and auto memorabilia. At the same time, you can speculate on how they managed to get all those full-sized vehicles indoors. It’s also home to BBC TV’s Brum, and you can even ride on it.

Kids will enjoy the children’s play area, and adults will find themselves transported decades into the past and to their own childhood. It’s in Bourton-on-the-Water, 20 minutes north of central Cotswolds.

Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park is a fun-filled day out engaging with various animals while learning about the importance of rare breed conservation. At the Touch Barn, visitors can pet animals, meet more than 50 herds and flocks of traditional farm animals, including Highland cattle and Old Spot Pigs and explore themed areas like the Animal Barn, Discovery Barn and Adventure Barn. Other play areas include the farm safari, jumping pillows and a maze to explore.

When you’ve finished engaging with the animals and exploring the play areas, the whole family can head to the onsite restaurant and enjoy a fresh, farm-to-table meal. It’s located in Gloucestershire, about 24 minutes north of central Cotswolds.

Cotswold treasure and discovery trails allow you to explore the heritage of the Cotswolds using a trail pack and treasure maps to explore over 5,500 years of history. The map will guide you to many famous locations around the Cotswolds and hidden gems of the areas. At each site, you will discover a fascinating wealth of information. You will uncover secrets as you solve puzzles and answer clues with your pack.

These trail maps and packs add extra fun, excitement and play to exploring the Cotswolds region. Besides the usual sites, you’ll also discover things like an Iron Age fort, Roman Amphitheatre, Stone Age monument and the locations of Elizabethan conspiracies.

The Cotswold Country Park & Beach offers a freshwater sun, sand, water and parkland escape in the heart of the Cotswolds for a relaxing day out. At this expansive inland beach park, you can relax and swim on a sandy beach around a lagoon, play miniature golf, have a picnic or play sports on the rolling green space. You can get back to nature by exploring groves of trees and woodlands. Kids and adults can enjoy an aquatic adventure obstacle course.

During the summer, the family can experience Tolly’s Summer Circus or watch big-budget blockbuster films for free at the Open Air Cinema in the evenings. It’s about 25 minutes south of central Cotswolds.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway is a volunteer-operated heritage railway and offers 26 miles of countryside views from historic locomotives. The trains run twice a day from stops across the Cotswolds, and you can ride either a classic steam train or a diesel locomotive from the 1960s. Carriage tables are ideal for picnic lunches with the family, and the kids get free quiz sheets with games to play as they ride. You’ll catch views of small villages through the Malvern Hills and several scenic stations along the way.

At the stops, you can visit displays of historic vehicles and monuments and even check out some small museums. Lucky little ones might even get a chance to see the engine at work.

The Forest of Dean is on the western side of the River Severn and offers an ancient forest and river valley where you can return to nature. These unspoiled woodlands allow you to get off the beaten track for a while and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life with miles of hiking and cycling racks. You can also see more medieval castles than elsewhere in the UK, visit filming locations for ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Merlin’, go spelunking in ancient caves, or even ride on a historic steam railway.

The forest also offers a sculpture trail dotted with dozens of statues. You will find routes for kayaking and can take a break at a riverside pub.