We visited Northumberland Zoo with the 3 of us on a Sunday and spent a few hours there. It is a…read morelovely small zoo that has some unique animals, though, whether it is a snow leopard or the Livingstone bats. The zoo is well maintained with friendly staff and decent catering. Well worth the visit.

Now called Northumberland Zoo. This is a family run zoo and everyone is very friendly. They still…read morehave the farm side but also snow leopards, a monkey house, raccoons, lynx, scottish wild cats, an arctic fox and more. Value for money with a cafe and soft play for the kids. Well worth a visit!

Funky Farm is a large softplay centre situated on the outskirts of Northallerton. Its a large…read moresoftplay with a dedicated area for babies and toddlers, a netted football / basketball area, a big (and very scary for us wimps of mothers) slide, several ball pits, soft stairs you name it - it is in there! The equipment is clean and in good repair and whether my 2.5yr old son is there or my 8 year old nephew - there is something for both of them! Peppered around the room are numerous coin slot type rides (which generally the kids play on without them moving!), some fake tattoo machines, bouncy ball machines and a teddy grabber. All extra expense but I've heard a thousand times Mums & Dads tell their little ones that it's broken Darling so most of us get away with not handing over the pennies! The food is impressive - everything from chips and chicken nuggets, veggie chilli and rice, hot panini's fish fingers - HUGE baguettes, salads, home made soups and a large choice of drinks, icecreams and sweet cakes etc. They do have some gluten free items available too. The food is somewhat on the pricey side but of a high quality and very decent portions. There are three toilets, one being a disabled / baby changing room and these are kept clean and tidy. Funky Farm also caters for themed parties and although I've never attended one I have been there when they have been on and they seem well organised and a lot of fun! Opening times are 10am - 6pm Tuesday - Sunday. There is plenty of private parking for patrons.

The Forbidden Corner is one of our favourite days out. It is an attraction that appeals to all…read moremembers of the family, with so many hidden surprises to uncover. You must pre-book your tickets because availability is limited in order to help prevent the attraction from getting overcrowded. You can discover a whole lot more about what's on offer at The Forbidden Corner on Attractions Near Me - https://www.attractionsnearme.co.uk/places/activities/the-forbidden-corner/

A quirky, creepy, corner, hidden away in deepest darkest Yorkshire? I'm sure you're wondering what…read morethis is all about? The Forbidden Corner takes twisted imagination, and turns it into genuine childlike wonder. It's a take on traditional country gardens, walled around the outside, with some interesting things on the inside. Within the twists and turns, there's lots to see, including bears playing cards, frogs on a fountain, a talking crow, and so much more. I'm not going to go into more detail there at risk of spoiling the surprise. So, why should you go? You should go if you want to rekindle your childhood sense of whimsy, of discovering hidden things, of exploring, of secret passageways and concealed paths. You're bound to find something here that makes you smile! There's both a café and a restaurant on site. The café serves the usual sandwiches, pies and pasties, wholes the restaurant has a more extensive menu. You can also take picnic, but can't eat it inside - there is a picnic area outside, and your ticket let's you go in and out as many times as you want. To go, you have to book in advance and pick a time slot. There isn't a limit on how long you can stay in, just when you can enter. I'd suggest booking as soon as you can, and picking out an early time. We spent about five hours, and that felt like a good length of time to be there. I'll be going back in the future - it was great fun, and well worth the trip.

I visited Big Sheep Little Cow while staying in the area on a family holiday…read more This is a great attraction with lots to keep the kids and adults entertained. There is an excellent indoor play area, some outdoor play areas with go karts and ride on trikes..., and of course a huge selection of farm animals for your little ones to learn about. There is a cafe serving lunches and refreshments, and a party area upstairs. It cost us £24 for two adults and my three year old to access the playbarn and go on the farm tour, and my one year old went free. You can pay less just to access the playbarn, without going on the farm tour. This seems to be a great spot for parent and toddler meet ups. The farm tour was really excellent - lasting around an hour, with the opportunity to hold/pet mice, rats, Guinea pigs, and hedgehogs in the indoor small animal section. We then moved outside and saw goats, llama, pigs, donkeys, Shetland Ponies, sheep, chickens and ducks. There was lots of opportunities for the little ones to interact with the animals such as brushing the pig, sitting on the Shetland pony and feeding the hungry lambs. We all had a great day out at Big Sheep Little Cow and my three year old in particular got to try out new things through interacting with the farm animals. Special mention to all the lovely staff we came across - everyone was so friendly, and we all left smiling!

Fabulous place for kids and animal soppy adults. For the entrance fee you get a tour of the animals…read more- usually lambs, calves, a pig you can wash, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, chickens etc.If you visit at the right time you can feed the lambs and or calves. You can also pay a little more and use their indoor play barn (adults can go on the equipment too!) with a death slide etc. They have a decent cafe and at peak times the tractor ride and go-karts are open. A great day out - or party destination. Dry or wet weather.

£4.50 per child for a large soft play area, which easily occupied for 2 hours. Coffee was a bit…read moreweak, but all in all decent value.

Its all good at Fun Planet, we have been going since it opened, I went with the children last week,…read moreto my surprise they have buit a whole new playframe! Only problem was getting my little ones to leave at the end!! they slept well that night. I have always found it to be really clean, food good and staff cant do enough for you! best in the area

This is a really good facility in our region, although to be honest, they could make a lot more of…read moreit! It's basically an ordinary farm, but the public are allowed to go round and see all the animals - for a fee of course! It's council run, so the fee isn't too bad, actually. As you enter there is a little shop where you pay your entrance fee and can buy little souvenirs, and also some little bags of food for the goats. The first bit you come to after the shop is a pond and a load of ducks and geese. Beware, if you start to feed this lot they won't ever let you leave in fact they will follow you in quite a menacing way! It's a bit scary, especially if you've ever seen any Alfred Hitchcock films you know what I mean! The farm also has pigs, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows, etc. Depending on the time of year you might be lucky enough to see tiny little lambs, which are really cute. Then go back a few months later and find them actually quite scary and intimidating things with gigantic horns and an evil glint in the eye! There are also, of course, the goats. They are so cute, and will eat everything. They loved the little bags of food we'd bought so much that they not only ate the food, they ate the paper bag, too. There was nothing we could do to stop them! There is also a little play area for the children, with swings and a few other things. You can happily while away a few hours here, especially if the weather is nice. Often they have special events on, like once we went and they would actually let you have a go at milking a cow. Other events have been children's things like making Halloween masks, or making bat boxes. You usually have to book in advance for these events. All in all, it's a nice place and the children really seem to enjoy it - but I do feel it's under-used, and the council could make it so much more if they actually tried.

My daughter has been here on a few occassions now, and has thoroughly enjoyed herself every time…read more There's a lot to do, friendly staff and good value for money. I would certainly recommend the place to anyone wanting a fun day out for their children.

FANTASTIC FOR THE KIDSMy girls for a few hours to play and they absolutely loved it. All indoors,…read moreall safe and padded with lots for the children to do. Would highly recommend!!

It cost us £16 for myself my 10 month old daughter, 5 year old nephew and sister. It was not worth…read morethe money, other play centres in this area are better equipped, better seating area for the adults and a better atmosphere for ALOT less money. There were several children in the under 3s area throwing toys and playing very dangerously around the babies, which none of the staff members seamed to care about. Then with-in a couple of meters of a staff member my nephew got beaten up by 3 older boys and the staff member who was close by did nothing, after reporting his injuries to the desk they did nothing either. We will not be revisiting here, and would advise any parents/carers to go to elsewhere and save your money and stress

If I could have given Adventure Point a zero I would have. After friends suggested taking our…read morechildren there and reading there website we decided upon going here for a day trip. A group of 3 Adults and 5 children. We all traveled 40 mile and took a picnic. Upon entry we where told that we would have to pay £5.00 registration fee plus a entry fee. We had traveled so far and the kids were so excited so we decided upon entry. While we where at reception sorting out registration the manager took photos of our children to make sure next time we came we could not get other children in on our card (a bit overkill if you ask me plus I thought you have to consent to your children to be photographed). While the manager was entering our details we were discussing in our group about eating our picnic which we had brought in our large cooler bag. We as a group paid £41.00 entry this paid for 4 children to play, the 5th we had to pay £6 for but was not allowed on anything because she was to tall, Adults had to pay also just for the privalage of sitting. We entered and sat in the picnic area provided, unpacked our picnic and within the time of us unpacking our picnic the manager came over to our table and said we could not consume food and drinks that we had brought into the premises and if we did not put the picnic away we would be asked to leave. I then asked for a refund as we traveled so far and did not know we were unable to have our own food and that it was not clear on there website (this is hidden with a very small link which opens a new page). The manager said that she would not give us a refund and why should she, it is not her problem we did not read the website properly. I then told her if she was unwilling to give us a refund then we would sit and eat our picnic the kids were hungry and we had no money to purchase more food for them. Her next words we could not believe she told us in front of our 5 children that if we did not leave then she would phone the police (our children became very distressed). At this point we had been in the premises 5 minutes. I told her she was very unprofessional and she had upset our children. She did not care about our children or how much money we had spend all she cared about was how much more she could get out of us. I think the membership money is there because once you have been in and witnessed the quality of service you are highly unlikely to return. The manager is very rude, has no people skills at all, is patronizing. The place is understaffed the kids were lining up to go on the climbing wall but the one member of staff they had was busy taking money for the go carts that you have to pay more for. All in all all this place wants is your money and are not bothered about providing enjoyment for the children at all. STAY AWAY.

You may've seen the really annoying adverts for this one. I've never reached for my remote control…read moreso quickly in my life. Having said that, Lightwater Valley is a grand day out. Wow I sounded very Yorkshire even by my standards there. This is one of the more known amusement parks in the North and it will soon be open for the upcoming season. That means rides galore and silly funfair related fun. For the bigger kids (and we're included in that) there are ten adrenaline rides. We're not talking quite in the same realms as Alton Towers but they really aren't bad. The Ultimate used to be their crown in the jewel but you'll find other newer attractions to add to this now. It is still the longest rollercoaster in Europe though. For smaller people there are even more rides and I love the skate and go-karts. Ace fun regardless of your age. Everything is included in a one off admission as well so once you've shelled out to get in it's play time unlimited. The eateries are basic at best and very expensive so smuggle some pack lunch in. I also recommend trying to plan your visit around the school holidays as it does get very busy. That can't be helped and they will try getting you on the rides as quick as possible. An adult ticket costs £20 which for a day isn't too bad really. Family tickets are cheaper and they also have some special offers. Praiseworthy value for money. Bring on some oooohhhh and arghhhhs.

I want to step out of another closet here. I am a fun junkie. Ok I've said it!…read more In a previous life I was a regular visitor to theme parks as, sadly, it was part of my job. Because of this I gained a little experience of rides and theme park structure and i wish to bring all my awesome skills to bear in the case of Lightwater Valley. Discounting the great weather (which was a plus but for which I am giving LWV no credit) I am still enamoured of this wonderful place. We went for a family day out and being a family of 6 (now comprising 4 adults and 2 children) these trips are never as cheap as a miserly Yorkshireman would like but we had come by a discount voucher so admission for the whole family was £89.70. The pricing structure seems fairer than some other parks as it is based on height and therefore on how many rides a person can use (this is good as my son is quite petite for his age) A great selection of rides meant that every member of the family left happy (and in some cases quite shaken) and it's always a plus that the whole thing is set in nice countryside. I dropped a star because the catering (in common with most theme parks) lets them down portions being small and prices high. I couldn't finish without a word concerning the staff. I imagine that operating these rides over and over again can become quite disheartening and perhaps downright boring and indeed this is often clear by the facial expressions and demeanour of the staff but I am pleased to say that all the staff here seemed happy and even at the end of the day they allowed 'just one more ride' rather than sullenly chasing everyone away.