Festive fun for all the family

Worried about how to keep the little ones entertained this Christmas? Here are some family days out that are guaranteed to bring a festive sparkle to your children’s faces...

WINTER WONDERLAND Leeds Castle in Kent is offering children the chance to meet Santa WINTER WONDERLAND: Leeds Castle in Kent is offering children the chance to meet Santa

GET YOUR SKATES ON

Nearly every major city in the UK has an ice rink this Christmas. New in Edinburgh (0131 529 3914/ www.edinburghschristmas.com) this winter is a separate rink for under-7s so they can find their feet safely. A carousel and Christmas market in the East Princes Street Gardens overlooked by Edinburgh Castle adds to the atmosphere.

Other rinks in spectacular surroundings include London’s Kew Gardens (0208 332 5655/www.kewgardensicerink.com), where skaters can admire the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world, and the 18th-century courtyard of Somerset House (0844 847 1520/www.somersethouse.org.uk) overlooked by a twinkling Tiffany Christmas tree.

Winchester Cathedral (01962 857276/www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk) and the temperate and tropical domes of Cornwall’s Eden Project (01726 811972/www.edenproject.com) also offer enthralling backdrops for a turn on the ice, while the Millennium Plain at The Forum in Norwich (01603 630000/www.theforumnorwich.co.uk) has again been transformed into a magical rink and serves as the focal point for the city’s festive celebrations.

MAKE TRACKS FOR SANTA

Children will be given clues to help them find Santa’s Grotto in the grounds of Tyntesfield (01275 461900/www.nationaltrust.org.uk), the National Trust’s Victorian country house and garden in north Somerset. Open 10am-5pm today and tomorrow, and December 20-21, with tickets costing £3 on top of admission price.

Alternatively, why not jump on the Santa Express on the West Somerset Railway (01823 433856/www.wsr.org.uk) running from Bishops Lydeard to Williton today and tomorrow and December 2 to 24). Father Christmas will present gifts to children, while adults can enjoy seasonal refreshments aboard this heritage steam train. Adults and children £10 each, under-1s £2. Nearby Taunton also hosts a seasonal ice rink (07515 356319/www.tauntononice.co.uk) until January 4.

STORM THE RAMPARTS

The childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Hever Castle (01732 865224/www.hevercastle.co.uk) in Kent, is opening its doors until 8.30pm on December 18 with music, carols and a fire-eating jester entertaining visitors. The castle rooms will be festooned with Christmas decorations and the Italian gardens illuminated with colourful lights. Expect chestnuts, gingerbread men, hot chocolate and mulled wine – children can even hug a husky.

Leeds Castle (01622 767865/www.leeds-castle.com), near Maidstone, Kent, will also have Santa in residence on the Pavilion Lawn. Tickets are available for December 15-19, £8 per child, plus entrance fee. The evening openings from 4pm to 6pm mean ballet-loving children can tour the castle and watch characters from The Nutcracker come to life. Tickets are available for December 15-17, £15 adults, £10 children.

STAR-SPANGLED MAGIC

Learn how polar explorers stay alive in sub-zero temperatures at the Centre for Life, Newcastle (0191 243 8210/www.life.org.uk) before bracing the chill for a skate around the outdoor ice rink. Younger children can try making a snowflake mobile and find out how snowflakes are formed from December 29 until January 4.

You can also gaze up at the stars in the 360-degree ceiling theatre and speculate about the Christmas Star (is it a star, comet or supernova?). Combined ticket with centre/skating £10.95, under-16s £8.95, under-4s £4.95.

ENCHANTED WOODS

There’s a good chance you’ll spot Santa as you walk through the illuminated Enchanted Wood of Gloucestershire’s National Arboretum, Westonbirt (01666 880 220/www.forestry.gov.uk/westonbirt), which is transformed into a kaleidoscope of colour during the Christmas trail.

There will also be carol singing, mulled wine and roast chestnuts. Open from 5pm today, tomorrow and between December 19 and 21, £7 adults, £3 children.

SWANNING AROUND

Visit Father Christmas in his woodland grotto at the Martin Mere Wetland Centre, Lancashire (01704 895181/www.wwt.org.uk) today and tomorrow from 11am to 4pm. Tickets cost £3. Watch as hundreds of migrating Whooper Swans from Iceland are fed at 3pm in the hide or 3.30pm in the Observatory.

There will also be lots of festive-themed craft activities from 11am to 4pm. Craft sessions will run daily from 1pm to 4pm from December 20 to January 5 (except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Open 9.30am to 5pm, adults £8.25, children £4.10 (4-16), family £22.25.

SKI ENDURANCE

Try cross-country skiing on the 1.2km synthetic trail at Stockeld Park (01937 586333/www.thechristmasadventure.com) near Wetherby, Yorkshire.

Stroll through the illuminated Enchanted Wood or visit Santa’s Grotto (with an interactive area to keep you entertained while you wait. Tackle a yew tree maze created in the shape of a snowflake and skate on an eco-friendly synthetic ice rink.

And if you haven’t bought a Christmas tree yet, buy an estate-grown one instead. Skating and Nordic skiing from £8.50 adults, £6.50 children, Snowflake Maze costs £4.50 for adults, £3.50 for children. Enchanted Wood Walk: £5 for adults, £4 for children. Combined tickets available.

TOY HEAVEN

Walk through the illuminated grounds of Erdigg, Wrexham, (01978 355 314/www.nationaltrust.org.uk) – a Welsh country house with one of the last surviving 18th-century gardens featuring a walled garden and Victorian parterre from December 19 until 21 from 5pm to 7.30pm.

Visit Santa in his toy workshop from 11am to 4pm, do some last-minute shopping at the Christmas market, have a glass of mulled wine and roast chestnuts. Tickets: £8.54 adults, £4.27 children, and £21.35 families. Santa visits: £4.

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