The fun stuff begins at Flamingo Land Resort, with thrill rides galore, water-park area, and zoo featuring wallabies, rhinos, tigers, Humboldt penguins and more. Or walk the aquarium tunnel at The Deep in Hull, discover over 5600 animals, see a huge ice wall and travel up through a huge ten-metre-deep tank in an elevator.
Get over to York to walk the medieval walls, take a tour of the Jorvik Centre, wander around York Minster or St Mary’s Church, see the royal carriages at the National Railway Museum, or be brave and do the ghost tour. Or meet lion cubs rescued from Ukraine, plus giraffes, polar bears, lemurs and cheetahs at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
Ride the North York Moors Railways from Pickering and go way back in time, then discover the Beck Isle Museum, lifting the lid on the heritage, history and culture of life in Pickering. Pet the ponies at Boston Farm Park. Or all aboard for the world’s largest collection of preserved trolleybuses at The Trolleybus Museum.
Desperate to get sand between your toes? Find great beaches at Bridlington, Scarborough, Filey and Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Don’t miss the 400-foot chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head and Bempton and clear the cobwebs away looking for puffins, fulmars and kittiwakes. Or go crazy on adventure golf at Pirate Cove.
For the perfect blend of golf for all abilities, head to The Oaks Golf Club and stay in town for the spa, sauna and steam room (or split duties for the day: one gets pampered while the other gets flustered). Or shoot clay at Park Lodge and refuel in the restaurant or bistro.
Head to Castleford’s Xscape for whatever floats your boat, be it 4D golf, Gravity aerial adventures, lasers, snow, adventure golf, arcade games, escape challenges, bowling or cinema. Or Go Ape at Normanby Hall, a stunning Regency mansion on an idyllic 300-acre Lincolnshire estate with a farming museum and café.
Explore dog-friendly Dalby Forest and find over 8,500 acres of breathtaking views, walking, running and cycling, Gruffalo adventures, and stargazing. Discover grand stately homes ay Harewood House and Castle Howard, where Brideshead Revisited was shot. Find more architectural beauty at York Minster and Lincoln Cathedral.
Make a day of it in York at the Jorvik Centre, on a ghost-bus tour, at the Yorkshire Museum, and on a terrifying York Dungeon tour. Stick around to shop at Coppergate, take a carbon-negative gin tour, back a horse or walk the medieval walls. Or support the quirky independents and teashops in Howden and Beverley.
Hens need a hen house, and the more luxurious and spacious the better. A few bells and whistles don’t hurt, either. Barmby Lane Lodge delivers on all fronts, with Egyptian-cotton beds for 14 to slide into after a day spent grabbing the good life by the horns. So round up the wedding party… and party.
On site, there’s plenty scope for yoga on the lawns or an in-house spa treatment or two. But the covered veranda will draw you back time and again. Chill in the swing chair, fill up your glass from the bar, sizzle your sausages on the barbecue and pop a pizza in the oven. Is there a hot tub? Of course. And a firepit.
Head into York, a hen-mecca, for a deathly dark ghost tour, a horror walk, a not-for-the-squeamish dungeon tour, or Mad Alice’s Bloody Tour. Change the tone on a city chronicles tour or a Yorkshire Dales day trip. Potter around the minster and the castle museum, shop in The Shambles and walk the walls.
Get adventurous at Xscape over 4D golf, snow sports and more. Go Ape at Normanby Hall. Book a little rejuvenation in the Yorkshire countryside at Park Lodge Spa set in 44 acres that include a clay-pigeon-shooting school and a bistro. Or book a cocktail-making class at Fancy Hanks, then stick around for a shakerato affogato from the pros.
