Visit the UK’s number one safari park at Longleat, home to lions, tigers, wolves, koalas, porcupines and sealions. Head to Wookey Hole Caves to see limestone caverns and the show cave with the River Axe running through it. Or continue the theme at Cheddar Gorge, with its cathedral-like caves and 9000 years of human history.
Hit the play barn at Farrington Farm Shop. Head to the coast for child-friendly beaches such as Weston-super-Mare. Meet sharks, rays, a giant octopus, and Amazonian and tropical fish in huge tanks with underwater tunnels at Bristol Aquarium. Or say hi to gorillas, penguins, red pandas and lemurs at Bristol Zoo.
Museums? Pick from the Roman Baths in Bath, Bath Medical Museum, the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust, the Museum of Bath Stone, the Fashion Museum of Bath, and many more. Or discover Arctic foxes, wallabies, rheas, llamas, meerkats, pygmy goats and more at Chew Valley Animal Park.
Take a steamy trip back in time on the Mendip main line with the Somerset and Dorset Railway Heritage Trust. Enjoy indoor bouldering at its best with the Climbing Academy Boulder Club. Pick a pot and paint it at Crockadoodledo painting and café. Or glide serenely over the Mendips in a basket with Balloon Journey.
Get your clubs out for golf courses at Farrington Park and Fosseway. Or get down to Bath Racecourse for National Hunt racing. Stay there for the Roman baths, the abbey, the Royal Crescent, Pulteney Bridge and the rooftop bathing at Thermae Bath Spa with 360-degree views of the city.
Fish or sail on the Chew Valley Lake. Catch Premiership rugby at Bath and Bristol and first-class cricket at Taunton. Enjoy a track day or all manner of race weekends at Castle Combe race circuit. Or get your Lycra on, hire a bike from Webb’s and tackle a few tough local hills and dales.
Blast clay birds from the sky with Mill Farm Shoot. Fish for trout, carp, roach and bream at Litton Lakes. Or coarse-fish at Blagdon, the home of still-water trout fly-fishing, with catch records going back as far as the early 1900s. Hire boats here, too, and keep an eye out for the country’s reputed largest pike.
Pamper yourselves at spas that include Green Apple, The Pig Hotel and Lucknam Park, or head to Bath for the ultimate spa experience. Ride horses through the Mendips with Hay Street. Head to the village hall for talks, Zumba and Pilates. Or pop out to boho Bristol for cocktails at Loose Cannon or Flipside.
