Amazing family friendly days out 1.5 hrs from se26

[leenewham]

I will have to check that out. Cheers Mini and Man.

We went o the Olympic park last weekend. It's free and it's fantastic. It's a real asset to London and brilliant for all the family. If you haven't ben, it's definitely worth a look.

[leenewham]

Another one. Kew Gardens. The playground is incredible, we spent the whole day today just around there, our son loved it (and so did his parents!). But it's a wonderful place and great for kids and everyone else.

Under 16's go free. Not cheap for adults, but if a friend has a season ticket, they can get you in for free.

[kateangela]

We have been to Kent Life, nr Maidstone it has an outdoor playground, indoor soft play, farm animals, cafe, bouncy castle, tractor rides plus it is a museum of old Kent buildings (cottage, tin church etc) that have been moved, rebuilt and decorated to show what it was like when people lived in them. They have a few add on activities that you have to pay for such as quad bikes and pot painting.

Another farm is Christmas Tree Farm in Downe Village, Kent again. This is smaller so maybe not a whole day out. Just farm animals and a cafe. Downe village is quite sweet.

If you don't mind going SW, yet another farm/playground/soft play is Godstone Farm in Surrey.

Also, Morden Hall Park is a really pretty free National Trust park with a stream kids can paddle in, small outdoor playground, bridges for pooh sticks, cafe and walking distance from (yet another) farm, Deen City Farm I think its called. Garden centre too.

[gerispringer]

I took 4 year old to Coolings Green and Pleasant and to be honest she was bored after about 5 minutes. The animals were a bit too far for her to see and anyway they were just lying down and really uninteresting. We did have a picnic and an ice cream so it wasn't all bad and it isn't very far. Godstone Farm much better value and the playgrounds are fantastic. Great for a bunch of under 10s. Best day out this summer - Somerset House had all the fountains on and kids just had a great time running in and out of them. Take a towel and a change of clothes. The south bank near city hall also has some great fountains, good for a hot day, and there is a little beach along the south bank, a great slide and lots of book benches dotted around decorated with children's books , had a good time spotting all the different ones and sitting on them. Made for a cheap day out as we just bought a few things from m and s to eat.

[leenewham]

We took our son to Kelsey park and he loved it. Bromley seem to do the best playgrounds for kids, this one is very good. It's a lovely park overall too with lots if geese and ponds. Definitely worth a look and it's just down the road in beckenham.

Maybe not a day out, but free. Partner it with a trip to the kids cinema at the beckenham odeon and it's a wonderful day (according to Thomas aged 2..

[Mazzer]

Can anybody recommend a nice beach to take the kids? Probably pushing it to get the drive less than 1.5 hours but there must be somewhere nice not too far away?

Thanks

Marie

[Susie1791]

Lee, when Thomas is a couple of years older, Kelsey Park could easily become a day trip out Fishing with nets in the stream by the main entrance, my son and his friends were happy with this for at least an hour or more and scrambling across the stones to cross the river. Building dens around the periphery of the park, followed by a picnic, another hour or so playing ball games in the grassy area near the pond and eventually making their way to the playground, there's normally a bouncy call near the cafe in the summer, an ice-cream, quick scoot around the park and it's a pretty full day out and like you say, free and local!

[Susie1791]

Marie, Broadstairs is a really lovely beach and about 1 hour 45 min from Sydenham, a lovely sandy beach and a very pretty town to stroll around.
Another recent find was Eltham Palace, it's an English Heritage property with beautiful gardens, a real oasis in the City, not exactly cheap to enter but there is a really lovely new playground there which you don't have to pay to visit with all wooden equipment to play on. Link is https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/day ... -play-area

[leenewham]

I'd personally vouch for the cafe in Mayow Park and On the Hoof Bistro for two very local family friendly places to go and have a bite to eat.

Master Thomas loved both places when we went.

[leenewham]

Last weekend we went to Greenwich park. The new playground there is fantastic and the park is a cheap and fantastic day out.

On Sunday we went to Wakehurst Place which is fantastic. It's linked to Kew and you wont get around it all in a day. Lots of walks, nature, a country house, sculptures etc and they had a traditional country fayre with punch and Judy and traditional countryside skills.

Our son loved it.

[JRobinson]

Christmas Tree Farm, and Downe House are both also easily reachable within 1.5 hrs - either drive, or get a bus and change somewhere south east of Sydenham (can't quite remember where, but there's definitely a bus goes there).

On Sunday we too were in the new childrens play area in Greenwhich Park. an excellent improved addition to local facilities for young ones.

[leenewham]

I may have seen you! We were mostly in the sandpit which is a great local resource (shame there is such a bad ice cream place in the park). The playground is really nice.

Downe House is nice.

We want to check out Camber Sands at some point.

I hope others add to this list, we have found it really useful.

Our main place is probably Kew. One of the best things about Sydenham is the fact that it's pretty easy to get to other places.

[Hannah]

If you are heading to Eltham Palace - or in that direction can I recommend a stop off to help the lovely volunteers at Dun Runnin in Brands Hatch. It is a greyhound rescue and about a 40min drive away depending on traffic. My kids and I visited yesterday and walked 2 lovely greyhounds in the woods next to the rescue. The dogs were very well behaved & such beautiful animals.

If you fancy a trip by train then I recommend Lower Sydenham to Charing X and a short walk along The Strand to the London Transport Museum, it is fantastic. We had a lunch in wagamamas - they have a kids menu too. Then splashing and running around the fountains in Somerset House before getting the train back home. Perfect!

[Hannah]

Also if you fancy a day outdoors which is free and a bit different try Harvington Estate - there is a play park, playing fields perfect for ball games & woodland with a paddling stream and rope swing over the stream. My kids loved being able to paddle and the rope swing was really popular Harvington Park has a little car park off S Eden Park Road.

You can walk through the woods to reach Kelsey Park too.

[leenewham]

Must check those out Hannah.

We went to Groombridge Place last weekend which was fantastic, our son loved it and there are lots of activities for the summer holidays. If you go there via Westerham, there are plenty of places and walks, woods etc to have some fun in.

Battersea Park is brilliant now. We went there on Saturday. The kids playground is lovely, they have a putting area, which looks really fun with a decent cafe next to it. There ail be a 'Go Ape' treetop walkway soon and the playground is amazing.

We hired some bikes and put our son in the front basket on a tricycle, which he loved. Bring a picnic and it's a great and fairly cheap day. Don't bother with the cafe next to the excellent boating lake, it's not great.

Closer to home, the forest schools in Mayow Park are great and well worth going to. Their wonderfully designed website can be found here (designed by my better half):
http://www.eurillaforest.com

[leenewham]

Another one to share for anyone who has a child mad on planes or cars:

http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com

We went on Sunday and it was great. The canteen is good and reasonably priced, there is a soft play area, you can take the Concorde experience (which is surprisingly emotional!) and have a tour around an actual Concorde. There is a bus museum, various planes including one they pulled out of Lock Ness, an educational room with various puzzles and exhibits aimed at kids, plus the worlds first purpose built racing track, lots of old cars and bikes as part of the exhibits in the various shed, plus various hangers with lots of stuff to do with building planes (Vickers was based there, they made parts of Concorde, Barnes Wallace was there, the bouncing bomb was developed there, they made Wellington Bombers etc.)

They have various events, we saw loads of old racing cars. Our son loved it.

It's about 1.5 hours away (a little less if you leave earlier on a sunday morning) by car.

Well worth a visit and very educational.
Tickets are £11, children under 5 are free.

[gerispringer]

Had a great time at Eltham Palace with a 7 and 5 year old. Really good playground and picnic area. The house and gardens are really stunning and the children's audio trail kept them interested. There are lots of dressing up opportunities and things to touch as you go round. They have entertainers at certain times as well. Will certainly return.

[leenewham]

We went to Herne Hill and Brockwell Park yesterday in Herne Hill. The market there is extremely good (I wish the powers that be in Sydenham would at least LOOK at what is going on elsewhere!).

Brockwell Park is fantastic and a good day out. If you have bikes, they have an amazing BMX track with loads of bumps. The playground is as good as anything in any park we have been to including Greenwich.

On top of that is the lido (with decent looking cafe), tennis, the walled garden, the ponds etc.

It all feels uplifting around there too. Beware, it can get muddy though!

[Pally]

I agree about the market and ot has been interesting to watch it develop and grow over the last few years! They are definitely doing something riggt

[leenewham]

Another good thing to do with the kids is Pollocks Toy Museum in Fitrovia no1 Scala Street bend Google Street. Our son loved it. Kids are free and adults are £6. It's a few hours of joy wondering around.

http://pollockstoys.com

It's a really quirky building. Make a day of it by going there first then having lunch somewhere, then go to the British Museum. Park nearby on Sundays for free if you take the car and can't stand the tube!