10 Best Family Things to Do in Southampton
Fun Places in Southampton to Take Your Kids
The best family things to do in Southampton include many a fun and educational activity. While the English city is best known for its nautical associations and pulsating nightlife, it’s also home to a lot of family-friendly fun.
Get to know more about the city’s pivotal role in aviation and maritime history in its interactive museums or spend the day outdoors with wildlife and farm animals in its special parks. If your kids want something more action-packed, Southampton also offers an array of amusement parks where they can play to their heart’s content.
1. Solent Sky Museum
Immerse yourself in aviation history
Categoría: Familias, Historia
If you and your family share a love for planes and flying, then the Solent Sky Museum is the place to be. Get to know more about the Solent, the world’s center for aviation research and development during the golden age of aviation. The museum’s interactive exhibits feature more than 20 airplanes, its centerpiece being Southampton’s very own Supermarine Spitfire, the famous WWII fighter plane.
Be sure to hop into the cockpit of the jet fighters in the exhibition – like the Hawker Siddeley Harrier G.3 and the Supermarine Swift F5 – and get a taste of the thrill of being an ace pilot.
Ubicación: Albert Rd S, Southampton SO14 3FR, UK
Horario: Tuesday–Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday from noon to 5 pm (closed on Mondays)
Teléfono: +44 (0)23 8063 5830
Solent Sky Museum
2. SeaCity Museum
Discover Southampton’s maritime milestones
Categoría: Familias, Historia
Located at the heart of the city, the SeaCity Museum is a haven for those who want to know more about Southampton’s illustrious maritime history. Find out more about the city’s historic connection to the ill-fated Titanic in an exhibit with a 1:25-scale interactive model of what was the largest ship in the world, at the time of its sinking.
Besides the Titanic exhibit, learn more about the lives of the people in this English port for the last 250,000 years from its various historic collections.
Ubicación: Havelock Rd, Southampton SO14 7FY, UK
Horario: Daily from 10 am to 5 pm
Teléfono: +44 (0)23 8083 4536
SeaCity Museum
3. New Forest Wildlife Park
Relax with the woodland animals
Categoría: Familias
Take a stroll down the tree-lined trails of the New Forest Wildlife Park and get acquainted with its animal residents. Meet Victor the red stag, Hobbit the barn owl, and their expanded park family that includes otters, ferrets, Scottish wildcats, foxes, and the majestic European bison. Visit in the summer and admire the play of butterflies at the Tropical Butterfly House.
The park’s Go Wild! playgrounds are for the young ones and the young at heart to play to their heart’s content on the swings, log jumbles, zipper wires, and climbing nets.
Ubicación: Deerleap Ln, Southampton SO40 4UH, UK
Horario: Daily from 10 am to 5.30 pm
Teléfono: +44 (0)23 8029 2408
New Forest Wildlife Park
4. Manor Farm Country Park
Experience farm life for a day
Categoría: Familias
The Manor Farm, found in the middle of the River Hamble Park, is the place to meet your favorite farmyard friends and get to know the farmers taking care of them. Get a chance to meet baby animals; you can even hold the baby rabbits, chicks, and ducklings. Explore the medieval farmhouse and take a look at the Victorian kitchen and schoolroom.
This farm has a play area where children can have fun with kid-friendly models of farm equipment like a play tractor and a combine harvester. Your kids can also race each other on a pedal tractor circuit.
Ubicación: Pyland’s Ln, Southampton SO31 1BH, UK
Horario: Daily from 10 am to 5 pm
Teléfono: +44 (0)1489 787055
Manor Farm Country Park
5. Go Ape Itchen Valley
Swing your way through the treetops
Categoría: Familias, Aventura
Go Ape Itchen Valley combines adrenaline-pumping fun with a lovely sight of the lush meadows and woodlands, making it a great outdoor activity for families who want thrills with their view. Swing, balance, and zipper your way through their Treetop Challenge, the highest high ropes course in Southern England. Alternately, harness up for the Treetop Adventure, which provides a slightly tamer, child-friendly thrill with its breathtaking Flying Carpet, the wobbly Grandpa Crossing, and the tricky Stepping Stones.
There’s also the Forest Segway for those who’d rather keep their adventures firmly planted on the ground. For the thrill-seekers, there’s the Nets Adventure, which takes you up 30 ft in netted walkways.
Ubicación: Itchen Valley Country Park, Allington Ln, Southampton SO30 3HQ, UK
Horario: Monday–Friday from 10 am to 2.30 pm, Saturday–Sunday from 9.30 am to 3 pm
Teléfono: +44 (0)1603 895500
Go Ape Itchen Valley
6. Eastleigh Lakeside Railroad
Take a quick trip on a miniature train
Categoría: Familias
The Eastleigh Lakeside Railroad has miniature steam-hauled trains that can take you from Eastleigh Parkway to Monks Brook Halt, and back. The oneway trip takes about 20 minutes, and you can choose to alight at Monks Brook Halt to have a picnic with a nice view of the lake and to let the children play at the playground.
After returning to the main station, hop over to the souvenir shop for Thomas and Bigjigs die-cast models to add to your collection.
Ubicación: Lakeside Country Park, Eastleigh SO50 5PE, UK
Horario: Daily from 10 am to 4.30 pm (open on weekends from mid-September to mid-July)
Teléfono: +44 (0)23 8061 2020
Eastleigh Lakeside Railroad
7. Historic Southampton Treasure Trail
Follow clues to a hidden treasure
Categoría: Familias, Aventura, Viajes diferentes
Explore the city’s historic places with a fun twist as you embark on the Historic Southampton Treasure Trail. This self-guided spy mission-inspired treasure trail takes you to various points in the city with clues that will lead you to this rumored precious bounty. Follow the trail at your own pace and take a moment to admire the beautiful places you’ll find yourself in as you complete the mission.
And you don’t have to worry about getting stuck – you can get clues via text message so that you and your family are sure to solve the mystery.
Ubicación: Bargate Street, Southampton SO14 2DA, UK
Teléfono: +44 (0)1872 263692
Historic Southampton Treasure Trail
8. Tudor House and Garden
Learn about Southampton’s history in its most historic building
Categoría: Familias, Historia
Tudor House and Garden is considered to be Southampton’s most historic building. Here, you can get a glimpse of the rich lives of the city’s residents through hundreds of years. Marvel at the lavish and opulent décor of this handsome timber-framed building, or at antique artifacts such as a medieval jewel casket, Victorian stuffed birds, and a pair of shoes from the 1920s.
Adjacent to the Tudor House and accessible via the garden is the equally historic Norman House, which you can visit to admire its fine domestic architecture.
Ubicación: 15 Upper Bugle St, Southampton SO14 2AE, UK
Horario: Monday–Thursday from 10 am to 3 pm, Saturday–Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm (closed on Fridays)
Teléfono: +44 (0)23 8083 4242
Tudor House and Garden
9. Eling Water Park
Have a splash of fun at the water park
Categoría: Familias, Aventura
Spending the day at Eling Water Park is a great way to cool down and have fun on a hot day. Enjoy the park’s water shoots, waterfalls, and automobile wash-style sprinklers. There’s also a big field where you can have a picnic or play ball games, outdoor tables to play table tennis, and a play park with traffic circles where the kids can play some more after they’ve had their fill of water fun.
Eling Water Park is also a popular spot for dog walkers, so expect to see a lot of dogs during your visit.
Ubicación: Totton, Southampton SO40 9DT, UK
Horario: Daily from 11 am to 6 pm
Teléfono: +44 (0)1603 895500
Eling Water Park
10. Children’s Pleasure Park
Enjoy the day at this mini fun fair
Categoría: Familias, Aventura
Children’s Pleasure Park, located at Southampton’s Sports Center, boasts over 20 attractions for a full day of fun for the whole family. Choose from a menu of fun with the trampolines, mini trains, animal traffic circles, snake slides, motorbikes, and more.
There’s a picnic area if you’d like to bring your own spread, and they also have refreshment stands if you’d prefer to just buy food and beverages on the spot. This park is open to all with no entry fee, but you may have to spend for some tokens to enjoy the rides.
Ubicación: 1 Golf Course Rd, Southampton SO16 7LE, UK
Horario: May–October: daily from 10.30 am to 5 pm. November–April: Saturday–Sunday from 10.30 am to 3 pm (hours may vary)
Teléfono: +44 (0)7809 151365
Children's Pleasure Park
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