Family Holidays where real life wins
Family holidays that fix everyone
Too often family holidays can be billed as wall to wall fun, filled with costly excursions, adrenalin filled, kids a plenty, over stimulation, whilst shared bedrooms promise sleepless nights and little time for adulting.
As parents we know this isn't a good fit for all. I remember turning up to coastal kids club and my son having a melt down. A Busy hotel, the prospect of social mixing along with adrenalin filled activity was just too much. So we've curated an itinerary with a mix of active and calm, creative and inspiring, plus some quiet for parents. Oh and a cook too, so even Mum gets a week off!
Family holidays where real life wins
We know the feeling. You've driven for two hours, the cottage is beautiful, the countryside is right outside the window — and someone's already found the WiFi password. It’s not a failure of parenting. It’s just the path of least resistance, and it takes something genuinely brilliant to pull kids (and adults) back into the room.
Worcestershire has a very good go at doing exactly that. And The Farmhouse gives you the perfect base from which to work through a summer that’s big on real experience, low on screen time, and — crucially — one where mum actually gets a break too.
Every child is different. That's the starting point.
After years welcoming families to our glamping sites, one thing became obvious very quickly: no two children are the same. Social ones and quiet ones. Kids who love a crowd and kids who need space. Those with autism, those with limited mobility, those who’d rather make something than watch something. The activities that tend to cut through for almost every child? Animals. Getting creative with their hands. Getting outdoors and moving through space.
So that’s where we’ve built the list — not one-size-fits-all, but a range that gives every member of the family something that speaks to them.
Get outdoors - the greatest distraction
Nature doesn’t need to sell itself. Rivers, forests, hills — they do the work without any help from us. The best days are usually the simplest ones.
ANIMALS Little Owl Farm Park
Meerkats, pygmy goats, newly hatched chicks, rabbits, a zipline, go-karts and a 30m sled run. A full day out that works for almost every age and temperament — including quieter children who find the animal barns deeply calming.
WILDLIFE West Midlands Safari Park
Drive through lions, rhinos, white tigers and elephants, then explore the walk-through exhibits and theme park rides. Properly brilliant for a full family day — one of the best safari parks in the UK.
ADRENALIN Go Ape, Wyre Forest
High ropes, zip wires and treetop challenges set in one of England’s largest ancient woodlands. Entry-level options for younger children, serious challenges for teens and competitive parents. Bike hire and cycling trails in the forest too.
ON THE WATER Canoeing on the Severn
Pack a picnic and see life from the riverbank rather than a road. A day in a canoe or kayak makes for proper adventure — the kind that gets talked about on the drive home. Several hire companies operate from Bewdley and along the river.
Feed curiosity
Worcestershire has more history per square mile than most counties know what to do with. The trick is finding the bits that genuinely capture young minds — and there are plenty.
ARCHITECTURE & HISTORY Avoncroft Museum
700 years of buildings rescued, reconstructed and open to explore across a beautiful rural site. From medieval merchants’ houses to windmills and agricultural barns — room to roam, room to imagine, room to run.
STEAM & HERITAGE Severn Valley Railway
A 16-mile steam-hauled journey through the Worcestershire countryside. Kids who wouldn’t notice a painting will stand and stare at a steam engine. Stop at the Engine House at Highley for the full locomotive experience.
LITERARY LANDSCAPE The Malvern Hills — Narnia in real life
JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis both walked these hills. The gas lamps along the paths are deeply evocative of Narnia. Walk to the summit for a sunset that will genuinely stop everyone mid-sentence. Come home tired and ready for sleep.
MUSIC & GENIUS Elgar Birthplace Museum
Worcestershire is the home of Edward Elgar. Explore the house where he grew up, listen to his music, glimpse into the life of a composer who changed what British music sounded like. A quieter, richer kind of afternoon.
SOCIAL HISTORY The Black Country Living Museum
A short drive away, this open-air museum brings Victorian and Edwardian life vividly to the surface. Made famous as a filming location for Peaky Blinders. Genuinely immersive, properly interesting for all ages.
ENGINES & SPEED Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb
The oldest motorsport venue in the world, still running on its original course since 1905 — older than Le Mans, older than Indianapolis. Watch and hear real racing cars thunder up the hill. A brilliant shared experience for families who love noise and spectacle.
Develop a generation of makers, creators and growers
Getting absorbed in making things is one of the most effective antidotes to screen time — and one of the most underrated. There’s something particular about creativity with no agenda or judgement attached. It quietens the mind, gives a sense of achievement, and doesn’t require a signal.
IN-HOUSE WORKSHOP Screen print a T-shirt
Design and print your own screen-printed T-shirt to take home. Creative, satisfying, and something every child of every temperament tends to love. Book as an add-on to your stay.
IN-HOUSE WORKSHOP Wood carving
Start with a block of wood, finish with something that came from your own hands. Meditative for quieter children, satisfying for everyone. We’ll set you up with everything you need.
IN-HOUSE / LOCAL Foraging walk
Head into the valley and forage for ingredients to cook back at the house. Guided, unhurried and surprising — you will find things you didn’t expect. A brilliant way to connect with the landscape you’re staying in.
LOCAL WORKSHOP Pottery & jewellery making
Local workshops in the area offer pottery throw-downs and jewellery making sessions — the kind of afternoon that produces something beautiful and makes you feel quietly proud. Ask us and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Hops, orchards and things that taste of here.
Worcestershire is hop country. It’s orchard country. Vineyards, cider makers, micro-breweries — the whole county smells faintly of something fermenting in the best possible way. The children learn where food and drink actually comes from, and the grown-ups get to taste the results.
The local micro-brewery runs weekly live music and street food through the summer. For something bigger, Nozstock: The Hidden Valley (nozstock.com) near Bromyard is a full-on family festival set on a farm — with a dedicated kids’ area, workshops, music across multiple stages and an atmosphere that’s both wild and genuinely welcoming for all ages.
When days out feel like too much effort.
Some days the best thing is to just stay. The Farmhouse has a pool table, plenty of garden games, and enough outdoor space to run your own Olympics for the week. We can set up a scavenger hunt and pack a picnic for the valley. Sometimes the holiday you remember most is the one where you didn’t really do anything — you just were.
This is where the cook gets a break!
Because a family holiday where mum is doing all the cooking, all the planning and all the clearing up isn’t really a holiday for everyone. So we’ve built a menu of extras that take that entirely off the table.
ADD TO YOUR STAY
Private chef — Ellie
Ellie is The Farmhouse private chef and she cooks everything from proper family favourites to gourmet dinners. Arrive to a ready-to-serve dinner on your first night. Wake up to a breakfast hamper packed with everything you need. Order afternoon cake for hungry explorers returning from a day out. She takes the meal question entirely off your plate — which is the whole point.
Arrival Dinner
Arrive to a spread of meats, cheeses, dips, artisan breads and nibbles — so no one has to cook, shop or think on the first night. Everyone settles in at their own pace and grazes when they’re ready.
Breakfast hamper
After a late first night — because it always goes later than intended — wake up to a hamper of everything for a proper breakfast. Continental, full English, or somewhere in between. Your choice, zero effort.
Afternoon tea & cake
Hungry children returning from a day of real-life adventure deserve cake. We’ll have it waiting. Cakes, bakes and a proper brew — ready when you get back.
And whilst they sleep...
Once the day is done and little ones are finally out — the hot tub overlooking the lake is waiting. The fire pit is there for the adults who want to stay up a bit longer, share a glass of something and remember what it feels like to just sit together without an agenda. That’s the bit we can’t put in a package. But we make sure everything else is taken care of, so it’s there, naturally, at the end of every day.