Merlin Attractions

Britain's most iconic theme park, Alton Towers has been the benchmark for British theme parks for decades — with world-class coasters like Nemesis and Oblivion, sitting alongside CBeebies Land for the youngest adventurers. There's genuinely something for everyone, whatever your threshold for terror.

Where else can you ride a rollercoaster and come face-to-face with a white rhino? Chessington World of Adventures combines wild rides with genuine wildlife encounters, making it the Merlin park best suited to families with younger children who want thrills and something wild.

Home to some of the UK's most extreme, record-breaking coasters: Stealth, The Swarm and the horror movie-themed SAW — The Ride, Thorpe Park is the most intense park in the UK built for thrill-seekers, sitting just 20 miles from central London.

Lego isn't just for kids — and Legoland proves it. With over 55 rides and attractions for the little ones, plus the iconic Miniland where the world's most famous landmarks are recreated brick by brick, it's the kind of place that reminds everyone why they fell in love with Lego in the first place.

There's something gloriously absurd about standing next to a wax Dua Lipa and genuinely not knowing what to do with your hands. Madame Tussauds is a London institution — endlessly fun, impeccably crafted and home to some of the most eerily accurate celebrity likenesses on the planet. Two minutes from Baker Street and a world away from ordinary.

London has always had a dark side — and the London Dungeon leans into it with relish. A live, actor-led experience covering everything from the Great Plague to Jack the Ripper, it's theatrical, properly scary and absolutely not one for the little ones.

London's only fairy-tale walk-through experience — and a genuinely immersive one at that. Shrek's Adventure! takes families through ogre swamps, 4D flying buses and a dozen live shows across the Far Far Away universe, all inside County Hall on the South Bank. Better out than in.