Avon Valley Country Park, near Bath, is a wildlife park and adventure centre set in ninety acres of countryside on the banks of the river Avon. We’ve been here before when our children were little but what would they make of Avon Valley Country Park now they are ten?
‘Mum, what’s there to do here for older ones?’ they asked, before zip-wiring, drop sliding, goat feeding, lamb stroking, driving go karts, boulder dashing and more drop sliding!
TOP THINGS TO DO AT AVON VALLEY COUNTRY PARK FOR OLDER KIDS
INDOOR PLAY BARN
No child is ever too old for the drop slide! There are 2 here, plus ‘wavy slides’, a ball pool, climbing structures, rope swings, soft play and an under fives village. There is a cafe for adults to sit and have a cuppa whilst the kids play. My children were off drop sliding and clambering around and I had to haul them out for some fresh air. They had another go on everything before we left!
ANIMAL HANDLING
We stroked lambs! We stroked rabbits and sheep and baby goats. Animal handling sessions take place throughout the day. Check the board when you go in but they do helpfully announce events on the tannoy.
You can feed goats and my children really enjoyed this, we bought extra food! Those goats were hungry!
Other animals include foxes, deer, pigs, ponies, guinea pigs, ostriches, sheep, tortoises, wallabies, alpacas, shire horses and pigs.
BOULDER DASH
My daughters timed themselves scrambling across this climbing wall and tried to beat their times.
OUTDOOR PLAY AREA
The outdoor play area is a traditional wooden adventure playground and there is an outdoor drop slide, ‘The Big Red’ that you ride down in sacks. My daughters loved this – I lost count of how many times they went down it.
ZIP-WIRE
Always a favourite with my children, the zip-wire here was described as ‘so much fun’, as you’ll see in the film above!
RIVERSIDE WALKS
A very pretty stretch of river lies at the bottom of the adventure park with boats meandering past. This is the perfect spot for a picnic, with some small lakes being home to a variety of wildfowl. An adventure trail was popular with my children.
BIRDS OF PREY
A variety of owls and hawks live here and we were lucky enough to go to the owl talk where we had the opportunity to hear about the beautiful barn owl and stroke her – so soft!
ADDED EXTRAS
For an extra charge you can do electric go kart driving, take a horse and carriage ride, hop on the mini train and enjoy a tractor ride. These were £2 per person per ride when we visited. My girls did the go karting – racing each other!
THE VERDICT
My girls had a whale of a time. The things they enjoyed the most were feeding the goats and the drop slides, both indoor and outdoor.
TICKETS
Ticket prices are here. Children get in free with a paying adult if they have a Blue Peter badge, which ours do so they had a free day out! Click here to find out more about how to get a Blue Peter Badge.
PIN FOR LATER
WHERE JO GOES BRISTOL/BATH REVIEWS
Tyntesfield National Trust, AirHop-World’s Largest Trampoline Park, SS Great Britain,Ivy Brasserie,
San Carlos Italian Restaurant, Pig Hotel, Bath
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Avon Valley Country Park looks great and we love the boulder dash area! Lots to see and do and we love being with animals. Its great there is an indoor play area as well x #countrykids
Looks like fun and not that far from us – my girls have both got a Blue Peter badge and I keep forgetting to look where they can go #countrykids
Author
If you’re near Bath then Slimbridge, SS Great Britain and We The Curious in Bristol are all free with the badges
I’ve not heard of Avon Valley before but looks like I should definitely add it to my list of days out to visit. Great that there are plenty of activities to cater for all age ranges too #countrykids
Looks great and there’s so much to do, can gather why your girls had a whale of a time;) #countrykids
I am so glad I saw your post. I have not heard of Avon Valley Country Park before, but it looks great and not too far away from us. I shall have to sort out taking my two here as it looks like the kind of place they would love. Thank you!!
#countrykids
Sounds great – we really need a Blue Peter Badge! I love the sound of the Boulder Dash – I bet my boys would really enjoy that.
Those Blue Peter Badges really do come in handy. What a great place and I’d say perfect for 10 year old’s with just the right amount of fun. My kids would still love that drop slide at 14! As for feeding goats, they are great to hand feed as they always come back for more and there is no chance of loosing fingers as their top teeth can’t bite.
Thank you for sharing a fun day out with me on #CountryKids
Author
I didn’t know that about goats top teeth!
Wish my mother hadn’t lost my bp badge at Legoland all those years ago. This looks like a lovely place to venture if the weather is good. #CountryKids
Looks like you had a great day. How fab you get in for free with your blue Peter badge. There’s something similar near us & mini M loves it #countrykids