Bredon View - Fun Days Out

The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley is an open-air museum of rebuilt, replica and recreated shops, houses and industrial workshops, spread across 26 acres of former industrial land. Historic characters in period settings chat to visitors and demonstrate traditional skills, such as hand-forging nails and casting brass. The visit is self-guided, so you can explore at your own pace.

Highlights include a working replica of the Newcomen steam engine, a colliery with an underground drift, canal-side lime kilns and a 1930s fairground. Electric trams and trolleybuses carry you from the entrance to the village, and a narrowboat trip runs into Dudley Tunnel. There are eateries on site. It suits history fans, families and anyone curious about the Industrial Revolution, and Peaky Blinders fans can see screen-used sets from the show.

Tip: Allow 4 to 5 hours, and head first to the trams or trolleybuses to reach the village at the heart of the site.

West Midlands Safari Park, near Bewdley in Worcestershire, combines a drive-through safari with walk-through animal areas and an adventure theme park. The four-mile Safari Drive takes you past lions, giraffes, rhinos, tigers and more, including white lions and cheetahs, with the cheetah reserve billed as the UK's largest drive-by one.

On foot, you can visit walk-through areas with penguins, hippos, lemurs, sea lions, lorikeets and meerkats. The African Walking Trail gets you close to elephants, giraffes and rhinos, while Tiger Tropics and Lion Ridge are for big cat fans. Land of the Living Dinosaurs adds animatronic dinosaurs and fossils, and there are daily feeds and talks. Rides in the theme park can be added to your ticket, and the Discovery Trail has mostly indoor exhibits, which helps if the weather turns.

Worcester Cathedral rises above the River Severn and has been a place of worship for fourteen centuries. The present building was begun in 1084 and is Grade I listed. Inside you will find a Romanesque crypt, a chapter house dating from 1120, medieval misericords and a central tower completed in 1374.

Among the monuments are the tomb of King John, of Robin Hood story fame, and that of Arthur, Prince of Wales, elder brother of Henry VIII. Visitors have praised the guided tour of the library, reached by climbing 39 stone steps to ancient books and manuscripts. Reviewers describe the cathedral as stunning, with beautiful windows and good accessibility. It suits families and anyone who enjoys architecture and the story behind a great building. It is also the home of the Three Choirs Festival, the oldest choral festival in existence.

Tip: Join a guided tour if one is running, as visitors rate the library tour highly. Summer holidays can be busier.

Dudley Zoo & Castle is a 40-acre zoo within the grounds of Dudley Castle, in the Black Country. It opened in 1937 and is run today by a registered charity. The castle ruins share the wooded hillside with the animal enclosures.

Animals include giraffes, tigers, lions, reindeer, wallabies and snow leopards, plus several aviaries, a reptile house and a good range of primates. The zoo is also known for its modernist enclosures and buildings, designed by Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton Group, with engineering by Ove Arup. A chairlift, relaunched in 2012 after a refurbishment, helps with the steep slopes up towards the elephant house.

It suits animal lovers and anyone curious about the architecture or the castle's history.

Tip: The site is steep, and the car park is barrier-operated with a token needed to exit, so keep that in mind when you arrive.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage in Shottery, just outside Stratford-upon-Avon, is the former farmhouse where Shakespeare's wife-to-be was born and raised. The earliest part dates to 1463, and despite the name it is a twelve-roomed house with visible timber framing and several chimneys. Inside you can see original furniture, including the Hathaway bed, and learn about the family who lived here for 13 generations.

Outside, acres of cottage gardens and orchards are the main draw, along with a sculpture trail inspired by Shakespeare's plays and a giant willow sculpture that makes a good photo spot. There is a garden café and a garden shop. Children aged 4 to 11 can borrow a Nature Explorer Backpack, with butterfly nets, bug jars and animal footprints for exploring the meadow, orchard and statue garden. It's a good fit for families and anyone interested in Shakespeare's story.

Tip: Pre-booking is recommended. Backpacks are limited and given out first come, first served, so ask for one when you arrive.

Broadway Tower is a Grade II listed, 18th-century tower on Broadway Hill, the second-highest point of the Cotswolds. Designed by James Wyatt and inspired by Capability Brown, it's a castle-style building with battlements, gargoyles and turrets. The top three floors are a museum, and a spiral staircase takes you up to the roof platform for the views.

The tower sits in a 200-acre family-owned estate of parkland. You can visit the Deer Park, follow the circular walks or just stroll the grounds with a picnic. There are two cafés and shops, and the Cotswold Way passes right by. For something different, the restored Cold War nuclear bunker nearby is one of the few such monitoring posts in England open to visitors. It's a good pick for history fans and anyone who likes a walk with a view.

Tip: Book tickets online in advance, as space is limited. The nuclear bunker tours also need booking through the website.

Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park is a small zoo on the edge of Cannon Hill Park, run by Birmingham City Council. The council describes a collection of animals from across the world, including lemurs, reptiles, meerkats, otters, birds, wallabies and a large collection of monkeys.

The zoo takes part in captive breeding programmes for endangered animals, and it is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. Educational talks and campaigns are part of its work too.

It suits families and animal lovers who want a zoo visit in the city. The site began as Birmingham Zoo in 1964 and was later known as Birmingham Nature Centre, before taking its current name in 2014.

Tip: You can turn up and pay at reception, but the council encourages everyone to pre-book online and to have the original confirmation email ready to show, as screenshots and forwarded emails aren't accepted.

Spetchley Park Gardens is a 30-acre garden on the doorstep of Worcester, part of the Berkeley family's estate. It mixes formal, informal and woodland gardens, and very little has changed since Ellen Willmott's day. You can wander walled gardens, a melon yard with its original glasshouses, a Victorian conservatory, a root house, rose gardens, lakes and bridges, plus superb herbaceous borders and fine specimen trees. It also holds one of the biggest private collections of peonies.

The gardens are flat, with gravel or grass paths, so it's an easy, relaxed stroll, though a few areas are less suited to wheelchairs. There's a garden café for light refreshments. The house isn't open to the public, so this is a garden day. It suits couples, families and anyone who likes plants, history and a quiet walk. The composer Edward Elgar was a regular guest here.

Tip: Picnics aren't permitted, so plan to have lunch at the garden café.