Elton Furze Retreats - Fun Days Out

Burghley House is one of the largest and grandest houses of the 16th century, built for William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I. It is still a family home, and the State Rooms are full of paintings and treasures, including ceiling paintings on the Heaven Room and Hell Staircase and carvings by Grinling Gibbons.

Outside, there is plenty to fill the rest of the day. The Sculpture Garden covers Capability Brown's lost gardens, while the Garden of Surprises is a playful mix of classical ideas, astrology and astronomy. Children can head for Hide & Secrets, with woodland play zones and the Hidden Towers structure, which has two huge slides, climbing walls and wobbly walkways. The wider parkland was laid out by Capability Brown, with a large lake. There are places to eat on site, including the Orangery and Garden Café.

Tip: Book online in advance to save money on the day. Dogs on leads can use the parkland, but not the house, gardens or adventure play.

Twinlakes is a 100-acre family theme park just north-east of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. A large share of the rides are aimed at young children, so it suits families better than thrill-chasing adults. The park bills itself as all-action and all-weather, and says its water park is all inclusive, with unlimited rides, slides and splashes.

Attractions include a roller coaster, log flume, go karts, bumper boats, a boating lake, a toboggan slide and an assault course. There's also a small zoo, a falconry centre and a model village. A miniature railway carries you between different parts of the park. The park is split into zones, which helps with finding your way around. Groups of adults without children aren't admitted, so it's strictly a family day out.

Tip: Book tickets online in advance, as the park says this usually gets the best savings.

Woolsthorpe Manor, near Grantham, is the birthplace and family home of Sir Isaac Newton. This Grade I listed house is cared for by the National Trust and presented as a typical seventeenth-century yeoman's farmhouse. Newton returned here in 1666 when Cambridge University closed because of the plague, and performed many of his most famous experiments on light and optics in the house.

Outside, the orchard is home to an apple tree linked with Newton's thinking on gravity, and the walled kitchen garden at the back has been restored. One of the old farmyard buildings now holds an interactive visitor experience about the physical principles Newton investigated. The manor sits on the edge of the village, mostly surrounded by fields.

Belvoir Castle (pronounced BEE-vər) is a grade I listed mock castle on a high hill in the north of Leicestershire, overlooking the Vale of Belvoir. The name means "beautiful view" in Norman French. A castle has stood on the site since the Norman Conquest, and the present building dates from the early 19th century, in the romantic Gothic Revival style by architect James Wyatt.

The castle has been the home of the Manners family for five hundred years and the seat of the Dukes of Rutland for over three centuries. It is still privately owned but open to the public. Its story takes in a Tudor manor, destruction in the Civil War, and a fire in 1816 that damaged paintings by artists including Titian and Rubens. The central tower is reminiscent of Windsor Castle. The ducal mausoleum stands next to the castle.

IWM Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum, set on the historic Duxford Aerodrome in Cambridgeshire. The site began as a Royal Flying Corps training aerodrome, played a prominent part in the Battle of Britain, and stayed an active RAF airfield until 1961. Many of the original buildings, including hangars used during the Battle of Britain, are still in use, and over thirty are listed.

Today it houses aircraft, military vehicles, artillery and small naval vessels across several exhibition buildings. These include the Stirling Prize-winning American Air Museum, designed by Sir Norman Foster. The site is still an active airfield used by civilian flying companies, and it hosts regular air shows. It also holds the Airborne Assault and Royal Anglian Regiment museums, so there is plenty of military history beyond the aircraft themselves.

Tip: Check the IWM Duxford website before you go for air shows and special events, as the site hosts them regularly.

Ely Cathedral stands above the flat Fenland landscape, which is why locals call it "the ship of the Fens". The earliest parts of the present building date to 1083, and it is one of the largest Norman churches built in its day. Its nave is among the longest in Britain, and the central Octagon, with its lantern above, creates a remarkable space inside.

Visitors can wander the ground floor with a free in-person tour or multi-media guide, subject to availability. Extra tours include the Octagon Tower, completed in 1342 and described as one of the wonders of medieval engineering. The West Tower Experience means climbing 288 steps for 360-degree views over the city and beyond. The Stained Glass Museum is housed upstairs, and the Almonry Kitchen offers afternoon tea.

Tip: Book tickets and tours in advance, as tour places are limited, and check opening times first because it is a busy working cathedral.

Belton House is a Grade I listed country house near Grantham, built between 1685 and 1687 for the Brownlow family. It sits within formal gardens, including Italian and Dutch gardens, and a wooded park crossed by avenues leading to follies. The park has been home to a herd of fallow deer for over 300 years.

Beyond the mansion, there is plenty to fill a day. The estate has one of the National Trust's largest outdoor adventure playgrounds, an indoor play area, a shop, a second-hand bookshop and the Stables Café, plus picnic benches in the gardens. A circular walk in Belton Park passes ancient woodland and the site of a deserted medieval village.

It suits families with children, garden and history fans, and anyone who enjoys a long wander through parkland.

Tip: There's no need to book for normal visits, and parking is included in the entry fee. Park in the grounds, not in Belton village. Dogs on leads are welcome in the gardens, parkland and café, but not in the house or playgrounds.

Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, a few miles north-west of Bourne on the A151. Despite the name it isn't a castle in the strict sense, but its towers and outlying pavilions give it a massive, fortress-like look. Much of the Tudor house still stands, and Sir John Vanbrugh designed the Baroque north front, which is regarded as his last masterpiece.

Inside, you can see Vanbrugh's monumental stone-arcaded hall and the State Dining Room, which holds the throne used by George IV at his Coronation Banquet. The drawing rooms have portraits by Reynolds and Van Dyck, European furniture and Soho Tapestries, and the Chinese drawing room has a richly decorated ceiling. Outside, the house sits in a 3,000-acre park of rolling pastures, lakes and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown. It has been the home of the de Eresby family since 1516.

Tip: Head for the Vanbrugh hall and State Dining Room first, then take in the parkland.