Silver Birch at Blackwood Forest - Fun Days Out

Marwell Zoo is a 140-acre zoo at Colden Common, near Winchester, run by the conservation charity Marwell Wildlife. It is home to hundreds of animals, including giraffes, leopards, meerkats and penguins, with red pandas, snow leopards and a walkthrough lemur exhibit among the other residents.

Alongside the animals there are seven adventure play areas, cafés and a gift shop, and animal feeds are on offer, subject to availability. The zoo sits in the grounds of Grade I listed Marwell Hall, which dates from around 1320. Families with children are the natural fit, though anyone who likes wildlife and a long walk outdoors will find plenty to fill the day. Café Graze serves hot food, sandwiches and sweet treats, and has vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options.

Tip: Book tickets online for the correct day before you arrive, and allow about 4 hours on a first visit.

Paultons Park is a family theme park on the edge of the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, set in 140 acres of parkland. It has rollercoasters, thrill rides, family rides, indoor and outdoor play areas and water splash parks, along with a collection of birds and animals.

Peppa Pig World is the headline area, with Peppa-themed rides and a large indoor playzone. The park also has themed areas including Critter Creek, Lost Kingdom, Tornado Springs and Valgard, a Viking-themed land. The park describes itself as a family venue, and most of its rides are designed for children and families. It will suit families with young children, and anyone who likes a day of rides alongside the animals and gardens.

Tip: Tickets are for a set date and some days sell out, so book your visit date in advance.

Winchester College was founded in 1382 and has been on the same site ever since. It is still a working boarding school, but members of the public can join its daily guided tours and see the heritage museums and collections.

The medieval buildings are the main draw: Outer Court, Chamber Court, the cloisters and the chapel, built in flint with limestone facings. The chapel keeps its original wooden fan-vaulted ceiling. A Wren-style classroom block called School dates from the 1680s, and the War Cloister of 1924 is a memorial to Old Wykehamists killed in the two World Wars. The college's museum, Treasury, has held an exhibition on Jane Austen's connection with the school, where eight of her nephews were educated. Austen spent her final weeks at No. 8 College Street, which the college has opened to visitors in the past.

Tip: Public access is through the daily guided tours, so check the Winchester College Heritage pages before you go.

The New Forest Wildlife Park sits on the edge of the New Forest near Ashurst and Lyndhurst. It specialises in animals that are or once were native to Britain, plus otters and owls from around the world. The otters are the stars, including the world's largest collection of giant otters, and you can also see wolves, a lynx and Bodie, Hampshire's only wolverine.

It's easy to get around, with daily keeper talks and a walk-through wallaby enclosure that lets you get close to the animals. There are adventure playgrounds for children, a tearoom and a gift shop. Reviewers describe it as small but full of things to do, so it suits families with young animal fans and anyone with an interest in conservation. Keeper experiences are available if you want to get closer to the animals.

Tip: Parking on site is free but first come, first served, so arrive early on busy days. Put the full address into your sat nav rather than just the postcode.

Jane Austen's House is a small independent museum in the village of Chawton, near Alton in Hampshire. It occupies the 17th-century house where Jane Austen lived with her mother, her sister Cassandra and family friend Martha Lloyd. Here she revised Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey for publication, and wrote Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion. The house is Grade I listed.

Inside, the furniture on display includes a Clementi pianoforte similar to the one she owned and a Hepplewhite bureau-bookcase containing several of her works. The collection also holds eighteen music books that belonged to her, with pieces copied out in her own hand. The museum holds regular events, including recitals on the pianoforte and performances based on her books.

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, a World Heritage Site and one of Britain's best-known landmarks. The outer ring of huge sarsen stones, topped with lintels, was raised in the third millennium BC. It sits within a landscape dense with burial mounds and other Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments.

You can walk up to the Stone Circle and take photos, then step into the reconstructed Neolithic houses. Children can have a go at finding out what it takes to move a sarsen stone. The exhibition explains how the builders lived and worked, and includes a Neolithic man brought to life face to face. There's a café for a snack, and plenty of wider landscape to explore on foot.

History fans, families and anyone ticking off an icon will get a lot from it.

Tip: Pre-book your ticket before you travel.

HMS Victory is the 104-gun wooden warship that served as Admiral Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. She now sits in dry dock at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, where you can step aboard and explore the decks where sailors ate, slept, worked and fought.

Walk from the upper deck down to the hold, see the historic cabins where major moments in history unfolded, and stand on the spot where Nelson fell. The lower gun deck brings home how crowded life was, with around 820 men from all over the world on board before Trafalgar. Victory Gallery tells the ship's wider story through personal accounts and recent discoveries, and you can see the conservation work that keeps her preserved for future generations.

Tip: Tickets can be bought online through the Royal Navy Museums website, so it's worth sorting them before you set off.

Hinton Ampner is a National Trust country house with gardens, set on the Hampshire Downs near Alresford. The house was remodelled in a Neo-Georgian style between 1936 and 1939 for Ralph Dutton, who filled it with early 18th-century furnishings and Regency art and decorative objects. Outside, the picturesque gardens are surrounded by an estate that is perfect for walks.

There is plenty of space in the parkland for children to run around, and picnic benches are dotted around the parkland and near the car park. You can also bring a blanket and use the garden lawns. The café in the Old Stables has indoor and outdoor seating, and there is a shop and a second-hand bookshop. Free garden guide tours run weekly. Dogs are allowed on short leads in the garden and estate, though only assistance dogs can go in the house and café. The village church, All Saints, dates mostly from the 13th century.

Tip: Parking is free. The café can get busy around lunchtime, so pick up something earlier or bring a picnic.