High Farm Holiday Park - Fun Days Out

The Deep is a public aquarium in Hull, overlooking the Humber Estuary where the River Hull meets it. Its Endless Ocean tank holds sharks, rays and northern Europe's only pair of green sawfish, and you can walk through Europe's deepest viewing tunnel or ride a glass lift through the water. Elsewhere you'll find the Lagoon of Light with colourful tropical fish, plus turtles, jellyfish, coral, fish that glow in the dark and penguins.

There are hands-on displays and an interactive area where you learn to control an underwater diving vessel, and a chronological journey through the story of the oceans. Daily talks cover sharks, penguins and artefact handling. It was voted the best family place to visit in Hull, so it suits families, and anyone curious about marine life. The Deep is a charity, so your visit supports its conservation work.

Tip: Check the daily talk times when you arrive and plan your visit around the shark and penguin talks. Use HU1 4DP or HU9 1TU for sat nav, which takes you to Tower Street.

Beverley Minster is the parish church of Saint John and Saint Martin in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, bigger than a third of English cathedrals, and is regarded as a Gothic masterpiece. A holy place for around 1300 years, it grew up around the monastery founded by Saint John of Beverley, whose remains still lie in a vault beneath the nave.

Inside, visitors praise the Gothic architecture and the skilful medieval stone and wood carvings. The west front, with its two great towers, is a superb example of the Perpendicular style and inspired the west towers of Westminster Abbey. You can explore on your own, or join an 'Exploring Beverley Minster' tour or a Roof Tour. There is also a shop inside.

Tip: Tours, including the Roof Tour, can be booked through the Minster's website. On Sunday mornings access is limited to the west end until services finish.

Murton Park is set in 14 acres of countryside east of York and is home to the Yorkshire Museum of Farming. Inside you can explore the history of farm machinery, rural life and the Women's Land Army. Outdoors there are animals to meet, play areas, and a short ride on the Derwent Valley Light Railway at weekends.

The living history sites bring the past to life, with a one-third scale Roman fort and a Viking village that are open to all visitors most weekends and school holidays. The Yorkshire Barn Café is on site for a break. Visitors praise the friendly staff, the play areas and the space for small children to run about, so it suits families best, and anyone who likes a bit of history.

Tip: The living history sites may have limited or no access during school term time, so visit at a weekend or in the school holidays to see the Roman fort and Viking village.

The Ferens is one of the UK's finest art collections, housed in a Grade II listed building in Queen Victoria Square. The collection runs from late medieval painting through to sculpture and new media, with highlights from Lorenzetti, Frans Hals, Canaletto, Leighton, Stanley Spencer, Helen Chadwick and Gillian Wearing. Alongside the permanent displays there are changing exhibitions.

It suits art lovers, but families are catered for too, with museum trails, a children's gallery and activities for under 5s. There is a café and a gift shop selling postcards, prints and art books, plus a lift, baby change and wheelchair hire. The gallery is a short walk from the Maritime Museum and Hull City Hall, so it fits easily into a wider day in the city.

Tip: No need to book for a normal visit, but last admission is 30 minutes before closing and the café shuts an hour before the gallery.

York Minster is an Anglican cathedral in the city of York and the seat of the Archbishop of York. Most of the building dates from between 1220 and 1472. It keeps most of its medieval stained glass, including the huge east window, the largest expanse of medieval glass in the world, and the Five Sisters window in the north transept.

A visit can include free guided tours led by volunteer guides, a stained glass tour, and the Undercroft Museum, which covers 2,000 years of history. You can also see the Crypt, and visitors aged 8 and over can climb the Central Tower. Families get interactive trails and Little Explorer Backpacks, and history lovers have plenty to explore.

Tip: Pre-book your tickets, and note that a Minster ticket is valid for 12 months. The Central Tower needs a combined ticket and a minimum age of 8.

Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan manor house near Driffield, built in the early 1600s. Inside, the Long Gallery has a richly plastered ceiling, and many 17th-century fittings survive, including carved woodwork, plaster ceilings and an alabaster overmantel. Next door stands the Norman Manor House, first built in 1173. Both are Grade I listed, and the Hall is still a lived-in family home.

The grounds are a big part of the day. The walled garden has a games theme, with a chess board of black and white paving stones, plus draughts, snakes and ladders and hoop toss. It also holds the National Collection of Campanulas. There is a woodland walk with an adventure playground, which is well known locally for its snowdrops in February. The Carriage House has a shop and café, and the walled garden nursery sells plants.

Tip: Book tickets online ahead if you can. Card payments only, as cash isn't accepted on site.

Sledmere House is a Grade I listed Georgian country house between Driffield and Malton, and the ancestral home of the Sykes family. It is known for its Chippendale and Sheraton furnishings, fine plasterwork and the Long Library, which is described as one of the most beautiful rooms in England. The Turkish Room, with its Kutahya tiles, is another highlight. The house was rebuilt after a fire in 1911, and tours tell the family story through its art, furniture and antiques.

Outside, the house sits in parkland designed by Capability Brown, with an 18th-century walled garden and a rose garden. There is also a farm shop, a coffee shop, an adventure play area and a farm where children can meet the animals. It suits families, garden lovers and anyone who enjoys history and architecture. Parking is free.

Tip: The farm shop, adventure play area and farm do not need a ticket and parking is free, but check the website for current opening times before you set off.

Clifford's Tower is the largest surviving part of York Castle, northern England's greatest medieval fortress. Inside the tower you can explore key periods of its history, with fictional historic characters telling its tales, from the Harrying of the North and the tragic anti-Jewish pogrom of 1190 to the explosion of 1684 that destroyed the interior.

At the foot of the mound, a welcome area includes a tactile map of the castle and city. The steps up the mound are steep, but there are three resting places along the way. At the top, a timber roof platform gives 360-degree panoramas over York and beyond. The tower's Henry III stone keep has a distinctive quatrefoil design, and it's an easy one to fit around a wider day in the city.

Tip: Booking early can save money, and arriving by bus, train or bike gets you a discount on entry bought at the site on the day.