Oak Farm Lodges - Fun Days Out

Banham Zoo is a 50-acre zoo in Norfolk, run by the Zoological Society of East Anglia, a registered charity. It opened to the public in 1968 and is the largest zoo in the region. Animals include giraffes, snow leopards, Amur tigers, cheetahs, red pandas, meerkats and California sea lions, along with a well-regarded collection of smaller monkeys.

The day mixes animal encounters with daily talks, live shows, outdoor play areas and seasonal events. There are animal experiences, including hand-feeding giraffes, and a Bird Garden reached by a short walk along a meandering path. Families will find plenty to fill a day, and the activities are designed for all ages. Money from tickets also supports the zoo's conservation work.

Tip: Check the website's what's on page before you go, as daily talks and seasonal events change, and you can book tickets online in advance.

Bressingham is a steam museum and gardens just west of Diss. The museum has several railways running through the grounds, including the Fen Railway and the Waveney Valley Railway, and a locomotive shed where you can get close to the engines. You can also ride the Gallopers, a three-abreast fairground ride built by Frederick Savage in 1897, and see steam rollers, traction engines and other vehicles in the collection.

There is plenty to see on foot too. Walk down the main street of Walmington-on-Sea, with its Dad's Army displays and vehicles, and look round the railway exhibits in the museum. The gardens next door are a separate, privately owned part of the site. They include the Dell Garden with its island beds, and a miniature railway runs through it, giving clear views of the flower beds. It suits steam enthusiasts, Dad's Army fans and anyone who likes a garden.

Tip: Check the train running timetable on the Bressingham website before you go, so you can plan your rides around the day.

Norwich Castle was built by William the Conqueror as a royal palace, and later served as a gaol before becoming a museum and art gallery. The medieval Castle Keep has rooms furnished to give an authentic sense of twelfth-century life, along with immersive storytelling.

Inside, The Gallery of Medieval Life, a British Museum partnership, displays over 900 objects. Other galleries cover art, archaeology and natural history, and there is also the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum. Temporary exhibitions and special events run through the year. It suits anyone curious about the Norman era and the castle's long story, from royal fortress to prison to museum.

Tip: Pre-booking tickets online gets you the best price for entry, and a free digital guide is available to help you explore the castle and its collections.

Framlingham Castle is a Norman-era castle in the Suffolk market town of Framlingham, now looked after by English Heritage. Its curtain wall has thirteen towers and no central keep, and you can follow the wall-top walk right round the defences. Panels point out the town, the outer earthworks and the Mere, and the tall Tudor chimneys on the towers each have a different brick design.

Inside, an exhibition tells the castle's stories, from medieval aristocrats and a Tudor queen to the poorhouse children of the Georgian workhouse that once stood here. A free audio guide is available, and families can try on costumes and play interactive games. There is somewhere to stop for a bite too. It suits history fans, families and anyone who likes a good view over a pretty town.

Tip: Book advance tickets online to save money on the gate price, and pick up the free audio guide to get more from the wall walk.

Helmingham Hall is a moated manor house in Suffolk, begun by John Tollemache in 1480 and owned by the Tollemache family ever since. The house itself is not open to the public, but you can admire it from the grounds, with its 60-foot-wide moat and two working drawbridges that have been pulled up every night since 1510.

The gardens are the main draw. They include extensive herbaceous borders, a rose garden, a knot garden, a parterre, a walled garden, an allée and an orchard. Beyond them lies a 400-acre deer park with herds of red and fallow deer. Both the house and the gardens are Grade I listed, so history fans and nature lovers have plenty to look at.

Oxburgh Hall is a moated medieval manor house near Swaffham, with Victorian Gothic interiors. It was built in the 1480s for the Bedingfeld family, who still live in private apartments there. You cross the moat to a tall brick gatehouse, then explore the hall, which has a priest hole and needlework hangings worked by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick.

Outside, there is a Victorian garden with a kitchen garden and orchard, a French-style parterre, a wilderness area and My Lady's Wood. The parkland sits on the edge of the Norfolk Brecks, and there are woodland walks including a Woodland Explorer trail. The National Trust says families can build dens and hunt for secret doorways. The Servants' Hall tea-room is there for a break, and there is a shop and a second-hand bookshop.

Tip: Parking is free on site, and the hall is about 250 metres from the main car park along a flat gravel path.

Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex in Norfolk, 8 km north east of Brandon. Miners worked here from around 2600 to 2300 BC, digging shafts into the chalk to reach seams of flint, which was much in demand for making polished stone axes. Some of the largest shafts are more than 14 m deep and 12 m wide at the surface.

The ground is pockmarked with the filled-in shafts, and the scheduled monument covers some 37 hectares. Anglo-Saxons named it after their god Grim, and its purpose was only uncovered when Canon William Greenwell excavated a shaft in 1868 to 1870. The miners used red deer antler picks, and one shaft appears to have been turned into a shrine. The site is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest within the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, so it's a good stop for anyone curious about prehistory and open landscape.

The Food Museum in Stowmarket tells the story of how food is grown, made and eaten. It covers 84 acres of Suffolk countryside with 17 historic buildings and close to 40,000 objects, from wartime ration recipes to a full-size steam-powered mill engine. The museum is large, and most people take all day to see it.

Highlights include the Queen Anne house of Abbot's Hall and its Walled Garden, the Mortlock Building with its steam engines, Alton Watermill and Eastbridge Windpump, and a mile of river trails. The farm area has rare breeds such as Suffolk Sheep, Red Poll cattle and Suffolk Punch horses, plus hens, turkeys and pigs. There are daily talks, tours and hands-on farming or foraging activities. Children can use the play area with its zip wire, swings and slides. Feast Cafe serves homemade meals.

Tip: Pick up a daily menu from the museum shop to see the talks, tours and demonstrations on during your visit.