Gunner Lodge - Fun Days Out

The Forbidden Corner is a folly garden in the Tupgill Park Estate at Coverham in Coverdale, inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Built in the 1980s as a private pleasure garden, it opened to the public in 1997. The Folly Fellowship voted it the best European folly of the 20th century.

The four-acre garden is laid out as a maze of statues, sculptures, towers, tunnels, grottoes and water fountains. Highlights include a labyrinth with a revolving floor, a 12-foot conifer dog's head and a 20-foot oak green man. Visitors are given a checklist of things to find, and there is also a brass rubbing sheet with 15 plaques hidden around the garden. There is a café and a gift shop. It has also been named the best children's attraction in Yorkshire.

Tip: Check the official website before you go to see how tickets are booked.

White Scar Cave is a show cave under Ingleborough, in the Chapel-le-Dale valley of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is the longest show cave in Britain, formed in Carboniferous limestone and first explored in 1923. Every visit is a guided tour, covering about a mile and taking around 80 minutes.

Along the way you reach The Battlefield, one of the largest known cave chambers in Great Britain at 90 metres long. An access tunnel has been cut so it can be part of the visitor trail. Above ground there is a car park near the ticket office, plus a café and shop.

The cave stays a cool 8°C all year round, so bring a jumper or jacket. Tours need a minimum of two visitors to go ahead, and they run weather permitting.

Tip: Wear a jumper or jacket, as the cave is a cool 8°C all year; the time of the next tour is displayed at the ticket office.

Bolton Castle is a 14th-century castle in Wensleydale, built between 1378 and 1399 by Richard, 1st Baron Scrope. Mary, Queen of Scots was held prisoner here for six months, and an audio app has a recording for each room of the castle, covering her captivity, how Lord Scrope's army prepared for war and how the servants kept the household running. Part of the building is ruined and part has been restored. Reviewers praise the views from the top.

Outside, there are gardens with a maze, herb garden, rose garden and vineyard, plus a boar park. Daily activities include medieval games, archery demonstrations and a bird of prey display with hawks and owls. There is a tea room on site. One reviewer spent four hours exploring, with lunch in the tea room and the boar feeding to finish. The castle has appeared in Ivanhoe, Elizabeth and All Creatures Great and Small.

Tip: Catch the bird of prey display and the boar feeding, and use the audio app to hear the story of each room.

Malham Cove is a large curved limestone cliff about a kilometre north of Malham village, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It was shaped by a waterfall carrying glacial meltwater at the end of the last Ice Age. The cliff is 80 metres high and more than 300 metres wide, and a large limestone pavement lies above it.

About 400 irregular stone steps on the west side, part of the Pennine Way, lead up to the pavement. The cliff is also popular with climbers, who tackle both traditional and sport routes, and Malham Beck emerges from a cave at its foot. The cove has appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) and in the BBC series Seven Natural Wonders. It suits walkers, nature lovers and film fans.

Tip: To reach the limestone pavement on top, take the roughly 400 uneven stone steps on the west side of the cliff.

Lancaster Castle is a Grade I listed medieval castle and former prison on a hilltop in the city centre, standing on the site of three successive Roman forts. English Heritage has called it the North-West's most important historic and archaeological monument. It served as a prison for centuries, and part of it still hosts Crown Court sittings.

You can wander the courtyards, enjoy the external views and stop at the courtyard café without paying, but the interiors can only be seen on a guided tour of about an hour. Tours cover the castle's darker past, from witchcraft trials to transportation to Australia. Expect steep approaches from every direction.

Tip: There's no on-site car park and on-street spaces are limited to 2 hours, so use one of Lancaster's larger car parks or the park and ride.

Sizergh is a Grade I listed castle and stately home about 4 miles south of Kendal, in the Lake District National Park. The oldest part is a tower from the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Inside, you'll find oak-panelled rooms, including the Inlaid Chamber, plus Strickland family portraits and paintings linked to the Stuart court in exile. The Strickland family owned the estate for centuries, and the Hornyold-Strickland family still lives here.

Outside, the garden has a lake, a kitchen garden and the largest limestone rock garden owned by the National Trust, home to part of the National Collection of ferns. The wider estate covers 647 hectares of parkland, with a wild play trail for children aged three and up. Birdwatchers may spot hawfinches near the main car park in spring. There is a café serving food made with produce from the garden, and a shop in the Visitor Centre.

Tip: Dogs are welcome on the wider estate, but only assistance dogs are allowed in the gardens, so plan your route accordingly.

Lakes Aquarium sits in the village of Lakeside on the southern shore of Windermere. It opened in 1997 and is now themed around the lakes of the world, with both freshwater and salt water animals. Displays cover the Lake District, Asia, Africa, the Americas, marine life and Morecambe Bay.

Animals include oriental small-clawed otters, red-bellied piranhas, axolotls, common seahorses, thornback rays and Eurasian harvest mice. The Lake District area covers native and non-native wildlife, plus a conservation project breeding endangered white-clawed crayfish. There is also a Virtual Diving Bell, which shows underwater scenes on three semi-spherical screens. It is one of the docking points for Windermere Lake Cruises and sits at one end of the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, so it fits easily into a day of exploring.

Tip: The Windermere Lake Cruises dock and the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway are both here, so you can arrive by boat or steam train.

Middleham Castle is a ruined fortress in the Yorkshire Dales, built around one of the biggest Norman keeps in England. In the 15th century the powerful Neville family added luxurious chambers around it, earning the castle the nickname "Windsor of the North". It was also the childhood home of King Richard III.

There's plenty to explore, from the multi-storey toilet tower and a horse-powered mill to the great halls inside the keep. Climb to the keep's lofty viewing platform for views over Wensleydale and the village below. Most of the walls are still standing, so it's easy to picture how the place worked.

Families can follow the World Builder Challenge trail, which encourages children to design their own fort. History fans and anyone who enjoys a good castle climb will get the most from it.

Tip: Head up to the keep's viewing platform for the best views over Wensleydale, and book tickets in advance online.