Talacre Beach Resort - Fun Days Out

Chester Zoo is a conservation charity and one of the UK's largest zoos, covering 130 acres with over 30,000 animals from more than 500 species. You can explore over 10 indoor habitats, including the UK's largest tropical biodome, and walk through the lemur area to get close to the troop. The Monsoon Forest habitat and award-winning gardens add plenty more to see.

There are five adventure playgrounds for children, and you can take the Islands Lazy River boat ride. Keepers and Zoo Rangers give daily talks about the animals they care for. The zoo is a short distance from Chester city centre and the M56, and it has been rated the UK's number one zoo by Tripadvisor.

Tip: Book online in advance to save on gate prices, and parking in the zoo car park is free.

The Welsh Mountain Zoo is a zoological garden near Colwyn Bay in Conwy County Borough. It covers 37 acres and has been open since 1963, so it has built up a good range of animal areas over the years.

Features named in the sources include Chimpanzee World, a Lemur Walkthrough, Red Pandas and Otters on the Prytherch Himalayan Terraces, Gibbon Heights, Condor Haven and a Children's Farm. There is also a Jungle Adventureland and a wallaby enclosure. The zoo has also bred the first Bactrian camel born in Wales. With a farm and walkthrough areas alongside the bigger enclosures, it suits families and anyone who likes seeing animals up close.

Tip: Check the zoo's website before you go, as the sources note that animal exhibits such as the sea lions have changed over time.

Conwy Castle was built by Edward I between 1283 and 1287 and is part of a World Heritage Site. Eight large towers and a high curtain wall still stand, and it has the best preserved set of medieval royal apartments in Wales. The ruins are split into an inner and an outer ward, with a Great Hall undercroft and chapels to explore.

The main draw is the walk around the battlements, reached by restored spiral staircases in the great towers. From the top you look out to the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia) and down over the harbour and narrow streets of Conwy. The town is still ringed by 1.3km of medieval walls, so it is worth a look round after the castle. The path up from the visitor centre is steep with several steps, and the towers involve a climb, so it suits those happy with stairs.

Tip: Climb the spiral staircases and walk the full battlement circuit if you can. Cadw highly recommends it.

Flint Castle (Castell y Fflint) was the first of the castles built during Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales, and it sits on the western shore of the River Dee estuary. Its ruins are looked after by Cadw, and access is free via a path. Most of the site, including the keep, is open to the public.

The keep is the star. It stands apart from the rest of the castle, with walls 7 metres thick at the base, and the layout is unique in the British Isles. Inside, a vaulted passage runs all the way around the ground floor. A spiral staircase in the north east tower leads up to a platform with views over the Dee Estuary.

The castle has a long history, including sieges by Welsh forces, a spell holding Richard II in 1399, and a three-month siege in the Civil War before it was slighted. It suits anyone who likes castle history.

Tip: Head for the spiral staircase in the north east tower to reach the viewing platform over the estuary.

The copper mines on the Great Orme were uncovered in 1987 during a landscaping scheme. They date from the Bronze Age, long before the Roman invasion, and are thought to be the largest prehistoric mine discovered in the world so far. Archaeologists, cavers and mining engineers are still uncovering more tunnels and surface landscape.

The tour is self-guided. You start in the visitor centre with a short introductory film, then head down two levels of the mine along a 200 metre underground route, using slopes and staircases. Back above ground, a surface walk takes in the smelting shelter and the opencast mine, and there is a gift shop. Hard hats are provided, which helps with the low ceilings. It suits curious children and adults, walkers exploring the Great Orme, and anyone interested in early British history.

Tip: It's cold underground (5-8°C), so bring warm clothing and sensible footwear; the floor is uneven and wet in places. Pushchairs and wheelchairs can't do the tour.

The Lady Lever Art Gallery sits in the garden village of Port Sunlight on the Wirral. It was founded by industrialist William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, and named in memory of his wife. The Beaux-Arts building opened in 1922 and is part of National Museums Liverpool.

Inside you'll find fine and decorative art reflecting Lord Leverhulme's personal taste. The collection is strong in British 19th-century painting and sculpture, with Pre-Raphaelite works by Millais, Rossetti, Burne-Jones and others, plus Turner, Constable and Gainsborough. There is probably the best collection of Wedgwood jasperware in the world, as well as English furniture, Chinese ceramics, Ancient Greek vases and Roman sculpture. Paintings, sculpture and furniture are displayed together, and five period rooms recreate interiors from large houses. It will appeal to anyone interested in Victorian art, decorative arts or the history of Port Sunlight.

World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, on William Brown Street opposite St George's Hall. Its collections cover archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences, and it is part of National Museums Liverpool. A central entrance hall and six-storey atrium lead you into the galleries.

Highlights include the Egyptian antiquities from Egypt and Sudan, the largest single part of the museum's antiquities collections, along with British finds such as the Anglo-Saxon Kingston brooch. Galleries include World Cultures, the Bug House and the Weston Discovery Centre, and there is a Natural History Centre too. The planetarium shows cover various aspects of space science, including the Solar System and space exploration, and there are special children's shows.