Essex

Adventure Island Theme Park

Adventure Island is the number 1 theme park in the south of England. With over 40 rides and attractions there’s something for the whole family to enjoy.

Barleylands Farm Museum

Barleylands Farm Museum is a unique family attraction, open daily from 1st March - 31st October 10.00am - 5.00pm. Meet and feed the animals, visit the chicks in the hatchery, cuddle a rabbit in the bunny barn, and feed the ducks on the pond.

Barn Theatre

The historic Barn Theatre is one of the finest and oldest Tithe Barns in the country, with magnificent oak timbers and ancient tiled roof. Available to hire for weddings, parties, theatre productions and country fairs.

Battlesbridge Antiques Centre

The largest antiques centre in the south east of England with over 60 dealers buying and selling a wide range of antiques, reproductions and collectables.

Colchester Zoo

Colchester Zoo is one of the finest zoos in Europe with over 200 species set 60 acres of beautiful parkland. Award winning enclosures include the Kingdom of the Wild, which has cost nearly £2 million to build.

Epping Forest District Museum

The museum tells the story of the people who have lived and worked in this part of Essex from the earliest inhabitants to the present. Housed in a building dating to 1520, the museum offers something for all the family with temporary exhibitions, gallery trails and interactions.

Firstsite @ The Minories Art Gallery

Firstsite is one of the leading contemporary visual arts organisations in East England. Currently based at the Minories Art Gallery we programme exhibitions, projects and events onsite - inside the gallery and offsite, outside the gallery.

Focal Point Gallery

The Focal Point Gallery aims to provide the best of photographic and new media arts. We run a regular programme of exhibitions, workshops and events, details of which can be found on our web site..

Fry Art Gallery

The Fry Public Art Gallery houses an impressive number of paintings, prints, illustrations, wallpapers and decorative designs by artists of the 20th Century and the present day who have local connections and have made a significant contribution to their field.

Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre

The nature reserve covers 100 acres of the short of Hanningfield Reservoir, with the centre giving uninterrupted views of the southern end. The 870 acre reservoir is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its wildfowl population.

Hedingham Castle

Splendid Norman keep built in 1140 by the famous de Veres, Earls of Oxford. Visited by Kings Henry VII, VIII and Queen Elizabeth I and besieged by King John.

Ingatestone Hall

19th Century manor house, built by Sir William Petre, Secretary of State to four Tudor monarchs, and still occiped by his descendants. The house substantially retains its original form (including 2 priests’ hiding places) and contains furniture, pictures and memorabilia collected over the centuries.

Langdon Visitor’s Centre

Over 460 acres of ancient woodland and meadows with a network of bridleways and footpaths. 1930’s Plotlands museum (phone for opening times). Visitor centre offers cold/hot drinks, snacks and toilet facilities.

Lee Valley Regional Park

The Lee Valley Regional Park stretches 26 miles from the edge of London’s Docklands into Hertfordshire and Essex. The unique features of this 10,000 acre area have been shaped and moulded to provide a mosaic of countryside parks, nature reserves, lakes and waterways.

Melford Hall

Melford Hall is one of East Anglia’s most celebrated Elizabethan houses, little changed externally since 1578 and with an original panelled banqueting hall.

Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary

Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary is home to 40 horses, 6 donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs and cows - all rescued from cruelty. Come along to one of our open days and see the work we do and meet the animals.

Royal Gunpowder Mills

Set in 175 acres of natural parkland and boasting 21 important historic buildings, the Royal Gunpowder Mills mixes fascinating history, exciting science and beautiful surroundings to produce a magical trip for both old and young.

Southchurch Hall Museum

Southchurch Hall is a beautiful medieval manor house with Tudor extensions set in attractive gardens just down the road from central Southend. Admission is free but guided talks are available for a small charge.

The Gardens of Easton Lodge

The Gardens of Easton Lodge, 23-acre historical restoration garden designed in 1902 by Harold Peto for the Countess of Warwick. Abandoned in 1950, restoration began 1973.

The Original Great Maze

Set in the wonderful Essex countryside there’s over 5 miles of pathway in over 10 acres of maize with only one path leading to the central tower to view all your lost friends.