Things to do with two kids around Winchester?
 

I'm posting this as a separate query from my car-rental question, as I understand there are some Fodorites on this forum with good knowledge of the Winchester area. Thanks for chiming in!

We will be renting a flat in Winchester in July for two weeks while my husband has business in Southampton, so I'd love to get some suggestions for things to do on my own with the kids (who will be 7 and 11) and as a family when my husband's not working. Clearly, Winchester itself has a lot to offer, and the kids have already lobbied for some day-trip destinations--Stonehenge and Windsor Castle being high on the list (though not LegoLand, since we will be going on to Denmark later in our travels and will fit that in then). I don't feel that everything has to be "kid-friendly," as they're pretty good travelers and can tolerate some more grown-up activities, but it's good to have a mix. I'm hoping to also do some nice walks or other outdoor excursions--maybe in the New Forest? And we thought we'd try to see some of the coast--I know there are some museums in Southampton/Portsmouth that might be of interest. Are some more worthwhile than others? Are there other nice destinations on the coast nearby? We'll have a car, so we can be fairly flexible.

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated!

Some suggestions:

The New Forest - you can go pony trekking there too.

The National Motor Museum at Beaulie (sp? I can never spell this).

Nelson's flagship, Victory, at Portsmouth, and there's other good stuff there including Henry VIII's flagship, Mary Rose, (or what's left of it) as well as other warships and subs etc.

Salisbury - lovely old town and corking cathedral.

Seaside at Bournemouth, Weymouth etc.

Thanks for your thoughts... These all sound great. Is there a good starting place you'd recommend for seeing the New Forest? Pony trekking sounds like a nice way to go, so I can look into that.

Salisbury is definitely on my list, and the Motor Museum and ships at Portsmouth will definitely interest my son.

As for the seaside, I guess I'm not too keen on the more bustling/touristy destinations--are there smaller, quieter towns or beaches you'd recommend? We often just like to walk on the beach, have a picnic, or explore for shells, etc.
Thanks!

Oh yes - -definitely the New Forest -- and include Bealieu and Buckler's Hard.

www.bucklershard.co.uk/ipus/bucklershard/index
www.beaulieu.co.uk/ipus/beaulieu/index

You can also do a day trip by ferry, or better yet - overnight, to the Isle of Wight.

http://www.theneedles.co.uk/
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1082

Portchester Castle - easily doable by train from Winchester - it is on the way to Portsmouth. A great slab sided Norman keep with surrounding Roman walls - it has an excellent (and funny) audio tour included in the price.

Marwell Zoo - a bit expensive, but a lovely large zoo - great for picnicking. It is around 5 miles from Winchester.

"We often just like to walk on the beach, have a picnic, or explore for shells, etc."

Netley is the nearest beach and not that special.

What there is is rivers...The Watermeadows, in behind the college and cathedral are beautiful and your kids can terrorise the wildlife.

Perfect for a picnic.

I spent half my childhood swimming in the Itchen

If the children like animals, they might enjoy the Otter and Owl place in the New Forest -it's not enormous, but the otters are cute, there's a friendly deer, and various other animals: http://www.ottersandowls.co.uk/

I'd recommend Bournemouth for the beach.

Thanks for the tip on the Otter and Owl place--that sounds great for my older one, who's a big fan of owls.

I guess my comment on walks on the beach, etc. was more in response to the earlier suggestion of heading to Weymouth or Bournemouth to see the coast. I'm sure we'd love a walk along the river in Winchester, too! I was just hoping to find somewhere interesting to go on a day-trip that would give us a sense of the coastline (but without huge crowds, if at all possible!).

You'd probably like Lyme Regis and surrounds. It's a day trip from Winchester and never mind shells - you can look for fossils!

It's been branded as the "Jurassic Coast" because of how many fossils are there.

http://www.lymeregis.com/

There is an owl and hawk conservation place in Andover, which does several shows of falconry and flying of other birds such as eagles, owls and occassionally a condor.

This may be the first time anyone has recommended a trip to Andover.

Well, I thought that Slough or Penge might be too far for a daytrip.

Lyme Regis fossil hunting sounds ideal--Do you know if you have to reserve tours in advance or can we manage this on our own?

The hawk and owl place also sounds good--I'm sure falconry would appeal to my 11-year-old.

Thanks for the tips...

I saw there was a science/technology museum in Winchester itself--is it worth visiting?

Lyme Regis fossil hunting sounds ideal--Do you know if you have to reserve tours in advance or can we manage this on our own?>>>>

You can easily do it on your own - just go down to the beach and start bashing rocks.

There's an area of the beach where the cliffs are eroding and that's where most people find fossils.

(BTW Lyme Regis is where The French Lieutenant's Woman was filmed if you want to see what it looks like).

The science centre is relatively small, and definitely does not compare to the Science museum in London - it is worth a few hours - lots of "hands on" exhibits.

A daytrip to Oxford is doable. It's about 60 miles directly north on the A34. Amazing to see all the steeples on the horizon as you approach Oxford.

About 10 miles further north of Oxford is Woodstock, Blenheim Palace and Churchill's grave in Bladon. You can get a sandwich for lunch at a meat market on the main square in Woodstock.

Long hours of daylight in July might enable you to do both with an early start and a late return.

A little further afield to the west is Stourhead one of England's great landscape gardens. May be not exciting enough for your children.

Thanks to everyone for the great tips... My 11-year-old son now tells me that he thinks 2 weeks won't be enough time to do all the things he'd like to do! I had initially thought that 2 weeks in the same place might get wearying after a bit, but it sounds like we can get to so many places from Winchester, that it's working out to be a great home-base.

Thanks, jsmith, for the idea about Oxford. That's another place I was thinking we might like to see, and it's good to know it's do-able as a day-trip. I was there once years and years ago with friends and had a lovely day at Blenheim, walking in the gardens. I know I'd love to see Stourhead, too--will have to see what the kids are willing and able to put up with. :-)

We're now thinking we may be able to see Windsor on the way to Winchester from Heathrow (either our first afternoon or the next morning), and then we'll try to mix some local activities with longer day trips over the two weeks. With London, Salisbury/Stonehenge, the New Forest, Portsmouth, Lyme Regis, Oxford, and maybe the Isle of Wight within a day's reach, we should be plenty busy...

Now we just have to hope for good weather!

Your children might enjoy a steam train ride on the watercress line at Alresford 10-15 east of Winchester.

http://www.watercressline.co.uk/

jspen, you should also visit Old Sarum on your Salisbury/Stonehenge day and possibly Avebury tho that mey be a little too far.

If your kids have a taste for the ghoulish then don't miss out on the tiny museum on top of The Westgate (which you will walk through on your way to se King Arthur's Round Table (and you will want to see Arthur's Round table won't you).

The little museum has things like the gibbets and the like from Winchester's colourful past, and you can see where we used to pour boiling oil on people.

http://www.britainexpress.com/counti...r/westgate.htm