Our family of 4 (kids 12 & 9) are 2.5 months into a 3 year assignment in the UK. We are living in Derby (East Midlands) and want to make the most of our experience. Life sometimes gets in the way, but ideally every Sunday will be a day trip and every long weekend will result in a short stay somewhere. We are saving the longer breaks for trips around Europe.

So, what can you recommend for day trips or weekend trips?

Here's what we've done so far:
2 days in Alnwick / Holy Island
2 days in York
3 days in North Wales (Criccieth)
Day trips to Chatsworth, Keddleston Hall, Warwick Castle and Calke Abbey

We have both National Trust and English Heritage memberships. We are enjoying learning the history and experiencing the outdoors with hikes/walks. The Peak District is <1 hr away so that will be the standby Sunday journey but we are looking for other ideas (or specific recommendations).

Any specific resource/book recommendations as well?

Many thanks.

Put your kids in charge of planning some trips. Have them come up with a theme and find places within a hour that fit the theme. You could have a summer's long scavenger hunt. Have you tried geocaching btw?

Chester? It's an historic city and
there's a lot going on in June and July
http://www.chesterfestivals.co.uk/si...e-july-p114601

The children might also like the zoo. I have never been all that keen on zoos but the animals in the Chester zoo are kept in pretty decent conditions.

Derby is excellently placed for so much!

Ironbridge would be a good day out at just over an hours drive. www.ironbridge.org.uk

The Lake District for an active weekend

Blackpool or Skegness for a rather cheesy day at the seaside (both about 2.5 hours drive)

I know you have been to Warwick but there is so much else in the area - Baddesley Clinton, Packwood House, Coughton Court and Charlecote park are NT houses which have a lovely mix of periods,styles and have priest holes etc. You could easily combine some of these with a visit to Stratford upon Avon.

Have a look at the NT and English Heritage websites for activities that might interest the children such as Medieval Days (mine used to love them - perhaps that is why one is just finishing a history degree!)

Offa's Dyke and the Welsh Border Castles might be more difficult to reach but a section of the long distance path might be something to consider for a weekend or just stop somewhere around Ludlow or Shrewsbury. www.castlewales.com/march

I assume you have already seen the AA Days Out Guide 2011 but if not it can be a good starting point. They also have a 500 Historical Days Out and other such guides.

Hope this helps - and have a great time.

You're centrally placed for a lot of interesting day trips within 90 minutes travel time. A few suggestions off the top of my head:-

Chester - historic walled city founded by the Romans. Great zoo just out of town as well (one of the largest in the UK):-
http://www.visitchester.com/
http://www.chesterzoo.org/

Liverpool/Manchester/Salford - for excellent museums, amny of which focus on the unique part this region played in the Industrial Revolution:-
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/
http://north.iwm.org.uk/
http://www.thelowry.com/
http://www.mosi.org.uk/
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main...ndstyalestate/

Ironbridge - the kids will love the Blists Hill open air museum whih is a recreation of a Victorian town w/ shops, busnesses etc. http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/our_att...ictorian_town/

Cadbury World, Birmingham - kids love this chocolate factory exhibition http://www.cadburyworld.co.uk/Cadbur...buryWorld.aspx

National Space Centre, Leicester - http://www.spacecentre.co.uk/Page.aspx/1/HOME/

You have had some good suggestions, to which I would add:

Lincoln, for the cathedral and castle. Make sure you see the chapel in the old prison at the castle. (http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/visit...incoln-castle/)

Shugborough Hall, near Stafford. (www.shugborough.org.uk/)

Great Central Railway at Lougborough (www.gcrailway.co.uk/) or Severn Valley Railway at Kidderminster (www.svr.co.uk/)

Excellent! Thanks so much. 2-3 hrs away is okay as well since we can throw in an overnight if necessary.

1) Yorkshire Dales - beautiful scenery/walks. Ruined castles, abbeys etc. Highlights - Malham Cove, Jervaulx Abbey, Bolton Abbey, Castle Bolton, Middleham Castle
2) Yorkshire Moors - similar to above but in other ways very different. Highlights - Castle Howard, Rievaulx Abbey, Whitby (especially if your children read The Whitby Witches series of books), Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorks Moors Railway
3) Fountains Abbey and Eden Camp (could do in one weekend)
4) Lake District
5) Trough of Bowland - very overlooked part of the country but again beautiful scenery and walking
These areas all have lots of National Trust and English Heritage properties
6) Bolsover Castle
Definitely agree that you get the children to plan as well - maybe all take it in turns to choose somewhere?

I would second the Ironbridge Gorge and Telford area which is both beautiful and (in terms of the industrial revolution) fascinating.

If you can make it down to the south at any point, try Brighton - The Pavillion is amazing, The Lanes are great for shopping/antiquing, and there are lots of really good places to eat.

Forest of Dean/Tintern Abbey is another very picturesque area.

1. Combine a day out in the Peak District with a trip to Bakewell Farmers market (last Saturday of the month). This is an excellent farmers market with an excellent range of produce. Get there early, buy food for a picnic lunch, find a great walk, make sure the weather's good and have a perfect day.

2. Bath - excellent for a long weekend, just walking around the city is a top experience in itself - add to that afternoon tea in the Pump Room (don't forget to try the water) or an afternoon at the Bath Spa taking the waters in a similr way to the Romans did 2000 years ago is hard to beat as a truly unique experience.

3. Salford/Manchester - worth a few long weekends - Salford has the Lowry arts centre which is always worth a visit especially if you like Lowry's work and then just a 2 minute walk away the Imperial War Museum North and the new BBC and now just a 10 minute walk away is Ordsall Hall - a Tudor manor house that has just been re-opened after a massive restoration - enough in a 1 mile radius to keep you occupied all weekend. Add in the fantastic industrial heritage of the two cities, the best football club in the world, the great nightlife and you have enought for 2 or 3 great long weekends.

I hear the Cotswolds mentioned frequently. Can someone explain the area and attraction? (completely ignorant here)

Oh the Cotswolds are just a largish area of pretty villages and gentle hills to the northwest of Oxford. Basically old pubs, tea shops, antiques and good walking country. Foreign visitors seem strangely fixated by it, and it is well worth a visit, just not the only area of the UK that has attractive countryside.

BTW, I do have to come back on the suggestion someone made to visit Brighton - this is a loooong way from where you are in Derby through some God-awful traffic, and you may be disappointed when you get there unless you're a 20-something clubber. Not a good choice to visit if you have kids IMO.

The Brighton suggestion was made by me and I did preface it by saying 'If you can make it down to the South....', which I think made it pretty clear it was not immediately adjacent to Derby! Given the OP is here for 3 years it's not unreasonable to think they might journey beyond the North and Midlands at some point.

The traffic will be bad at many of the sites suggested because they are so popular, and Brighton can be done by train, so think that's not a particularly valid reason for discounting it. Also, I am not a 20-something clubber and have enjoyed the area both as a child, and a 40-something adult. Kids love the seaside, and Brighton is quintessentially British, which is what most visitors to these shores are looking for.

I did much the same -- lived in the UK for 5 years and did LOTS of one and 2 days trips from Oxfordshire (though I had the advantage of not working and many of my short trips were during the week)

Besides all the excellent ideas so far, from Derby you can basically get almost <u>anywhere</u> in the whole country. W/i two hours you can drive, and for longer distances - you can use the trains.

London of course. But even Edinburgh is good for a weekend - about 4 hours from Derby by train.

By car -- Stamford (open air Shakespeare theatre) and Rutland Water. East Anglia. Spend a lot of time in Yorkshire--just a lot to see/do.

From Derby, I honestly don't think Brighton is worth the effort. The Pavilion is a wonderful bldg -- but unless you are combining it w/ several days along the south coast, I'd give it a miss.

I second the idea that you should get out of the midlands occasionally.

but there's a lot to be seen there as well. you've already made it to Warwick, [did you go to the Lod Leycester hospital as well as the Castle?] but nearby coventry is also worth a visit - modern and old [bombed] Cathedrals, great museum, very old bits. [it was the 6th biggest city in england in the middle ages, much more important than Birmingham].

then there are the lovely warwickshire villages - if you pick up the Fosse Way at Leicester, you'll go through lots of them and see some of the Cotswolds too. you could also visit Charlecote - a NT property nearby.

you are also reasonably near east anglia - friends of ours who live in Warwickshire frequently go to the coast of Norfolk in a day so I'm sure that you could do the same.

This may be silly - but what about LONDON??

We loved the Lake District, Edinburgh, Whitby, Cambridge...